Good Morning, Burlington,

The town said goodbye to a much-loved figure yesterday, as Al Fay’s antique fire truck drove his casket from St. Margaret’s Church to his final resting place. Al was a long-time firefighter—in fact, he was one of the first professional firefighters on the Burlington Fire Department and served as a volunteer firefighter before that. Al was committed to the ground at Chestnut Hill Cemetery yesterday afternoon. Rest in peace, Al.

Board of Health Urges Owner of Flooded Property to Prioritize Safety

Representatives of Brixmor Property Group appeared before the Board of Health Tuesday to respond once more to concerns about the persistent state of flooding at 111 Middlesex Turnpike. They last appeared this summer, when they outlined a plan to clean out the drainage pipes that connect the stream that moves through (and overflows into) that parking lot with Vine Brook. The property owner reported at the meeting that they’d spent $150,000 to go through this lengthy process, which included removing all the fish from the area, pumping out the water, and cleaning out all the drainage pipes, then replacing all the water and fish, and…it didn’t work.

The parking lot remains flooded, as it has for several years, creating a safety issue for visitors to the property. There was some contention between the property owner and Board of Health member McSweeney regarding who was to blame for the situation. The property owner contends that when the town turned off the pumps at Vine Brook (presumably they’re talking about the water treatment facility that’s no longer in service), that’s when the flooding began. However, both the owner and the town agreed that there has always been periodic flooding in the area; the major difference now is the persistent nature of the flooding (you can often see geese chilling in the parking-lot-pond) and the fact that its radius seems to be increasing.

The property owner brought a professional engineer with them, and Conservation Administrator, John Keeley, also appeared; the highlight of both their testimony was that they’ll be collaborating with each other and with the relevant town departments to try and figure out a solution. The current plan involves raising the grade of that portion of the parking lot, but that gets complicated because, since the area is in a flood plain, any increase in elevation must be compensated for by a decrease somewhere else.

Notably, the site already doesn’t have enough parking spots from a zoning perspective; this hasn’t been an issue because many of the storefronts are vacant, but the property owner doesn’t want to decrease the number of parking spaces contained within the parking lot and bring them further out of compliance.

Representatives of the town, the property owners, and the Board of Health will be presenting the proposed design at the next Development Coordination Meeting, where various town departments gather to discuss items like this one. After a suitable plan is created, the property owner will need to amend their site plan and go through all the relevant town Boards for approvals before they can implement the changes.

It was requested they appear in front of the Board of Health’s June 25 meeting to provide an update.

Also at Board of Health:

• A chicken permitting dispute among neighbors that seems to be about more than chickens. (0:06)
• Nothing has changed with the budget from last year; this was surely the fastest budget conversation of the FY25 season.

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

The Housing Authority meeting for today has been canceled. Al Fay, who passed away last week, served as chair of this Board for many years, and the Board will resume their meeting schedule after honoring his life this week.

• 12:30-3:00 PM - Bridge Club (Human Resources Building, 2nd floor)
• 2:15 PM - Shawsheen School Council will meet to discuss the student attendance policy, the district’s strategic plan, and digital tools & resources. (Shawsheen Tech)
• 4:00-4:45 PM - Mosaic Coaster Craft for Grades 4-8 - colorful beans are the secret to these very cool coasters. Come check it out! (Library; Registration Required)
• 6:30 PM - Burlington High School Building Committee will vote on voting members, hear a designer proposal update, set up some goals & working groups, and start talking about the educational program. (BHS and Virtual)
• 6:30 PM - Conservation Commission - A certificate of compliance for Scott Avenue, a request regarding a wetland permit, a violation for tree cutting and one for clearcutting the bank of Little Brook are on the agenda. The public hearings this evening are an Abbreviated Notice of Resource Area Determination for Eversource from Winn Street to Town Line road, presumably for the new substation they’ll be building near Mill Pond and MSMS, and a notice of intent to demolish a home and build a new one at 145 Wilmington Road. (Town Hall Main Hearing Room and Virtual)
• 6:45 PM - Burlington Scholarship Fund will discuss the application process including deadlines as well as the treasury status, ethics training, donation commitment form, and more. (Grandview Farm - Marion Tavern)
• 7:00-9:00 PM - Library Board of Trustees are scheduled to meet, but no agenda is yet posted. (Library)

Sports and Activities

Both hockey teams won their games yesterday against Melrose, girls with a score of 7-3 and boys 5-4 in overtime. This brings the girls’ record to 6-1 and the boys’ to 4-4-1. The wrestling team wasn’t able to come out on top, though, losing in Melrose 75-6 and bringing their record to 1-2.

Today we’ve got more matchups against Melrose with the boys’ swim team traveling for a 5:30 meet and the girls’ gymnastics team hosting the Red Hawks starting at 6:30.

Nicci

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