Good Morning, Friends!

There will be a car seat safety check this evening at the Park at Burlington Mall (Near Fogo de Chao) from 6-8. If you need help installing a car seat into your car, or just want to know how to make sure it’s installed correctly, stop by and have our friends at the Burlington Police Department help you out.

Today we’ll be talking more about Town meeting. If you’re new here, please take a look at these two brief stories on Why Burlington is a Town, anyway, and What Town Meeting does.

Your 126 Town Meeting Members will be meeting next Wednesday, September 27, to talk about and vote upon changes to some of the town’s bylaws. Below I’ll outline the items they’ll discuss, and you can find more detailed and easy-to-understand information in the Buzz summary (dropping in a few hours).  You can also reference the town’s official Warrant (list of things to be voted on) and Warrant Backup (background material) as well as additional materials on the Town Clerk’s website to support your understanding.

Here is the key piece many of us miss: You should know who your Town Meeting members are and communicate with them about issues on the Warrant that matter to you. The 18 Town Meeting Members dedicated to your precinct are charged with representing the precinct’s 3,700 or so voters. If there is something on the Warrant that you feel strongly about, take a moment and reach out to your Town Meeting Members, as they’ll be considering voter input before the meeting.

Town Meeting to Accept Free Money, Discuss Hybrid Meetings and Auto Zoning

Articles for Town Meeting are divided into four major areas: General, Financial, General Bylaw, and Zoning. Each is considered in isolation and then voted on by the body. Amendments can be proposed and voted on, as well, and that does happen sometimes. Here’s a brief summary of the articles this time around; more details will be posted in that summary article later today.

General Articles

• Article 1 is always reports from other agencies. Previously we’ve had presentations about housing access and availability and the communication survey the town ran this spring. This time around we’ll hear from the Police Chief regarding the police station’s feasibility study, the Human Services Committee, and possibly more.
• Article 2 is to set the election date to April 6, 2024.

Financial Articles

• Article 3: We will accept about $75,000 from the will of Marshall Simonds for the care and maintenance of Simonds Park.

General Bylaw Articles

• Article 4: To rescind a portion of the town bylaws having to do with disposal of hazardous waste. It looks like the Board of Health has its own regulations established for this.
• Article 5: A change to the wetland bylaws, adding in language about environmental sustainability and climate change resiliency.
• Article 6: To move the location of the Housing Partnership Committee under the bylaws, as it has moved from ad hoc to standing committee status. This will move it from a Town Moderator (the person who runs Town Meeting) appointment to a Town Administrator (the person who manages town departments) appointment.
• Articles 7 and 8 are related and involve petitioning the state to allow Burlington to change the way Town meeting vacancies are filled.
• Article 9: To add some definitions to the town’s bylaws: Remote Access; Hybrid Meeting(s); Virtual Meeting(s); Newspaper(s); Notice(s).
• Article 10 would allow Town Meeting Members to opt in for electronic dissemination of Town Meeting materials. Currently they are printed and mailed to the 126 TMMs.
• Articles 11-13 address Town Meeting accessibility. 11 is to petition the state (known as a home rule petition) for an exemption to its requirement for an in-person quorum; 12 is a home rule position requiring the option of remote participation; 13 is the companion to 12, just at the town bylaw level.

Zoning Bylaw Articles

• Article 14 was proposed by Herb Chambers, who plans to expand the Kia dealership at 93 Cambridge Street into the former Kwik Copy and Waltham Pest properties next door, and adds a new definition to our zoning articles specifically for auto dealerships. Currently auto dealerships aren’t allowed in Burlington’s General Business District; this change would allow them by special permit.
• Article 15 seeks to add a Solar section to the Principal Use Regulation Schedule, so it can be regulated by zoning bylaws.
• Article 16 is all about the definitions of shared parking, in an effort to not have vast amounts of unused parking spaces and to encourage environmentally friendly ways to get around.

That’s all. Believe it or not, while parts of it are pretty technical, the warrant is pretty short and straightforward this time around. If Town Meeting Members don’t get through the entire Warrant on Wednesday, the meeting will be continued to the following Monday. But here’s hoping that’s not necessary!

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

• Elementary Back to School Nights; Check individual school information for details
• 9:30-11:30 AM - 50+ Job Seekers - Creating Your LinkedIn Profile and Personal Branding (Library event; Register)
• 1:00 PM - Fox Hill School Building - Executive Working Group will review the outcomes from the Community Meeting and the schedule for upcoming meetings. (Virtual)
• 2:00 PM -Board of Health - Tri-Ton Coalition Advisory Board will talk about tobacco funding. (Virtual)
• 6:00-8:00 PM - Car Seat Safety Check with Burlington Police Department at the Park at Burlington Mall.
• 6:30 PM - Fall Wreath Workshop at Made in Burlington
• 7:00 PM - Historical Commission will talk about opening the West School (bonus points if you can give me a two-sentence history of that building and tell the class where it’s located!) for Halloween. They’ll also talk about the town’s 225th anniversary and the possibility of having a trolley car to bring residents to and from different places of interest in town. (Grand View Farm)
• 7:00 PM - Ways and Means will cast their advisory votes for relevant Town Meeting Warrant articles and further discuss the idea of a financial dashboard, as well as the capital projects on the horizon and the financing/debt schedule. (Town Hall and Virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Fables & Fantasy Book Club - Perilous Times (Library event; Register)
• 7:00 PM - Tween Event: Diamond Painting Keychains (Library event; Register)

Sports and Activities

Yesterday was a big day in Burlington Athletics and there are a lot of successes to celebrate. Our volleyball teams won all 3 of their games against Stoneham: Freshmen 2-1; JV 2-1, varsity 3-0. This brings the team’s varsity record to 5-0. The Woburn-Burlington combined swim team also won a very hard fought match that came down to the very end

Mixed results in soccer and cross country. Boys won their CC meet 16-49, and, while junior Ashleigh DeMartinis came in first for the girls, the team lost a very close match at 30-27. Lady devils won their soccer match, with a score of 3-1, while boys lost theirs 0-2.

Finally, our golf team suffered a very close loss

After a big and beautiful day of fall sports yesterday, today’s calendar is light: Freshman girls ravel to Winchester for a soccer meetup today at 4:15, and boys host Watertown at the same time at Rahanis. That’s it!

I’ll see you tomorrow, neighbors!

Nicci

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