Good Morning, Burlington!

Burlington has proceeded to the second round of Minute Madness, but we need your help to stay in the competition! Help your town beat Tyngsboro and hold on to its championship title by reading each day and filling out this form to log how long you read or listened. Minutes will be tallied on Thursday afternoons. I just filled out mine for this weekend, when I listened to my Book Club’s selection as I drove to New Hampshire. Let’s keep reading strong, Burlington!

What Exactly is a Town Moderator?

You see it on the ballot every April. This year the election is contested, and you’ll also be seeing signs for two different candidates. There will be a debate, and interviews with candidates Adam Senesi and Bill Beyer are already available for Hive members to listen to. (They’ll open to the general public on Saturday!) But what is the job of a Town Moderator?

In short, the Moderator guides Town Meetings and ensures they run in a fair and efficient way. Read more in this profile, hot off the presses.

Local Government

Profile | Town Moderator

Nicci Kadilak • Mar 12, 2024

Each year at Burlington’s local election, the first office on the ballot is the Town Moderator. But what’s a Moderator? The average resident doesn’t have much, if any, contact with their town’s moderator, and the ballot, with a list of names and no explanation, is no help.

Read full story →

Select Board Pleased with Town Administrator Leadership

Town Administrator, Paul Sagarino, was commended at last night’s Select Board meeting for his leadership during the presentation of his evaluation. The Board scored Sagarino on a number of metrics, including professionalism, organizational leadership, and personnel management. The headline is that the Board thinks Mr. Sagarino is doing a great job, and, according to Select Board Chair Mike Runyan’s conversations, so do employees of the many departments he manages.

Also at Select Board last night:

• The All-Night Graduation Party that’s been held since 1991 will be happening on June 2.
• A 5K to benefit The James Gang will be held on September 29.
• The Ahern Family Foundation will have its annual St. Patrick’s Day Gala this weekend, and received an extension on liquor licenses at the Marriott.
• Money was allocated to make up for the snow and ice removal deficit. This is customary; most towns intentionally allocate too little money for snow and ice removal at the beginning of the year and then shift more funds once the season shapes up.
• The Board began discussing with the Town Engineer and feedback from some residents a policy about installing “speed tables,” a speed control measure much less jarring than speed bumps. No decisions have been made yet, and the policy is by no means final; this discussion was just to open up the conversation.
• Fire, Police, and Emergency Management budgets came in under guidelines and were approved by the Select Board. (These will still need to be approved by Ways & Means and then the ultimate approval will go to Town Meeting in May.)

Today in Burlington

Municipal Meetings and Community Events

• 8:00 AM - Ways & Means Town Hall 1 Subcommittee Meeting will discuss the department budgets for FY25 including Central Administration, Middlesex Retirement, and more.  (Town Hall Annex Basement Meeting Room)
• 10:30 AM - Toddler Storytime - Kids 18-36 months, bring your caregivers and come listen to a story and play! (Burlington Public Library; Drop in)
• 7:00 PM - School Committee has a very full agenda tonight, including the draft for the 2024-2025 school calendar, the instructional assistants’ contract for 2024-2027, the FY25 budget, and lots more. A Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion update is also on the agenda. (Burlington High School and Virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Board of Health - CANCELED

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow!

Nicci

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