FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 16, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Burlington Re-Opens City Hall Park

Revived park designed to invite more use with double the seating, accessible pathways, multi-functional central fountain, healthier trees, three stormwater gardens, and more

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced the re-opening of City Hall Park. The park’s transformation follows an imagining process that first began in 2011, years of public engagement and design work, and a year of construction, all aimed at bringing more life to this central public space in the heart of Burlington’s downtown.

“Jane Jacobs wrote that, ‘City parks need the boon of life conferred on them,’ and our primary goal with the transformation of City Hall Park was exactly that – to give it more life,” said Mayor Weinberger. “For many years, City Hall Park was amazing on summer Saturdays with the farmers market, but too often underused at other times. We could see that one of the great strengths of our city is public spaces like this one, and that we could create features that would help more people enjoy it, from a fountain that would be a destination for families, to twice as many benches where people can sit and talk, to spaces to support eating and small gatherings throughout the day. Even as the City works to steer Burlington through the coronavirus emergency, we also remain focused on long-term projects like this one that are an investment in our future. I hope the revived City Hall Park serves as a beacon of hope and renewal in these times.”

Overall, the revived City Hall Park is designed to be greener, more accessible, and better suited to its use in the center of the city. The features of the new City Hall Park include:

• Gardens: 384 shrubs and 3,435 perennials and ornamental grasses. All of the perennials, grasses, and shrubs were sourced from local growers. Many of them are species native to our region, and will be well-suited to the site, create pollinator habitat, and display color from May through October. The park includes a comprehensive irrigation system that will ensure the long-term health of the trees and turf.
• Stormwater: Three stormwater gardens to retain and filter stormwater, and one of the gardens includes additional below-ground structures to further hold stormwater during intense storm events. The park also features a seat wall that will help prevent stormwater from discharging onto Main Street and permeable pavers that will allow stormwater to infiltrate into the soil. Overall, the design will result in a 30 percent reduction in peak flow during a 1-year storm event and 52 percent reduction during a 10-year storm event – contributing to a healthier park and healthier Lake Champlain.
• Trees: 22 new trees, and 48 trees in total, only a slight reduction from the 51 trees formerly in the park. The trees now are planted in healthier soil that will no longer erode in every storm, in enough soil to support them to maturity, and with an eye toward the importance of having a diversity of tree species and ages in the park.
• Seating: Twice as much seating within the park boundaries, including seatwalls and longer benches made from sustainably sourced wood.
• Paths: Wider and more accessible pathways that maintain the historic connectivity across the park. The paths are realigned so that they are less steep, support better tree health, and allow for better maintenance.
• Spaces: Flexible spaces accommodate a variety of activities in the park, from an interactive fountain, to cultural programming, to a terrace and central plaza that could host food service for people to enjoy in the park and bring additional activation to the space.
• Fountain: A multi-functional fountain that can be used for active play, as well as light and water shows that will add visual impact.
• Public art: Art installed in the park includes the new Watersheds to the Lake, made from Champlain marble, gold paint, and granite cobble by artists Kat Clear and Tessa O’Brien, which highlights the relationship between Lake Champlain’s health and the impact of human activities along the watersheds that feed it.
• Landscape: The park design concentrates foot traffic away from grassy areas and creates space for gatherings, including through the use of permeable pavers, and actually reduces the amount of impervious surface in the park from 43 percent in the old park (25 percent hardscape and 18 percent compacted soils) to 32.5 percent in the new park.
• And more! The park includes a new restroom, lighting, irrigation, utilities, and much more to make it a safe, inviting, and functional space.

 “Parks build community at all times, and that’s even more true in the middle of a pandemic,” said Cindi Wight, Director of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront. “We are thrilled to be reopening our core downtown park, creating an outdoor green space where our community can gather safely and supporting the outdoor lifestyle that so many Burlingtonians cherish.”

Project Background and Budget

The City Hall Park revitalization is the culmination of an effort that began with hundreds of Burlingtonians participating in the Imagine City Hall Park planning process in 2011, continued with the Great Streets planning process, and included more than 20 public meetings that spanned 2016-2018. Over the course of that process, landscape architects Wagner Hodgson and the City team worked to develop a design for the park that would be inspirational, responsive, and enduring.

Park construction began in July 2019, with a budget of $5.75 million for everything from planning work that began in May 2016 to the remediation of contaminated soils. The City used a combination of grant funds, stormwater revenues, TIF economic development funds, Champlain College payments, and philanthropic contributions secured by the Mayor. City staff performed additional work in-house in order to realize further savings. The funding sources used are virtually all restricted funds that can only be used for capital improvements or downtown infrastructure projects, and overall, the cost of the park to property taxpayers is less than $1 million.

Except for a short delay caused by the pandemic construction shut down, construction went very smoothly, resulting in a rare $125,000 mid-construction budget reduction, and completion of the project with the durable, high-quality finishes that were originally designed but at risk of being cut for budget reasons.

A detailed summary of the project budget is available online.

Dedication of City Hall Park Renovations to Burlington Residents Who Died of Covid-19

The re-opening of City Hall Park comes as Burlington is seven months into a pandemic that has required wearing masks, physical distancing, and many other actions that couldn’t have been imagined at this time last year – including ceasing many of the gatherings that are a core strength of cities and of central public spaces like City Hall Park.

