Hello and happy weekend in the Hive!

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In this week’s Roundup,

• Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund Established, Seeking Community Members-At-Large
• School Committee Looks Into New Food Service, Ways to Reduce Plastic & Waste
• Sports Teams Start Preseason Scrimmages
• LEGO Robotics and eSports Teams Represent Burlington, BHS FIRST Robotics Raffles off Some Bling to Support Season
• State Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Awards Burlington Grant for Land Use Changes

Alright, let’s get to it!

Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund Established, Seeking Community Members-At-Large

Back in September at Town Meeting, we voted to establish the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund. This is an account funded by voluntary contributions by residents to defray the cost of taxes for residents who are elderly and/or who have disabilities. Residents can choose to check a box on their municipal tax bills or excise tax bills and add an amount toward the fund.

According to state law, cities and towns who have established this fund are required to have a committee “to consist of the chairman of the board of assessors, the city or town treasurer and three residents of the city or town to be appointed by the mayor or board of selectmen.” As we don’t have resident members yet, the Committee is seeking people to fill these positions.

This committee is responsible for helping review applications and allocate funds, and it sounds like they’ll also be brainstorming how to raise awareness so they can start building up this fund to aid our elderly and disabled residents.

If you’re interested, or for more information, please contact Lyn Mills at 781-270-1659 or lmills@burlington.org.

School Committee Looks Into New Food Service, Ways to Reduce Plastic & Waste

At the School Committee Tuesday night, there was much discussion about food service and how they plan to select a new food service provider. They discussed the questions they’d like to ask potential providers, such as how and where food is prepared, how diverse the menu will be, and more.

But one of the biggest points of contention is the use of plastic and Styrofoam in our lunch rooms. School Committee member, Christine Monaco, was shocked and dismayed to learn our cafeterias were using Styrofoam to serve lunch to students, citing health concerns with using plastics and the ever-present concern about waste.

The urgency expressed led Dr. Conti to commit to creating a plan to reduce waste and the use of plastic/Styrofoam in our cafeterias by the next School Committee meeting. I personally know students who have lobbied for this change at the school level, and I’ll be interested in seeing what they come up with. I’ll keep you posted!

Sports Teams Start Preseason Scrimmages

Energy and enthusiasm was high this week as our sports teams begin their preseason activities and have the first meetups of their winter season. Teams report making incremental improvements during scrimmages, and seem excited to get their seasons underway.

LEGO Robotics and eSports Teams Represent Burlington, BHS FIRST Robotics Raffles of Some Bling

Last week, the LEGO Robotics team showed off their project for the Planning Board. This weekend, they went to a tournament where they won the Judges’ Award and advanced to the state competition. I’m going to have a chance to interview the team this evening, and I’m excited to share more about this awesome team with you next week.

Our high school eSports team also made it to a state tournament. This Saturday, they joined teams from all over the state at Helix eSports in Foxboro to compete in a Rocket League tournament. Unfortunately, they lost to a strong Tewksbury team, but making it to states is quite an accomplishment! I hope to learn more about this team very soon, as well, and be able to cover them more consistently in the future!

State Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Awards Burlington Grant for Land Use Changes

We started with Town Meeting, and I’ll end with Town meeting, too. At Town Meeting in September, we approved a zoning project which would reimagine the Mall-Road-Middlesex Turnpike corridor. The project aims to enhance economic vitality, reinvestment, placemaking, mobility, and zoning predictability in the area to make it work better for residents and business owners.

Town Meeting allocated $80,000 for this project, and the Economic Development Office just announced the state’s contribution of a $50,000 grant to support the work. I’m looking forward to seeing how this project shapes up!

That’s all for this week. Do you have ideas for the Hive Roundup? Do you like this special perk for paid members? Drop me a line and let me know!

I hope the week to come is lovely and you find a way to keep warm!