Hey, Burlington!

I have a few general updates today, so I figured I’d combine them with a Roundup. I know the last Roundup went to everyone (not just paying Hive members like it’s supposed to)—blame vacation brain. This one is half-and-half. If you enjoyed the last Roundup, or if you just appreciate the work I do to bring you no-cost news about local government and current events, I hope you’ll consider joining the Hive for $60/year.

Updates

Route 3A Repaving Project

Remember the project community members were so anxious about last fall? The state was going to repave Route 3A (Cambridge Street) from Cook Street in Billerica to BHS. They were going to clarify the lane markings, make some dedicated bike lanes, and make other improvements to crosswalks and signals. Many residents attended the forum hosted by the state, contacted various town departments, and took to social media to voice their concerns. It sounded like it was a done deal. The project was supposed to start this spring (aka, right around now).

One concern was the fact that a portion of the traffic study was done during the pandemic, and so the state conducted another traffic study. They had tubes out for several days (maybe up to a week, but at this point I can’t remember), and then we haven’t heard anything about the project since then. I’ve been checking in periodically with the town, and this week Town Administrator, Paul Sagarino, sent me this message from the state:

On November 17, 2022, MassDOT hosted a Project Information Meeting to discuss MassDOT project 610704 – Route 3A Resurfacing and Related Work in Burlington and Billerica. During this meeting, MassDOT presented the project design to the public and solicited public comment and feedback. In the meeting, and in subsequent correspondence, many members of the public expressed support or concern for the project. One of the primary concerns expressed was regarding the traffic, and fear of additional congestion. Residents of Burlington expressed concern that traffic had significantly increased since the initial traffic study which includes volumes from 2021. Since the public information meeting, MassDOT has performed additional traffic counts, and conducted additional traffic modeling to forecast future volumes. MassDOT will hold a follow-up public meeting to discuss its findings and present any revisions resulting from the additional analysis. This date has not yet been set, as analysis is still ongoing. MassDOT is taking the expressed concerns seriously and will specifically address them in the subsequent meeting.

So. There is no information yet. But there will be another meeting. We just don’t know when.

Mall Road Rezoning Project Community Design Workshop Next Week, Occurring in Three Parts

Hopefully you’ve read about this forum, either here or somewhere else. What I haven’t done a great job of doing, though, is explaining that there are three different parts and you don’t have to be involved in all three of them in order to contribute to the project.

Site Tour, May 23, 3:00-5:00 PM

Join us as we take a (driving) tour of the Mall Road Corridor area to visit keys sites and discuss what is working what is not. This is to get a feel for the area and take note of things you might not see while simply looking at a map. Register here.

Listening Workshop, May 23, 6:30-8:30 PM

The Open House Night offers the public an overview of the Mall Road Rezoning initiative and an opportunity to provide input on the future. Here is where you can hear some of the design firm’s and town’s ideas for the space and provide your input. Register here.

Visioning Workshop, May 23, 5:00-8:00 PM

The public vision workshop will review input from the night's previous Open House Night and review development examples and case studies from other places. We will organize into groups to discuss what the long-term vision for the district should be, how to react to changing needs, and build social, economic, and environmental resilience. Register here.

I hope you are able to attend one or more of these sessions, as a diverse set of inputs will be very beneficial to this process.

Yard Sale

The Community Yard Sale is from 9-2 today! Consult the map below to learn more.

Revised-Yard-Sale- MapDownload

Health Fair

The Community Health Fair is today from 10-1!

That’s it for the updates; read on (or become a Hive member and then read on) for the Hive Roundup!

Town Meeting Approves Operating Budgets and Capital Expenditures, but Some Questions Arise

Town Meeting lasted a record two nights this time around, which is huge for a May Town Meeting. Usually they last longer, because the entire operating budget as well as a slew of capital budget items are all on the table. The withdrawal of a few warrant articles contributed to the shortened time, but it also helped that participants were prepared and questions were largely focused and thoughtful.

The Meeting started out with reports from several departments, including the Economic Development office, which received funding approval for some placemaking events, as well as the Planning and Public Works departments. Of note:

• PFAS filters at Mill Pond are installed and awaiting DEP approval to get them online.
• Yard waste collection ends this coming week.
• There was a clarification presentation about the MBTA communities legislation. Very high-level overview is that we need to have space and zoning for multifamily housing that doesn’t restrict by age or number of bedrooms. That doesn’t mean the housing has to actually be built (though it definitely could happen); we need to have the zoning in place to accommodate it. This is a state law, and there are real consequences for not complying; full compliance is expected by the end of 2024.

