FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2019
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
               (802) 734-0617

City of Burlington Receives Two-Notch Credit Rating Upgrade from Moody’s Investors Services

The upgrade follows years of work to rehabilitate the City’s finances, and fully restores the “Aa3” rating that the City held prior to Burlington Telecom-related downgrades

Burlington, VT – Moody’s Investors Services upgraded the City of Burlington’s credit rating from “A2” to “Aa3,” marking the full restoration of the credit rating that the City last held ten years ago. Even before this upgrade, Burlington’s financial turnaround since 2014 had locked in savings for taxpayers and ratepayers of over $17 million (additional information below). In the future, these savings will increase even more quickly every time the City issues new bonds. For example, in the upcoming months alone, the City will lock in an estimated $952,000 in savings over what it would have spent in 2012, and potentially more, on the approximately $13 million of general obligation bonding that the City is planning for this fall.

“Nearly eight years ago, as a candidate for mayor, I stood on the steps of City Hall and announced a financial plan that made clear that restoring the City’s fiscal health would be my top priority as mayor,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “With last week’s upgrade, following much hard work by the Administration, the City Council, and many others, we have fully delivered on that promise. As a result of these upgrades, we are keeping millions of dollars here in Burlington that would otherwise be sent to Wall Street, and using that money to make necessary investments in public goods. We have been able to achieve this without service cuts or major tax increases thanks to the support of Burlington voters, the innovation and commitment of our management team, and the collaboration of our public employee unions. Today, we are celebrating the completion of our financial turnaround and a major step as a community toward a more effective, affordable, and healthy City.”

Moody’s decision to upgrade to “Aa3” impacts the rating on $88 million of outstanding debt. In its report, Moody’s Investors Services highlighted the resolution of the Burlington Telecom litigation in March 2019, the City’s strong reserves, and the City’s “experienced management team.” “The current management and governance team has a strong record of conservative budget management and proactive policies that have benefitted the city financially,” the report notes, “evidenced by the resolution of the Burlington Telecom litigation and building of a strong reserve position.”

Work to Restore the City’s Financial Health

This credit rating upgrade is a result of diligent work over the past seven years. That work has included:

• Voter approval in November 2012 of the $9 million Fiscal Stability Bond, which eliminated the City’s need to rely on short-term borrowing and provided a foundation on which the City was able to build a stronger financial position;
• Successful negotiation in 2014 of a settlement agreement of the $33.5 million Citibank lawsuit on terms favorable to Burlington taxpayers, and successful implementation of that agreement culminating in Citibank’s full release of the City from liability upon close of the sale of Burlington Telecom in March 2019;
• Conversion of a 2012 unassigned fund balance of negative $15 million into a surplus of over $9.7 million at the end of Fiscal Year 2018;
• Elimination of multi-million dollar fund balance deficits in the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds;
• Improved financial operations at the Burlington International Airport and Burlington Electric Department;
• Years of operating surpluses, as a result of improved financial reporting, identification of new and expansion of existing revenue sources, a continued City-wide focus on cutting expenses and collecting receivables, and budgeting practices that include ensuring contingencies for unexpected expenses;
• Improved internal controls and financial management practices that have resulted in the reduction of audit deficiencies from 27 in 2012 to four in 2015 to zero in 2018;
• The creation of a City Council Fund Balance policy and commitment to long-term infrastructure and capital asset planning; and
• The creation of the City’s first-known debt policy, which outlines a target and a maximum for the amount of General Obligation debt that the City can incur, and which the City Council unanimously adopted in September 2018.

Savings for Burlingtonians

A city’s credit rating directly impacts the interest rates that the municipality pays when it issues new bonds. As a result of credit ratings upgrades received since 2014, the City has already locked in savings on debt with an estimated net present value of more than $17 million on new bonding completed since 2014 (see Clerk/Treasurer’s Office’s March 2019 Fiscal Health Report; these savings are estimated relative to what the bonds would have cost with the City’s 2012 “Baa3” rating).

As a result of the City’s financial recovery, Burlingtonians will save an estimated $73,000 over what they would have spent in 2012 on every $1 million of debt that the City takes on. In coming years, as the City takes on new debt to make historic investments in a new high school, water systems, and other vital public infrastructure, these savings will grow dramatically. As an example, for the $70 million in spending on high school construction that the voters authorized in November 2018, this upgrade translates into a savings of approximately $5.1 million in interest costs over the 2012 rating.

Additional highlights from the Moody’s report include:

• “Burlington benefits from a growing and strong reserve position and very strong cash position. This is supported by an expanding tax base which incorporates the city’s strength as the economic, higher education, and medical center of Vermont.”
• “The resolution of the Burlington Telecom litigation highlights an experienced management team and eliminates significant financial risk.”
• “Going forward, the city is focused on maintaining a stable credit profile while addressing the challenges of rising fixed costs with a growing debt burden and pension expenses.”
• “Additional strength is added with a strong entrepreneurial focused business culture. Additionally, the city has won awards for its environmental sustainability practices and policies including being the first city in the country to provide 100% renewable electricity to its residents.”
• “While the city continues to improve policies and grow the affordable housing stock it remains an ongoing challenge given current demographics.”
• “The city has also settled contracts with all its unions with expiration dates in June 2022 and has worked with the union to share health and pension costs going forward.”

Background

Between July 2010 and June 2012, following the disclosure of Burlington Telecom’s financial struggles and other fiscal instability, the City of Burlington received credit rating downgrades totaling six steps. By June 2012, the City’s credit rating was “Baa3” with a negative outlook, placing it on the verge of junk bond status. Mayor Miro Weinberger was elected in April 2012 with a commitment to improving the City’s financial standing, and in April 2014, the City received its first of a series of credit ratings upgrades, culminating with Moody’s decision to upgrade the City’s credit rating two steps to “Aa3” in July 2019. With this two-notch upgrade, the City has regained all six steps that it lost, and completed its financial turnaround.

Reactions and Support

"Setting this City on solid financial footing has been the focus of this Administration for the last seven years,” said City Councilor Joan Shannon, South District. “Today, City residents should be very proud that we are nationally viewed as a well-managed City, thanks to the leadership of the Mayor and his Administration with the collaboration of the City Council, City staff, the unions, the school district, and the residents of Burlington who have voted in support of fiscal stability and investing in our decaying infrastructure. Burlington has strong social and environmental values, but without fiscal stability we do not have the money to invest in those values. An improved credit rating lowers the cost of borrowing and allows the City of Burlington to pursue the priorities of our residents and make Burlington a cleaner, healthier, and kinder City.”

“The two-notch upgrade is exciting news that will result in direct savings to all taxpayers, in both their municipal property taxes as well as their education property taxes,” said Beth Anderson, the City’s Chief Administrative Officer. “This upgrade is the result of years of focus and hard work by staff across the City. This work was carried out not just in day-to-day fiscal operations, but also in the development of financial management policies and controls that will serve to continue the improvements in years to come.”

