Hello, Hive!

Well, would you look at that. Against all odds, here I am just a week after your last Roundup with another one. Enough happened this week that I thought a reflection necessary and helpful, and I hope you enjoy this brief Election Day recap.

BTW in case you didn’t hear the urgency in my other message: GO VOTE. I know you probably already have, or have a solid plan to do so today, but I have to say it for the procrastinators like me. Really, just go on your way to Target or the gas station or whatever. It will only take a minute and it will mean a lot.

Okay, now on to the roundup.

Today we’ll dabble in:

• The future of land use in Burlington
• The water landscape
• Some potential improvements to our municipal government’s efficiency
• A bunch of school-related stuff

The Future of Land Use in Burlington

There’s just a lot going on with respect to land use in Burlington, particularly over by Middlesex Turnpike, Mall Road, and Blanchard Road:

• The rezoning initiative that will make available a lot of unused space for mixed use, including potential multifamily housing
• The reimagining of the Blanchard Road/Wheeler Road corridor
• The sidewalk project on Blanchard Road, in which we’ll spend half a million of the state’s money on sidewalks to make that area safer and more walkable
• The possibility of a mixed-use greenway

The Water Landscape

Water has been an issue for a long time in Burlington. From water bans that have increased in intensity each summer to contamination with PFAS, water is on most of our minds most of the time. Here is the latest update on all things water in Burlington:

• The town is working with the state to try and find the upstream source of PFAS in the Mill Pond water supply. They suspect it might have been carried down from Hanscom via the Shawsheen River. Regardless of the source, they hope to seek compensation to offset the cost of the expensive filters we have installed to remediate the contamination.
• Speaking of which, PFAS filters will be ready to go any day now, if they’re not already.
• MWRA connection Phase 2A will be completed around the end of June. That means 3.5 million gallons per day will be available to us from the MWRA.
• The town is still enforcing water conservation measures but has rolled back the full outdoor watering ban, in favor of an every-other-day watering schedule. The DPW expects this to be an annual thing, even after the full MWRA connection is achieved.
• New lawn exceptions are available; just contact the DPW at (781) 270-1670.

Governmental Efficiency Improvements?

If you’ve been around for a while, you know the idea of restructuring our municipal government has been around for a while. There was a whole committee dedicated to it a few years back, and the town has implemented some of their suggestions and needs to look more into others. There are a couple of options:

• Assemble a Charter Review Commission to review the charter and make recommendations for adjustments to our current government structure (this would need to pass as a ballot measure with 15% of voters approving it, and then an elected 9-member commission would be formed with a firm end date to investigate and report.
• Have an outside agency such as the Collins Center take a preliminary look.

The Select Board agreed on Monday to take it slow when looking at this, but it seems likely an organization like the Collins Center, who is already working with the town to improve its communication with residents, will be tapped to take a look before a ballot measure is entertained.

In the Schools

Pine Glen community members came out to the School Committee meeting on Tuesday to speak in support of school nurse, Alexandra Laverty, whose contract they say is being unfairly terminated after this school year. The petition they presented now has 215 signatures. No word yet as to the outcome of this situation.

Cafeteria workers also came to voice their concerns with the new school meal provider. Chief amongst their complaints were the amount of preparation time (workers are arriving earlier and staying later than their contracted hours, and they’re short-staffed), the amount of food waste, and the amount of (and safety of) plastic used. They also expressed frustration about communication with Whitson’s, the food service provider. Superintendent Eric Conti and Facilities Supervisor Bob Cunha said there is a liaison in place to aid in communication and, while the learning curve has been steeper than they’d anticipated, they are hopeful to be able to hire new staff to help ease the burden on existing workers.

The Equity Audit which was originally planned to be completed at the end of last summer has now shifted to a different company, Commonwealth Consulting Agency, and is expected to be completed by the end of the school year. To my knowledge, the district still hasn’t spoken publicly about what happened with the original company contracted to perform the audit.

That’s it for this week. I’ll see you soon! (And don’t forget to vote.  )

Nicci