Hi everybody, my name is Lucy DeLabrier and I'd like to invite you to join me in a passion project that I've been involved with for almost 20 years, increasing the percentage of women and girls that are involved in technology-rich projects, courses, and careers. A few months ago, I adopted Emma, this mobile studio for creating and making, to help me reach that goal. Those of you who know me are probably not surprised since two years ago I gave up my apartment and moved into a very mobile lifestyle, living in this vintage bluebird bus. But as mobile as my lifestyle has become, a 16-ton vehicle slash home made it difficult to reach some of the rural remote communities I wanted to reach in sending out the message that everyone may make anywhere. And that geography and gender should not be barriers to entering the world of making, coding, and high-tech. So currently, Emma helps me to provide boys and girls, students and teachers, men and women in any community an opportunity to do things with technology they may not have imagined before, like it, and want to do it some more. That's a lot of words, but what does it really look like? Let me share with you a very current example for me. This fall, at Vermont's Mini Maker Faire, I designed an activity that involved almost 50 girls, boys, moms, dads, anywhere from age 5 to 85, where we collaboratively built a 3D printer over the span of two days. Lots of people stopped by our exhibit to be part of that build, including Sydney and her dad. A few hours later, after the Mini Maker Faire was finished, I got a text from Sydney's dad, asking for the model number of the kit that we had started from so he could buy one for his daughter so she could build one at home. Sydney had the inspiration, the support, the confidence she needed to successfully complete that build. Sydney had been part of our TechSavvyGirls camp since she was in third grade and was now a high school mentor slash leader at TechSavvyGirls camp. You should have seen the face of this year's campers when Sydney taught them how to print in 3D using a 3D printer that she had built herself. Well, this year, at the Champlain Maker Mini Faire in Vermont, three of the girls that Sydney had mentored this previous summer and their moms drove down two hours from their little town tucked away in the northeast kingdom of Vermont to share what they had learned at camp with the others at the Mini Maker Faire about how to integrate circuits and objects that they had created to make this collaborative community garden and code it with a microprocessor to give those objects this unique presence in our garden. In the next few minutes, I'll share more about the garden idea with you. But first, I'd like to share with you what was the highlight of that weekend for me at Mini Maker Faire. I was feeling pretty good watching how confident these young ladies were, helping children and their parents create and contribute objects to the garden with LEDs and batteries and circuits. But the icing on the cake that day for me was when I sent those girls out to explore the rest of the Maker Faire and different shifts, each one of them came back having purchased an Arduino kit from one of the local vendors. One of them even texted me on the way home to ask me how to get started with that kit. The fact that these girls now had a lens about technology where they knew that the Arduino kit that they had seen there would provide them with more access to power, skills and options. The fact that they even had enough confidence to feel like they could learn to use this or had access to resources or mentors that could help them. This made me smile. It was exactly what I was aiming for in my work with these young ladies. Confidence. Confidence that they too belong and can be successful in any career that uses technology. There are many ways to build that confidence. And I have so many stories of young women I've worked with who've reached that level of confidence. Young women like Maya who had enough confidence to stick it out in her high school computer programming class, even though she was the only girl. Or Samantha who headed out to college to major in civil engineering, where she was one of two girls in a class full of young men who had lots of experience using the tools that were put in front of them. Or Heidi who built her own computer as her senior project in one of my classes. Or Sydney, who you just met, who built a 3D printer after last year's Mini Maker Faire. A few weeks ago, I picked up a copy of Creative Confidence by Tom and David Kelly from IDEO in Stanford D. School and discovered that much of what I've been doing with girls and tech used the same strategies that Tom and David Kelly described in their book, Creative Confidence. Especially the strategies of my new collaborative community garden project. This collaborative community garden project came to me when I first saw MIT's robotic garden designed to teach coding. The garden was colorful, fascinating, engaging, and it quickly drew me to the state of wonder and feeling, this is so cool. I soon found myself thinking, we could do this. I had just enough knowledge from the e-textile Santa hat project I had been working on at the time to imagine how the Arduino microprocessor were controlling the flowers. I didn't know exactly how, but my e-textile project was building my confidence in my understanding of microprocessors and coding. And I started to imagine making some of the flowers I saw in the MIT garden. It felt within reach, it felt beautiful, it felt geeky, and I was inspired. And I thought, wouldn't it be cool if our tech savvy girls could build something like this? And of course, I went to the place I was getting confidence with coding and microprocessors, e-textiles. And that's the place I'd like to get you started with today. First, let's start with what is e-textiles? E-textiles is pretty much any project that includes fabric and an able some type of digital component or electronic to be embedded within it. It can be as simple as this crafty bracelet or as complex as this amazing dress that a group of girls collaborated with some fashion designers from the Google Made with Code project. When I first learned about e-textiles, I knew it was an area that was going to make its way into my work with young women. What I didn't realize at the time was that you can use the skills you learn in e-textiles and all types of projects. You are not limited to fabric. I found this a very low-threshold, high-sealing activity. Throw in some origami paper, duct tape, pom-poms, and yes, garden supplies. And all of a sudden, our imagination of what we could build was virtually unstoppable. I could not walk into a dollar store or stop at a garage sale without thinking of the different possibilities for creating and making with circuits. And neither could the girls that I worked with. What I saw was an increasing understanding of materials and how they work together. An increase in their understanding of the simple circuits they learned back in grade four. They now had a reason to use that information to create and make something beautiful. So to grow my own confidence with e-textiles, I started to follow two amazing e-textile experts, researchers, authors, and makers. Leah Buickley and Kylie Pepper. And I strongly recommend Leah's book, So Electric, and Kylie's book, Soft Circuits, as a great entry point for anyone interested in getting started with e-textiles, especially if you're working in a school setting. As a matter of fact, most of the chapters of So Electric are available for free at soelectric.org. Check them out. Although most e-textile projects will give you confidence with using conductive thread and sobel LEDs, I wanted to quickly move the girls to a place where they were confident with code. There are lots of resources out there, from Hour of Code to Code.org to Google's CS First, where students can build their confidence and earn badges as they learn to code. But the MIT Robot Program had me thinking about having the girls work together to build something physical with code. It'd be colorful, it'd be social, it'd be collaborative. And to me, that sounded like a fun way for my girls to understand the power of code and build their confidence with learning to code. I quickly approached other female maker educators, Jill Dawson and Leah Jolie, who were also exploring e-textiles with me at this time. And with the help of Vermont Works for Women, giving us some funds for supplies, we organized a series of Girls Make It Days at the Generator, a makerspace in Burlington, Vermont, where I'm a member. And we piloted some of our ideas. On our first Girls Make It Day, we focused on projects that increased the girls' confidence with circuits. Each girl left with projects they had created using LEDs, batteries, copper tape, wire, alligator clips, and other materials. We also sent each group of girls back to their school with supplies they needed to teach others in their schools. Because we all know that the ability to teach others really demonstrates and cements understanding. And it also builds confidence. We invited the girls back a couple months later to go to the next level. Each girl was asked to bring back two flowers that they had created that used an LED and a coin cell battery in the design. Our goal was to teach them to assemble these together in a flower arrangement that they designed and add an Arduino board called the lily pad and learn to add code to control the lights of their flower arrangement. The coding lessons were a blend of unplugged activities, hands-on activities, with their own flower arrangements controlled by the lily pad Arduino. We were very strategic