"The financial turnaround of the city under the leadership of Mayor Weinberger, and the financial turnaround of the school district under the leadership of Superintendent Obeng and the Burlington School Board, has been extraordinary,” said Clare Wool, Chair of the Burlington School Board. “As we embark on $70 million high school renovation, this improved credit rating will reduce the cost of borrowing and translate into real savings for Burlington taxpayers. Prioritizing and managing our city finances with the utmost professionalism shows the ultimate respect to our taxpayers – you, the citizens of Burlington."

"The Burlington Businesses Association welcomes this continued improvement in the City’s credit rating,” said Shireen Hart, Chair of the Burlington Business Association Board of Directors and Shareholder and Director at Primmer, Piper, Eggleston, and Cramer. “Moody's has once again recognized the responsible fiscal stewardship of Burlington under the current Administration. Our “Double A” credit rating means the city will be able to finance the necessary work to maintain and improve our city at lower borrowing rates, ultimately saving taxpayers money. Much like a personal credit score of 750 or higher, this credit rating shows that Burlington is strong and poised to grow.”

For additional information, please see:

• Below photo of July 29 announcement
• November 29, 2017: “Moody’s Investors Service Upgrades Burlington’s Credit Rating to ‘A2’”
• March 3, 2016: “Moody's Investors Service Upgrades Burlington's Credit Rating Two Steps”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2019
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Update on CityPlace Burlington from Mayor Miro Weinberger

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following update in response to Brookfield Properties’ announcement that its CityPlace Burlington project is faced with additional delays:

Like many in our community, I am frustrated and disappointed that the developers have not commenced construction of CityPlace Burlington. At the same time, Brookfield’s statement today and recent actions demonstrate that there remains a potentially very good path forward with them to transform this long-troubled site into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood. Despite my frustration with the news of additional delays, I think there is much good reasoning, at least for now, to continue our collaboration with Brookfield. This update shares that reasoning, and the final section lays out our current plan for moving forward.
 

Reasons for Continued Collaboration

First, I welcome the significant news that Brookfield Properties has recently taken over all of the responsibilities of project developer from Don Sinex and is now firmly in control of the project. Brookfield is an experienced and very well-capitalized company, and the Administration has found the Brookfield team to be well-resourced, predictable, and responsive since they took the project lead in January. Further, Brookfield’s recent efforts to reach out to every City Councilor, attend NPA meetings, and connect with community leaders have been well-received.

Second, Brookfield continues to put action and resources behind its statement, which it reiterated today, that the company is committed to delivering a transformative project to Burlington. The City is now in daily contact with Brookfield, and we are aware that the company is continuing to make considerable investment in design and other necessary pre-construction activities.

Third, last week Brookfield made it clear to us that the options it is considering for overcoming the project’s financial challenges also would address some of the size and scale criticisms of the project, and the concerns of many transportation and climate advocates that the project’s currently planned parking garage is far larger than it should be. I am hopeful that Brookfield’s current review and design changes ultimately will lead to a better project for Burlington.

Fourth, Brookfield supports the City’s goal of reconnecting Pine and St. Paul Streets and will include these links in any revised design. Our reconnected streets represent one of the tremendous public goods of this project, and will restore connectivity and life to this part of our downtown.

Thus, despite the additional delays announced today, the City will, at least for now, continue working collaboratively with Brookfield to achieve the important outcomes for the City and its residents that we have sought from the start of this project. We have considered other options, but believe they all would very likely have the effect of keeping this important downtown site inactive for much longer. To understand the City’s positions and postures towards CityPlace it is important to remember that, but for the new public infrastructure that will be built, this project is a private development on private land that requires investment of hundreds of millions of dollars of private capital. The City does not own the site or have the right to direct who develops it. The City cannot succeed at our goal of transforming this part of our downtown into a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood without a strong partner.
 

City Finances and the Downtown Remain Healthy and Strong

Again, I share the public’s frustration with the additional delay at CityPlace and remain concerned about the impact of the delay upon businesses, residents, and shoppers. Fortunately, even while this project is in transition, the City is strong. In the approximately two years since most of the mall was closed, the City’s finances and the downtown have remained very healthy, and we have no reason to believe that this position will change with further delay.

The City’s financial standing is stronger than at any time since at least 2009, and the project delays have no material impact on the City’s general budget and operations. This is a result of our hard, intentional work to protect the City from development risks through our Development Agreement.

By contrast, the developer is liable for tens of millions of dollars of project costs to date. While we are concerned about community stakeholders very near the site and will be working with Brookfield to mitigate the impacts of further delay on them, all of the economic and Church Street Marketplace indicators that we regularly monitor show that the downtown is continuing to grow and thrive. Our gross receipts taxes, which are an indicator of activity and visitation to downtown Burlington, have remained at a historic high over the last two years. Meanwhile, sales tax receipts, which are a measure of the volume of sales by Burlington’s merchants, have leveled off, but this evenness is a sign of reassuringly strong downtown performance given the closure of approximately 280,000 square feet of retail space between the mall and Macy’s. In 2018, two-thirds of Church Street Marketplace retailers reported that their sales were up from the year before. And finally, studies and media reports have shown that despite the removal of the former, rusting mall parking garage, even during our busiest times of year, downtown Burlington has ample parking for visitors and residents alike, especially at the City-owned Lakeview and College Street garages. (See the numbers on gross receipts and sales taxes here).
 

Background: Turning Urban Renewal into a Vibrant Mixed-Use Neighborhood

This part of our downtown has been problematic since the former neighborhood was removed by Urban Renewal during the 1960s. In many ways the site was a tear in the urban fabric for decades: a characterless brick box that fronted Cherry and Bank streets with long, windowless walls, severing the vital Pine and St. Paul Street corridors, and home to a suburban-style shopping mall in a slow, sad decline. Without City action, the mall's depressing demise would have drained life from the downtown core making recovery more difficult. Now the mall is gone – at the developer’s considerable expense – and the reknitting of Pine and St. Paul Streets is ensured by the City’s Official Map. While change is coming slower than we wanted, we are much closer to restoring a vibrant, mixed-use neighborhood to this part of the City than we have been in decades, and the developers cannot turn back.
 

Moving Forward

We are demanding Brookfield give the public a much fuller update on their plans and the project status as soon as possible. The next update should include:

• Plans and illustrations of the project changes Brookfield is pursuing;
• A plan to minimize public right of way impacts during this extended construction period;
• Commitments to minimize the impacts of delay on neighbors and support the continued health of downtown; and
• A general project timeline that includes on-the-ground progress as soon as possible and makes every effort to meet UVM Medical Center’s needs and bring jobs to downtown Burlington.

We look forward to hearing more from Brookfield soon, and to sharing further updates on and explanations of the City’s actions as we can. Over the last seven years this Administration – working in partnership with the City Council and many others – has made considerable progress with strengthening our municipal finances, improving our public infrastructure, reviving the northern waterfront, rebuilding the Bike Path, and addressing the opioid crisis. We will continue to bring the same focus, judgment, and – especially – persistence that has produced positive results on these fronts and others to completing this vital effort to strengthen our downtown.
 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 11, 2019
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Statement from Mayor Miro Weinberger on City Hall Park Construction

Burlington, VT –  Earlier today, Judge Helen Toor denied for the second time a motion for a preliminary injunction to halt work in City Hall Park, which was filed by a group of individuals that has repeatedly sought to block the planned revitalization of the park. In her ruling, the judge wrote, "The court has already ruled that the replacement of older trees with younger ones, and the plaintiffs' sadness at seeing the changes in the park, do not meet the legal definition of irreparable harm." While this ruling does not fully resolve all remaining City Hall Park litigation, the City expects to prevail again in those proceedings. This ruling does allow the City to proceed with construction of the City Hall Park improvement project. 