At the re-opening ceremony, Mayor Weinberger announced that the park renovations are dedicated to the Burlington residents who died as a result of Covid-19. “The time is coming when it will be hard to remember this pandemic, its dramatic impact on our lives, and the members of the community who we have lost to it,” Mayor Weinberger said, and unveiled a plaque installed in the park. The plaque reads:

“A comprehensively redesigned City Hall Park re-opened after a year of construction amidst the largest global pandemic in 100 years. At the time of the opening, the City had been living under an emergency order for more than six months, masks were required in all public places, and group gatherings were severely restricted. This park renovation is dedicated to the Burlingtonians who died as a result of the novel Covid-19 coronavirus. In the years to come, as children play in jets of water and crowds assemble to enjoy each other and our city’s great music, food, and events, let us never forget that these joyous scenes are fragile, and that their continuation can only be guaranteed through an ongoing, vigilant commitment to public health and science.”

Support for City Hall Park

The reopening ceremony for City Hall Park included many people who were involved in the vision for the transformed park. Students from King Street Center, a neighbor of the park, were there to countdown as the new fountain officially started for the first time, and other park neighbors and people who worked to create the park shared their reflections on the park transformation. These included:

“I can only think in superlatives when I think about the new City Hall Park,” said Doreen Kraft, Director of Burlington City Arts. “We began the journey to redesign our City's crown jewel 10 years ago with Imagine City Hall Park, and have more than accomplished what we set out to do. This new park allows for a greater diversity of experiences, increased safety and accessibility, greener infrastructure, and more interactive features that will bring us all together in the midst of tremendous art, historic reminders, and verdant beauty.”

“The vitality of City Hall Park reflects the vitality of Burlington,” said Thomas Leavitt, President and CEO of Northfield Savings Bank. “A healthy, safe, inclusive ‘front yard’ for all citizens is essential to our City’s character. We are a vested neighbor and look forward to supporting programming that will enhance access and equity in this beautiful new space.”

“We are honored to have been involved in ushering in a new era for City Hall Park and are excited to see people enjoying the Park once again,” said Jeff Hodgson, Wagner Hodgson Landscape Architecture. “This is truly the ‘living room’ of the community and we thank all of the people who worked so hard to bring it to fruition.”

“We have learned a great deal in the nearly 40 years since any significant changes were made to City Hall Park,” said V.J. Comai, City Arborist. “We have learned about the importance of mitigating stormwater runoff and how plants can be incorporated into built structures to help achieve this goal. We have learned about proper planting of trees to ensure their long-term health and which species are best suited to specific sites. We have learned how to incorporate trees into hardscape areas in public spaces that will provide them with adequate soil volumes to support them to maturity. We have learned about the importance of having a diversity of trees species and age classes of trees in our urban spaces. And we have learned about the importance of supporting the health of pollinator populations through the use of native plants that supply what they need to thrive. We believe in science, so we incorporated all of what we have learned into the design and reconstruction of this park and the results are visible here today. The ecological health of this park has been restored, and most importantly, it has been done in such a way that it will be sustainable and will thrive for future generations.”

“What a thrill to see the City’s commitment for a beautiful new park finally come to reality,” said Ernie Pomerleau, Pomerleau Real Estate and Pomerleau Family Foundation. “Having played in this park as a child when it was filled with huge Elm trees, we continue to enjoy it in its new form, and many changes have occurred through a natural process over time. Now, to have been able to help create a truly beautiful and handicap accessible park and fountain for children, in memory of our sister Anne Marie who was a quadriplegic, is truly a wonderful moment for our family and community.”

“I’m excited to walk through the park, climb the stairs, and balance by the water fountain with the children again,” said Myle Truong, a teacher at the nearby King Street Center. “It will be great for them to recognize that space as a part of their community.”

For more information about City Hall Park, please see the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department website.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
(802) 734-0617

Mayor Miro Weinberger Releases Building Electrification Proposal to Dramatically Reduce New Fossil Fuel Infrastructure Construction

Proposed zoning ordinance would use science-based carbon pricing to accelerate electrification of thermal systems for all new construction

Burlington, VT – At Monday’s City Council meeting, the City presented a proposal for building electrification, the latest step in progress toward making Burlington a Net Zero Energy city. The proposal, called the “Building Electrification and Carbon Price Ordinance,” would create two pathways to incentivize new development to use efficient and electric power for heating needs and to dramatically reduce the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure in Burlington in the years to come. The proposal was heard by the Council and will next go to the Council’s Ordinance Committee as part of the process toward adoption.

“Even as Burlington has sought to respond to a global pandemic and national uprising for racial justice, we’ve also kept focus on our other central emergency – the climate crisis,” said Mayor Weinberger. “It is increasingly clear that strategic electrification of buildings and vehicles is a critical way to both help save the planet and sustain our standard of living. Burlington is aggressively leading the country toward this essential and promising vision, and our building electrification proposal represents the City’s next big step forward.”

Building Electrification and Carbon Price Ordinance

Efficient and electric buildings are one of the most important areas in which to reduce fossil fuel emissions in Burlington, according to the “Net Zero Energy Roadmap” for local-level climate progress that the City released in September 2019. Making buildings efficient and electric means incorporating comprehensive weatherization and using renewable electricity for space and hot water heating by installing technologies like cold climate heat pumps and heat pump water heaters.

Accordingly, the “Building Electrification and Carbon Price Ordinance” proposal that the City presented on Monday night creates two pathways. In pathway one, a new building does not connect to fossil fuel infrastructure and, therefore, no further requirements apply during the permit process. In pathway two, the new building connects to fossil fuel infrastructure and, therefore, the owner would pay a “building carbon fee” of $100 per ton of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent to the expected emissions for the first 10 years of building operation. This process would repeat every 10 years until the building no longer is using fossil fuels. The building also would be required to be constructed as “electric ready,” so it can add electrification technologies in the future. Further detail about the proposal is available online.

