Hello, Burlington!

If you’ve been reading the Buzz for a while, you’ll have heard mention of the police station a few times. Mostly it comes up in the context of the capital projects Burlington will need to undertake in the coming years to bring our buildings up to 21st century standards for safety and functionality. But the police station is its own actor in this multi-act play, and you’ve got an opportunity to participate in the process.

Police Station Gets its Own Building Committee

Building committees abound in the town of Burlington these days: We’ve got one for the high school and one for Fox Hill, and there’s been talk of creating one for Pine Glen as well. But the Select Board now is seeking members for a building committee that has nothing to do with the schools.

Burlington’s police station stands at the corner of Center and Sears Streets, across from the common and adjacent to the Sculpture Park and the library. The Police Department has been working out of the building since they moved from the Town Hall Annex in the early 90s, but the building is much older.

Built in 1897 as the Union School, where the town’s one-room schoolhouses were consolidated, the building has housed a number of different groups, including the peer counseling initiative House of Common and later a bank. The building has been added on to over the years, but at its heart it is a 125-year-old building with the kinds of problems you might expect to see in such an old structure: leaky windows, bouncy floors, and even mold and mildew that, according to Chief Browne in a BCAT interview, causes many employees to feel unwell the moment they walk into the building. Take a tour of the existing building.

Last September, Town Meeting allocated $1.5 million to fund a feasibility study for a new police station, to determine the best option for providing a building to Burlington’s Police Department that meets today’s standards for safety, health, and building code. The study suggests the best place to rebuild the police station would be in its current location, adding the land where the Sculpture Park currently sits into its footprint to accommodate the building and parking lot needed.

The feasibility process has now reached the point where a Building Committee is being established to take a new police station from concept to reality. This is an opportunity for community members to collaborate on something that will support the health and safety of everyone who works with it and visits the police station.

Read more below and apply here.

Community Information

Burlington Seeks Police Station Building Committee Members

Nicci Kadilak • Oct 18, 2023

The Burlington Select Board is seeking residents interested in serving on the Police Station Building Committee. This committee will advise the Select Board and Town Administration on all aspects of the project to replace the Town’s Police Station. It is anticipated that the committee will have …

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Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

• 9:30 AM - 50+ Job Seekers Networking Group (Morning Session) - Resumes: Beyond the Basics (virtual library event; Register)
• 1:00 PM - School Building Committee- Executive Working Group will review the sustainability meeting results. (Virtual)
• 2:00 PM - Board of Health Subcommittee - Tri-Ton Coalition will discuss programs and public health initiatives as well as tobacco funding. (Virtual)
• 4:00 PM - Assessors Meeting to discuss the upcoming Appellate Tax Board hearing. (Town Hall)
• 5:00 PM - Board of Health Subcommittee to interview a Supervisory Nurse candidate. (BOH Conference Room)
• 7:00 PM - Historical Commission will discuss the shed, for which funding was granted by Town Meeting last year, as well as Halloween at the West School and celebrating the town’s 225th anniversary, which is coming up in February. (Grand View Farm)
• 7:00 PM - Land Use Committee will discuss a possible January warrant article regarding the proposed Winn View Heights II development and make an appointment to the Police Station Building Committee. (Virtual)

Sports and Activities

Our volleyball teams won both their matchups yesterday, with JV besting Watertown 2-0 (record 11-5) and varsity coming out 3-0 (record 12-4). Field hockey and boys’ cross country results aren’t posted yet, but girls CC fell to Watertown yesterday by a score of 15-50.

Soccer today against Watertown, with boys hosting (4:15 JV game at MSMS and 6:00 varsity game at BHS) and girls traveling (both teams playing 7:00 games). And, the MSMS Junior Devils football team will take on Woburn at home.

That’s it for today. I’ll see you again tomorrow!

Nicci

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