On Town Meeting Day, voters in South Burlington will choose among five candidates for two seats on the City Council, and they will fill three school board seats, two of which are contested.
In addition to voting on the school and city budgets, residents will decide whether to approve up to $15 million in tax increment financing to continue developing the City Center and $33.8 million to make upgrades to a wastewater treatment facility.
“There’s a lot for the community to consider,” said City Manager Jessie Baker. “I would say both the budget and the two bond votes are conversations that the community has been having for a while, especially the TIF fund vote.”
The tax increment financing, Baker said, would allow the city to continue a years-in-the-making effort to create a more centralized downtown area. The wastewater facility investment, she said, is important both to maintain city infrastructure and to protect water quality.
South Burlington’s five-member council has two open seats after Tom Chittenden and Matt Cota decided not to seek reelection. Chittenden, who is a state senator, cited the demands of serving in the Legislature, working full-time and raising three kids. Cota said he is focusing on a nonprofit management company he started last year.
Three-year term
Andrew Chalnick and James Leas are running for Chittenden’s seat, which has a three-year term.
Chalnick has served on the city’s planning commission, energy committee, climate task force and an interim zoning committee, but this is his first time running for an elected position. He said his background in financial and legal work would allow him to analyze the city’s budget and tax rates. Chalnick’s priorities are housing, climate change and smart development.
“I’ve always been concerned about environmental issues for my children to have a livable future,” he said. “And I want to work hard for South Burlington to help enact policies that will address our climate crisis and possibly (be) a model for surrounding communities and for the state and maybe the nation.”
Leas, who previously ran for City Council in 2017, has long been an advocate of preserving parklands and open space, and a vocal opponent of the F-35 military training operation being based in the city. Leas, who created the “Cancel the F-35” website in 2017, said, through that advocacy, he has learned about the power local governments have to influence decisions around the Air National Guard training operation.
“And so I want to use the campaign to increase public awareness of their power,” he said.
The issue is also linked to equity, health and housing, Leas said, noting that it led to houses being demolished. “If the F-35 went away, then that 44 acres would go back to housing,” he said.
Two-year term
Tyler Barnes, Lydia Diamond and Paul Engels are vying to fill Cota’s seat, which has a two-year term.
Engels served on the council 10 years ago and will finish his term on the planning commission this year. He’s hoping to serve alongside Chalnick.
“Andrew and I had been planning commissioners together and I just thought that it would be a great opportunity for us to be in the council and bring about a lot of change that we wanted to make,” he said.
His top priorities include contributing to the comprehensive plan the planning commission is writing, which will set the direction for the city for the next 10 years. He hopes to find a balance between future development and preserving the environment — “Let’s not pave everything over,” he said.
He is also concerned about how expensive elections are, which, he said, has “brought about a lack of equal representation in the city.”
That’s also something first-time candidate Diamond wants to rectify. Black, elderly and with a physical disability, Diamond said she decided to run for people like herself. People who are elderly or disabled and low-income people of color continue to struggle, especially since the onset of Covid-19, and children of color are struggling in the schools, she said. Her goal is to keep South Burlington accessible to people across the socioeconomic spectrum.
“I was informed that no person of color had ever stepped up to run. So I stepped up for the disabled, poor, (Black, Indigenous and people of color) people who don’t have a voice,” Diamond said. “I still feel unheard, unseen and not included but I’m doing my best to raise awareness — that’s important.”
Barnes, who is also running for a seat for the first time, said his career as a triathlete took him away from the city for a bit, but he returned to start a business in 2012.
As a small business owner, he said he is concerned about affordability and accessibility and is happy to see that the city is continuing to invest in City Center.
“I want to be able to give back and I want to ensure that my kids and everyone’s kids have the same opportunities to enrich their lives, the way that South Burlington has enriched mine, for generations to come,” he said. “And I want to make sure that it stays affordable and accessible to families across the socioeconomic spectrum.”
School board races
Three members of the five-member South Burlington Board of School Directors are running for reelection, and two have competition.
Board member Alex McHenry faces a challenge from Lisa Hickey for a three-year term.
A data analyst who has been on the board for six years, McHenry said he wants to ensure future generations have the same high-quality education that the city has today.
“We appreciate the quality of our schools, the closeness and the great people who work, teach and are involved there,” he said.
Hickey did not respond to an interview request.
Chair Travia Childs is competing with Bryan Companion for a two-year position.
The first Black woman on the school board and executive director of the Infinite Youth Center in the University Mall, Childs said she ran because children of color don’t have representation.
Childs, who said she had a tough first year on the board because her son was racially harassed in high school, became chair the second year.