Work to decarbonize the heating of new buildings started in October 2019, and was endorsed by a City Council resolution in May 2020 that directed several City departments to develop a policy proposal that would include consideration of a ban on new buildings connecting to fossil fuel infrastructure for thermal needs. Since May, Burlington Electric Department (BED), Office of City Planning, and Department of Permitting and Inspections have been collaborating to develop this proposal, including holding a well-attended public meeting, consulting with building developers, and seeking technical assistance from the Building Electrification Initiative that included a review of building energy policies in other communities. Next, the City team will work to develop draft ordinance language and the Council’s Ordinance Committee will consider the proposal.

Progress Toward Net Zero Energy Goal

The building electrification proposal follows other recent progress. In July, BED presented a new analysis that contains encouraging numbers on Burlington’s progress. Takeaways from the analysis include:

• Between 2017 and 2020, Burlingtonians made investments that will collectively avoid more than 20,000 tons in greenhouse gas emissions over the lifetime of electric vehicles, cold climate heat pumps, electric buses, and electric bikes that were purchased with the assistance of BED incentives (the total number likely is higher as this analysis was limited to purchases for which BED incentives were available);
• Investments in energy efficiency have resulted in Burlington continuing to keep electricity consumption below 1989 levels, even as consumption has increased around the state and country, and even as Burlington has been focused on electrification;
• After having only a handful of solar installations eight years ago, in April 2019, Burlington was named the number one city for solar per capita in the Northeastern US by Environment America and repeated this achievement again in the May 2020 rankings. Burlington also ranked number five of all American cities in 2020;
• Burlington met and exceeded our earlier Climate Action Plan goal, with our emissions in 2018 down 20,000 tons annually from 2010 levels; and
• More takeaways and the full presentation may be viewed online.

While there is much more focused and hard work ahead, this early progress demonstrates the possibility of continuing to respond meaningfully to the global climate crisis at the local level.

“This policy proposal to reduce fossil fuel use and increase the use of technologies such as cold-climate heat pumps in new buildings would accelerate our progress toward Net Zero Energy and continue Burlington’s long record of climate leadership,” said Darren Springer, General Manager of BED. “Burlington Electric’s analysis shows that moving in the direction of Net Zero Energy is not only going to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but also can reduce rate pressure for our customers, providing a true win-win for our community.”

Even as the City is focused on charting a path through the climate crisis at the local level, BED also has prioritized affordability and now is heading into its twelfth year of holding electric rates steady. Further, BED recently submitted an analysis [PDF] to the Vermont Public Utility Commission that shows that, even as electrification continues, with strong management of peak demand, additional sales revenues can outpace BED’s investment in new infrastructure – or in other words, that electrification can reduce rate pressure and be a net positive for BED customers.

About Burlington’s Goal to Be a Net Zero Energy City

Decarbonizing Burlington will take all of us. To become a Net Zero Energy city by 2030, the Burlington of the future will be one where all our buildings are energy efficient and use new electric heating technologies, such a cold climate heat pumps, where our land use and transportation policies help support less energy use, where nearly all vehicles are powered by 100 percent renewable electricity, and where we replace 15 percent of the miles we drive each year with forms of alternative transportation.

The City asks all Burlingtonians to consider efficiency and electrification every time you make a decision about your homes, businesses, and transportation. In return, the City is working to make those choices as easy and affordable as possible. Learn more about the Net Zero Energy goal and significant incentives for electric technologies like heat pumps and electric vehicles by visiting www.burlingtonelectric.com.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 25, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
(802) 734-0617

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Actions to Forge New Consensus on Policing in Burlington; Appoints YMCA CEO Kyle Dodson to Lead this Work as Director of Police Transformation

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that he is appointing Kyle Dodson, the President and CEO of the Greater Burlington YMCA, to a new, temporary position titled Director of Police Transformation to help lead the City’s work to forge a new consensus on policing in Burlington. This work will include oversight of the Burlington Police Department’s planning, policy, and engagement efforts during a period in which the City is advancing a wide range of transformation efforts. Kyle will take a temporary leave of absence from his position at the YMCA to accept the position, which is anticipated to have a term of six months.

Mayor Weinberger also announced today a series of additional actions intended to help ensure that policing incidents like the ones that have caused community pain over the last two years become even more rare, and that when they do happen there is greater transparency and accountability around them.

“The events of this summer across our nation, from Minneapolis to Kenosha to Louisville to Burlington, have made unmistakably clear that as a country and a community we are at a moment of crisis in policing that has been building for a very long time,” said Mayor Weinberger. “In this critical moment, we have an opportunity and a necessity to finally root out systemic racism from all our institutions, including policing, and at long last to fully deliver to our Black and brown residents the fairness, safety, and solidarity that they are due. This is hard work that no American community has fully figured out. To get this right, I am expanding the City’s capacity and adding the perspective of a widely-respected, Black community leader from outside of law enforcement. We must move forward from the policing challenges of the past two years to build a new community consensus around policing. I am grateful and our community is fortunate that Kyle has agreed to lend us his considerable experience, skill, and vision to lead this work and help us make good on the promise of this moment.”

"In Vermont, we like to think about ourselves as a place apart,” said Kyle Dodson. “And there is something special about our physical environment and the character that it fosters. But we are also fully rooted in the American context. And America has a brutal history of institutionalized racism that continues today. It is pervasive. And therefore it is irresponsible, and it totally undermines any integrity we might want to claim, when we turn away from this reality. This move on the part of our Mayor is a definitive step in the direction of acknowledging the pain of BIPOC communities, and beginning the healing. I feel honored and humbled to be called upon to assist in this work."