in how we introduced the lessons so that the girls left confident in their understanding of the code they were using. So often a lot of Arduino projects involve cutting and pasting code that you don't really understand into the Arduino IDE. You might understand parts of the code, but it felt that this approach would not increase most students' confidence with being able to make with code. I also found that the form factor to the lily pad Arduino contributed to the level of confidence the girls had when making and coding. The alligator clips and the lily pad portal board were easy to work with and allowed the girls to visually see the flow of the circuits and the way that the code controlled each pin and also the objects that the pins were connected to. Overall, the form factor was friendly, inviting, and removed some of the stereotypes commonly associated with technology and coding. I frequently show the Arduino Uno and the lily pad Arduino to folks, and I get a much more positive reaction from women and girls. It just feels accessible to them. By the end of the second day, the girls had become more confident in their designs and they wanted a more permanent way to secure their creations to the lily pad Arduino. Their interest in soldering grew naturally out of that environment, and thankfully the makerspace had soldering irons and some of the girls left with an even higher level of confidence, having added solder to their projects to make them even more secure. After two days piloting the idea of creating and coding a collaborative community garden, I became excited about the possibilities to go deeper with this concept. I started to create activities that would include more complex coding concepts that moved beyond variables and sequences. Fading flowers was a perfect opportunity to bring in loops and branching. The collaborative nature of the project gave us reason to learn functions. Not only did these girls confidence grow, so did their skill level with code, and so did their imagination in what was possible and their desire to learn. Our next step is to include sensors and motion in the design of our garden. We're not MIT. We don't have access to those self-sticking actuators that you will find in the MIT robotic garden. But that's okay. We have lots of ideas, including this model created by Maxine, one of the high school mentors that uses laser cut pedals on a servo motor. As this idea and project has grown, my desire to increase access to the power of making to students and teachers, no matter where they're locating, including our most remote rural communities, and no matter what their experiences or their gender continues to grow. This past winter, I got to visit the geek bus, which serves the San Antonio schools and thought to myself, the lot needs a mobile maker studio to bring maker opportunities to our small rural communities. And I started to search for a mobile studio for creating and making. By mid-summer, I had adopted Emma to help promote the belief that everyone may make anywhere. Emma's maiden voyage was to Tech Savvy Girls Camp in the Northeast Kingdom, where we built the confidence with circuits and code to 14 young ladies, three of which joined Emma at the Champlain Maker minifair. Emma also visited Essex Middle School and gave a dozen young ladies the confidence with circuits they needed to join us at the Champlain Minifair and help pass that confidence on to parents and young children. Emma has started to visit other schools and communities and is starting to look for others who desire to connect mentors, makers, students, teachers and anyone who believes that everyone may make anywhere. If you've got an idea for a project that would build the confidence of everyone, boys and girls in creating and making and coding, or just want to connect with us or with others who have the same vision, please follow Emma's journey. Better yet, let's collaborate. If you could use any of these ideas in your practice, I'd love to hear about it. I'd be happy to share some of the resources I've been working on and other resources I've collected. And I'd love to hear your ideas for different ways that we can engage everyone, boys and girls in creating, making and coding. As I mentioned at the start of this session, I live a fairly mobile lifestyle and would love to connect anytime my bus is in your neck of the woods. After 30 years in K-12 education, I now consider myself a freelance educator, which leaves me open for many collaborations. My three blogs, Tech Savvy Girls, Create, Make, Learn and the Learning with Lucy blog are most active during the months when I'm on the road full time. The other half of the year, I'm busy with a summer institute for teachers called Create, Make, Learn that you are welcome to join in spending time with my grandchildren. I teach at the University of Vermont and Marlborough College, and I'd love to collaborate with any of you on any of these topics. Or feel free to use any of this contact information to reach out. Love to hear from you.


Okay, so the witching hour is here. Okay, so this conference will now be recorded the City Council meeting of South Burlington on February 5th, 2024, and we'll begin with the Pledge of Allegiance. One nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Okay, item two instructions on exiting the building. So, thank you to those who have joined us in the auditorium. If there's an emergency, you can go out the left or right of the rear of the auditorium and then turn left or right to go outside. Those joining us online. Thank you for joining us as well. If you'd like to speak during any item on the agenda, you can turn your camera on to be recognized or you can indicate in the chat that you would like to speak and I'll have the chair call on you. Other than that, we are not monitoring the chat for content. Thank you. So agenda review. That sounds loud tonight. Agenda review. Are there any additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items? Okay, seeing none. We'll move on to comments and questions from the public. But before I open the mic to public comment, I'd like to make a few comments myself. Despite of the long property being on the agenda for the executive session, I will allow public comment tonight. The public is interested and they would be unable to comment during the executive session. So we'll hear from you now. To be clear, we will not and cannot take action during an executive session and will not be taking any action this evening following the executive session. For those wishing to speak, please keep your comments brief. We have all read the other paper and the numerous emails regarding varying opinions regarding the open space investments. If necessary, I'll limit the time each speaker has. And I thank you in advance for your cooperation. Before we begin, I would also wish to express my feelings about some of the comments that have been publicly shared. During my tenure, this council has been open, responsive to all who wish to share their opinions. We have delayed decisions, if anyone on the council needed additional time. And I believe we've achieved a very respectful atmosphere. And I've truly enjoyed every moment and the processes we use. And I believe those processes have served our wonderful community very well. But sadly, I have to say, I leave a little bit of a sour taste after learning that departing counselors, the side of the table, are simply lame ducks. Using such disparaging words to make a point saddens me. And I think it calls into question the integrity of this council and certainly my tenure. It also denigrates the processes this this city and this council uses to arrive at good decisions. I sincerely hope that once I'm gone, that those with different points of view, refrain from that kind of hyperbole. So are there any comments and questions from the public? Either on the long property or not related to the correct both not on the agenda as well as even though the long properties on the executive session agenda. I will hear comments people have asked to speak. Yes now. No, we can't invite the public into an executive session. I have one comment about it matter that is not the mic on. Yeah. Okay. Can you hear me, Michael Mita sorry, and I live down on Swift Street, and I've been here for 22 years. At your January 2nd meeting, we had a we've had a conversation and a recommendation at the end of the meeting for the planning commission to start work on drafting a growth management plan for South Billington. I was wondering where we are with that process, whether it's something that has been transmitted to as a commissioner. I haven't heard anything about it, but maybe you transmitted it to staff and we haven't got around to it yet. So just wanted to know where we are. Okay, where are we?  