Hello, Burlington!

It’s been a couple of weeks, but that’s not because nothing has happened—rather, it’s that too much has happened for me to be able to sit down and compile it all.

For those of you who don’t normally get the Roundup, this is a preview of a semi-regular thing we do here called the Hive Roundup, wherein I compile some of the more salient news tidbits for you with the benefit of hindsight that we don’t have when we’re in the thick of the daily grind. I try to do it once a week, but life sometimes gets in the way.

Most everything here is something I’ve reported on already, with links back to original stories where appropriate, as well as a little summary. I’m providing this preview to free subscribers so you can gain a little insight into the work we do.

If you can afford to become a paying Hive member, and desire to do so, I’d love for you to click the button below and join us. Those contributions support the work I do each day and week to bring you news and updates about our community. For now, here’s a quick rundown of what we’ll talk about today:

• The Buzz in the News
• Election Update
• Budget Season
• Some School Updates
• A Cool Sustainability Project
• Ways to Get Involved

The Buzz in the News

The Buzz had its day in the spotlight, with two GBH News appearances in one week, with the hope of raising awareness about the state of local news and the hard work local newsrooms around the area are doing to connect our communities.

• Nicci talks to Morning Edition’s Jeremy Siegel about how the Buzz got started and our hopes for the future.
• Nicci and Jeremy talk with Jim and Margery of Boston Public Radio (March 15, around 35 minutes in) about the day-to-day operations of local news startups.

Election Update

The local election is coming up on April 1, and there are plenty of sources of information you can pull from to make your decision.

From reasons why you should vote to how to be a write-in candidate, the Buzz and the BNEWS Election Center have you covered:

• School Committee candidate profiles: Carl Foss | Jeremy Brooks | Katherine Bond
• School Committee candidate debate and lightning round with BCAT news producer Sydney Boles
• Profiles on Recreation Commission candidates Brian Pupa and Lindsay Carlson, who are vying for a single seat, as well as Select Board candidate Jim Tigges

The Buzz is reaching out to Brian and Lindsay as well and hopes to have profiles for you soon!

There will also be a student vote for those people who aren’t yet of voting age but who want to get a feel for how the process goes. They’ll fill out a real ballot and submit it!

Budget Season

Budget season is upon us, which means that various boards and commissions are going before Ways and Means subcommittees and then in front of the Committee at large to have their budgets approved to go into the town’s big budget book that goes in front of Town Meeting in May.

Read more in this Buzz post that gives an overview of the process.

Some school updates

Lots is going on in the schools, including a new meal service provider, new assistant superintendent, and some restorative justice training.

There is also a website where community members can get updates on the Fox Hill School Building project, which continues moving along.

A cool sustainability project

Green Communities has awarded the town of Burlington a grant of 90% of the cost to install solar Panels at Mill Pond. They’re going to subsidize air sealing in municipal buildings, as well. These projects aim to further decrease our energy footprint, as we have committed to lower it by 20% by 2025 and have already seen a 11% decrease.

Ways to get involved

There are a million different ways to get involved in town, but here are just a few.

• Fill out this Greenway Path Survey to tell the Northeastern students working on a project to study the feasibility of creating a multi-use path over by Middlesex Turnkpike and the Vine Brook area.
• The Select Board is looking for volunteers to fill a vacancy on the Housing Partnership, helping expand availability and accessibility of housing in Burlington.
• The Recreation Department Spring Program Catalog is out, and there are still many offerings available!

Whew. That’s it. You wouldn’t believe how long it took me to compile this! I’ll be back with another one of these in a couple of weeks. See you then!

Nicci