Good Morning, Burlington!

I hope you’re enjoying the weekend and ready to jump into the month ahead, which starts tomorrow!

Just a reminder that Town Meeting begins next Monday, May 8, and will proceed on Wednesdays and Mondays until it’s complete. There’s no way to anticipate how many Mondays and Wednesdays it will take, but I’ve been on 3- and 4-session May Town Meetings. The reason it takes so long in May is that this is the annual meeting, where Town Meeting approves the budget for every single town department, as well as a slew of capital requests. This can take a lot of time, depending on how many articles Town Meeting Members (the 126 of us—18 per precinct—who represent us) have questions about or feel the need to discuss.

As a reminder, a summary of the Warrant, with some backup, is below. I’ll be adding some additional description/background where needed early this week, but this should be a pretty good start.

Local Government

May 8, 2023, Town Meeting

Nicci Kadilak • Apr 28, 2023

Our next Town Meeting will be held on May 8, 2023, in the BHS Auditorium. This May gathering is known as the Annual Town Meeting, where your representatives approve (or deny) the budget and most of the capital requests for the upcoming fiscal year. There will be no hybrid participation option, but the meeting will be broadcast on BCAT.

Read full story →

A few other things to remember going into the new week:

• May 19 is the Celebration of Kindness, sponsored by HELPIS. Get your tickets and learn more!
• This Thursday, May 4, is the senior focus group for the town’s work on their communications strategy. The Collins Group and the Town of Burlington are seeking seniors to participate in a conversation about how they get their information about town government, events, and offerings, and how this communication could be improved. Specifically, they’d like to hear from people without regular internet interaction. So, if you know someone in Burlington who fits this description, please have them reach out to Marge Yetman at the Council on Aging at 781-270-1950, by email, or in person.
• Speaking of communication, that survey we’ve been talking about is still open. Complete it here.
• The Friends of the Burlington Public Library book sale finishes up today from 1:15-3:30.

This Week in Burlington

Meetings and Events

Monday, May 1

• 12:00 PM - Disability Access Commission (Grand View Farm)
• 5:30 PM - Zoning Bylaw Review Committee Sign Subcommittee (Town hall Annex and virtual)
• 6:00 PM - Burlington Youth and Family Services (BYFS Room 112 and virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Chess club at the library
• 7:00 PM - Tween event: Paint with diamonds butterfly stickers (library event; register)

Tuesday, May 2

• 6:00 PM - Fox Hill School Building Committee (BHS and virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Board of Appeals (Public hearings begin at 7:30 at Town Hall)
• 7:00 PM - Library event: Preserving Family Recipes with Valerie Frey (Register)

Wednesday, May 3

• 8:00 AM - Council on Aging - Elderly & Disabled Taxation Fund Subcommittee (61 Center Street Room 106)
• 9:00 AM - Burlington Parks & Recreation Springapalooza Bird Walk with John Keeley
• 2:45-3:50 - Homework Club at The Reserve (20 Corporate Drive); email Kim Holt for more information
• 4:00 PM - Read to a Therapy Dog (Library event; register)
• 7:00 PM - Ways and Means has their last meeting prior to Town Meeting (Town Hall and virtual)
• 7:00 PM - Teen Food Art Event: Starburst Flowers (Library event; register)
• 7:00 PM - Investing in Real Estate Workshop from Kadilak Realty Group

Thursday, May 4

• 12:30 PM - Burlington Focus Group at Council on Aging: The Town of Burlington wants to improve how it shares and exchanges information with people in our community. We are especially interested in learning how older residents get information about town businesses, events, and services
• 4:00 PM - Baby Yoda Crafts (Library event; register)

• 6:30 PM - Planning Board (Town Hall and virtual)
• 6:30 PM - Town Clerk - Town Meeting Boot Camp, open to new and existing Town Meeting Members (Town Hall Annex)
• 7:00 PM - The British are Coming Historical Society program (61 Center Street; doors at 6:30)

Friday May 5

• 10:30 AM - Bubble Storytime at Wildwood Park

Saturday, May 6

• 1:00-4:30 PM - Afternoon Off Doll Club

Sunday, May 7

• Project Bread Walk for Hunger, in partnership with People Helping People
• 11:00 AM-3:00 PM - Senior Expo, sponsored by Indian Americans of Greater Burlington

Schools

I don’t usually have an entire subheading for schools, but there are a few things going on this week that I wanted to highlight:

• AP testing begins this week at BHS
• 6:00-8:00 PM Tuesday - Pine Glen Art Night and Spring Concert
• 5:00-8:00 PM Wednesday - Francis Wyman Art Show
• 8:45 AM Thursday - Fox Hill Grade 4 & 5 Spring Concert
• 7:30-10:00 PM Friday and Saturday, and 2:00-5:00 PM Sunday - BHS Musical - The Addams Family

Sports and Activities

Red Devils boys won their third consecutive MSTCA Division 4 Relays title this weekend, while girls brought home a third place finish! Way to go, team

Some other sports updates for you:

• Varsity Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse teams won their games on Friday with scores of 19-6 and 17-6, respectively, while JV girls fell to Watertown 12-5.
• Our varsity softball team continues its undefeated season with a 12-0 win over Belmont.
• In boys’ volleyball, the varsity team evened up their record at 4-4 with a 3-1 win over Salem, while JV lost 1-2.
• The girls’ tennis team lost on Friday 0-5 against Arlington.

Spring sports continue in full swing this week, so be on the lookout for baseball, volleyball, lacrosse, tennis, and more!

That’s it for today. I hope you have a great one!

Nicci