It seemed as if that was a good idea, but the council hasn't provided direction. Okay, I haven't. I haven't heard a request to put on an agenda. We haven't had that conversation. I think it's staff has certainly had initial conversations about how we would go about doing one, but I think it would be something that the council should direct staff or the planning commission or the committees as a whole or something to do. So perhaps we can add that to the next agenda. Sure. If there's other members, I got the sense that most people in the council thought it was a good idea. Okay, but we didn't take formal action. My other comment is about long. Okay. And I sent you an email but very late this evening, so you probably haven't got it. The Northeast agricultural trust that's neat purchased this land because the open space committee commissioned during interim zoning identified the long property as having very high conservation value. So that the city wrote to many of the owners of the properties that were listed in the open space committees list of value, valuable properties for conservation. But to the best of my knowledge, a city didn't receive any interest at all. However, there's a difference with the long property. Because now you do have a willing seller. The reason for the creation of the open space fund was to purchase lands that of high conservation value and gauge the interest of land owners in selling for conservation and to the best of my knowledge, I said there's been no interest. The creation of the fund had the full support of the residents and taxpayers of South Billington when it was voted on. I remember that the city's zoning regulations are subject to change any cities by a planning commission or select board or a council. Or as we've learned recently with s one hundred and eight forty seven can be overwritten by the state. The only sure way to conserve land is to own it and use a conservation easement to protect it. Another very important benefit of city owned land is public access. Think of access to walking trails, bird watching, skiing, snowshoeing and the general enjoyment of being in nature. Breathing fresh air with only the sounds of the wind in the trees and the songs of resident birds. And the scurrying about of squirrels and chipmunks and field mice and at night the sounds of owls and coyotes. The place is alive. This property is alive with all of that and more. Doing instrument interim zoning use voted specifically to pause development so that we could identify which open lands could be protected. And the long property was one of them is one of them. The interim zoning by the council adopted smart growth a smart growth strategy in its policy initiatives including the preservation of open lands. Fields farmlands working landscapes and land development regulations which encouraged dense development in the city's core. Long property is not in the city's core, in the urban core. For interim zoning the coast council also commissioned the open space committee to prioritize for conservation existing open spaces. Forest blocks and working landscapes in South Wellington which sustain our natural ecosystems, scenic viewsheds, wetlands and river corridors. This is a rare opportunity to use open space as funds as intended to conserve this wonderful piece of South Wellington. Please don't squander it. It is really a rare rare opportunity. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mike. Let's see. Not here for the long property. I'll introduce myself. So it's Bob Britt. I'm here tonight as the vice chair of the Bicycle and Bedestrian Committee. And wanted to talk about speeds, the speed limits on Hinesburg Road. The committee submitted a letter on January 30th and we'd like that read into the minutes tonight. Yeah, thanks. But just to give an overview, the committee has noted that there's been significant change in the residential nature of Hinesburg Road within the city's boundary. This road has transitioned from a rural road to a mostly residential and commercial road with significant new and anticipated residential development occurring within the city and in Hinesburg and other towns south of the city. For example, a new 142 unit Edgewood development located just south of Van Siklin now has people exiting the new neighborhood, 142 units times whatever, how many cars onto a stretch of the highway of Hinesburg Road, which is 50 miles an hour and of which VTrans clocks it at an average speed of 67. So it's going to be extremely difficult. So we're trying to get ahead of all of the development that's happening and make sure that the roads are safe for all users. As you know, in 2021, the city did go to VTrans trying to reduce the speed limits and was unsuccessful due to their 85% rule where they how they set speeds. Unfortunately, they did not take into account things like residential density, the number of bicyclists, pedestrians and vulnerable users that are using the road and other measures. However, we've heard through the grapevine that VTrans is now more open to adding to looking at those additional factors. So we are asking the city to go back to VTrans and and try to get the speed limits reduced. We set out in our letter recommended, recommended speed limits and also a whole list of traffic calming measures that could be taken so that it would help drivers to drive. slower with the slower speed limits. Right now the road is so open that it makes you feel like, oh, I can go as fast as I want. Unfortunately, there's people all around. So thank you. Thank you. We will, we won't actually read the letter, but it will be included in the minutes. Okay. Thank you. Some bills. Yes. There are people. Hi, Linda Bailey, large road. As you can guess, I'm here to talk about the long property and that I don't think that it's a good use of our city open space funds. I know that Mike was talking about that our rules can change the land development regs can change. That's actually a pretty good thing. I know that back when my great grandparents were here in Vermont. They couldn't have imagined what the world is like today any more than I can imagine what the needs of my grandchildren and great grandchildren are going to be right now. Nobody is forced to develop that land. The bail advances can own it. They don't have to develop it. If somebody in that does decide to develop it at this point, 70% of it is concerned. I don't think that we need to use our open space tax dollars to further buy that that property. I think we need to look at other areas of the city and make sure that there's open space for people living near those dense. The corridors that are planned to be densely populated. They need open space as well. Thank you. Thank you. Yes, Sandy. And after Sandy, is there anyone else in the audience? Okay, you go next. Sandy Julie East Harris. First, I extend my thanks to all of you for your service to the city and its residents as also the person who use the term lame ducks. I have never thought of it as other than a descriptive term. I've never thought of it as pejorative and it was certainly not used in that manner and I'm sorry if it was perceived in a pejorative manner. My first request was to ask you not to take any action on the proposed purchase of the long property tonight, but the chair has addressed that. My second request is directed to counselors Barrett and Chalnyk. As background, I share my view that the adoption in February 2022 of the conservation plan unit development land development regulations and their mandatory application to most southeast quadrant parcels including for more acres represented a watershed moment in the city's efforts to protect land in the southeast quadrant from development. And this because conservation plan unit development requires that a minimum of 70% of the land in the development be permanently conserved upon reflection. It seems logical that this major change, dramatically reducing the risk of development in the southeast quadrant should be the basis for an examination of how these new regulations should affect where in the city open space fund resources are used to purchase property for conservation. That's my request for counselors Barrett and Chalnyk is that they take the lead when the new council convene some March to establish an open process that includes residents for the purpose of establishing policy was referred to how open space funds should be invested in light of the protections now applicable in the southeast quadrant as a result of the conservation plan unit development regulations. I note that today, all purchases using open space funds have been for land in the southeast quadrant. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening, Nora sonical. So I'll keep this brief as I sent an email earlier today, and I think my main concerns around the long property really two things. One is having preserving some funds in open space so that land can be produced or purchased in other parts of this of the city. We've got a lot of development that's you know, as in these coming next years, when budgets are tight, and we may need to buy land in order for a playground to exist or some space for children to play and it's not that I don't value everything in those areas. So I am concerned that there won't be funds left for for those other types of project projects. And then the two is just if we, if funds are going to be purchased, or if land is going to be purchased, I know that, you know, most of the time, of course property negotiations occur in private. So I think an overall plan to own and perhaps develop it, I think would benefit from the public be happening in public the public transparency of that. I think it's a large expenditure, and it should be debated and discussed in the open. And hopefully that could bring. The temperature was so high about it, but that could maybe bring the temperature down. But from what I understand, most the open space purchases had happened in private correct. Yeah, kind of set up that way comes to the city and says I'd like to discuss this. So it's done an executive session. Yeah, so we don't have the world knowing that they want to do and what the prices. Yeah. And I think, I think with standard. Yeah, but I think to have. I think what to do with it and to have some idea like the idea that there's going to be some affordable housing. I do think having that feel like it's all being developed. Not all it. I guess what I'm trying to say, I think it would benefit from having a more public discussion about that parts, those parts of it. And that's, that's pretty much it. Thank