Of course, you can see all the articles here. The ones that were not withdrawn were all approved. Here are some notable ones:

• There will be some new equipment in the Fire, DPW, and Recreation Departments.
• There will be added equipment to prevent sewage emergencies and handle them safely when they do happen.
• The dog pound will be relocated, but there was a long discussion about whether or not this was the ideal place for it. In the end, the article passed.
• A traffic light will be going in at Winn St. and Mountain Rd.
• The pickleball court will be traded with the street hockey area; this will hopefully cut down on noise.
• Memorial fire system, MSMS cameras, and Francis Wyman fields will be upgraded.
• The water main will be upgraded in the Mall Road area.
• The Select Board will look into Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training.
• The School Department will be conducting a feasibility study for the high school. They’ll use allotted money as well as repurposing the $450k that was granted by Town Meeting last year to refinish the music room floor.

The next town meeting will be held in September, and there will be far fewer financial articles and more articles about general and zoning bylaws.

Burlington Elementary School Building Project Spurs Conversation

The Fox Hill School Building Committee, informally renamed this week to the Burlington Elementary School Building Committee, was the other hot topic of conversation in town. A community forum was held on Thursday evening, where the design firm took a full hour to present the background and next steps for the project.

Some very sketchy background:

The Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) provides subsidies for school building projects that meet certain requirements. We have submitted a letter of interest for MSBA funding for BHS for the last 12 years in a row and not received funding. The high school was prioritized based on a community survey completed years ago; one big reason it wasn’t accepted into the program is because, while it was constructed for 2000 students, there are currently just over 1000 students in attendance. The MSBA tends to prioritize schools with serious enrollment pressure.

After it was pretty clear MSBA wasn’t going to fund BHS as they were presenting it, the School Committee moved down the stated list of priorities and landed on Fox Hill. They applied and were accepted into the program. But, that acceptance was based on combining Fox Hill and Pine Glen into a single school, leaving us with 3 elementary schools.

Superintendent Conti asked MSBA to please allow us to consider both 3-school and 4-school options, and MSBA agreed. Last year, Town Meeting granted the School Department $1,500,000 to conduct a feasibility study for Fox Hill (which will extend to Pine Glen); that study is currently underway, and this week’s meetings served as a progress update.

The committee is determining the feasibility of several options, including building a single school on each site, two connected schools on each site, and renovating or adding on to each school only. It’s clear much thought has been put into these options, both by the School Building Committee and related firms and by many community members. While appreciation was expressed at the thoroughness of the presentation, several community members came on to voice their concerns, which included but were not limited to:

• Safety of walkers in already congested (at school arrival and departure times) neighborhoods with the increased traffic the larger school would bring
• Psychological comfort and physical safety of students in a large 3-story building
• Protection of neighboring natural resources
• Doubts about enrollment numbers being as low as the state projects
• Redistricting and adding students to both Memorial and Francis Wyman

There are benefits and drawbacks to all the models discussed, and some (like moving students out of one of the buildings while the existing building is repaired, renovated, or added onto) are simply not feasible.

Ir was repeatedly emphasized that the community is ultimately in charge of the project; the voting members of the Building Committee, though, will make the final decision and then Town Meeting must vote to approve our portion of the funding (which could be up to 75% of the total construction cost), and if taxes need to be raised in order to pay for our portion, that will need to be on a full town ballot.

Quick Hits

Shawsheen’s Eli Ober receives state LGBTQ leadership award:

Community Information

Shawsheen’s Eli Ober receives Inaugural LGBTQ Leadership Award at State House

Nicci Kadilak • May 15, 2023

Shawsheen Valley Technical School senior Eli Ober was awarded the inaugural Jeff Perrotti LGBTQ Leadership Award at the State House on Thursday April 27. Eli is the first and only vocational student in Massachusetts to receive this honor. Ober is in the culinary arts…

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Shawsheen Junior Cole Kelley to compete for second gold at SkillsUSA nationals

Community Information

Shawsheen Tech’s Cole Kelley to compete for 2nd gold medal at SkillsUSA Nationals

Nicci Kadilak • May 12, 2023

It’s not often a sophomore wins gold at the SkillsUSA National competition, but Cole Kelley did, and he is not your typical student. Kelley took home the gold medal in the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVAC-R) competition last summer at the 2022 SkillsUSA Natio…

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Skylight Health offers paid clinical trials right here in Burlington

Community Information

Skylight Health Research Offers Clinical Trials to Help Shape the Future of Medicine

Nicci Kadilak • May 15, 2023

At 101 Cambridge Street in Burlington, MA, our small research clinic on the 3rd floor may not look like anything particularly interesting, but at this clinic the Skylight Health Research team, along with our dedicated patients, are helping shape the future of medicine. Skylight Health Research is an enrolling site for clinical trials to provide patients…

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I hope you enjoyed this Roundup. Let me know in the comments!

See you tomorrow!

Nicci