At Town Meeting, School Capital Articles Spark Discussion

The first night of Town Meeting saw much discussion of the town's departmental operating budgets and capital requests, and much of the questions from the body were focused on the school capital articles.

The evening began with brief reports from Economic Development Director, Melisa Tintocalis, Town Administrator, Paul Sagarino, and Ways & Means Chair, John Iler. Tintocalis unveiled the official draft of the zoning changes for the Mall Road area that Town Meeting will need to vote on not too far in the future; Sagarino gave an overview of the FY25 budget process and its results; Iler made the case for a debt exclusion for the Fox Hill and police station projects.

Next up was the town's operating budget, which is made up of all the individual departments' operating budgets. Out of 33 line items, only 6 were held:

• Legislative Committees - Precinct 4 Town Meeting Member Schiffon Wong asked for clarification of the seeming increase in Land Use Committee budget over the last two fiscal years. Town Administration clarified that the overall budget remains the same but they redistribute it each year based on how many hours each individual Committee uses.
• Fire - Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member Michelle Huntoon wondered why overtime was high again. Assistant Town Administrator John Danizio acknowledged that staffing has been an issue but that the amount allocated went down a little from last year and the Department has new staff starting and hopefully the need for overtime payments won't be as great as anticipated in the budget.
• Emergency Management - Precinct 5 Town Meeting Member Alex Rutfield asked who was going to be doing the duties of the director that is no longer in the budget. However, Danizio clarified that the Emergency Management Director stipend just moved out of this budget and into the Fire Department's operating budget.
• Recreation - Wong asked why the Department's overtime increased by 10%. Recreation Director Brendan Egan explained that weekend and evening coverage is funded through overtime and that as maintenance employee wages increase, so does the amount of overtime paid.
• Debt Service - Rutfield asked what was driving the increase in the debt service line item; Town Administrator Paul Sagarino said the increase was natural based on the increase in infrastructure investment over the last several years.
• Negotiated Settlements - Precinct 1 Town Meeting Member, Nolan Glantz, asked for clarification about the purpose of this line item. This account funds contracts that aren't settled to date, which at the moment is Administrative & Professional Staff; this is so the town has the money for when these negotiations are completed.

In the end, all operating budgets passed, and the discussion only took about an hour.

The rest of the evening was taken up by discussion of the nearly $5.5 million in Capital Warrant Articles, proposed to be paid out of Free Cash.

• All three Public Safety articles passed, though some Town Meeting Members questioned the necessity of a rescue ATV.
• All five Department of Public Works articles passed with minimal conversation, especially the one that keeps sewage flowing through the sewage pipes. (Did you know the Terrace Hall pump station processes 2/3 of the town's sewage?)
• All five Recreation Department articles passed. The biggest point of contention was whether the Department could find a vehicle that was more multi- than single-use; purpose-built machines, according to Recreation Director Egan, are best for the Department's needs.
• More than half the capital articles on the Warrant were requests by the School Department to enhance efficiency, replace old equipment, and maintain what they currently have. Long conversations ensued for two of the articles, and one—the final of the evening—resulted in the only vote of the night that was close enough to require a count.
  • District-Wide Curriculum Review: Many questions about this one, including why the district hasn't been reviewing curriculum on an ongoing basis and how the recommendations from this review will be implemented. The majority of the article, according to Dr. Conti, will go toward paying district staff to work on these initiatives over the summer. This article, which topped out at nearly a quarter of a million dollars, will account for ongoing work, including staff training, over the next three years, and Conti said they expect to implement a "Train the Trainer" model so the curriculum can continue to be implemented with fidelity.
  • Burlington High School Carpeting: The discussion of this article essentially centered around the question of whether or not it makes sense to replace the carpet in a building the district hopes to renovate or replace in the next 5-10 years. Some said it sounded cosmetic, and in fact the School Committee was split on the question, with Melissa Massardo and Jeremy Brooks voting not to support it. The response from proponents was that torn carpet can result in a tripping hazard and that it's best practice to continue maintaining the buildings the district has, even if there's a possibility they'll be replaced soon.

Like the operating budget, all capital articles passed in the end. May Town Meeting will continue on Wednesday, May 15, and spill over into Monday, May 20, if needed. The body has agreed to take the Warrant Articles related to the Police Station (Articles 20, 32, and 33) out of order and discuss them first on Wednesday. Stay tuned to the Buzz to learn how those discussions go and if the funding for the Police Station is approved.