"There are a lot of people pulling for change right now—the Mayor, the City Council, the Police Commission, protestors and advocates, myself and the men and women at the BPD,” said Chief of Police Jon Murad. “We’re still coalescing around what that change should be. How can we transform public safety while continuing to keep people safe? Because that’s the bottom line—keeping people safe. I’m eager for Director Dodson to help get all these stakeholders to pull in that same direction and pull together, and I'm excited about the transformation we can achieve."

New Role of Director of Police Transformation

As Director of Police Transformation, Kyle will bring deep leadership experience, strong community relationships, and his perspective as a BIPOC leader in Burlington to this work. He will report directly to the Mayor, and his role will focus on identifying areas for change, guiding the development of new policy, and including a broad range of community members and organizations in this work. A key part of his role will be managing, day-to-day, the multiple police transformation processes that the City already has committed to, which include:

• An operational and functional assessment of the Police Department, as outlined in the City Council’s June 29, 2020 resolution;

• An examination of public safety transformation, being led by a Joint Committee of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee and the Police Commission, as outlined in the City Council’s June 29, 2020 resolution;

• A review of who makes and reviews police disciplinary decisions, being led by the City Council’s Charter Change Committee, as outlined in the City Council’s September 8, 2020 resolution; and

• A review of police disciplinary measures, being led by the Police Commission, as outlined in the City Council’s September 8, 2020 resolution.

Even as the City undertakes this work to examine policing, it also is committed to identifying and addressing the root causes of systemic racism city-wide in multiple ways. These include the City’s new Director of Racial Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (REIB), Tyeastia Green, beginning a strategic planning process for REIB, and the City hiring a public health equity manager to coordinate work on the social determinants of health that make racism a public health emergency.

Kyle Dodson Brings Vision, Leadership, and New Capacity to City’s Work to Transform Public Safety

Kyle Dodson has served as President and CEO of the Greater Burlington YMCA since 2016. During that time, he has led the YMCA through pivotal changes, including constructing and relocating to its new location in the heart of Burlington, successfully completing the capital campaign for the new facility, and deepening its community service mission through changes like lower membership rates and expanded early childhood education. Kyle has served on the Board of the Burlington School District, as director of Champlain College’s Center for Service and Civic Engagement, and as a school principal in Massachusetts. He has lived in Burlington since 2008.

“Y communities all across the country are increasingly being called to provide service and leadership in new and unprecedented ways during these troubling times,” said Lisa Ventriss, President of Vermont Business Roundtable and Chair of the Board of the Greater Burlington YMCA. “The Greater Burlington YMCA family is proud that we are able to support the City of Burlington during its time of need. This will, indeed, be a sacrifice for the organization, but we are Y Strong and are confident that this is the right move by the City, and that Kyle Dodson is the right leader at the right time.”

Kyle will receive a salary of $75,000 for a six-month engagement, which is equivalent to his salary as President and CEO of the YMCA and will be funded from the Police Department and Mayor’s Office budgets.

Five Additional New Actions to Advance Transformation of Policing in Burlington

To complement all of this work, Mayor Weinberger today also announced five additional substantive actions. These actions respond directly to concerns raised by the Burlington residents protesting in Battery Park and other members of the Burlington community.

These additional actions are: issuing an executive order on disciplinary decisions; directing the City Attorney to review the City’s contract with the Burlington Police Officers Association and to make recommendations for areas of future change; requesting that the Police Commission approve a new body camera footage release policy by the end of October; creating a Community Service Liaison pilot program; and developing a new policy on the release of investigations into officer conduct. These actions are described in more detail in Attachment A.

Mayor Calls for Community to Include Police Officers as Partners in This Work

Also today, Mayor Weinberger called on the community to view the Police Department itself as a partner in this work to redefine public safety. “Long-term change in policing culture or practice is possible only with buy-in and support from Burlington police officers,” said Mayor Weinberger. “Further, when we talk about policing in Burlington, we are talking about dozens of officers who devote themselves to the very hard job of responding to violent situations, solving crimes, and keeping our community safe, even as their profession and the definition of safety are rapidly changing. We must find a way to support, value, and engage our sworn officers, and include them in the new consensus we are forging on what public safety means – and the work itself will be better and more enduring as a result.”

These announcements follow the approval earlier this week by the City Council of a separation agreement with Burlington Police Department Sergeant Jason Bellavance. Mayor Weinberger’s full statement about the agreement and the three officers whose actions have been at the center of recent protests in Battery Park, is available on the City website. The agreement seeks to bring some measure of resolution and finality to the controversies surrounding the actions of these three officers.

Today’s announcements are aimed at the future and designed both to accelerate the transformation processes already underway and advance additional changes that the community has called for around police governance, discipline, body camera footage policies, and accountability.

For additional information, please see:

• Attachment A: Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Five Additional New Actions to Advance Transformation of Policing in Burlington [PDF]

• Attachment B: Memorandum from Mayor Miro Weinberger to Burlington Police Commission on Body Camera Footage Release Policy [PDF]

• Attachment C: Executive Order on Police Disciplinary Decisions [PDF]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 21, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Statement from Mayor Miro Weinberger on the City Reaching a Separation Agreement with Sergeant Jason Bellavance

Burlington, VT – Tonight, the City Council voted 11-1 to approve a separation agreement with Burlington Police Department Sergeant Jason Bellavance. The full text of the resolution and details about the agreement are available online. In response, Mayor Miro Weinberger shared the following statement at the Council meeting:

“For approximately a year and a half, there has been significant community discomfort with the actions of three police officers, each of whom was involved in a separate use of force incident in the fall of 2018 or early 2019. In the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and a national reckoning with police violence and systemic racism, many more members of the community, including the protesters at Battery Park, have expressed concerns with those officers continuing to serve, and the City has been exploring the legal and moral implications of a range of actions.