you for letting, you know, allowing our comments tonight. And yeah, good luck. Thank you. I just want to say I do always appreciate Helen I feel I you run I was just saying this to Jesse before. I think you do a wonderful job of leading being the chair of this body and the way you move meetings along and and compassionately work with people. I appreciate it. Thanks. Thank you. And yes. And if there's anyone on. You know, on zoom, please let Jesse know if you want to speak. Thank you for the opportunity Alan strong Seabroom road in South Burlington. So I served as the chair of the interim zoning open space committee and it was really an amazing committee and that group did a tremendous amount of work in terms of looking at parcels to prioritize for purchase to conserve natural resources in the city. And the long property showed up as a really high priority in that report. It's shown up in other reports that have been done over time in the, in the city. And there's a couple. I think key aspects to that number one in the open space report. One of the things that the committee really highlighted is the importance of the great swamp. And so that is a chunk of the great swamp is included in the long property. And it really is probably the singular most important natural resource in the city of South Burlington. And we're already seeing it being chipped away by a road on the south side of the swamp. So important to conserve what's left. And I think I would also just highlight the fact that again, as, as Michael said, others have said zoning can change. And I think protecting this area in perpetuity is really important. Again, not just for the conservation of the natural resources there, the importance for water quality, the importance for carbon sequestration, the importance for wildlife, but also the importance for public access as well and the ability for citizens of South Burlington to use that space. Also, just because of its proximity to Hubbard Park, it also increases the value of that parcel in terms of its conservation value by expanding that land and making it just a much larger parcel that's that's conserved. I guess I'll say, you know, I really don't disagree with the argument that we should be thinking about conservation across all of the city. But I think this is just a unique opportunity with a willing seller, a critical piece of natural resources in South Burlington and an opportunity to conserve it in perpetuity. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone online? Okay. So we will move on to item five, counselors of announcements and reports on committee assignments followed by the city manager's report. Larry, did you, were you busy this week? Since we last met, I've been very busy. Thank you. Taxes at University Mall have started last Thursday and everyone gearing up to do a good job. But for city business, I did attend the South Burlington Business Association on Thursday with others and heard the presentation again about our budget and other business concerns. I think chief of police did a great job explaining public, the public safety issues that are present with with regard to business and particularly in retailing. So I thought that was very good. And of course, Jesse did another great job presenting the city budget. Thank you. Megan, nothing to report. Andrew. So other than the wedding, I was not, I also attended the SBB. And then it was, it was a really good event. And I echo Larry's comments about the chief and Jesse. Wonderful. Clear transparent presentation. So thank you for that. Um, can I say one thing about the city plan? We'll have the floor. Sure. Thank you. So as, as you correctly speculated at the meeting last week, I'm in favor of the plan would have voted in favor of the plan. I think it's a really impressive document. I think it will serve the city really well over the next eight years. I'm really pleased that the plan identifies as a guiding policy principle for policy addressing the climate crisis. It just seems self evident to me that we owe it to our future generations to do that because if we don't do that, I really fear for our children's future. So I hope the city and future councils will fully embrace that guiding principle as we move forward. Thank you. Tim. I also attended the SBBA meeting in city hall and listen to the presentation by our city manager. Thank you very much. And thanks for the planners for the meeting as well and the refreshments. I just want to comment that in January, we had three days with some sunlight and yesterday was the first day that there's this fusion fireball that I saw in the sky for the whole entire day. And my solar panels woke up and created like 18 kilowatt hours of power. It's amazing that the sun can come back and actually do good. So and I think it did it again today. Yes. So I just want to celebrate the fact that we seem to have come out of the doldrums for a while, hopefully for many days. Okay. Well, I will just say I had hoped to go to the SBBA meeting and I went out to my car and it wouldn't start. So I had to call AAA and I have a new battery. So we're all set. But it did. It also includes batteries. But I have nothing else to add. So things to add. Council knows about some of this, but for the benefit of the community, I wanted to share that we have a new deputy city attorney joining us right after town meeting day. Jared Pelerin will join us from the city of South of the city of Burlington. He currently serves as the acting city attorney in Burlington previously to that. He served as the council for the city of Albany and has worked in several positions in the New York state legislature. He's a cabinet and assembly. He is a bachelor's in government from St. Lawrence University and went to law school at the Albany Law School of Union University. And he's admitted to the bar in both New York and Vermont. So we're really excited to welcome him. He has a humongous breadth of experience in municipal government in Vermont, which is really exciting. But I also want to take a moment to thank Colin, our city attorney, not only for his successful recruitment of Jared, but also for pretty much single-handedly holding down the ship for the last six months while we've been doing a huge amount of legal work. Thank you. Thank you very much. And Jared will start on March 11th. The city of Burlington wanted to keep him through town meeting day, which is very understandable. And we will bring him forward to meet the council after that. I also want to share with the council that, as you know, we have a budget gap in the bike pad bridge over 89. We've applied for many federal grants. We had a great meeting today with VTrans and CCRPC to talk about additional ways we might close that gap and have received some good guidance to work with the federal highway administration on identifying some funds from the previous race award that have been awarded to other communities across the country, and their projects are not moving forward because of the inflationary pressures. So we've submitted a letter to the federal highway to see if we can redirect some of that funding. We are optimistic, but any context you have in DC now would be the time to leverage them. Just a reminder for the community that budget books in our annual report are up on the website. Tom DiPietro and I also did a town meeting TV. Thank you Travis and your colleagues last week and the video of that is on the website as well if you would like to watch us through the budget. I want to give you a quick update that staff is working on a narrative around the Parks Master Plan that you all have funded and the Future Open Space Master Plan to think about how we link those together and do them as two phases of a project. So the team is bringing that recommendation to a joint meeting of the Recreation and Parks Committee and an NRC committee in the next few weeks and then we'll bring that recommendation to the council after town meeting day. And then finally, I think hopefully a lot of people in this room today received to save the date for me for a celebration of Councilor really and Councilor Emery to be held on Monday, February 26 from four to six. We're expecting quite a large turnout so we are confirming venues so more to come but please do hold that date and join us that Monday evening. Patrick Jim. Thank you very much. Okay, next item is the consent agenda. We have eight items. Disbursements approval of minutes from November 20 December 18 January 16 and January 22 approving a resolution resolution number 2024-06 on the allocation of fund balance to support the FY 25 budget. Receive and accept the certification or certification rather of increment and presentation of the FY 2023 TIFF annual report. Approve a letter of commitment to UVM to support the Vermont Gallium Nitrate Semiconductor Tech Hub better known as V-GAN. Approve the award of a contract to anything grows for the Ash Tree Interplanting Project and in accordance with 24 VSA 13-1702 approve a comprehensive update to the employee handbook. And then finally accept the following easements for the construction and future maintenance of the Dorset Street shared use path between Old Cross Road and Sadie Lane and associated drainage and infrastructure. And those are there's three different easements. I don't know if you need to know the parcels but but that is the consent agenda. I'll move that we approve the consent agenda as written or is just given. Second. Second. Any discussion. Just I have just a couple of simple questions. So have the negotiations for the easements on Dorset Street have they been a difficult thing to do or. Erica Cawlin is leading that project in this year in the audience. So