The Burlington, Vermont City Council got an update this week on efforts to bypass a broken underwater sewer pipe and revising zoning in an area of the city that will allow for more housing construction.
A sewer main underneath the Winooski River adjacent to North Plant broke July 12th. The Burlington Department of Public Works began pumping and hauling sewage to the processing facility while a one-mile-long temporary bypass pipe was constructed. DPW Director Chapin Spencer told city councilors the cost to hire pumper trucks to haul sewage for two weeks is expected to be about $210,000 and construction of a one-mile-long emergency bypass sewer main is projected to be $550,000.
“We have been in daily communication with the state’s Emergency Operations Center and FEMA as we respond to this emergency break. We have provided them documentation. We have provided them contracts and I’m pleased to report with our help that Chittenden County has provided enough damages above a threshold to qualify the county for public assistance through FEMA. We are waiting for their final confirmation. The costs are significant. In addition, we have executed a contract with a disaster consultant to help us navigate the FEMA process.”
The temporary bypass pipe was activated on Tuesday.
Councilors also reviewed a resolution to create a South End Innovation District, which changes a light manufacturing zone to mixed-use development. It is intended to create multi-use residential and non-residential development in an area of the city currently dominated by parking lots and empty space.
Mayor Miro Weinberger, a Democrat, praised the council’s unanimous approval of the new district.
“We’re in a housing crisis and a homelessness crisis today and the good news is I think that we have the opportunity to implement one of the more dramatic fixes that we will ever have a chance to do together. By passing this ordinance in a single act we enable more than a thousand homes to be created in this part of the city. It is going to take time and a lot more work to do that but this is the critical first step in making that possible.”
One of the resolutions councilors considered requests that the Vermont Air National Guard work with the Burlington International Airport to reduce or eliminate aviation and ground greenhouse gas emissions. Ward 2 Progressive Gene Bergman says it is in line with the city’s Net Zero by 2030 goal.
“One of the biggest emitters of greenhouse gasses is the U.S. Air Force, a tenant at our very own airport. The resolution asks us to stop ignoring the impact of the Air Guard and ask them to partner for the substantial reduction or elimination of aviation and ground emissions by 2030. This resolution is in the spirit of our own Net Zero goal and in the spirit of the Air Force’s own climate action plan.”
The resolution passed unanimously.
Burlington’s Memorial Auditorium was built in 1927 and closed in December 2016 due to structural instability. It has been broken into and graffiti mars its walls. Ward 7 Independent Ali Dieng requested that a consent agenda item to approve a temporary fence be built around the building be moved to the deliberative agenda.
“It’s temporary only and the cost is over $130,000 which is too much for something that is temporary. We understand that these are for the safety of the pedestrians but at least I don’t want our downtown to look like a construction zone with this amount of money that’s only temporary. The reason why I voted no and asked for, ask to take it out of the consent in order for me to voice my reason and also vote no again.”
Burlington Parks and Recreation Central Facilities Manager Kim Bleakley explained the intent of the fence.
“The fence’s main goal is not to keep people away from the building because of graffiti but to keep people away from the building in case something should fall off of it and hurt them.”
The council authorized the temporary fence on a 10 to 2 vote.