“Tonight, the City Council is taking action on a proposal that the Administration brought forward and negotiated, which is intended to bring some measure of resolution and finality to the controversies surrounding these three officers. The resolution authorizes me to enter into a separation agreement with Sergeant Jason Bellavance, setting forth that he has agreed to resign in return for the equivalent of approximately three years’ compensation.

“Further, tonight, I am announcing my final decision not to support separation agreements with Officers Joe Corrow and Cory Campbell. Although the three officers have been grouped together in public discussions, the three use of force incidents are distinct, and the City Council and I must consider each individually.

Actions of Sergeant Bellavance

“In this moment of unprecedented community discord that is intertwined with an overdue national reckoning on racial justice and policing, I support a separation agreement in the case of Sgt. Bellavance because both his actions and position within the department were significantly different than those of the other two officers.

“Although the Police Department’s internal investigation found that Sgt. Bellavance did not use excessive or unlawful force, it did find that the force used was not necessary given the circumstances. The investigation concluded that, consistent with his training, there were a number of de-escalation techniques that Sgt. Bellavance could have used, but did not attempt, before using physical force. These findings are different from what occurred in the other two cases, where Officers Corrow and Campbell were not found to have violated departmental use of force training and policy that were in place at the time.

“An aggravating factor for Sgt. Bellavance is that, as the sergeant in charge on the night of September 9, 2018, he was in a leadership position where the officers under his command were looking to him to model what was expected of them. We must apply a higher standard to our leaders, and we must look to our leadership to establish a culture in the Police Department that is in line with Burlington’s values.

“Finally, in my discussions with Burlingtonians over the past years, I have listened carefully and heard clearly the many who have expressed that, of the three incidents that led to this moment of community anger and discord, they find Sgt. Bellavance’s actions the most troubling.

Actions of Officers Corrow and Campbell

“At the same time, I do not support pursuing voluntary separation agreements with Officers Corrow and Campbell. Their uses of force were found to be consistent with the policy and training that were in place at the time. To pursue separation agreements under these circumstances would set an unmanageable precedent that would challenge the department for years to come by suggesting that future employment decisions will be decided not by fair, deliberative processes that are clear to employees at the time, but rather that those decisions will be subject to retroactive reopening by the passions of public opinion.

“Further, Officers Corrow and Campbell had been with the BPD for only a few years at the time of the incidents and deserve a chance to show the public that they can serve the community in a manner consistent with Burlington values.

Moving Forward to Achieve Systemic Change

“I encourage Burlingtonians to consider that the most effective way to address today’s challenges is by moving forward with action steps designed to address systemic racism. Such steps include police training, governance, discipline, body camera footage policies, and more. We must advance changes that are responsive to concerns that have been raised in our community and that improve accountability and transparency, while providing a foundation for moving forward.

“I am committed to that significant systemic change. The Administration – in partnership with the City Council and Police Commission – already has embarked over the last 18 months on numerous, substantive efforts to improve these systems and policies.

“Later this week, I will announce additional steps to accelerate the reform processes underway and ensure that they lead to meaningful change. I hope the public will see tonight’s action by the City as a sign of our seriousness and commitment to complete that work.

“Even as the City is limited in our ability to change what has happened in the past, I urge the Burlington community to join me in completing the hard work of systemic change so that our policing fully aligns with the values of our community going forward. Through my conversations with protestors, other Burlingtonians, and the police, I remain confident that we have much opportunity for common ground when we are looking to the future of policing in this community.

“Now, there is great consensus that we must work together to overcome our country’s racist past and ensure that Black and brown Burlingtonians feel fully safe and supported in this community by the police and the City. I look forward to working alongside Burlingtonians to realize the great promise and potential of this moment.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 10, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
(802) 734-0617

City of Burlington Files Suit Against Developer of CityPlace Burlington

Action Follows the Developer Moving to Terminate Development Agreement and Initiating Legal Dispute
 

Burlington, VT – On Tuesday, September 8, the City of Burlington filed suit in Vermont Superior Court against BTC Mall Associates, LLC, the developer of the CityPlace Burlington project. The City also filed a motion for preliminary injunction to promptly compel BTC to build the public improvements as required in the written Development Agreement with the City. The City’s complaint and motion are below.

Developer Initiated Legal Action

Prior to this filing, on Friday, September 4, the developer, through two letters from Don Sinex, informed the City that it was attempting to terminate the Development Agreement with the City, and that it was attempting to relinquish its existing zoning permit. These two letters are included below. Also prior to the City’s filing, BTC filed suit against the City seeking court approval of its unilateral termination of the Development Agreement. BTC’s letters and its lawsuit demonstrate that the developer is attempting to avoid its contractual commitments to the City.

The Development Agreement does not allow one party to unilaterally terminate the agreement once construction starts. Remarkably, the developer is attempting to shirk its responsibilities by arguing that construction never started, despite the clear facts on the ground and the Development Agreement’s terms that construction starts with structural demolition of the former mall building.

In Accordance with Specifically Negotiated Terms, City Seeks Prompt Injunctive Relief from Court

The Development Agreement specifically gives the City the right to seek injunctive relief to compel compliance with its terms and requirements. The City’s lawsuit seeks just that: to hold the developer accountable to the people of Burlington. It alleges breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing, and it seeks a declaratory judgment from the court that the Development Agreement is enforceable against BTC. Through the motion for a preliminary injunction and specific performance, the City is requesting the court to order the developer to immediately rebuild St. Paul Street and Pine Street, activate Bank Street and Cherry Street, and construct additional improvements to the public streets as promised.

