Hello and Happy Weekend, friends.

The theme of this week seems to have been—well, not exactly getting out the crystal ball as much as creating our own crystal ball.

Here are some things that came up this week that get me (and hopefully you) excited about the future of Burlington.

• Residents Voice Concerns Over New Development
• Burlington Joins Property-Assessed Clean Energy Program, Selects Designer for Mall Road Rezoning Initiative
• Town Meeting Warrant Seeks Cybersecurity Assessment and Five-Year Waste Contract
• Candidates for Town Election Begin Pulling Papers
• BPS Looking to DEI Partnership

Residents Voice Concerns Over New Development

Burlington Residents spoke in person and online on Monday night against a proposed affordable senior housing development in the Winnmere neighborhood with access from Mountain Road. Concerns ranged from emergency access to blasting and traffic impacts.

Many concerns went unanswered except to say that any concerns will be addressed by the Zoning Board of Appeals as they come up during the approval process.

Burlington Joins Property-Assessed Clean Energy Program, Selects Designer for Mall Road Rezoning Initiative

The Economic Development Office this week made two big announcements that have the potential to make a big difference for the future of our town. First, we have joined the Property-Assessed Clean Energy Program, which offers special financing for energy improvements on commercial and industrial buildings. Also, the town has selected a design firm, Brovitz Community Planning & Design, for the Mall Road-Middlesex Turnpike rezoning initiative that has been in the works for the last couple of years. The state has partnered with Burlington to get this project off the ground, and this reimagining is a really exciting development for our town!

Town Meeting Warrant Seeks Cybersecurity Assessment, Hybrid Meetings, and Five-Year Waste Contract

The Town Meeting Warrant has been mailed out by the Town Clerk’s office and it includes a few items that will continue moving the town into the future. I’ll give a full summary sometime this week, but of note are a $25k request for a cybersecurity assessment, a request for permission from Town Meeting to enter into a 5-year waste management contract, and a proposal to allow hybrid access and participation to Town Meeting and other official meetings on a permanent basis.

Candidates for Town Election Begin Pulling Papers

There are mixed items to report on the status of candidates for election, as I mentioned yesterday. Most town-wide offices have at least enough candidates to fill the open seats, with absences in the Library Trustees and the Recreation Commission. Town Meeting seats are still looking wide open, but incumbents can sign up to re-run at Town Meeting next Monday, so they’ll probably fill up after that.

But, that is with incumbents, which is largely who is running for seats right now across the ballot—it would be great to see some new faces putting their names into the ring for town government.

BPS Looking to DEI Partnership

Finally, in a time when many residents have questions and concerns about the state of equity in Burlington, Burlington Public Schools have been working with a group called The Highlander Institute to engage in professional development around culturally responsive teaching. The middle school has already had a full day of training through this group, and the high school has their first day this Thursday. This has the potential to grow into a long-term partnership, including more training at the existing levels and an expansion into the elementary schools. MSMS principal, Cari Perchase, said at this week’s School Committee meeting that it is beneficial to have an objective outside perspective to highlight where school staff could improve their cultural responsiveness.

That’s all I’ve got for you today. I hope you had a great week and are gearing up for another good one. Expect me to be a little frazzled this week with the book release and all.

See you tomorrow!

Nicci