Additionally, contrary to the plaintiffs' claims, the project's permit is valid. The project permit states that "work or action authorized by the permit" must commence by March 22, 2019, and indeed, the City has been actively engaged in work to advance the project.  Further, contaminated soils in the park required a Corrective Action Plan, which was approved on May 27, resetting the permit clock.

"Even before I was Mayor, citizens and the City have been working to create a plan that will revitalize City Hall Park and make it much greener, more accessible, and better suited to its use in our downtown than it is today," said Mayor Miro Weinberger. "It is exciting that after years of work, we are underway on a project that will do just that. At the same time, it is unfortunate that there is a group that continues to spread misinformation about the project and seeks to block it at every turn, even after the City went to great lengths and made substantial project changes to address the group's concerns. I hope that we can now move past this latest dispute and focus on reinvigorating Burlington's core public space and the park that is both the geographic and symbolic heart of our City."
 

About the City Hall Park Improvement Project

The City Hall Park improvement project is designed to reinvigorate this vital public space in the heart of Burlington’s downtown. When work is complete, City Hall Park will be home to 48 healthy trees with room to grow (compared with 51 trees today, more than half of which are in declining health), more than 1,500 new perennials and grasses, two new rain gardens to mitigate stormwater runoff and soil erosion, pervious pavers that help increase accessibility and focus foot traffic away from lawns, realigned park paths that allow for greater accessibility and healthier trees, better accommodations for the Farmers Market on busy summer Saturdays, a multi-functional fountain, new public art, and double the amount of seating within the park. This project is the culmination of a revitalization effort that began with more than 500 Burlingtonians participating in the Imagine City Hall Park planning process in 2011, and continuing through more than 20 public meetings that spanned 2016-2018. For a full history and more information about the project plans, see: enjoyburlington.com/city-hall-park-improvements

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2019
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Opening of Water Works Park

With the transformation of a former parking lot into Burlington’s newest public park, the City also celebrates the broader revival of the northern waterfront

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger, along with City staff and community partners, today announced the grand opening of Water Works Park. The City’s newest public park, Water Works Park is located at the edge of Lake Champlain, and includes walking paths, large garden beds planted with native trees and shrubs, LED lighting, nine benches, stormwater improvements, a boardwalk, and greater access to Lake Champlain.

“With today’s opening of Water Works Park, the City now has a great new public space in the heart of the reborn northern waterfront,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Surrounded by a host of new, active uses – the Community Sailing Center, the Skatepark, the Burlington Harbor Marina, and soon the Moran FRAME – the park is built to support everything from couples sharing a bench by the lake to crowds enjoying food trucks, music, and the outdoors. The park’s opening continues the expansion of and reinvestment in Burlington’s Parks system that has been a hallmark of recent years.”

Water Works Park contains a number of features designed to increase accessibility, safety, and sustainability in this portion of Lake Champlain, including:

• Large garden beds planted with over 50 native shrubs and ornamental grasses, along with 15 new trees;
• A wood boardwalk to create a safer and more accessible area for walking along the formerly eroding and compacted seawall;
• Scenic walking paths;
• Nine benches, including the Roth Stone, a large memorial stone bench that was donated to the community by the Haase Family and carved by Jim Sardonis, the artist who also created Reverence (Whales Tails) along I-89, and which has been relocated to Water Works Park;
• Improved access directly to Lake Champlain through the fishing pier, boardwalk, and western seawall;
• LED lighting; and
• More still to come, including bike racks and additional trash cans later this summer, and new public restrooms upon the completion of the Burlington Harbor Marina.

What is now Water Works Park was formerly a small parking area with 23 parking spaces. While better utilizing this water’s edge land in the form of the park, the City also maintained parking access through the creation of 1) Four ADA accessible parking spaces and eight 15-minute drop-off spaces in an adjacent short-term parking area, which uses permeable pavers to help manage stormwater, and 2) The new East Parking Lot on the other side of the Water Treatment Facility, which will be paved with porous asphalt and opened later this summer.

Water Works Park was built as part of the public-private partnership between the City and the Burlington Harbor Marina, which has helped make possible the reinvestment and expanded public amenities in this portion of the waterfront. The Park was designed by Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architects, and built by primary contractors J. Hutchins, Inc. and Landshapes. The City funded Water Works Park through an investment of approximately $296,000 through the Waterfront TIF district.

"Burlington Harbor Marina is excited to participate in the opening of the new Water Works Park, an outstanding example of the collaborative effort to provide better public access to Burlington's waterfront,” said Jack Wallace, developer of the Burlington Harbor Marina. “This beautiful park will serve as a welcoming introduction to all our marina visitors coming to Burlington by water and land. The construction of Water Works Park includes much needed stormwater improvements, as well as upgrades and maintenance to water system infrastructure beneath the park. I look forward to the improvements to the Moran site which combined with the marina, park, and sailing center will complete the transformation of the northern waterfront."

Creation of Water Works Park

The planning for Water Works Park began in January 2014, when the City announced a slate of six projects to strengthen the waterfront. These projects were selected by a public committee through the Public Investment Action Plan (PIAP) process, and funded through the Waterfront TIF district without any impact on property taxes. Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a tool that uses the future tax revenue generated by new growth to fund investments in public infrastructure and facilities without directly impacting individual taxpayers. (See more about TIF on the City website).

Today, five years later, these projects have transformed the northern waterfront. The Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center is celebrating its second summer at its landmark new home; Waterfront Park and the entire northern waterfront have received much-needed new landscaping, environmental remediation, and utility relocation; ECHO has opened a new parking amenity and solar canopy, and is installing rain gardens and public art; and the Burlington Harbor Marina opened this summer to create a home for many more boats in the Burlington harbor.

As the City worked on Waterfront Park and Waterfront Access North, as well as the Burlington Harbor Marina, the City also started looking at what to do with the small parking area behind the Drinking Water Treatment Facility and ways to improve the accessibility and health of this part of the water’s edge. The result is Water Works Park.

Naming a New City Park

This portion of the Burlington waterfront has a key role in the history of the City and the delivery of core municipal services, including water and later, electricity. It was here where, in 1867, Burlington Water Works (now Water Resources) built its first pump house to begin the withdrawal and distribution of water from Lake Champlain to Burlingtonians’ taps.

Today, an expanded version of that original 1867 pump house still borders the east side of Water Works Park, and functions as part of the Francis J. O’Brien Water Treatment Facility that is immediately adjacent to the new park, and from which the park gets its name. Just behind the building wall next to the park, the City takes in an average of 4 million gallons of Lake Champlain water every day, filters and treats it, and delivers it to taps around Burlington.