City Remains Open to Settlement Negotiations Based on Terms of Existing Development Agreement

The City’s goal continues to be to transform this long-troubled part of downtown Burlington into a vibrant, mixed use neighborhood. The City is seeking to hold the developer accountable to its commitment to that vision. While the City remains open to mediation with the developer to advance that outcome, that discussion must be based on the existing Development Agreement.

“The City has complied with all of its obligations under the Development Agreement,” said attorney Marc Heath of the firm Downs Rachlin Martin PLLC, who represents the City in this litigation along with a team of litigators at the firm. “BTC’s unilateral attempt to walk away from its contractual obligations to the City is meritless. We intend to compel BTC to comply with its contractual obligations; specifically to provide the public improvements as required in the Development Agreement.”

“The developer’s recent letters make explicitly clear that it is attempting to renege on its longstanding, binding commitments to the people of Burlington by arguing that it never started construction,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “Anyone who has looked at the construction site in the last two years knows that’s absurd, and we’re not going to let them get away with it. With this lawsuit, we are fighting for the reconnected and dramatically improved public streets and infrastructure that Burlington has been promised, and ultimately, for the widely shared vision of restored homes, jobs, and vitality in this long-troubled part of our downtown.”

For additional information, please see the following materials available on the City website:

• City of Burlington v. BTC Mall Associates – Complaint  [PDF]
• City of Burlington v. BTC Mall Associates – Motion [PDF]
• BTC termination of DA letter to City [PDF]
• BTC letter relinquishing zoning permit to DRB [PDF]
• August 25, 2020: “Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces that City Has Retained Litigation Firm, Issued Final Demand Letter to CityPlace Developers, and Secured Broad Negotiation and Litigation Authority from the City Council”

Watch Mayor Weinberger and two members of the City's legal team discussing this action with members of the media:

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 7, 2020
Contact: Jordan Redell
(802) 503-7664

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Jennifer Morrison Will Not Return from her Absence to the Burlington Police Department

Acting Chief Jon Murad to Continue Serving until Police Chief Search Resumes in 2021

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Weinberger announced that Jennifer Morrison will not return to the Burlington Police Department as initially planned when she left to care for her husband in June. Chief Morrison's letter to Mayor Weinberger is below.

“I am grateful that Chief Morrison stepped in to assist the City during a very difficult time for the Burlington Police Department last winter,” said Mayor Weinberger. “I wish her and her family strength and support as they navigate through this challenging personal time.  While I will miss Chief Morrison’s skill, can-do attitude, and her candor, I have great confidence that Chief Murad will continue to successfully lead the Department until a permanent chief is named, as he has since June.”

For additional information:

- Letter from Jennifer Morrison [PDF] 

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 4, 2020
Contact: Jordan Redell
(802) 503-7664

Mayor Miro Weinberger Issues Letter to Protestors at Battery Park

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Weinberger issued the below letter to protestors and organizers at Battery Park. The letter invites further dialogue with the organizers and details Mayor Weinberger’s concerns related to public safety and ordinance violations.

- Letter from Mayor Miro Weinberger to Protestors at Battery Park [PDF]

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 25, 2020
Contact: Jordan Redell
(802) 503-7664

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces that City Has Retained Litigation Firm, Issued Final Demand Letter to CityPlace Developers, and Secured Broad Negotiation and Litigation Authority from the City Council

Burlington, VT – It has been over a month since the City sent a default notice to BTC Mall Associates – the developer of the former mall site and partnership between Brookfield and Devonwood – under the 2017 Development Agreement.  To date, the developer has taken no actions to cure that default. In response, the City has taken the following steps in recent days:

• Retained the services of Downs Rachlin and Martin PLLC (DRM) to represent the City in the litigation of this matter. 
• Issued two letters on August 21 to BTC Mall Associates and Brookfield (included below).

1. The letter to BTC Mall Associates demands that the developer immediately resume construction on the eight blocks of public improvements committed to in the Development Agreement.  Further, the letter notifies the developer that because of its delays and failure to advance continuous construction, as committed in the Development Agreement, the City is no longer responsible for reimbursing the developers for this expense.
    
2. The letter to Brookfield responds to their August 20 letter and requests documentation of their claim that they have invested $70 million in the site, consistent with their prior assurances to the City. 

• Secured near-unanimous City Council approval to grant the Administration broad authority to pursue both negotiations with the developers and if necessary, legal action to protect City interests.

Mayor Miro Weinberger addressed these recent steps with the following statement:

“As has been the case for many years, the City is committed to seeing the former mall site transformed, as envisioned, into a vibrant downtown neighborhood with homes, jobs, and new public infrastructure, paid for by the new development.

“The City’s means for advancing that vision in the wake of the developer’s default and failure to perform include both negotiations and legal action. The City remains willing to work with a well-capitalized, experienced property developer to get the outcomes the people of Burlington are due.

“However, until presented with a viable opportunity for such progress, the City will pursue the outcome that it can legally compel: the construction of eight blocks of public improvements through the enforcement the City’s rights under the Development Agreement.

“Last night, by nearly unanimous vote, the City Council gave the administration the broad authority it needs to vigorously pursue both of these paths towards achieving the results the people of Burlington bargained and voted for.” 

Background and context for recent actions

The City has worked hard for many years to bring about development of a new neighborhood and to re-establish the street grid on the former mall site. 