I'll have her. I think there's one left. Is that what I read. Sorry to ask because the last one's always the hardest right. Hi, Erica Cawlin deputy director of capital projects. I'm going to pull up the spreadsheet because I had a feeling this was coming. So there are four 13 parcels over 12 homeowners. This is short end. Okay. 14 parcels over 13 property owners. These are the first three. Yes. We've been talking to property owners for about 16 months now pretty much since I got here and have heard back from these and a few others have indicated they'll be sending them in shortly but ongoing with a number of the property owners. Thank you. For the challenges exactly where the bike path will be on their property or. Most of it is around associated impacts. The drainage swale has to move to the back of the path. And in some cases that's a really good thing for folks who have had drainage issues for others that might result in some loss of trees. And just some additional encroachment. So we're going back and forth with folks about how we can remedy that planting trees elsewhere and other things like that. Okay. Thank you. Andrew. I don't know if Tom or Dave is here. Just a question about the ash tree. Just wondering, we didn't seem to specify in this RFP the diameter of the trees. I'm just wondering if these responses are apples to apples and whether they're all the same size trees. I don't know the answer to that. I would be in there not on line tonight. I'd be happy to find that out and get back to you can pull this off if you would like. I don't mind knowing that.  Yeah. So I do. I know the answer to that. Okay, which is the contractor we respond to Larry about this earlier today. The contractor anything grows is the contractor who has done all of the ash tree inter planting projects to date. Okay. So they are the lowest bidder because they have a lot of experience in the city. They are very trusted by our public works team. I don't know the answer to the diameter question though. I'm happy to move forward. If you think that it's, I have to say this, I mean, if in your discretion, you think they will be the lowest bid, you know, notwithstanding answers that question, I'm happy to move this forward. Well, it sounds like she thinks they're the best. Yeah, the best company to do it with in terms of experience. I think they're the best company to do in terms of experience because they've done it to date. A friendly amendment might be approve it as presented assuming it's apples apples apples. I'll make that from the amendment. Okay. Do you need a second to that. I'll second that. Yeah. Okay. And do you approve of that amendment? I was just going to say it has to be the same dad diameter. You can't, you can't have a bidding process with a, with a describe a bit of it. We think so. Yeah, it has to be the same thing. At least the same diameter, because the trees best species are all declared has, but I question that because the bid was much lower than the others, but Jesse explained the experience with that group. So all in favor of that friendly amendment. I. Okay. So we have a motion on the table that is amended with that little friendly amendment of the eight items on the consent agenda. Are you ready for that vote. All in favor signify by saying I, I. So that carries. Thank you all. That's a lot of work on that little consent agenda. Yes, I'll say. And fortunately, we didn't print it off because it was a lot of paper to. Okay. Number seven warned for seven o'clock. So we're okay. The second reading and public hearing on the South Washington city code enacting ordinance and a new city code of ordinances. I have a motion to see open the public. No. Yeah. I'll move that we open the public hearing and South Burlington city code enacting ordinance and new city code of ordinances. What one addition to that, if I may call them again city attorney. Our charter requires that we either read an ordinance and entirety. Oh, that's right. We did vote to read it by title. So I recommend it by title addition to opening the public hearing move to read this ordinance by title. The title is city of South Burlington code enacting ordinance and South Burlington city code. Okay. So moved. I'll second that. Okay. All in favor. All right. So we have our public hearing second reading. Do you want to say anything to set it up or. Yeah, absolutely. Sure. So this is a this is our city code. It's been in the works really since 2012 2011 if you talk to Donna Kinville years before that. She was advocating for the funds for several years to really better organize our city ordinances. We entered into a contract with a company called Munich code who works with many municipalities across the country doing this very thing organizing people's or organizing municipalities ordinances. So we entered into that. And through the process of just turns out a lot of work to organize what ordinances were in effect what ordinances were repealed. Over the years we've been through a couple city attorneys through that process we've now been through two city clerks through that process. So now before you we have and work you in Munich Munich code and answering all their questions we have our city code, which is a combination of all ordinances in one place it better organizes them. It will be easier to update in the future. And for sure we will know what ordinances are in effect and what ordinances are not in effect. And the public will have greater access to our ordinances because they will all be in one book and they will be available online where residents and citizens of south point they can go and look and see what ordinances we have in effect so. Progress moving forward and brings us in line with lots of other municipalities or most other municipalities on this topic throughout the country. Great. Thank you. Is there any public comment. We have applause. Did you want to comment? Yes. I just want to be clear we're talking about the rental registry. No, we are talking about the city ordinances right. Which might come under this at some point, but not yet. Okay, are there any other comments. All right, motion to close the public hearing. So moved. Second. All in favor. Hi. So I move then that the south barrington city council proven past the south barrington city code and acting ordinance without amendment and adopt the new city code. Second. Any discussion. Just one question. Sure. So does muni code. They host a website that will make the ordinance available to everybody. That's correct. There'll be a link on our website to. To where our ordinances all ordinance are capped. And have you seen a demonstration of that? Is that already out there now? I think if you look at city of brollington city of brollington have the same thing you can look at most municipalities around and they will have similar. Layouts for the ordinances. It's going to be very similar to what we have in the. In the PDF that was supplied or the document that was supplied in your packet. But all the tabs will be searchable. You can you can click on each section of the ordinance and go right to it. But it doesn't display as a PDF in the browser. Does it? No, I don't believe so. It's an interactive web set of links and things like that. Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. Good. Okay. So ready for the vote? Yes. All in favor. Say aye. Aye. Okay. Great. Good work. Thank you. Very exciting. That was a heavy lift for many years. Lots of shoulders. Paul was saying tonight that nothing exciting is on this council agenda tonight because there is no city plan thing. And I was correcting him that the whole code of ordinances is incredibly exciting. No way to change it. See Paul. Super exciting. Okay. Item nine. Jennifer Murray, is she here? Is she going to? Well, we're a little early. We're 15 minutes early. So maybe we could. Miss Clayton Clark here. No. No. How about convening as a liquor control commission. Okay. Yeah. I'll move that we enter the liquor control commission. Second. All in favor. So we've now convened the liquor control commission. And we have quite a few different licenses to consider. They're all listed. I don't know if I want to read all of them, but yes, I do. No, Jennifer's here. So I don't. So I would entertain a motion to approve this multiple number of tobacco, second class, third class, and first class licenses. Second. We're so moved. So moved in a second. All any discussion. Okay, we'll drink to that, right? All in favor. I by saying hi. Hi. And we come out of public. Our call commission. Excellent. All in favor. Hi. Okay. So we're back to item nine. And so Jennifer is going to introduce Evelyn. Monge is money. Money. Money. Money. Okay. Hi, I'm Jennifer Murray library director. And I'm here today to introduce to you. I'm going to introduce Evelyn Monge, who has been the library social worker intern since August. You, I hope have been in the library around the library when she's been here and have seen her table out in the lobby where she is meeting and greeting people and trying to do some outreach and referrals. So Evelyn has, she is a senior at UVM. And we are doing this in collaboration with the Howard Center. So I've asked Evelyn to tell you a little bit about what she has been doing this year, just so you know, and I will say upfront that now's the time of year where we have to decide if we're going to sign up again for another intern and we have done so. We think it's a successful experience. Sweet. Hello everybody. So my name is Evelyn Monge. And as we've mentioned, I'm a senior over UVM studying social work and part of every senior's senior years, diving into an internship in our community. So mine has been really piloting this idea