“As the twenty-fifth Water Superintendent of Burlington Water Works and a representative of its long history, I am extremely pleased with the creation of this fantastic new park nestled between our pumping and drinking water treatment facility and Burlington’s drinking water source, Lake Champlain,” said Megan Moir, Division Director of Water Resources. “While much of our infrastructure is underground and thus not as visible as other City services, the naming and dedication of this space as Water Works Park helps give recognition to the important role that Burlington Water Works (Water Resources) has had and still plays in the provision of vital clean water services to the City of Burlington.”

Continued Investment in City Park System

Water Works Park is part of a recent period of renewed investment in the City’s parks system, which has opened new public lands and amenities for public use and enjoyment. Other recent investments include:

• Rehabilitation of, by the end of this year, nearly seven of the eight miles of the Burlington Bike Path, including with the creation of “pause places” that create new areas for enjoyment of and access to Lake Champlain;
• Acquisition of 12 acres that the City is turning into a new park, including new access to Lake Champlain through Texaco Beach, at 311 North Avenue;
• Improved public access to the 163-acre Rock Point and Arms Forest in the heart of Burlington, ensuring that Burlingtonians now have access to the Lake Champlain shoreline in a nearly unbroken path from Perkins Pier all the way to Rock Point; and
• More than 100 projects through Penny for Parks, a voter-approved dedicated tax that goes into a parks improvement fund, which Mayor Weinberger worked to revive in spring 2012.

“This Park is the latest in an exciting new investment in and expansion of our Parks system, especially along our lake, which includes the Bike Path, Pause Places, new public waterfront access at Texaco Beach, A_Dog Skatepark, 311 North Avenue, and more,” said Cindi Wight, Burlington Parks, Recreation and Waterfront Director. “Water Works Park and the fishing pier allow for a quieter place to enjoy our beautiful waterfront and provide new connections to the other amenities in this part of our waterfront and the water’s edge.”

Future of the Northern Waterfront

As the City completes five of the six projects that were part of the PIAP slate to transform the northern waterfront, the remaining project is to bring resolution and restored public access to the Moran Plant. The City is working hard toward that goal. In March, the City Council voted unanimously to move forward with the FRAME concept for the Moran Plant, which will peel back much of the exterior of the building to reveal the structure beneath, stabilize and remediate the site, and add needed amenities to the northern waterfront.

This concept is different from past ideas for Moran in a crucial way: It is affordable and achievable. The City has about $5.4 million of voter-approved economic development funds reserved for Moran in the Waterfront TIF district to complete the first phase of the project quickly with no impact on Burlington property tax rates. Now, the City team has begun the land use and construction permitting process. For more information about the FRAME concept for Moran, see: burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/Moran.

The long-term goal is to recreate connectivity along the edge of Lake Champlain from ECHO all the way through the Moran Plant and up past the Sailing Center, until the water’s edge reconnects with the Bike Path, allowing the creation of a new, circular route that people can use to experience the waterfront.

Photo of Water Works Park:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 18, 2019
Contact:  Olivia LaVecchia
                 (802) 734-0617

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Groundbreaking on Next Phase of Bike Path Rehabilitation

Following years of successful work to bring the northern section of the Burlington Bike Path up to new standards, the City is now turning the same attention to the southern portion

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced the groundbreaking of the next phase of work to rehabilitate all eight miles of the Burlington Bike Path, which will bring Bike Path improvements into the South End. Following successful work to steward and upgrade the five miles of the path that stretch from Perkins Pier to the Winooski River Bridge, the City is now turning to the remaining 2.4 miles in the southern section of the path. The City will address 1.3 miles of that remaining portion in Phase 3a this construction season, with significant completion of this phase projected for December 2019.

“The Bike Path is a big part of why Burlington is a wonderful City to live in, work in, and visit,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “I am thankful to the prior generations that created this remarkable treasure and proud that we have dramatically improved its northern sections over the last five years through widening, some rerouting, and place-making in key locations. The completion of this generational renewal is now in our sights – South End, here we come!”

Phase 3a will focus on several discontinuous sections of the Bike Path that involve both off-road and on-road improvements: Queen City Park Road to Home Avenue, Proctor Place to Harrison Avenue, and north of the HULA property to Perkins Pier. Throughout these sections, the City will work to implement the same standards that it has in the northern section, with a safer alignment, extra width, accessible grade, smoother and more consistent paving, addition of a formal shoulder for running and walking on both sides of the pavement, and pause places that create space for people to stop and enjoy. The City plans to create a new pause place for the South End at Roundhouse Park in Phase 3a, with an additional pause place and UVM Medical Center Exercise Station to come at Oakledge Park during Phase 3b.

“I am so glad that this investment is now reaching the South End, and I am looking forward to a smoother and wider ride, connecting the South End with the recreational opportunities and improvements that have already been completed on the northerly portions of the path,” said City Councilor Joan Shannon, South District. “These changes will benefit South End residents and businesses, and all those who live in, work in, and visit Burlington for decades to come.”

Summary of This Year’s Work

Highlights of Phase 3a include the following:

• Creating a welcoming entrance to the underutilized segment between Queen City Park Road and Home Avenue, known as Segment Zero, including by improving the grade to make the path more accessible for people of all abilities;
• Working with the City’s Department of Public Works to pave and mark the onstreet portion of the Bike Path between Home Avenue and the entrance to Oakledge Park at Austin Drive;
• Widening the currently narrow section across and along the Barge Canal to the standard, 15foot multi-use path width, including across the bridge. This complex work will be possible only during low Lake conditions, which the City expects in the late summer to early fall;
• Implementing a realignment north of the Barge Canal in order to shield the path from waves on Lake Champlain; and
• Adding a new pause place at Roundhouse Point with benches and landscaping to allow users to enjoy the views of Lake Champlain, thanks to a generous donation through the Parks Foundation.

"The Foundation is pleased to continue its support of the total rehabilitation of the Bike Path along with the construction of new pause places for lake views and other amenities along the path,” said John Bossange, member of the Bike Path Task Force that laid the groundwork for the path rehabilitation, Founding President of the Parks Foundation, and longtime Parks Commissioner. “This newly constructed section of pathway will draw us closer to the full completion of the eight miles of Bike Path."

Throughout Phase 3a, construction work will use fresh soil and new plants to raise grades and protect against flooding, stabilize shorelines, and enhance stormwater runoff capture.  The work will also enhance the Bike Path’s landscaping, including through a proactive response to the inevitable arrival of the emerald ash borer by taking down hazard prone ash trees, and replanting a total of 57 new disease-resistant, long-lived canopy trees and flowering shrubs to take their place. Phase 3a will result in a net gain for Burlington’s Urban Forest, and make our City more resilient to the impacts of climate change.

“Our Parks Master Plan focuses on enhancing connections, improving the safety and accessibility of our active transportation and recreational facilities, and paying close attention to ecological health and climate resilience, which are all woven into projects such as the Greenway Rehabilitation,” said Cindi Wight, Director of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront. “By bringing Segment Zero up to our standard, better integrating it into the Burlington Greenway proper, and making the facility more open and accessible to all, we are enhancing the connection to the incredible multi-use path network of our friends in the City of South Burlington. As a bike commuter who loves to use our improved connections on the now completed northern sections of the Greenway, I appreciate how impactful this can be for our southern residents and neighbors.”

