Monday, June 27, 2016
It won unanimous approval.
The $200 million budget for fiscal year 2017 will result in a slight decrease in the municipal tax rate — 1 cent per 100 dollars in property value. (Don't expect a smaller bill, however, because the invoice you get in the mail includes both city and school taxes.)
The budget sets aside more money for infrastructure improvements, such as sidewalk and bike path renovations, and repairs to city-owned buildings. It also includes additional funding for the police department, allowing it to maintain a force of 100 officers while funding other positions such as a data analyst who will examine opiate-related issues. And it funds a new community center to be located in what was Saint Joseph School in the Old North End.
Tags: Mayor Miro Weinberger , Burlington city council , budget , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 20, 2016
Bandits dug up hostas, iris and other perennials by the roots, made off with hanging baskets and annuals, and snipped cut flowers before their owners could put them in vases. One resident lost apple trees planted in memory of a loved one.
Front Porch Forum, the neighborhood email newsletter, reported 26 posts about purloined plants dating back to June 8. The incidents ranged from the South End to the North End, with a concentration on streets in and around the Old North End.
Tags: plant , thefts , burlington , shrubs , stolen , Image , Web Only
Friday, June 17, 2016
A 28-year-old man survived a suspected overdose after being found around 9:20 a.m. Thursday at a North Winooski Avenue home. He was taken to the University of Vermont Medical Center for evaluation, police said.
Around 2 p.m., a 27-year-old man died after an apparent overdose in an Archibald Street home, police said. Police said they used naloxone, an overdose-reversing drug now carried by Burlington cops, to try to revive the man.
Detective Lt. Shawn Burke said the incidents do not appear to be related.
Tags: Burlington police , fentanyl , heroin , naloxone , Opioid Crisis , overdose , Image , Web Only
That’s the max allowed under an agreement between the Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Commission and Burlington Segway Tours, the rental company offering the e-bikes.
The commission voted to allow the rentals in April after several years of lobbying by Burlington Segway Tours co-owner Rick Sharp.
Tags: Rick Sharp , Burlington Bike Path , Burlington , Burlington Segway Tour , Burlington Electric Bikes , Burlington Segways , Waterfront Park , Alden Plan , Colchester Causeway , 277 Pine Street , Jesse Bridges , Image , Web Only
Thursday, June 16, 2016
The principal of Burlington High School authorized "thousands of dollars" in payments from student account funds without proper documentation, according to Burlington School District director of finance Nathan Lavery.
Revenue from student parking permits was improperly used to buy professional baseball tickets for employees, he wrote in a June 13 memo to the Burlington School Board. And other payments to high school staff appear to meet the definition of wages rather than reimbursements, and should have been made via payroll — not student activity accounts, Lavery wrote.
The memo never mentions longtime BHS principal Amy Mellencamp by name, but singles her out by title and says she failed to properly manage student account funds. Details on the dollar amounts are not specified. Seven Days has filed a public records request seeking the full report on student accounts.
Tags: Nathan Lavery , Amy Mellencamp , Burlington High School , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 13, 2016
It’s not the first time that Vermont Interfaith Action and its housing allies, which include the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, have issued such a request. But the timing of this latest push — the group is holding a press conference today — is significant.
Mayor Miro Weinberger’s administration is renegotiating the city’s housing agreement with UVM. Under the previous agreement, signed in 2009 when Bob Kiss was mayor, UVM agreed to add another 563 beds on campus and to match any increase in students with the same increase in beds.
As the two parties confer behind closed doors, VIA executive director Debbie Ingram said it’s an opportune time to convince UVM to do more. “One mechanism to help take pressure off our housing market is for our local colleges to take more responsibility for being good community citizens and housing more of their students.”
Tags: University of Vermont , Miro Weinberger , Champlain College , Vermont Interfaith Alliance , student housing , Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
The victims all survived, police said. Authorities used naloxone, a overdose-reversing drug that Burlington police carry, to save some of them, police said.
Fentanyl is impossible for users to detect. It has been showing up in batches of heroin in Vermont with increasing frequency, police said. It caused 29 fatal overdoses in the state in 2015, up from 18 in 2014, according to the Vermont Department of Health.
Musician Prince fatally overdosed on fentanyl in April at his home in Minnesota.
Tags: Brandon del Pozo , Burlington police , fentanyl , heroin , Opioid Crisis , overdose , Image , Web Only
The bustling downtown food co-op — its full name is City Market/Onion River Co-op — is already in the process of expanding to the South End. Its leaders hope to break ground this summer on a 31,000-square-foot store at the corner of Briggs Street and Flynn Avenue.
General manager John Tashiro announced Wednesday that the co-op is also considering adding a third store, at 242 North Winooski Avenue. “Our Members have been clear that they’d like us to have a presence in Burlington’s Old North End,” he noted in the press release.
Tags: City Market , Old North End , Redstone Development Group , South End , Image , Web Only
Monday, June 6, 2016
Burlington’s charter requires that certain high-ranking officials reside within city limits. That requirement has become a topic of debate in recent months, prompting the charter-change committee to consider altering it.
Officials can — and often do — request an exemption if moving to the city would create a hardship for them.
Lunderville, who owns a home in South Burlington with his partner and was requesting an extension of his exemption, told the council that it would be a financial hardship to have to sell that house. The council granted the exemption, although four councilors voted against it.
Tags: Neale Lunderville , Bob Rusten , Burlington city council , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, June 1, 2016
At noon that day, Burlington’s new waterfront skate park is being named in honor of the late Andy “A-Dog” Williams. A skateboarding competition is taking place as part of the ceremony.
Weinberger has so far declined to confirm or deny whether he’ll participate. But he told Seven Days, “Well, I think you might want to show up and find out.”
It appears that in between drafting next year’s budget, overseeing the massive redevelopment of the Burlington Town Center and taking care of other city business, the mayor has been squeezing in early morning training sessions.
Tags: Burlington Skate Park , Miro Weinberger , Image , Web Only