There are a multitude of components to that development, but they break down in two categories: 1) the private development of housing, retail and other uses on the site, over which the City has limited control, and, 2) the public improvements (streets and infrastructure) that were to be completed and delivered to the City by the developer.  The developer has delayed construction of the entire Project, and among the other challenges resulting from that delay, the public improvements are not built and the availability of TIF funding to reimburse the developer for those public improvements is now at risk.

The developer started but has failed to continue construction of the project as required under its Development Agreement with the City. As a result, the developer has not delivered on its commitments to the City and people of Burlington. The City, meanwhile, has upheld it end of the bargain. The City remains committed to working in good faith toward a credible plan to see the realization of the entire Project. In the meantime, however, the developer is obligated to deliver on its commitment to provide the public improvements regardless of its timeline to advance the private improvements.

For additional information, see:

• Letter to BTC Mall Associates
• Letter to Brookfield
• Letter from Brookfield
• 2017 Development Agreement

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 19, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
                (802) 734-0617

Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Groundbreaking on the Moran Frame

Thirty-four years after the Moran Municipal Generating Station was decommissioned, the City of Burlington breaks ground on the “Frame” concept to restore public access to this part of the waterfront, activate and stabilize a long-abandoned site, and transform the former power plant into a Burlington landmark

Burlington, VT – Today, Mayor Miro Weinberger announced that the City of Burlington has broken ground to transform the Moran Municipal Generating Station into the Moran Frame. After more than 30 years of ideas and efforts to reimagine the long-abandoned former coal plant, the Moran Frame will restore public access to this part of the waterfront, stabilize and activate a derelict site, and create an iconic Burlington landmark that alludes to the area’s industrial past. The project represents the final piece of the broader transformation of Burlington’s northern waterfront that voters endorsed on Town Meeting Day 2014, and lays the framework for additional uses and improvements to be added to the Moran Frame site in the years to come.

“In the fall of 2017, following years of efforts that proved to be infeasible and facing unexpectedly high removal costs, I asked the CEDO team to make one final attempt to identify a viable project using only salvageable elements of the existing structure and the dedicated funds we had for the site,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “As is so often the case with great design, the constraints that we faced in this final attempt produced a creative breakthrough. Today, we’re breaking ground on a transformative project for Burlington, and also celebrating the full rebirth of the post-industrial northern waterfront as a recreational and cultural treasure for all Burlingtonians to enjoy.”

Mayor Weinberger was joined at the groundbreaking by many of the people who have committed time and creativity to reimagining the Moran Plant over the last three decades, including former Burlington Mayor Peter Clavelle, past and present directors and staff members of the City’s Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO), the members of the New Moran effort, and employees from the Burlington Electric Department, among others.

Vision for the Moran Frame

The Moran Frame peels back the brick exterior to reveal the building’s steel superstructure, while retaining Moran’s distinctive tiered shape. When complete, the Frame will consist of an open-air park surrounding the historic structure of the Moran Plant, painted a striking red. The plan activates the abandoned site, improves public access to the waterfront, and integrates with surrounding resources, all while saving a piece of history and creating a lasting new legacy in this part of the waterfront.

The project will:

• Peel back the brick and concrete exterior of the Moran Plant, thereby avoiding the significant expense of stabilizing the bricks, and revealing the steel frame beneath;

• Stabilize the steel frame;

• Abate and remediate hazardous building materials, including asbestos, lead paint, and PCB paint, in order to make the site stable and safe for the public;

• Complete remediation of the soils at the Moran site and, in so doing, finish remediation of soils throughout the Waterfront Access North area;

• Create an at-grade, level grassy area underneath and around the Moran Frame; and

• Introduce sub-grade utilities to help support future, additional resources as part of the Moran Frame.

Even as the Frame achieves long-awaited resolution for the Moran Plant site, it also provides the “framework” for future phases that could include amenities such as bathrooms, shade structures, water’s edge paths, and viewing decks that look out on Lake Champlain.

The Moran Frame avoids pitfalls of past efforts, which have been pursued from 1986 to 2017 and spanned everything from a full adaptive reuse of the building to complete demolition. With a full adaptive reuse, efforts ran into the high costs of winterizing the building envelope and stabilizing the brick. Complete demolition, meanwhile, was found to also be costly given the environmental remediation required, and did not achieve the goals of preserving the site’s history and integrating it with the surrounding public use of the waterfront.

The project budget is $6.55 million, funded by $3.5 million from the Waterfront TIF district, a $2 million redevelopment loan from the federal Agency of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and a planned settlement of no less than $950,000 from the Burlington Electric Department for environmental costs. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2021, and will be managed when finished by the Waterfront division of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront. While project work is happening, the project also will put dozens of local tradespeople back to work in a COVID-safe way during the economic crisis of the pandemic.

“Burlington's Waterfront, once an urban wasteland, has evolved nicely over the past four decades,” said Peter Clavelle, Mayor of Burlington from 1989-1993 and 1995-2006. “Yet, efforts to revitalize the Moran Plant and clean-up the site have been elusive. I'm very pleased that the Moran Frame project is finally underway.”

“All Burlingtonians should take pride in the groundbreaking today, which has been decades in the making,” said Luke McGowan, Director of CEDO. “So many community members, City staff, and the CEDO team in particular have helped make the transformation of this iconic structure possible. To me, this represents the best of Burlington's approach to solving problems – preserving the embodied energy of the Moran Frame while also moving toward a reimagined future.”

“Seeing the Moran Plant finally move forward and taken off ‘the endangered species’ list is a great feeling,” said Katharine Montstream, Burlington artist and part of the earlier New Moran effort. “It would be a shame to level all of the industrial waterfront relics and smooth it over. The Plant was a big part of Burlington's early history and now it will be a great destination for local folks and visitors.”