Schedule and Planned Closures

As construction of the Phase 3a improvements gets underway, the City is working to manage the impacts of closures to the path to complete this necessary work. The Parks Department and its contractor will be building and re-opening each segment in Phase 3a separately in order to minimize disruption to the Bike Path. Bike Path users can expect the following segments to be closed during the below periods of time:

• Late June - early July: Queen City Parkway to Home Avenue (detour to Industrial Avenue)
• Mid-July to late July: Proctor Place/Harrison Avenue (detour Flynn Avenue to Maple Street)
• Mid-August to November/December: Barge Canal and Roundhouse Point
• Mid-October to November/December: Perkins Pier walkways

The construction budget for Phase 3a is $2.39 million, which will be funded through the Capital Budget, Penny for Parks, and philanthropic contributions from the Parks Foundation of Burlington.

Bike Path users can find the latest information about closures and construction progress on the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront website at this link: https://enjoyburlington.com/greenway-phase-3/

Background: Current Effort is Product of Years of Planning, Effort and Generosity

The rehabilitation of the entire Burlington Bike Path is a multi-year project estimated to cost a total of $16.5 million. Phase 1a encompassed the segment from Perkins Pier to Penny Lane, and was completed in summer of 2015. Phase 1b picked up from Penny Lane, realigned the path through the Urban Reserve and added a new mini park, lookout, and 3 new UVM Medical Center Fitness Stations. Phase 2 covered just over 3 miles of full reconstruction from north of the North Beach overpass to the intersection of North Avenue Extension, and additional paving from North Avenue Extension to the Winooski River Bridge. Each phase has enhanced safety, ecological function, and connectivity, transforming the Bike Path into a linear system of parks.

The effort to rehabilitate the Burlington Bike Path began in 2010 with the convening of the Bike Path Task Force, which recommended a $12-16 million enhancement to bring the Bike Path up to modern standards. Following significant flood damage in April 2011, in November 2012, Burlington voters approved two significant ballot items to fund the improvement and maintenance of the Bike Path, and also supported ongoing investment in infrastructure through the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan in 2016. Reinvestment in the Bike Path has also been made possible by the Parks Foundation of Burlington, which has raised over $1 million to supplement public investment in the Bike Path.

For more information about Phase 3a, please see:

• “Burlington Greenway Updates”

For more information about the work to rehabilitate the Bike Path, please see:

• “Mayor Weinberger Reopens the Entire Northern Bike Path,” December 2017
• “Next Phase of Bike Path Rehabilitation Breaks Ground,” June 2016
• “Governor Shumlin, Speaker Smith, Mayor Weinberger, Bike Path Stakeholders Break Ground on Enhanced, Expanded Bike Path Construction,” October 2014
• “Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Next Steps for Bike Path Enhancements and Expansion,” May 2013
• “Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Bike Path Repair Progress and Schedule,” May 2012

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 17, 2019

Contact: Olivia LaVecchia

                  (802) 734-0617

City Council Approves Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2020 Budget

From clean water to affordable housing, budget reflects Burlington’s values

Burlington, VT – At its meeting tonight, the City Council approved the Mayor’s Fiscal Year 2020 budget by an 11-1 vote.

“This year’s budget continues our track record of responsibly stewarding Burlington’s finances while also reinvesting in the present and future of our City,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Contained in the many pages of this budget is the story of our City, from rehabilitating our roads and sidewalks to sustaining community investments like our Early Learning Initiative and Housing Trust Fund. We have worked hard to make these needed investments while prioritizing affordability for Burlington property taxpayers, and have kept increases in property taxes for City operations well below the rate of inflation over the last eight budgets. I thank Chief Administrative Officer Beth Anderson and her team, and the City Department Heads and their teams, who deserve a great deal of credit for the hard work they have put in to make this possible.”

Please see Mayor Weinberger’s Fiscal Year 2020 proposed budget memorandum to City Council below. The full FY2020 budget is available on the City website.

MEMORANDUM

TO:                        City Council

FROM:                  Mayor Miro Weinberger

DATE:                  June 16, 2019

Herein is the Mayor’s Proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20). This budget builds upon the strong financial foundation re-established over the last seven years through the commitment of the Administration, City Council, and Burlington voters. In particular, I would like to recognize the hard work of our Chief Administrative Officer, Beth Anderson, who has led the budget process, the members of her team, and the City Department Heads and their teams, who deserve a great deal of credit for our financial progress.

Burlington taxpayers have made record investments in our capital infrastructure as well as many of our social and community goals over the past seven years. This budget maintains these important investments in social programs and also continues the historic investments in our infrastructure.

The FY20 Budget continues, for the third year, the historically high investments in streets, sidewalks, and water infrastructure as called for by the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan approved by the voters in 2016. In addition, this year’s budget includes substantial funding for the recently approved Clean Water Resiliency Plan. In addition, this year’s budget includes federal dollars for the Champlain Parkway and investments at the airport. As a result, in total, FY20 will likely see greater investment in Burlington’s public infrastructure than in any prior year.

Strong Municipal Financial Position

From my first days as mayor, in partnership with the City Council, this administration has focused on restoring the City’s credit rating, and since 2012 the City has received four credit rating upgrades. The most recent upgrade from Moody’s was in November 2017 when the City was upgraded from A3 to A2. These upgrades keep millions of dollars here in Burlington that would otherwise be sent to Wall Street. The most recent Fiscal Health Report from our Clerk/Treasurer’s Office estimates that since the rating upgrades began, the City has locked in savings of more than $15 million for Burlingtonians.

Unassigned Fund Balance

In 2015, the Administration and City Council completed a new Fund Balance policy that called for the accrual of an Unassigned Fund Balance of at least 5 percent and no more than 15 percent by FY19. We achieved this goal much more quickly than anticipated, finishing FY17 with an Unassigned Fund Balance of $8.4 million, a figure representing approximately 14 percent of operating costs. In FY19, we began investing Unassigned Fund Balance dollars in excess of the 10 percent to support projects that would result in benefits to the City, improved service to residents, operational efficiencies, and cost savings.

Following an audit that confirmed that the City had an Unassigned Fund Balance of approximately $9.7 million at the end of FY18, in FY20, we are proposing using $1,293,000 of the Unassigned Fund Balance for the following purposes:

• $568,000 for the construction and repair of sidewalks as outlined in the City’s Sustainable Infrastructure plan, to ensure that the work in FY20 meets the target of three miles of sidewalk outlined without the need for additional bonding;
• $475,000 to expand the FY20 paving contract by 25% to address a number of roads that were not included in the most recent paving contract due to price constraints, bringing the work in line with the targets outlined in the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan;
• Up to $100,000 to hire a consultant to evaluate the opportunity to modify the existing Street Franchise Fee Ordinance to expand the application of fees for use of the public right of way to deliver services; and
• Up to $150,000 to digitize zoning files and property records that are currently in City Hall and are used by staff of the newly formed Department of Permitting & Inspections, which will be located at 645 Pine Street, and by the public.

