Town Meeting Approves All But One Article in Single-Night Meeting

Burlington's Town Meeting convened and adjourned within just about three hours on January 28, with members debating and voting on 10 articles related to the town's finances and bylaws. With 88 members present, just under 70% of the body was represented.

The Economic Development Department and Chamber of Commerce kicked off the discussions with a report about the state of business in Burlington.

Melisa Tintocalis, Director of Economic Development, opened with a reminder to the body that commercial taxes make up 2/3 of the town's tax base – or, as Tintocalis contextualized, two-thirds of the town's services are paid for by taxes on businesses. She went on to highlight the work the town, supported by Town Meeting, has done to prepare for and respond to the economic shifts of the last several years, including the passage of the Mall Road Mixed Use Zoning District (MIX) last year.

The recent Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing of Saks Global, parent company to Nieman Marcus, which has real estate interest in the Burlington Mall, underscores the changing landscape but, Tintocalis said, also the agility the town has built in with this recent visionary work. She added "We are in a really good position ... to create new opportunities for reinvestment."

Executive Director of the Burlington Area Chamber of Commerce, Rick Parker, joined Tintocalis to reiterate the support of the town's business community for the town's services and amenities. "The formula has been so good in Burlington for so many years that now many communities around us have started to replicate it, and the competition to attract businesses is stronger than ever," he said, highlighting the success of economic districts such as Third Ave. and the recent updates to the Burlington Square ("Staples") plaza.

Town Meeting Member Steve Marchese expressed a desire to know more about the economic projections ahead of May's annual budgetary Town Meeting, and Tintocalis responded that plans for an economic development summit in the coming weeks have been discussed and more details will follow.

Chair of the Government Review Committee Betsey Hughes followed with a report on the Committee's work since the last report in September. The group has conducted 26 interviews representing 17 entities to gather information about how effective the current municipal structure and processes are, and they also gathered 38 survey responses at the Civic Expo on January 14.

The Committee has reviewed the legislative and executive branches and is in the process of creating a draft charter and will be seeking public input via public forums and surveys. Follow their work and contact the Committee on the town website.

Following the two reports, debate on articles two through 13 began in earnest. Financial articles 3 (moving funds from free cash to water stabilization fund), 4 (adding $100,000 to Ways & Means reserve fund), 5 (using ride share surcharge revenue to support the town's Lyft program), and 8 (shifting $250,000 from the Town Common walkway improvement project to Overlook Park) were largely housekeeping in nature and passed with little debate, as did article 10 which released a sewer easement no longer needed by the town.

Several articles, however, did garner some conversation.

Article 2, which sought to add a definition for "setback" in the zoning bylaws and clarify the distinction between "yard" and "setback" passed, but only after Zoning Board of Appeals Chair Jeff DiBona added some perspective. While he was in favor of defining the term "setback," he thought the language changes were in need of clarification to be sure they aligned with state law. Town counsel weighed in, saying the wording is in line with state law and with the language other municipalities use.

Article 7's approval allocated $20,000 for a survey for the Government Review Committee following assurances that questions would be developed to be as informative as possible without being leading and participation from a diverse set of residents would be encouraged and actively sought.

A new sensory trailer will be acquired following approval of $25,000 for Article 9, supplementing $25,000 provided by the Disability Access Commission. Some debate on this topic centered around liability; Recreation Director Brendan Egan assured the body that trained staff would support the trailer's functions. Town Meeting Members also questioned whether or not this is the right time and right source for this financial article.

"There's an eight-to-ten-week turnaround and we'd like to have it ready for our spring special events," said Egan, though he said the Department is waiting to hear back from local businesses about corporate sponsorship and agreed to ask if funds from the will of Marshall Simonds, which are distributed annually to the town for work at Simonds Park and related areas, would apply.

The discussion around Article 11 highlighted the tension between economics and natural space. On one side, members expressed concern about overdevelopment in the town and desire to maintain the property as a small green space, whether by the town keeping the land or in the form of a conservation stipulation on the sale.

Others asserted the strip of land could have economic value for the town, first by the sale of the property itself and then by additional tax revenue in perpetuity, from the land and/or any home that might be built upon it. In the end, the article passed as-is.

The last article of the night considered whether to institute a one-year cooling off period for general bylaw proposals that have failed at Town Meeting. The body was split on the idea of instituting a limit on the frequency of repeat articles, with many members asserting that the process to bring an article before Town Meeting and to all the related committees and boards ahead of Town Meeting, is self-limiting and shouldn't be moderated by other committees. "It is entirely unclear who is to judge what is substantive and/or material," said Ed Parsons of Precinct 6, adding, "I'm uncomfortable with deferring that authority."

Article 13 failed following spirited debate, bringing the night to an end and closing Town Meeting until May's annual budgetary meeting.