BURLINGTON WEATHER

How Burlington Works

Burlington's Town Meeting rounded out the remainder of the Warrant for its annual meeting on Monday, May 18, approving a capital budget of right around $5,590,120 for maintenance and improvements across town.

To kick off the evening, the group revisited the conversation started last week about the Historical Commission's request for $100,000 (amended to $30,000) for a storage shed to be built on the property where the old West School sits. Commissioner Peter Coppola said that, among other artifacts, the town has large pieces of equipment that need to be stored and can't be displayed in public spaces such as the schools.

The Commission has been talking about this storage solution for a decade, but the process has run into a number of hiccups, with the Building Inspector saying it needed a special permit and the special permit prescribing the use of cedar shingles and HVAC systems. The agreement also said the public is not allowed to enter the shed. Though the Commission was able to secure a commitment from Shawsheen Technical School to have students construct the shed, Town Meeting Members still felt that, a custom-built 20x40 shed was not the right solution and encouraged the Commission to store the items in a storage facility.

Next up, school district superintendent Dr. Eric Conti presented an overview of the school department's capital requests, which included:

  • $225k for a middle school literacy curriculum
  • various HVAC maintenance and repair items
  • security enhancements
  • vehicle replacement for a box truck used for deliveries
  • computer replacements
  • a study to determine the best course of action to provide bathroom facilities at Marshall Simonds Middle School athletic fields
  • a facilities master plan
  • a new wireless microphone system for the high school – used during Town Meeting and also for theater performances, of which there are several annually

Town Meeting Members debated the necessity of permanent bathroom facilities at Marshall Simonds, with some saying it's a "nice-to-have" item and others saying this would represent part of much-needed improvements of Burlington's athletic facilities, including concerns about hygiene and accessibility, particularly for young athletes and girls. In the end, this article and all other school articles passed.

These approvals were in addition to last week's capital authorizations for the Recreation, Public Works, Fire, Conservation, Council on Aging, and Town Administration departments, and after amended totaled just over $5.5 million in capital expenditures, nearly all of which will come from Free Cash.

Town Meeting also approved $34,000 in funding for the town's Fourth of July Parade, back after a year's hiatus (though with no fireworks this year). And, a number of housekeeping items passed easily including acceptance of state funds for paving, the addition of our own funds towards paving roads, parking lots, and sidewalks, funding BCAT from residents' cable fees, and more.

A water & sewer enterprise fund was authorized. Previously, Burlington had a sewer enterprise fund but water revenues needed to be transferred to a stabilization fund before being cleared to the town's free cash. An enterprise fund will allow for a self-funding mechanism to use water usage fees collected from residents to pay for water-related expenses and will possibly even allow for a surplus that can be used to support the town's water infrastructure.

The body voted to ban cryptocurrency ATMs in Burlington, following a presentation from Police Chief Browne, who cited a pattern of fraud targeting elderly residents. Brown explained that once money enters a crypto ATM, it is virtually impossible to recover — a point illustrated by a local case in which a resident lost $35,000 to a scammer. Despite some members urging regulation in the place of an outright ban, the article passed by a clear majority and can be revisited by a future Town Meeting if state and federal regulations catch up to the technology.

A request from Verizon Wireless to add a parcel at 8 Kimball Court — a 10-story apartment building near the Woburn town line — to Burlington's wireless communications overlay district was rejected; this article would have allowed the company to apply for a permit to install rooftop antennas on this residential rental building. The Planning Board, Land Use Committee, and Zoning Board of Review Committee all voted against the proposal, citing concerns about setting a precedent for wireless facilities on occupied residential buildings, inadequate notification of residents, and questions about whether the installation primarily benefits Burlington or the neighboring city of Woburn. Several members suggested the real solution is a comprehensive update to Burlington's wireless overlay district map, which hasn't been revised since 2000.

Three articles were withdrawn, including the Shawsheen Tech feasibility study and the two articles aimed at bringing Burlington's animal use bylaws in line with the state's new "Ollie's Law," geared at protecting pets in care facilities.

Burlington's government is now fully funded for Fiscal Year 27, and the only item remaining unresolved is the budget for Shawsheen Tech, which town officials will have the opportunity to review in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted on that. For the full summary of the warrant and Town Meeting's votes on each warrant article, visit the Burlington Buzz Warrant Summary.

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