Continuing and Institutionalizing Successful New Programs and Pilot Programs

The FY20 budget continues several of the new programs and pilot programs that were funded through Unassigned Fund Balance or carry-forward in FY20:

• Continues funding to contract with a professional mental health counselor to work with the Fire Department to support the well-being of firefighters;
• Continues the expanded lifeguard season at North Beach in response to Chief Steven Locke’s policy review following the tragic death of Burlington High School student Christian Kibabu;
• Continues increased funding for BCA’s New Year’s Eve event, “Highlight.” After a successful event ringing in 2019, BCA will continue holding Highlight with low-cost tickets and accessible programming for families; and
• Continues expanded funding of Senior Centers. The FY20 budget includes funding for the Parks Department to operate the Champlain Senior Center through the CORE program at the ONE Community Center. It also maintains the increased funding for the Heineberg Senior Center in the New North End. The Senior Center Study Committee completed a report that recommended that the City take on the operation of the Heineberg Senior Center through the Park’s Department. The Administration is continuing to review that recommendation and determine opportunities for additional cost savings and efficiencies, and plans to come back to the Council with a proposed arrangement early in FY20.

Continuing and Growing Community Investments

The FY20 budget continues and expands funding programs that connect Burlingtonians from vulnerable incomes and backgrounds with opportunities:

• Early Learning Initiative – In addition to funding capacity grants to daycare centers to expand slots for infants and toddlers, the FY20 budget includes the ELI First Steps Scholarship Program to award 20 or more families with a one-year scholarship for Fall 2019 enrollment in childcare.

• Maintains Increased Funding of the Housing Trust Fund – The FY20 budget again includes $175,000 of supplemental funding for the Housing Trust Fund to increase the City’s contribution to the equivalent of a one cent assessment of the Grand List. At the City’s recent Housing Summit, the community had the opportunity to weigh in on proposals to further expand the Housing Trust Fund and I expect that the package of policies that I deliver to the Council this fall will include mechanisms for this additional increase.

• Funding for Low-Barrier Shelter Extension – The FY19 budget included $60,000 for a pilot program to extend the CHCB Low-Barrier Winter Warming Shelter into June. The CHCB Shelter will soon close for the summer season, and the Administration will be spending the upcoming weeks and months evaluating the success of the pilot and determining how we will proceed for the upcoming season. The FY20 budget includes the same $60,000 allocation towards a low-barrier shelter option, and we will work with partners in CEDO and the Continuum of Care to determine how this funding should be used in the coming year, taking into consideration the results of the pilot.

• Resources to Combat the Opioid Epidemic – The City has seen real progress flowing from the commitment, focus, and constellation of innovative strategies that the City and our partners have implemented over the last two years, and we plan to aggressively and relentlessly continue this work. The FY20 budget funds the Opioid Policy Coordinator in the Police Department, recently retitled the Drug, Mental Illness & Homelessness Policy Coordinator to acknowledge the overlap in high-risk behaviors that the Police Department encounters on a daily basis. This position has also recently taken on a pilot program to screen every arrestee for opioid abuse and offer to connect them to low-barrier rapid-access medically assisted treatment.

Expanded CEDO Capacity and NPA Funding

Former CEDO Directors Noelle Mackay and Neale Lunderville undertook an extensive strategic planning process for the Department that led to staff writing a vision statement that reflects the team’s desire to be aspirational and future-looking while remaining true to the organization’s founding principles: “Our vision is to make Burlington the most livable, just, and connected community in America by empowering individual voices in the life of our city, fostering healthy neighborhoods and housing choice, and advancing people-centered development.”

The F20 budget includes funding to create a new Assistant Director of Community Works and funding to give more flexibility to largely grant-funded positions so that staff can dedicate more time and resources towards the priorities of the CEDO Strategic Plan. These priorities are equity, housing, and community and economic development.

The FY20 CEDO budget also increases funding for the Neighborhood Planning Assemblies from $3,200 – the level it had been at for many years – to $20,000 ($2,500 is allocated for each Ward). The NPAs advocated for and the Administration supported this increased allocation so that they could plan more community events and fund neighborhood-level projects.

Sustainable Infrastructure Plan and Capital Improvements

FY20 includes a third year in a row of historic reinvestment in our roads, sidewalks, and other infrastructure. Thanks to the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan that voters passed in 2016, this year, we plan to repave more than four miles of roads, which will bring our three-year total to 17 miles – approximately double the work of a typical three-year period. At the same time, we are also tripling our investment in sidewalks, rehabilitating our waterlines, and making other needed investments to ensure that our core infrastructure is sound. Other highlights of this investment include:

• The funding necessary to complete summer 2019 rebuilding of Ethan Allen Parkway, Flynn Avenue, Pine Street, and Curtis Avenue, and complete large patch sections on Intervale Road, Archibald Street, South Prospect, and North Street; and
• The rebuilding of the Bike Path south of Perkins Pier, completing the reconstruction of approximately seven of the eight miles of our Waterfront Bike Path.

Landmark Investments in Water Department and Infrastructure

In November 2018, 92 percent of voters supported the Clean Water Resiliency Plan, a $30 million revenue bond to stabilize, modernize, and upgrade Burlington’s wastewater and stormwater infrastructure. The FY20 budget includes drawing down $1.49 million of the authorized bonding for capital work, including replacing critical disinfection equipment, plans for wastewater infrastructure improvements at the wastewater plants, developing a program to better pretreat industrial waste, and design work to upgrade or replace eleven of the 25 existing wastewater pump stations throughout the City’s network. The budget also includes funding to increase the staffing capacity for the Water Department to accomplish this critical work.

In November 2017, Moody’s affirmed the City’s Water Utility A1 rating, recognizing the City for its stable service area and ample system capacity, healthy debt service coverage and improving liquidity, and sound legal security provisions. As a result of this strong credit rating, the Water Department will secure better borrowing rates and be able to accomplish more work for the $30 million voter-approved bonding.

FY20 Budget Includes Voter-Approved Property Tax Increase

In March 2019, Burlington voters approved increasing the general city tax rate to $0.2729, bringing our overall city tax rate to $0.8759 in FY20. However, shortly after that approval the City completed the Burlington Telecom agreement which included substantial repayment of BT related expenses. At a time when the City has nearly $17 million of uncommitted funds available to it (nearly $10 million of Unassigned Fund Balance in addition to $7 million of BT settlement funds), I do not think it is right to utilize that new taxing authority. As in the last three years, we will continue the practice of taxing Burlingtonians at a lower rate than the voters have approved. For eight budget years now, the City has held taxes that fund the operating costs of City government well below the rate of inflation (see below).

It is important that property tax payers understand why they will still see an approximately 5 percent increase in their municipal taxes over FY19 levels. The main drivers of this increase are:

• An increase in the debt service tax related to increased level of bonding for the Sustainable Infrastructure Plan. This increase is fully consistent with the debt schedule projected for voters prior to their 76 percent approval of this infrastructure bonding 2016; and
• An increase in the retirement tax that funds the Burlington Employee Retirement System. This increase follows three years of flat payments from FY16-FY18, and was largely driven by the need to reduce the systems assumed rate of return from 8 percent to 7.5 percent as most other public plans have done in recent years, putting the system on a much sounder footing. The new agreements signed with all four bargaining units in this current year all continue our efforts to share the system risk with employees, and include provisions for employees to share in the overall annual funding costs, at a level of 28 percent in FY20, 29 percent in FY21, and 30 percent in F22. The average Burlington homeowner will pay approximately $48 more as a result of this retirement tax increase.

