Select Board Recap from May 6, 2024
The Select Board heard from residents about litter pickup and art on the Common at their latest meeting; what else did they discuss?
Chief Thomas Browne and Kevin Witzell from Design Firm Kaestle Boos appeared in front of the Select Board last night to provide a kind of in-person backup regarding Article 20 on this May's Town Meeting Warrant, the construction of a new police station. They described the need for the new building, why they believe the current location is the appropriate site for the new building, and why renovation and structured parking are both not feasible options, and so much more. Read more from that presentation here.
Also at Select Board:
- A moment of silence was held for the beloved police K-9, Havoc, after whom the dog sculpture on the Town Common is named. Havoc had been retired since 2020 and passed away last week at the age of 15.
- Police Promotions: Kevin Doherty was promoted to Lieutenant and Sage Costa was promoted to Sergeant.
- Department of Public Works Week was proclaimed.
- The Class of 2027 will be selling water bottles on the Common this Friday for the prom, as attendees flock to the Common for their pre-prom photos.
- Brentwood Livery, a 24-hour car service that provides services to seniors and individuals with disabilities, was granted a livery license.
- Disability Access Commission: The assistive voting machine will be funded for 2024, 2025, and 2026 using handicap parking fines. Speaking of which, these fines haven't increased since 1998. The DAC requests to increase the fine from $200 to $300; the Select Board
- Public Participation:
- A community member, former Select Board member Howie Strahan, asked the Board to reconsider their vote to allow artwork to be displayed on the Common, saying that allowing one organization to display art could invite future groups, which would be unpredictable.
- Another community member proposed some ideas to encourage community members to share accountability for litter prevention in Burlington.
- A flammable materials storage permit was granted to the property owners of GTI ETS at 3 Burlington Woods; each tenant of that building will need to apply directly to the fire department under the umbrella permit that was granted.
- The Sculpture Park's Pigs on Parade Sculpture Park installation will open on June 22, and the rain date of June 23 was approved.
- Planning Director, Liz Bonventre, gave a very brief overview of the Planning/Economic Development Warrant Articles (more about those later this week), and the Select Board voted unanimously in favor.
The next Select Board meeting is planned for May 20, 2024.
