Good morning!

In what is hopefully not a harbinger of the day and week to come, I write up the entire Buzz and then the internet very dutifully lost it when I got up to wake up my kids for school. So I’m rewriting it, but it might not be as colorful as the original.

The Select Board had a reasonably short, but quite productive, meeting last night, starting with the appointment of a new Director for the Department of Public Works. You might know that current Director of 16 years, John Sanchez, is set to retire at the end of this year. In his place, the Select Board approved the appointment of Brian White, who has been working with the Town of Burlington since 2008. Congratulations to Brian, and best wishes to John in his retirement.

Select Board Hears DEI Report, Suggests New Charge for Future

The Select Board had a relatively brief yet still productive meeting last night. Highlights here:

• DPW appointments to Director and two other roles.

• Approval to add 3 community at-large seats to the Elderly and Disabled Taxation Fund. Now we just need the community to know about this mechanism to relieve the tax burden on our seniors and disabled residents. Adding it to my list!

• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee submitted a summary of the work they’ve done over the last year, which has been (to use Nick Priest’s onion metaphor) outer-level work to get to know the Town, Town offices, and what’s already in place with resect to DEI. It’s unclear if/how the Committee’s work will continue, but a few ideas were floated, such as combining school and town DEI and reconstituting the DEIC wit ha new charge now that this outer-layer level of work. It was widely acknowledged that DEI is ongoing work of the whole community, and not just a one-time effort to check some boxes.

• The Avatar sequel is coming out in December, and AMC will be open late for 3 weekends for the premiere.

• Tony C’s will open early 10 Sundays in December for World Cup games.

• Eversource requested to do some work at Mall Road in January, but the town holds a moratorium on road work during the winter. The Board voted to hold the work until April 15.

• Home heating costs are super high this winter. There organizations that can help:

  • Veterans: Call the Veteran Services Office

  • Seniors: Call the Council on Aging

  • Families under age 55: Call Burlington Youth & Family Services

  • Anyone: there are state assistance programs that can be found online

  • Also, Mass Save can help with low-cost energy work on your house

  • And also, just check on each other as it starts to get cold out. Make sure neighbors, friends, and family members are doing okay

• Burlington has a new Eagle Scout, Henry Morin.

• Robert Marrocco (I hope I spelled that correctly) has his own Day this Friday, in celebration of his 100th birthday!

• Our Annual Tree lighting is on Sunday at 4:00 PM on the Common.

Today in Burlington

Just a couple meetings today.

• 5:00 PM - Housing Partnership will discuss the Affordable Housing Trust and get some updates on Grandview Farms and 119 S. Bedford Street. (Join online)
• 7:00 PM - Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) has their regular meeting. Old business on the agenda: MSMS Schedule, Francis Wyman playground, Extended School Year education, and more. (Join online)

Alright, I made it to the end and managed not to have my words eaten. Woohoo!

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Nicci