This article allows Town Meeting to hear reports from town officers and committees. This time around, Town Meeting heard from the Burlington High School Building Committee and the Human Services Committee, the Economic Development Department, the Zoning Bylaw Review Committee Sign Subcommittee, and Sam Hockenbury from the town regarding Municipal Aggregation.
Sign Subcommittee: Betsey Hughes presented on the funding that was approved for a consultant to help craft Town Center Signage District design guidelines. A consultant from Utile Architecture was engaged and has been working with the Committee. There will be a focus group of Town Center businesses on Tuesday evening, September 24 with the hope of anticipating concerns from businesses that will be affected and creating a use table and zoning bylaw that will best serve our town. The ZBRC intends to bring this new bylaw forward to Town Meeting in January.
Economic Development: The Mall Road Mixed Use proposal that's been in development for several years was intended to come before this Town Meeting, but the ED Department has decided to bring it forward in two phases. They also plan to bring Phase 1 forward to January Town Meeting.
High School Building Committee: The $1.5-million feasibility study funded by Town Meeting is underway, and there will be representatives of the Committee present at the Beer Garden on Thursday (Moran Ave. from 4:30-8:30 PM) to discuss the project's progress. A few potential designs have been explored, but nothing has been decided upon, and the project is still in early stages.
Human Services Committee: This Committee, appointed by the Town Moderator, is back after a hiatus of several years and is working on a resource to connect people in the community with all the resources that are available to them. They're seeking members; email Carl Foss if you're interested.
Municipal Aggregation: This has been discussed at length; if you have any questions, call Sam at Town Hall or visit the town website.

This article is to set the annual town election date, which occurs in April each year.
PASSED - The election will be held on April 5, 2025.

While the police station is being reconstructed, the Department needs a temporary home; the proposal is to use the water department building at Vine Brook on Middlesex Turnpike for this purpose. Temporary portable buildings will need to be placed there, as well, to accommodate the department.
PASSED - The pre-work is expected to be performed from about January to June so the Department can relocate in time for a September demolition of the current police station.

This article was presented in May to get input from Town Meeting on what they'd like to see in a final article regarding changing the Town Clerk role from elected to appointed. A subcommittee was established, and they'll be presenting their findings after researching and hearing from the Arlington Town Clerk.
Page 7 of the Backup outlines the research and recommendations of the subcommittee, as well as a draft job description. A YES vote on this article would place the question of converting the role to an appointed position on the April local election ballot for the voters to decide.
PASSED - The question of whether or not to convert the role of Town Clerk to appointed will appear on Burlington's local election ballot in April.

This petition requests that the town extend a 5-year deadline for issuance of liquor licenses that were allowed in January 2020 for the Burlington Mall. The extension would last for an additional 3 years, recognizing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on retail leases.
PASSED - Burlington mall will have until 2028 to issue the remaining liquor licenses.

Marshall Simonds left the town some money, which is disbursed each year via a vote by Town Meeting after two readings of the will. These funds go toward maintaining Simonds Park and funding recreation programming; this year, the Recreation Department plans to use the money for therapeutic recreation staffing and a modular trailer, special events funding, accessibility improvements at the tennis courts, and more.
PASSED

Separate backup was to be provided for this, but it is not on the Town Meeting website currently. This year, the entire Administrative & Professional Compensation Plan has been revamped and will eventually align the town's salaries with the market. This funding has already been allocated by Town meeting, but now just needs to be moved into the proper account.
PASSED

Town Meeting Members will vote on whether or not to approve funding for a new Fox Hill building, which will be completed in 2028. Visit the Buzz's Focus on Fox Hill series to learn more about the context and history of this project.
PASSED
After an hour of presentations and less than an hour of questions from the body, the question was moved by a member of Town Meeting. This means there can be no further debate until the body decides whether to take a vote or not. The body voted approximately 75%-25% to move the question, which meant the residents who had attended in the hopes of sharing their perspectives did not have that opportunity.
A standing vote was subsequently taken, and the article passed 97-7.

This general bylaw amendment would allow for hybrid town meeting, provided that a quorum is present in person and that remote participants give 48 hours notice unless circumstances prohibit it. A similar article has been brought before, and this new version responds to concerns that were brought up the last time the question was before Town Meeting.
PASSED, but see below...

This Home Rule Petition is the companion to Article 9 and is necessary to grant the town the power from the state to make this change.
POSTPONED
While Article 9 was more restrictive and addressed Town Meeting specifically, Article 10 was more general and would require all town Committees to provide hybrid meetings. The general consensus was that many members of those Committees wanted more of an active role in shaping the Home Rule Petition. Additionally, many said they don't have access to town infrastructure that would be required to offer the features that would be required from that petition.
The postponement of this article means that the bylaw change voted on in Article 9 won't yet take effect.

The town of Burlington currently does not have a mechanism to recall elected officials; this bylaw would establish one.
FAILED
After much discussion, multiple failed amendments, and an attempt to postpone, this article failed. Some comments included what members though was a low threshold for initiating the recall and the fear of weaponization of this tool.

This article seeks to establish a committee to look into the pros, cons, and costs of an electronic voting system for use at Town Meeting. There is no monetary amount to this article. This is another article that was before a previous Town meeting. It was voted down, but as it was late and at the end of a single-night Town meeting, and the General Bylaw Review Committee is bringing it back in the hopes it can be properly explained and discussed.
Amended to be appointed by the Moderator and allow the Moderator to be a voting member
PASSED

This article would add 3 non-voting members to the ISSAC committee, one on the Select Board and two residents with backgrounds in cybersecurity. It also establishes a system for filling vacancies.
PASSED

This amendment would raise the threshold of Town Meeting Members required to call for a roll call vote from 7 to 12.
FAILED

This amendment would require town administration to report to Town Meeting on the 10-year capital plan in conjunction with discussion of large capital items.
FAILED

This article has been withdrawn.

This article has been withdrawn.

This article would change the zoning of the only Retail Industrial property into the General Business district, a move that was met with approval from the town's land use boards.
PASSED

This article would change the zoning bylaws related to signs at the Town Common, allowing for an electronic sign that would be located at the corner of Bedford Street and Cambridge Street where currently two wooden posts hold vinyl signs that advertise upcoming events.
PASSED

This article is a refinement of the Use Table Modernization article that was approved by Town Meeting in May. It updates the overlay definitions for the MBTA Communities Multi-Family Overlay to increase the likelihood the state will accept the proposed overlay.
PASSED

This article is a refinement of the Parking and Landscaping article that was approved by Town Meeting in May.
PASSED

This use, which was introduced into the bylaws in the last couple of years, currently has a restaurant requirement. The new definition would remove that requirement, thereby expanding the potential of this use.
PASSED

This article has been withdrawn.

This article aims to reduce confusion on the part of residents and clarify what accessory structures can be built by right (without a permit) and which require a permit.
FAILED