of what could library social work look like and supporting the South Burlington library and sort of delving into what could that mean for ourselves and greater libraries in the area. So again, as mentioned, this is a dual role supported by the Howard Center and that really looks like trainings and outside sources for me to really come and show as my best self, as well as a field instructor. So a licensed social worker in the community meets with me once a week, and we sort of talk about what my role is. What does social work mean? How do we blend those things together? And it's been a really wonderful beginning of the year that had started in August through September of just observing what the library is all about, what might it need, what might my role look like and we decided on a mobile desk. So I have some stickers, some fidgets, a little sign telling folks a little bit about me, what my role is, and allow people to access a low barrier opportunity to be referred to have social care connection, which is not always an opportunity or is something you have to really seek out. And so this has been a wonderful and well used opportunity thus far. At the mobile desk, I've met with over 220 folks who have just been interested in dialogue and having important conversations and over 20 really direct social work questions about things such as housing, employment, citizenship and social care, how to be connected with this greater community. I've been able to make referrals to places like the Howard Center, which is our local social service folks in Chinden County, Vermont 211, which is a statewide support system, as well as Mercy Connections, which has more education, which is really where I've been referring folks for that specific agency. And I've really appreciated somebody's comment this past week that it's a fortuitous opportunity. It's sort of a, you're at the library, you're checking off some errands, and here's an answer to one of those questions that you never have time for. And so it's an opportunity for people to access low barrier services and referrals to this greater community. And on the flip side, I've been able to support the library staff and feeling more confident and prepared to be their best selves at the library. I think one of the things that I've really appreciated in Jesse's messaging is that everybody is our neighbor, and how do we make them feel welcome and invited into the space. And when we all are ready to do that, it makes it that much more inviting. Excuse me. Do you want to make sure I cover everything? That really looks like right now supporting safety and de-escalation. So how do we feel when we show up to work, like we are experts and ready to support our public neighbors in feeling really safe and welcome. And like this is their space as well. That has also looked like because we have such close partnerships with the city, being able to support you all with a social work lens and how do we meet our community where they are and offer the best services we can with an informed eye and ear. Recently I've been delving into more programming, which is really what I feel most confident in as a social worker. And that has looked like reaching out to a local youth group, the Vermont Students for Anti-Racism, which are wonderful, who have a whole program on reading anti-racist stories to young children in a developmentally appropriate way. And so how do we invite our community to be their best selves and beyond their anti-racist journey and to be doing the work that we all want to be doing in a way that feels like just dipping our toes in and just beginning to be present in the work. And it's been really, really wonderful. And so that's been starting in August and it will happen through May. And I've been able to make wonderful connections with staff, patrons, and continuing to look into the future of how do we create a legacy of social work, what that might look like, and how can we as social service folks support you all and feeling really confident in what you're offering. So that's a little spiel about me, and I would love to turn it over to you all if you have any questions about my role or comments or wonderings. Can we do that in these meetings sessions? Okay, sweet. I met Evelyn in December on a brief break from our budget retreat. It was a really great conversation. It was so fun to meet you and hear what you were doing. And this is really important because, you know, I'm a big proponent of employee assistance plans, EAPs, and I pound this drum whenever I can that people need to use those services because they're very deep, right? And people don't understand, it's just not like a counselor call. But having somebody in the lobby outside the library is like a CAP, it's like a community assistance plan, right? So it's a little broader reach, and like you said, it's much lower barrier, and you've got so much information at your fingertips that you can, you know, give out and help people. And I really appreciate that. And I think it's a great idea. And so we can keep that going. And could you just tell us, are you pursuing a social work degree? Yes. So I actually, with the support of my dear friend Jennifer here, have just submitted my grad school application. So I'm interested in grad school and getting my master's in social work. And I had never thought of a career in library social work, but I'm really starting to get a little interested. I've really greatly enjoyed my time here and how broad and diverse the care is that you're able to provide. So it's been a really wonderful year of delving into this and what could social work look like and all these different settings. So I appreciate that. Andrew, do you have a question? Your energy and enthusiasm are infectious. Thank you. Thank you. I just got out of working with all my munchkins. I do after school with three to 15 year olds. So it's like, you got to have energy all day always. Well, you have it. I have a question. So you set up this program. Is that right? This internship? Yeah. Or the desk and. Yes. So this, this role, I think was really curated and please feel free to speak to this Jennifer by local libraries and the Howard Center sort of looking at. There's maybe a higher need for more support in these locations. How might we do that and connecting with UVM on. Library intern that is some, some internships are at the King Street after school program. Some folks are at NFI doing hospital divergent. So it's really a broad spectrum. And this one has been really piloted and is more new. So I will add that. Evelyn and I work very closely along with her Howard Center. And she's a great advisor to create her goals and to, to establish what she's going to do while she's in the library, helping her distinguish between her social work work. And no, she's not a library staff member. So she doesn't have to help people find books, you know, trying to figure out how, how to, how to make this successful. So we've done that together. So my question to you is since you're completing this or have come. What's your work here? It's till April or still, I'll be here through the first week of May. Okay. So as you think about that, are there parts of this program that you think could be changed could be improved or even ditched because it's like nobody that's no one's responding to that so I won't try that again. I think what I have discovered thus far is because this is a piloting program and we're really just beginning that a lot of it is sort of, hey, does this feel right? Maybe not. Let's try it this way. The desk isn't really getting a lot of folks. How about in the lobby? And so I think that I feel lucky to be able to have that learning opportunity of figuring out where things fit. I personally have felt really cared for in that the way that I've been supported has not left me feeling as though there's something that's like, this is really sticking with me. I hope we do it different this next year. I think that Jennifer specifically does an incredible job of holding that role and keeping it super separate from the library and I feel really grateful for that because I haven't had moments where I feel, I wish that I was able to do this differently. I would say I think that because this is a role of learning and internship that there will always be things that are challenging but I find that the way that it's set up currently works really well for me. It might be interesting to think about connections with other libraries or leaning into as city staff if there's more ways for us to all be connected and to continue to expand but I don't see opportunities at this point to pull back. Is there anything that comes to your mind? No, but I will point out because I don't think you mentioned it that there have been two opportunities that Evelyn has taken to work with other city departments. So one of them was to work with Rebecca and set up outside the senior center during lunch so that she could really focus on that population and what needs they might have. And the other was interesting, so Kelsey's and the planning department are working with their grant on how to reach out to the community in an inclusive way. And Evelyn has just started and Paul said, hey, can we use her? So she's been involved with that a little bit too trying to figure out how do we select the people that are the best to be inclusive so she's brought a different lens to that conversation that they've been having as well. Well, it sounds great. You certainly have a lot of joie de vivre, for sure. I was just curious how many hours you work per day or per week. And then I have another question after that for Jennifer. Okay, there we go. I have to remember. I work