Full Resolution of Burlington Telecom Crisis in FY19

In March 2019 – a decade after the Burlington Telecom crisis burst into public view, and after years of hard work and negotiations – the City brought the crisis to full resolution by completing the transfer of Burlington Telecom to Schurz Communications. Citibank fully released Burlington from the $33.5+ million lawsuit and the City recovered $6.97 million of lost taxpayer funds (an additional recovery of up to $500,000 in the future is possible), while also ensuring high-speed broadband choice for Burlingtonians in perpetuity and locking in numerous other protections for BT users. The City also successfully retained ownership of the building that houses Burlington Telecom throughout the Citibank dispute and will now begin receiving rental payments of $115,000 a year and tax payments of $18,000 annually.

When these cash benefits are added to value to of the related credit rating upgrades, it is clear that the resolution of the BT crisis was worth tens of millions of dollars to Burlingtonians and has put the City on a stronger financial footing than we have been on in years as we prepare to approve the FY20 Budget.

This budget does not yet include the appropriation of any funds recovered from the BT settlement. After discussions at the Board of Finance in recent weeks, we are now planning a first City Council work session to discuss the City’s use of these funds at the July 15 City Council meeting. It is likely that the Administration will propose a budget adjustment to use approximately $1.2 million of these settlement funds for new sidewalk snowplows for consideration at that work session (the snowplows must be ordered before the end of July to maintain the quoted pricing and ensure delivery before winter).

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 17, 2019
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Mayor Weinberger, Head Start, and Burlington Housing Authority Break Ground on New High-Quality Child Care Center in Old North End

City’s Early Learning Initiative Helps Leverage Federal Funds to Increase Access to Child Care for Burlington Residents; New Center to Begin Operations in Fall 2019

Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger and community leaders today broke ground on a new, high-quality child care center in the Old North End, which is the result of a collaboration between CVOEO & Champlain Valley Head Start, Burlington Housing Authority, and the City of Burlington’s Early Learning Initiative (ELI). The new center will create 23 total child care spots, made up of 15 spots for children ages three to five years old in the fall of 2019 and eight additional spots for infants and toddlers in the fall of 2020.

These new spaces add to a total number of additional spots that ELI has made possible, including those currently being developed at the YMCA and Sarah Holbrook Community Center. If the City Council approves the second year slate of capacity grants at its June 24 meeting, the Burlington Early Learning Initiative will have supported the the creation of 85 new child care spaces in Burlington since 2018, 70 of which will be infant and toddler spaces. These 85 new spaces will be coming online over the next 18 months.

The Mayor was joined at the groundbreaking by City Councilor Brian Pine (Ward 3), Burlington Housing Authority Director of Properties Chris Barrett, Champlain Valley Head Start Executive Director Paul Behrman, Let’s Grow Kids CEO Aly Richards, and Brian Lowe, the City’s Chief Innovation Officer and person who oversees the ELI program.

“The creation of a new child care center in an underserved area of the City is precisely what we hoped to generate when the City began its Early Learning Initiative in 2015,” said Mayor Weinberger. “It is exciting to see this innovative municipal initiative making a real impact, and significantly expanding the number of spaces available for Burlington families who need child care.”

“Champlain Valley Head Start (CVHS) is delighted at this incredible opportunity to better serve children and families in this section of Burlington’s Old North End,” said Paul Behrman. “With support from Burlington Housing Authority, the City’s Early Learning Initiative, and the federal Office of Head Start, the new CVHS facility will increase our capacity to provide high-quality, early care and education services for children ages birth to five, coordination of children’s health services, and social service support for families. We hope to see the new Head Start center become a source of joy and support, and add to the quality of life in the community.”

“Affordable child care has been a struggle since I raised my kids in this neighborhood, and I’m glad to see an outstanding program like Head Start planning to open its doors here in just a few months,” said Ward 3 City Councilor Brian Pine. “The City is taking some forceful steps to address a long-standing problem, and I’m pleased to support the Mayor on this effort.”

“Let’s Grow Kids is honored to partner with the City of Burlington on the Early Learning Initiative and we commend Mayor Weinberger’s leadership and focus on this crucial issue,” said Aly Richards, CEO of Let’s Grow Kids, which helped the City design the Early Learning Initiative and provides critical technical support for the project. “We know now that early childhood is our best chance to create the ultimate level playing field. Burlington’s ELI project is an example of the kind of determination and innovation we are going to need to solve our state’s child care crisis. The lessons we learn here will help us hone the statewide solution our children need and deserve.” Let’s Grow Kids is a statewide movement working to achieve affordable access to high-quality child care for all Vermont families by 2025.

CVOEO/Champlain Valley Head Start is one of four organizations selected to receive a capacity grant this year, which the City will bring before the City Council to consider on Monday, June 24. The CVOEO/Champlain Valley Head Start proposal leverages $90,849 in City funding and $249,000 in federal funds to renovate an existing building in an area of the City without sufficient child care options.

The City’s Early Learning Initiative is made up of two pieces: One, capacity grants to assist organizations with creating new high-quality child care spots in Burlington, and two, the First Steps Scholarship Program to connect children from low-income families with that care and new capacity. The City has developed this approach in response to input from a wide range of community stakeholders, and with it, is implementing a multi-pronged solution to tackle a many-layered problem. ELI is funded through existing City resources from payment-in-lieu of taxes (PILOT) funds, and does not increase the City’s operating costs.

The following sections provide detail on the proposed 2019 grants, an update on the pilot year of the ELI First Steps Scholarship Program, and background on the ELI effort.

Capacity Grant Program

This is the second year of the capacity grant program. Last year, the City awarded grants to seven child care providers to strengthen and expand high-quality child care opportunities in Burlington for children from birth to three years old as part of a process that incorporated substantial public feedback and adjustments.

This year, $210,000 in capacity grants will support the creation of at least 23 new spots.

The four grants for FY2019 that the City Council will consider at its June 24 meeting are as follows:

• New High-Quality Child Care Center in the Old North End: Proposed by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) and Champlain Valley Head Start (CVHS) in cooperation with the Burlington Housing Authority, this project would use a combination of City and Federal dollars to create a new, high-quality child care center at 216 Intervale Ave. (part of the 669 Riverside Ave. complex). The project would bring 15 spots for children ages three to five years old online in September 2019, and eight infant and toddler spots online in the fall of 2020 in an underserved area of the City. The City is proposing awarding $90,849 to support the fit-up costs of this new site. The Office of Head Start will supply an additional $249,000 in federal funds for the renovation, and BHA is providing substantial in-kind contributions including site work, legal review of the lease terms, and assistance with advancing the project through the City’s development review process.

• Preservation and Foundation for Future Expansion: The second grant proposed is a preservation grant made to Burlington Children’s Space (BCS) in the Old North End. Last year, the City awarded BCS $75,000 to support BCS’s purchase of their building and the retirement of a balloon debt payment. The acquisition substantially reduces BCS’s annual operating costs and gives the center greater flexibility to expand in the future. Over the past year, at the encouragement of the Grant Committee as a requirement of the first $75,000 in support, BCS completed an intensive business planning process that helped improve the organization’s operating profile, support the building acquisition, and support increases in teacher pay. In combination with increases in the State child care financial assistance program and potential new revenues from the City scholarship program, BCS’s prospects are even brighter and the possibility of future expansion is more realistic.

