We were proud to host the 30th Annual Vermont City Marathon last month - congratulations Run Vermont for making this tradition bigger and better every year – and with the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival underway, we have entered the best time to be in Burlington. As we start summer, we have a number of exciting updates to provide.
Burlington Harbor Marina Project Begins Construction
This week, the Burlington Harbor Marina project broke ground on our northern waterfront. When it opens in 2019, the Marina will join the many other great projects – including the Skate Park, the just-opened Community Sailing Center, and rehabilitated Bike Path – that have brought new life to the northern waterfront since 2014.
The marina project is the result of a public process that began in 2013, when the City’s Public Investment Action Plan (PIAP) executed an open public process to select projects that would be eligible to receive public infrastructure improvements through the City’s Waterfront Tax Increment Financing (TIF) District. The City received 50 project proposals at that time. The Marina was one of the finalists selected by a Public Investment Team, and in March, 2014 nearly 75 percent of voters supported investing TIF dollars in the project.
The Marina will add 160 much-needed slips to our waterfront, which will help us reduce the long wait time for boat slips (currently ranging from two to eight years, depending on the size of the vessel). With about 40 percent of the 160 slips offered to transient boaters, it will also add temporary boat slip capacity that we have long needed to allow residents and visitors to enjoy all that Burlington has to offer. Our City-operated marina currently includes 100 transient slips and moorings, however we know that on many summer weekends we turn away large numbers of visitors.
Finally, the Marina will bring a number of public benefits to the northern waterfront, including new public restrooms, parking spaces, a new lakeshore park that will replace the current parking lot in front of the Water Department Pump Station, and a public perimeter dock that will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In addition, the marina will become a substantial local economic engine and source of revenue for the City over time as it will make lease payments ($55,000 a year plus a percentage of total revenue), property tax payments, and indirectly contribute to gross receipts and other public revenues.
View renderings of the project and find more information here: www.burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/Harbor-Marina.
Burlington International Airport Receives Highest Credit Rating Upgrade Since 2010
Also in May, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it had upgraded the Burlington International Airport credit rating to Baa2 from Baa3, the second credit rating upgrade the Airport has earned since 2014 and its highest rating since prior to the multiple downgrades of the Airport in 2010 due to revelations of serious financial mismanagement.
In its May 22, 2018 Credit Report, Moody’s stated that “the upgrade reflects continued improvement in liquidity and stability in debt service coverage, combined with a strengthened cost recovery framework following the adoption of a five-year airline agreement that is residual in nature and provides for a 1.5x DSCR and 200 days cash on hand.”
The Airport has seen the strongest first quarter (Jan-Mar 2018) number of passengers since 2008, with a 19 percent increase in passengers in April 2018, which represents the single largest percentage growth of any month since 2005. Delta Air Lines has added new routes flying to New York and American Airlines is starting new service to Chicago in early June.
Burlington Police Department, Public Safety and Health Professionals Release 10 Standards of Care
Since the fall of 2015 the City has put substantial focus and new resources into understanding and impacting the Opioid Crisis. At the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) annual meeting on May 31 in Nashville, Burlington Police Chief Brandon del Pozo crystallized much of this work as, in collaboration with other law enforcement and public health professionals, he released 10 standards of care to guide law enforcement across the country in their approach to the opioid crisis. The standards include:
- Focus on overdose deaths
- Use naloxone
- Educate on addiction and stigma
- Refer to treatment
- Advocate for “on demand” treatment access
- Advocate for treatment for those who are incarcerated or under community supervision
And more.
The standards reflect the City of Burlington’s focus on bringing down opioid overdose deaths, taking a compassionate approach to those struggling with addiction, and pursuing data-driven strategies to provide addicted individuals with expanded treatment in prison and rapid access to lifesaving addiction medications buprenorphine and methadone. I am proud to see the work Burlington is doing reflected in these standards, and look forward to continuing to share ideas and innovative approaches with communities across the country.
You can view the complete list of standards with more details here: http://americanhealth.jhu.edu/article/policing-and-opioid-crisis-standards-care.
As always, I encourage you to join me at the Bagel Café on Wednesday mornings from 8-9am to share any thoughts or questions. You can also visit my Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/MiroBTV/, or follow me on Twitter at @BTVMayor for information on the work of the Mayor’s Office and our City Departments. I look forward to seeing you soon.
