The Burlington, Vermont City Council held a regular session this week and heard several updates on city-wide projects.
The city council began the meeting with two work sessions on two projects. The city had been awarded $27 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding with the council allocating $2 million toward community and civic infrastructure projects. Burlington Director of Business & Workforce Development Kara Alnasrawi explained that following that approval a citywide survey was launched with a specific section asking about investments in community infrastructure.
“Two million in a municipality is not a great amount of money and we had a goal of having the broadest amount of impact that we could have sort of upgrading and creating new gathering spaces in all the neighborhoods of our city to reach the most residents as possible.”
The Moran Plant began operations in the 1950’s as a coal burning power plant and converted to woodchips in 1977. It was decommissioned in 1986. In 2020 a project began to strip the building to its frame and create a multi-use public space on the Lake Champlain waterfront.
Community and Economic Development Office Assistant Director for Community Works Samantha Dunn presented ideas for next steps in its development.
“Next steps are really about integrating it within the northern waterfront in an expanded waterworks park so that there’s all of the things that we know contribute to improved community gathering. And I think, as was the intention in naming the Frame Project, it does lay the framework for additional uses and improvements as the city better understands how it can serve the community.”
Councilors also heard an update on implementation of a Winooski Avenue Corridor Study. Public Works Director Chapin Spencer says they have received key input from businesses and stakeholders along the project corridor.
“One of the key pieces that I brought forward as a result of the Parking Management Plan was a recommendation to phase this project. We have recommended implementing the smallest section of this corridor that we can and achieve some of our multimodal goals in particular continuous bike facilities from downtown Burlington to downtown Winooski. And we have a proposal to expand the number of time limited spaces. This is only a proposal to add time limited parking signs that do not have accompanying meters.”
There were some concerns expressed about the plan during public comments. Ward 3 resident Liz Curry is concerned about how the plan will impact low-income residents in the area.
“This is one of the city’s two lowest income census tracks. The impacts of the new parking proposal creates a confusing and complex set of parking rules that don’t exist in other neighborhood commercial districts and I think that’s inequitable.”
North Winooski Avenue resident Beth Sightler said she’s heard frustration about the potential impact of the Winooski Avenue Corridor plan.
“The parking regulations are confusing and difficult for people to follow. So my request to you is to establish some kind of a baseline to measure how this is going to work for the businesses and for the social service organizations who are there. I wonder what the impact is going to be on the revitalization zone. I’m asking you to please revisit this and to see how it is going to affect people.”