• Adapting, Strengthening, and Laying the Groundwork for Future Expansion: The third grant addresses a critical need for Pine Forest Children’s Center and galvanizes an important expansion project. Situated in the South End, Pine Forest serves a diverse population of families, a high percentage of whom are eligible for child care financial assistance. The center is currently bursting at the seams and watching their parking lot become busier and less conducive to child care. The new City Market and expanding businesses have brought more traffic to the area and with it concerns of child safety and access to crucial outdoor play. Pine Forest has partnered with a third party and secured a signed Memorandum of Understanding to explore an expanded program at a nearby property in the same area of the City.  The proposed $20,000 grant will provide the center with necessary funds to develop architectural drawings for a new building and begin capital campaign fundraising. This grant would assist one of the few South End centers as plans its expansion to serve more Burlington families.

• Leveraging New Resources with an Innovative, Complementary Program: A City department is coming in for the fourth capacity grant this year, looking to expand the City’s early childhood education reach. The Fletcher Free Library (FFL) has requested $17,332 to expand their established Early Learning Outreach Program (ELOP), with an additional $30,500 leveraged from private donations. This literacy program travels to 0-3 STAR rated home-based child care centers offering modeling, respite, support and encouragement to the home care providers. The evidence-based enrichment curriculum reaches a population not directly engaged by other ELI efforts, and expands the City’s reach into the early learning realm. Employees and trained volunteers have already reached 40 children and 7 providers with the goal of doubling the reach in the coming year. The program is designed to introduce new families to the library while at the same time strengthening provider resources and improving STAR ratings.

The Grant Committee, listed in alphabetical order below, is composed of community members and representatives from different organizations with various perspectives on early childhood education.

• Kristin Fontaine, Pediatric Outreach Coordinator, University of Vermont Medical Center
• Phelan Fretz, Executive Director, ECHO Leahy Center
• Brian Lowe, Chief Innovation Officer, City of Burlington
• Sarah Muyskens, Parks Foundation Board Member
• Brian Pine, City Councilor and Chair of the Council’s CDNR Committee
• Becca Schrader, Business Resource Manager, Vermont Community Loan Fund

First Steps Scholarship Program Update

The second part of ELI is the First Steps Scholarship Program, which focuses on connecting low-income Burlington children with high-quality child care. The Council reviewed and approved the budget and program for the ELI First Steps Scholarship Program in March 2019.

Since that approval, the City has completed an application process that opened on March 1, 2019 and closed April 26, 2019. In the pilot year of the scholarship program, the City’s aim is to provide one-year scholarships to about 20 Burlington children, focusing on those children born between August 31, 2017 and July 1, 2019. Currently, the City and Let’s Grow Kids have secured spots for all 18 eligible applicants and are now working to make sure the spots match the families’ needs. The City also plans to re-open the application process for a slightly broader age range and build a waiting list of families interested in accessing additional spaces that may become available during the year. Building on what is learned in the pilot year, the City plans to refine and expand the program in future years.

The pilot year of the First Steps Scholarship Program is an exciting and welcomed challenge. Outreach, communication, and flexibility have proven to be key. Based on the results of this pilot year and the evaluation process being developed with Let’s Grow Kids, key community stakeholders, and a local economist, the City intends to leverage additional funding from other private, institutional, and public sources to provide scholarships for high-quality early care to young children living in poverty to expand the impact and public returns of the ELI effort.

Early Learning Initiative Background

Through this innovative municipal initiative, the City aims to address the opportunity gap that is faced by low-income children across the country and also here in Burlington. Research has consistently shown the benefits of investments in early childhood education, which lead to improvements in a wide range of social, economic, health, and education-related outcomes. However, there are many barriers to the access and affordability of high-quality care, one of which is simply that there are not enough spaces available. The City’s research has shown that though about 350 children are born in Burlington each year, fewer than 200 child care spaces are available for children from birth through age three.

As access to and affordability of high-quality childhood education has been identified as a critical issue nationwide, cities around the country have been leading the way in developing solutions. At the same time, the Burlington Early Learning Initiative is unique nationally in its focus on infants and toddlers, and aims to address the particularly severe shortage of high-quality and affordable early care and learning spaces for children from birth through age three.

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Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement in response to the State dismissing charges against Aita Gurung and Louis Fortier:

“Two recent murder cases involving Aita Gurung and Louis Fortier have been dismissed because the State did not have sufficient evidence to rebut their insanity defenses. On the heels of these decisions, the State must do everything within its power and jurisdiction to ensure the safety of Burlingtonians and prevent these individuals from returning to our streets and neighborhoods. Burlingtonians reasonably expect to be protected from those who have committed violent offenses.”

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Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement in response to the May 31, 2019 shooting at the Virginia Beach Municipal Center:

“On Friday in Virginia Beach, 12 innocent Americans were murdered and four others were wounded in yet another shooting rampage. This mass shooting hits close to home, as nearly all the victims were municipal employees diligently working on a Friday afternoon to complete the tasks that keep a community prosperous and healthy. We mourn for these municipal colleagues and the contractor, wish the Virginia Beach community the strength needed to endure this terrible tragedy, and hope for full recoveries for the wounded.

“No other peer nation tolerates such mass killings from gun violence, and America must not either. The lack of any meaningful response from our federal government to these continued massacres is terrible and plain wrong. It must not continue. Gun safety must be a central issue every time voters go to the polls.”

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Burlington, VT – Mayor Miro Weinberger today announced that Executive Director of the Church Street Marketplace Ron Redmond is stepping down from his position, after more than twenty years of service to the City. Redmond’s innovative tenure included helping to launch the Street Outreach Program and create the downtown’s community policing program, building a robust marketing and market research program, and sustained economic health and vibrancy through stabilizing the department’s operating budget. 

“For over thirty years, the Church Street Marketplace has been one of the Northeast’s great urban places,” said Mayor Weinberger. “For more than half of that history, the Marketplace has been run with skill and good will by Ron Redmond. I am grateful for Ron’s service to the City and the Church Street Marketplace, helping to grow and strengthen the Marketplace as a downtown destination for residents and visitors.”

“Serving the City and the Marketplace for over two decades has been a privilege,” said Redmond. “Burlington’s downtown will always hold a special place in my heart and I am looking forward to taking on new challenges.”

“The Church Street Marketplace Commission is grateful to Ron for his years of service to the Marketplace,” said Jeff Nick, chair, Church Street Marketplace District Commission. “Ron has shepherded the Marketplace through a changing and challenging retail environment and helped make Church Street a premier shopping and cultural destination for Vermonters, and New Englanders. While the Commission is sad to see Ron go, we wish him well in his future endeavors.”

Redmond has agreed to stay in his position as Executive Director until December 1, 2019 to ensure a smooth transition to a new director. The Church Street Marketplace Executive Director is appointed by the mayor with the confirmation by the City Council.

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