FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 4, 2013
Contact: Nathan Wildfire
802.865.7179
nwildfire@burlingtonvt.gov
CEDO Announces Opening of Request for Concepts Period
for Waterfront Public Investment Action Plan
Burlington, VT – Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO) Director Peter Owens today announced the opening of a two-month-long request for concepts (RFC) period for the Waterfront Public Investment Action Plan (PIAP), approved by the City Council at its January 28, 2013 meeting. The PIAP is a public process for identifying projects for which the City will make tens of millions of dollars of waterfront and downtown public infrastructure tax increment financing (TIF) investments in the coming years without impacting property tax rates.
“I hope the process will stimulate innovative and creative ideas for public investment that will move the Waterfront forward,” said Owens. “The Public Investment Action Plan is the right public process to achieve so many of the goals of our past planning efforts. The simple RFC form is designed to be open and accessible to all, from ad hoc community groups to major developers. All you need to get started is a project title, a sentence-long project description, and a point of contact.”
Received concepts will be posted online for public comment and ultimately will be reviewed by a Public Investment Team of individuals with backgrounds in planning, finance, and development. In the summer, finalists will be invited to submit more detailed proposals for another review process, ultimately culminating in a public vote on a slate of investments in spring 2014. A similar process for downtown investments will follow the waterfront effort.
To participate in the PIAP process, please register your project idea at www.burlingtonvt.gov/CEDO/Public-Investment-Action-Plan/ or by contacting Nathan Wildfire, CEDO’s Assistant Director for Economic Development, at the contact information listed above.
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