Childs said she is committed to inclusion and antiracism. She pointed out that an inclusion statement is now read before athletics games, and said the board passed the first equity policy and is in the process of hiring a second equity director. She also said she likes to be out in the community, speaking with the youth, learning about them and creating safe spaces.
Change “is not going to be easy,” she said, “but I work really hard so our kids know I’m there.”
Companion, who has a background in construction business, said he is concerned about the district’s aging infrastructure. He supports the capital improvements bond vote on the ballot but said, “we really need to come up with a plan long-term that defines what we’re going to do.”
He has toured school buildings, attended meetings, asked questions and spoken with former board members, Companion said, noting that he likes the positive atmosphere in the district but is concerned about declining test scores.
Incumbent Laura Williams is running unopposed for the remaining two years of a three-year term. A teacher at Essex High School, Williams was appointed to her seat last year after former member Michelle Boyer resigned in July.
“The most important thing we can do is have an educated populace,” she said. “My biggest concerns are equity in education, mental health for all students, staff, teachers, and the physical structure of all five schools in the district.”
City and school budgets and bonds
Residents will also vote on a $55.2 million city budget,which reflects a 5.2% increase over last year. It would result in a 5.75% tax rate increase that Baker said would allow the city to recover from the lean Covid-19-era years by reinstating formerly reduced positions.
The impact of the tax rate increase for a $400,000 home would be an additional $107, according to city officials.
South Burlington is also looking to address aging infrastructure at its two wastewater treatment plants. Officials are seeking approval to bond for up to $33.8 million to upgrade the plant at Bartlett Bay Road, install a clarifier at Airport Parkway and refurbish or replace four wastewater pump stations within 250 feet of Lake Champlain that have been in service for more than 50 years.
The Bartlett Bay plant was constructed in 1970 and was upgraded in 1999. The city’s largest plant, at Airport Parkway, was upgraded in 2012.
Wastewater treatment systems run 24/7 and need upgrades every 20 to 30 years, said Baker. “So those upgrades are really important in order to not only provide good service to our residents but also ensure that we are protecting the water quality of our local streams and of Lake Champlain.”
Also up for vote are articles related to the school department. Voters are being asked to approve a separate $62.5 million schools budget reflecting a 7.17% increase for the upcoming fiscal year, and a bond vote of up to $14.5 million to fund capital improvements for school renovations, design, permitting, site work and the construction of zero-energy modules to expand classrooms.
According to a budget presentation, $6 million of the bond funding will cover eight modules at two elementary schools to support the city’s growing student population. The remaining $8.5 million is slated to cover deferred maintenance across all five school buildings including HVAC, roofing, sidewalks and window replacements.
The tax impact of the proposed school budget would add $203.60 to the annual education tax for a residence assessed at $400,000, city officials said.
The school budget strikes “the balance between what we can afford and what we need to provide a quality education,” McHenry said.
City Center funding
Voters will also decide whether to approve the final round of tax increment financing — commonly known as TIF — for the City Center project.
A state-designated center targeted for growth, the City Center was created with voter-approved tax increment financing, which allows municipalities to borrow money for projects and pay back the debt using the increased tax revenue generated by those projects.
Years in planning, the ongoing project aims to connect neighborhoods, create walkable and bikeable connections and an integrated mix of housing, retail and employment.
The initial round of tax increment financing, approved in 2016, helped reconstruct Market Street and develop the first phase of City Center, which includes accessible woodlands, recreation space with trails, marked entrances and seating. The new public library, senior center and City Hall complex opened in July 2021.
Article 4 on the ballot looks to secure up to $15.08 million in tax increment financing to continue to develop the City Center Park.
The ballot question is important, said Ilona Blanchard, the city’s community development director, because it would fund four planned projects — a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over Interstate 89, an elevated boardwalk between Barrett, Market and Garden streets, and improvements to the Garden Street and Williston Road intersection and streetscape.
This phase involves making the urban center walkable and bikeable and addresses capacity issues on Williston Road, including reconstructing the intersection by Al’s French Fries so that there are crosswalks and turn lanes on all four sides, Blanchard said.
“This will be the final opportunity the community has hopefully to weigh in on the TIF bond vote and really accomplish that walkable, bikeable downtown that the city has envisioned,” said Baker.
If the funding is approved, city officials expect to complete the project in the next three to five years.
A public information meeting on the ballot items will be held on Monday, March 6, at 6:30 p.m. at the City Hall auditorium, 180 Market St., with online access.
Voting on town and school issues on the ballot will take place the next day with polls open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