Tuesday, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9 in the morning until 1 30. We are asked to complete 450 hours over the course of the semester so around 225 or over the course of the year so about 225 per semester. I'm currently picking up a couple Saturday shifts as well to meet those hour requirements. I think one of the things that's different in every placement is that there are some places where you can go for a full eight hour shift. There's some where it makes the most sense to be available three or four hours a day. I think that we are in the process of finding what works best as there are some families that only come on this day or there's an individual who's really hoping for support on the weekend. And so we're sort of figuring that out but I found that that middle of the week has felt like I'm meeting a great amount of people and I'm excited to begin being present on the weekends as well. So you kind of already alluded to what I was going to follow up with is that you have people who come back to you. Yes. That they know your schedule and that they look for you. I'm not surprised to be honest. No, I'm not. I'm marking down those times. So I'm glad to really I'm glad to hear that. So the question I have for Jennifer then is that she's going to graduate and potentially go somewhere else. What are the plans for, you know, life after the first week of May. I have been very happy that Evelyn is considering graduate school at Simmons, which has a very strong library program. Because I was thinking she could do a little more emerging. So, but what's going to happen for us is we'll take the things that we've learned with with Evelyn. And then we will apply them to hopefully to a future intern who will be starting from scratch and and learning their way into what works for them. Yeah, yeah, because with the people who come back, it seems, you know, to my mind that it's really helpful to have some kind of stability there for them, right. And so really communicating that to people is going to be really, really key because I think they'll miss Evelyn. We will all miss Evelyn.  But you know, I think to it's not the same and that's why this is been such a great experiment. But I think that a lot of times the circulation desk serves as that place that people come back to because they just want to say hello they want to just have a little conversation about something, or they they've been upstairs a lot and they meet the people up there and they come in and check in about what's happening and what they're looking for. And I think that part of it is our learning how to be more open to those conversations and not, you know, just so that that becomes part of our job in the library is to be Oh, here you oh I saw you yesterday. You know, my name is Jennifer and just a lot more of that and I think that that's where we'll go but I think your point is very well made. We have not planned for how do we let the public know that Evelyn will be leaving and and where where to send them after that. So that's a very good point. Yeah, and also thinking ahead to you know future budgets because if I don't know if we'll always be an intern or if it will move into a more formal position perhaps a shared employment I don't know how it will. Yeah, how it will. It's a it is a trend in large libraries in big cities so we are, we have an opportunity to do it before things are really are dire. You know, whereas lots of places are trying to do it when they are in the midst of a real crisis with all kinds of social issues that are not being taken care of so we're really fortunate that we get to we get to do this. When we're not in a crisis situation. Well, thank you Jennifer for looking into and thank you Evelyn for your service. Yes. Larry, did you have a. No, okay. It's great to meet you. I do you have a job for the summer yet. If not, I have a great spot for you if you're if you're interested. I'm free thus far so maybe we'll be in touch. Thank you all for your time. Okay, it looks like Linda Norris do the question or thought. Actually, I want it. Can you can hear me. Yes, we can. I just want to add Evelyn, are you still there? I am. Yes. Hello. I just want to add an accolade from the cyberspace here because I was in the lobby. Last week and waiting for a meeting to meet our new recreation director. And I noticed you over there and I went over and I had the most pleasant conversation with you. And I totally echo what counselor. Chalice said that you are infectious. You have incredible personality. You can tell about your attitude approaching anything and everything in everybody that you'll be successful in whatever you decide to do. And I wish you the best in your master's program and hopefully you'll come back and work in South Burlington someday in the future. President of the United States. We really need some. Linda, I greatly appreciate that comment and I really appreciated getting to meet you this past week. I thought that was a joy and I appreciated you come in to ask me a question. Everybody who comes to ask it's always a joy.  Thank you. Thank you all very much. All right. Well, thank you. I'm glad you got this on the agenda. Good luck and graduate school in the final couple months. I appreciate it. It's flying by. It is. Okay, so we'll move on to item 10, which is receiving the annual update from a Green Mountain transit and Clark Clayton Clark is here. Are you the real GMT general manager now? I am. Oh, good. Well, congratulations. I enjoyed a year of being the fake general manager and now I am the real one. It's going to be hard to match the positivity. Last session. Tough back to follow especially when I'm going to be here telling you about increases and assessment. I'm going to bring you down down. Yeah. Sorry about that. So thank you for being here. Happy to be here for the first time. I've just passed my one year anniversary at Green Mountain transit and have really enjoyed the time there and enjoyed the time getting to know and work with Jesse and her staff who are very big champions of public transit. I super appreciate that. I have really enjoyed getting to know your commissioner Michael Scanlon on the GMT board of commissioners and Tim Barrett as the alternate looking forward to getting to know you better Tim.  And so I'm going to give you a little bit of an update about our ridership about the assessment and how much it's going to be more than last year, which I apologize for. And then talk about the labor and fiscal pressures that we are experiencing and then lastly, fairs. And again, I want to get this to be where you can ask questions where you have concerns and I'll spend the time in the areas that interest you. And so Green Mountain transit is different from the other transit agencies in Vermont and that we are a municipality. And so we've been so for this is our 50th year. And the other transit agencies are nonprofits. And so that makes us a little bit different when it comes to our mission and our processes being set in statute. About 13 years ago, we expanded from our Chittenden County traditional service area. We used to be known as CCTA. And we expanded into rural areas primarily to take over rural operations from a couple of transit providers that were struggling financially. And so we are one of a very few number of transit agencies that has both a urban and rural mission. The federal transit administration manages and funds rural and urban transit very differently. And so generally speaking, it's different transit agencies that will be doing those. Thinking about the service that comes through your community. The number one route that connects Williston to Burlington through South Burlington is our most ridden route. It has about a quarter of our overall ridership and our urban zone comes just from that route with over 400,000 rides on that each year. And of course that comes from all of the communities that it served, not just specifically South Burlington. And then we also have the number 11 that connects downtown transit center to the airport. And that had last year just about 100,000 rides. So let's get to the bad news portion of tonight's presentation. And that is that the assessment that GMT has for South Burlington in fiscal year 25 has a 10.7% increase. And which I believe matches the highest another municipality has one that's very similar. And so the overall assessment for fiscal year 25 will be $654,562. So how does the assessment go up by 10%? First, we look at our fixed route operating. So that's the number one and the number 11 buses that I talked to you about. The cost for that service only rose 3.8%. And so that is not the driver. The driver for the volatility is the paratransit assessment match. And so because of the Americans with Disabilities Act, we are required to offer paratransit for anyone that lives within three quarters of a mile of one of our fixed routes. And this program essentially provides door-to-door service for individuals who have a disability that keeps them from being able to use the fixed route service. We GMT shares the cost with this paratransit service with the municipality with 50% of the cost coming from the municipality and 50% that GMT pays for through our federal funding. So the increase in paratransit assessments went up 20.9%. So that is the driver. And that assessment came to $291,451. The thing to keep in mind with paratransit is that this assessment is based on actual usage. So the fixed route assessment is not based on the number of rides that people do. It's based on the cost of the service. Where paratransit is because we're talking about individuals who get a ride generally as the only person in the vehicle, what the municipality