Transformation of the Northern Waterfront

The Moran Frame is the final piece in the revival of the northern waterfront, which has included public and private investment in new resources for recreation, cultural activity, and access to Lake Champlain.

This revival began in 2014, when over 70 percent of Burlington voters approved a slate of six projects intended to strengthen the waterfront. These projects were recommended by a public committee through the Public Investment Action Plan (PIAP) process, and funded through the Waterfront TIF district and leveraged private funds without any impact on current 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).

Today, these six projects have transformed the northern waterfront:

• The Lake Champlain Community Sailing Center is completing its third summer at its landmark new home;

• The new Water Works Park has increased access to the water’s edge through a wooden boardwalk, benches, fishing pier, and many native shrubs, grasses, and trees;

• Waterfront Park and the entire northern waterfront have received improved landscaping, environmental remediation, and utility relocation;

• ECHO has opened a new parking amenity, solar canopy, rain gardens, and public art; and

• The Burlington Harbor Marina has created a home for many more boats in the Burlington harbor, along with publicly accessible amenities like bathrooms.

Resolution for the Moran Plant is the sixth and final project that was part of the PIAP slate.

These projects have been coordinated with and build on other recent reinvestment in the waterfront, including the creation of Andy A_Dog Skatepark, the rehabilitation of the Burlington Bike Path, and new access to Lake Champlain through Texaco Beach. More broadly, since the 1960s, and led by support from the public, the City of Burlington has acquired over 60 acres of waterfront land and removed the petroleum tanks, industrial buildings, and other structures that had been left on the waterfront as it transitioned from an area for first lumber processing and wharfing, to a rail yard and bulk petroleum facility. In doing so, the City has restored public access to the central and northern waterfront.

"This project serves as the last piece of the puzzle on Burlington's transformation of our waterfront from an industrial wasteland to a recreation hub,” said Owen Milne, Executive Director of the Community Sailing Center. “You have us at the Community Sailing Center, Burlington Harbor Marina, The Greenway, Skate Park... We welcome Moran FRAME to the club of active waterfront spots."

A Former Coal Plant Transformed in a City that Now Generates 100% Power from Renewable Generation

In addition to marking the transformation of the northern waterfront, the Moran Frame also will be a powerful symbol of Burlington’s energy transition. Burlington is proud to be served by a municipal electric utility, the Burlington Electric Department, which was founded in 1905. In 1952, voters approved bonding for the Moran Municipal Generating Station, which was opened two years later was opened in 1954 as a 30-megawatt power plant that turned coal into electricity. In 1977, in response to fuel shortages, the plant was converted to wood chips, and in 1978, voters chose to further pursue wood chips for fuel and voted to construct a new generating plant in Burlington’s Intervale. The new McNeil Wood-Powered Electric Generating Facility opened in 1984, and as a result, the Moran Plant was decommissioned in 1986. Several BED employees who worked at the Moran Plant continue to work at BED, including Jim “Duke” Dutra, who attended the groundbreaking on Wednesday.

Nearly 30 years later, in 2014, Burlington purchased the Winooski One Hydroelectric Facility, and in doing so, completed the City’s transformation from relying on the coal-fired electricity of the Moran Plant to being powered by 100 percent renewable electricity – the first city in the country to achieve that milestone. Since then, Burlington has continued to set and work toward some of the most ambitious local energy and climate goals in the country.

“At the Moran Plant in the 1970s, Burlington Electric began the work of transitioning from coal to renewable energy, which culminated in Burlington becoming the first city in the nation in 2014 to reach 100 percent renewable electricity,” said Darren Springer, General Manager of Burlington Electric Department. “This groundbreaking to return the Moran site to productive community use marks a firm break from the past when we relied on coal, and comes appropriately in a year when renewable electric generation nationally is set to outpace coal for the first time.”

For additional information, please see:

• June 2019: Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Opening of Water Works Park

• February 2020: City Council presentation, City Council memo

• December 2018: City Council Presentation

• September 2017: City and New Moran, Inc. Cease Moran Redevelopment Effort

• January 2014: Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces Slate of Public Investment Action Plan Projects for Waterfront TIF District

• July 2012: Mayor Miro Weinberger Announces "NoGo" Decision on Moran; Unveils Five-Point Action Plan for Near-Term Progress on Northern Waterfront

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2020
Contact: Olivia LaVecchia
               (802) 734-0617

Statement from Mayor Miro Weinberger on City’s Analysis of Arrests by Race

Burlington, VT – On Tuesday, the City released a report on race-based disparities in arrests and presented the report’s findings at a meeting of the Police Commission. The report is available to read online, and a recording of Tuesday evening’s presentation to the Police Commission is also available to watch thanks to CCTV (beginning at 1:01:00 in the linked video). In response to the report, Mayor Miro Weinberger released the following statement:

“The City released an analysis yesterday that shows persistent, long-standing, and substantial racial disparities in Burlington’s arrest rate, which are troubling and can’t be ignored. These disparities demand both continued work within the department and a sustained effort to root out systemic racism that goes far beyond the scope of the Burlington Police Department or even law enforcement. The City of Burlington is committed to this work on many fronts.

“At the same time, the analysis also shows progress. Burlington Police Department policy and practice in recent years has clearly reduced racial disparities among juveniles and greatly improved traffic stop metrics. Further, the existence of this report is a step for the City’s and BPD’s commitment to transparency, analysis, and continuous improvement, and is exactly the type of outcome that I hoped for when we launched the practice of publishing an annual City Equity Report in 2018. I look forward to continuing this work along with many partners, and striving to eradicate racial disparities in arrests, policing, and all parts of our city.”

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