Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger will soon fulfill a campaign promise: to present a decision, within the first 90 days of his administration, on whether to proceed with the current plan for redevelopment of the Moran generating station. Named for Mayor J.E. Moran, the 30-megawatt coal-fired plant began operating in 1954. Since its decommissioning decades ago the city has pursued various plans to convert it for recreation or other community uses.
The mayor made the announcement at the annual meeting of Burlington’s City Council.
The decision on whether to proceed with a public-private partnership that is supposed to combine a community sailing center, a children’s museum, and a for-profit recreation facility “ties into broader questions” about the waterfront and tax incremental financing (TIF), Weinberger noted.
The council meeting began with a briefing on the USA Triathlon National Championship. Olympic distance and sprint races will be held in and near Burlington for the second year over the weekend of Aug. 18-19. Although the competition will require rolling road closures on Saturday and Sunday morning, the organizers promise that the impacts on traffic will be shorter than last year.
That presentation was followed by a public forum. Three of the four people who spoke offered their credentials for appointment to the Public Works, Burlington Electric and Church Street Marketplace commissions.
Later in the evening, after pro forma votes on 24 new and reappointed commissioners, Councilor Rachel Siegel questioned the process. “Should people be automatically reappointed?” she asked.
Siegel suggested better descriptions of the volunteer positions, along with “more transparency and civic engagement.” Burlington has more than 30 commissions and advisory boards with around 120 seats, filled primarily by residents from the city’s seven wards. Most members are appointed by the council.
The City Council also discussed a confidentiality requirement for complaints about zoning violations. Assistant City Attorney Gene Bergman explained that the amendment was needed to make local procedures consistent with the state Public Records Act. Although it will be possible to obtain the name of someone who files a complaint, the information won’t be offered initially and the staffer who follows up at a site won’t know who brought the matter to the city’s attention.
Councilor Sharon Bushor praised a related amendment adding a neighborhood meeting requirement to the review of developments involving a “major impact.” But she questioned some of the thresholds for such an impact, specifically the number of units and parking spaces involved. “In a small neighborhood a small change can have a major impact,” she said.
The remaining three changes were adopted as a slate. Planning and Zoning Director David White noted that one of them, removing a two-story minimum requirement for buildings in mixed use areas, was prompted by commercial “market forces” that have made that minimum height unreasonable.
In his report Weinberger discussed the recent budget work, particularly a proposal by the Parks and Recreation Department to fund 31 projects with money from Penny for Parks, a 1-cent tax to maintain, upgrade and replace Burlington facilities.
The city has been underspending in this area, Weinberger said, but the department is committed to catching up. Although the tax makes about $350,000 available annually, less than half that amount has been allocated for the past three years. “I share the feeling that more should be done,” Weinberger said at a recent work session.
If the Parks and Recreation priority list is approved by the council more than $1 million will be used next year for playground, sport facility and bike path improvements; renovation of the upper deck floor at the Burlington Boathouse; replacement of the waterfront skate park; and the beginning of a major project to “re-imagine” and remodel City Hall Park.
A slate of commission appointments, negotiated in advance by the local political factions, passed with a unanimous vote, while no public comments were offered during a hearing on five changes to the Comprehensive Development Ordinance.
Two members of the council did have some reservations, however. Bushor, an independent who has represented Ward 1 since the 1980s, questioned why no list of departmental appointments was provided by Weinberger. Siegel, a newly elected Ward 3 Progressive, meanwhile expressed discomfort with the commission appointment process.
Bushor’s concern was that the traditional list of new and reappointed department heads “was missing from the packet” usually received by council members before the annual meeting. “Rather than rushing the process,” Weinberger responded later, he plans to release a letter with his choices next week. That will give the local legislators two sessions in June to review and act before the July 1 deadline, he said.
Those council meetings, scheduled for June 18 and 25, will be busy and decisive. The council must also approve the city’s budget by the end of this month. In recent weeks projections and proposals for various departments have been examined during a series of work sessions. The entire budget is supposed to be ready for review by June 15.
