Ward 5 Neighborhood Planning Assembly
Tuesday, 27 November 2007 @ 7:00pm
Dept of Public Works building, 645 Pine Street
7:00pm – Introduction and Ground Rules
Police Update
a) LT Davidson spoke about some burglaries that have been happening around Burlington.
b) He reminded us all to lock our doors and windows; keep lights on at night; and report anything suspicious to the Police Dept.
c) He mentioned that folks were posting crimes and suspicious activity on the Front Porch Forum and encouraged doing so. Check the Downloads area for Crime Prevention Tips.
d) He was asked about a bicycle registry in Burlington and said there is a program and everyone is strongly encouraged to register your bicycles.
e) He added that folks should not wait one or two days to report something/someone suspicious to the Police. Call the Police as soon as you can get to a phone.
Open Forum
a) Announcement of the Legacy Town Meeting on Wednesday from 5 to 7:30 pm.
b) Some interest had been shown in a South End Dog Park. If anyone has comments/suggestions/input on the matter, please direct them to the Steering Committee. If there is enough interest, it will be placed on a future agenda.
c) Every Spring, CEDO make an announcement about registering bicycles with the BPD.
d) Steering Committee member Bill Stuono commented on how well the Graffiti Removal kits work. They can be picked up free of charge from CEDO.
e) Steering Committee member Bill Stuono commented on the low NPA attendance in relation to other NPAs. Questions were posed to attendees if they had any suggestions to boost attendance.
Fletcher Free Library
Robert Resnik, Barbara Shatara and Amber Gaster joined us this evening to talk about the Fletcher Free Library. Robert gave some background on all of the wonderful services the library has to offer. Barbara and Amber both work in the Outreach program. This program is for those who cannot make it to the library and want to check out materials. Fletcher Free has “First Wednesdays”, where guest speakers come and talk about various global topics. There is also a book club on the second Wednesday of every month. FFL is hosting English as a Second Language classes, and is currently hosting Citizenship classes weekly. FFL has expanded in the foreign language area, as there are now offered two programs: a German-English Conversation Group and a Chinese-English Conversation Group where English speakers practice foreign-language conversation with native speakers of that language. FFL also loans out garden tools and snow shovels! Their website is http://www.fletcherfree.org.
Queen City Bridge
Erin Demers presented the November 8th public meeting presentation regarding the bridge and if it should be repaired or replaced. The purpose of the presentation was to address the ongoing deterioration of the bridge. The two alternatives are to (1) rehabilitate the existing one-lane bridge and adding a sidewalk to the south side of Industrial Pkwy, or (2) replace the bridge with a two-lane bridge. The DPW website is http://www.dpw.ci.burlington.vt.us.
Presentation of Resolutions
Steering Committee member Elisa Nelson read the DPW resolution to everyone. Erin Demers (DPW) provided comments about the DPW website as related to the resolution. Erin mentioned that she thought just about all of the requests set forth in the resolution were doable, and that DPW is already in the process of implementing some of them. Steering Committee member Roger Marshall moved to adopt the resolution with an amendment – change the wording to read “… DPW be urged to adopt…” The resolution passed unanimously. The resolution will be amended and forwarded to DPW by the Ward 5 NPA.
School Board Update
Amy Werbel talked about what was going on at the School Board. She said there was money available for a study/survey of Burlington parents of school-age children. Survey invitations were sent out via email and there is a link to the survey on the Burlington School District website at http://bsdweb.bsdvt.org. Amy mentioned that the search is in progress for a Principal at Champlain Elementary School.
City Council Update
Bill Keogh talked about the Police Department’s citizen radar gun program. Look for his column in the North Ave News regarding his findings, some of which he stated may be surprising. Check the Downloads area for his results. Bill also answered additional questions about speeding and the proposed new zoning ordinance. Steering Committee member Bill Stuono brought up the subject of new downtown zoning bonuses, which allow developers to build up to an additional 4 stories above the regular zoning height limit and that, in his opinion, some of these bonuses were quite easy for a developer to obtain.
DOWNLOAD DOCUMENTS FROM THE MEETING:
Check out the Podcast of the November meeting!
Crime Prevention Tips
Ward 5 Resolution to DPW
Bill's Radar Gun Results