and GMT are sharing with that cost is the actual cost of providing that ride, which we are legally obligated to do. One of the things that we've recognized is that because having high-frequency users can really drive the cost significantly higher or lower, one of the things that we see is that when people migrate within Chittenden County and move from one municipality to the next, a single person who uses the service several times a week can significantly increase the cost for that municipality and decrease it for the municipality that they left from. So one of the things that our Finance Committee at the Board of Commissioners has done is adopted a new assessment practice that will go into effect for future years that will look at a running three-year average with the hopes of having these peaks and valleys be much flatter and so that we don't have to come in and tell you that the costs for this program increased by 20% in one year. Looking at the other factor in your assessment, we collect $75,000 from all of the municipalities in total for a capital match. This is what is used to purchase new vehicles primarily, and South Burlington's contribution of that is $10,735. In addition, South Burlington contributes to the Elders and Disabled Program, which has recently changed to Older Persons and Disabled Program, which provides assistance with transit for individuals who are older or disabled and fixed route would not be appropriate, and that's $2,625. So I'm sorry. I'm not happy to be here and telling you that your taxpayers need to pay an increase. I wish that were different. And hopefully the changes that we're making in that paratransit assessment will help avoid this. Looking at our pressures, one of the big things that is a problem for GMT, and I know is a problem for South Burlington School District as well as the recruitment of CDL drivers. When you see one of our buses, there's a one in four chance that the person who's driving that bus is on overtime, and there's a good chance that that overtime is forced overtime, because we're in order to ensure service, we're allowed to force overtime, which is something that feels pretty icky, but is necessary to do in order to have transit work. When I first arrived, that number was one out of three, so it's improving a little bit. But we are, I suspect for the entire time that I'll be at GMT, labor pressures will be one of the biggest things that we have to overcome in order to ensure service. In our Washington County service area, most of the past two years, we have had reduced service because we have been unable to recruit enough drivers to operate the full service. Not shockingly, the next pressure is the fiscal pressures, and we, like many municipalities, were the recipients of significant COVID relief funds. Those are the funds that were used to fund zero fare transit for the first few years, and those are the funds that right now allow us to operate a higher level of service than our revenue would allow. And so we are going to exhaust our COVID relief funds in fiscal year 26, and by fiscal year 27, we'll have a three plus million dollar deficit in our urban transit system. And we're going to be my top priority as the general manager is finding revenue replacement to fill that three million dollar gap. And I can tell you that I'm not going to be looking to municipalities for that. I understand that you all are facing similar fiscal cliffs. And so we're going to be looking at different funding methodologies. There was a study that the legislature just received earlier or in January that proposed different ways to generate public transit funds statewide. We're going to be working with the legislature to get that adopted. But I'm aware that we're not going to be able to just pass the bill on to you all. And the last thing that I'm going to bring up before questions is we're also not going to be able to just pass that on entirely to the riders. And so we are going to need to return to fares. And that'll be starting on February or March 6. This was a decision that was made at the state house with the transportation bill last year. We had advocated for continuing zero fare operations and perpetuity. But there was not the support to have the state continue funding that. And we were fortunate to be able to get them to provide us additional funds so that we could extend it for half of fiscal year 24. But the need to return could not be avoided. I am happy to say that the system that we're putting into place is much more financially equitable. The previous system was primarily cash based and only about 17% of our rides were paid for by somebody using a monthly pass. And the monthly pass was the most economical way to pay for your transit. But of course that would require somebody to be able to spend $40 up front for a pass or if they are eligible for a discounted pass, $20. The new system that we have won't require anyone to pay money up front to get our best pricing. Instead we'll have fare caps so that when people spend a certain amount either on a day or over a course of a month, if they reach the cap limit then their future rides will be free. And so those caps will be $25 for somebody who is eligible for a discounted ride and that's people who are under the age of 18, 60 or older or who identify as disabled. And it'll be $50 for the full price. One of the things that we're happy to do also with this change is that we've standardized the fares across our service area. Where previously the link and commuter routes had different prices. Now all of the fares will be set at the same price of $2 for full price and $1 for discounted. And that fare cap will apply to all of that transit. So previously if somebody just wanted to be able to ride the link it was $150 a month for the link service. We're now going to be $50. And so that's going to give a much greater range for people using transit. Two items that I before I go to question I just forgot to mention is that South Burlington has seen some amazing progress when it comes to the infrastructure that you're putting in the work that's been done on Market Street. And one of the things that we recognize in the future is that we're going to need to have our service shift based on the new realities within your community. I can tell you that our fiscal cliff realities are going to make additions very difficult in the foreseeable future. But I am very interested in figuring out how we can get service to Market Street. And I'm also looking to, as I mentioned, we're looking for other sources of funds. One of the things that we're looking to do is to increase the service on the number 11 by accessing some funds that's available through human services programs because that would provide increased access to the Howard Center's clinic on San Remo. So those are two things that we're working on that I think will improve our service to folks in South Burlington. And also recognizing that I would love to be able to connect the two centers of your communities off of Route 7 and in this area. That's something that we also recognize. So sorry that took a little longer than I thought. And let's have the fun part of the presentation where I can hear what is on your mind. And you can let me know how disappointed you are in me for raising your assessment. And I'll go home and cry. Are there any questions? Thank you very much. Andrew. Thank you for that presentation. Just a couple, just in the material you provided, you note that GMT has purchased five new full length battery buses and then is ordering an additional six full buses. Are the six on order also electric or those fossil fuel? And so this year we received six diesel and five electric. But we do have, we have an electric vehicle plan extending through 2028 where we have a federal subsidy through FTA that's funded largely from the VW settlement that would get us to a total of 24 electric vehicles by the end of 2028. Out of 70. And how they perform it? Horribly. They're performing horribly. Yes. And so it is an emerging technology. And one of the things that, you know, we're able to try this because of the subsidies that are provided because it's emerging. And the hope is, is that as those subsidies decline, that the quality improves. And so that by the time the subsidies are gone, that the cost and quality is somewhat equivalent to diesel and so that it will become sustainable on its own. At some point, I'd love to learn more. Maybe now is not the time to delve in, but what the issues are. Yep. What you see on the horizon. But that's great. Thank you for that. Just another question. Do you have a sense, do you know statistics around capacity utilization? Let's say on the number one, number 11 line, how full of the buses typically? Well, I can tell you that we will enjoy a lot better data with the new system that's coming in. Right now, we get most of our ridership data from actually sending humans out on a bus to count. And which is not something I'm really happy about. And so we're going to get better data with the new system that will help us see where people are getting on and off. What I can tell you is that we know that the number one sometimes leaves people at peak hours, and that along the route that the bus will become over full. But then during the non-peak times, the bus will be certainly not vacant, but not close to it. One of the common questions that we get is why do we run large buses on routes that are somewhat sparsely populated and are sparsely rided? Rided? This is my third public meeting today. So the reason why is that every one of our urban buses can do every one of our urban routes. And that is because one of our biggest pressures is making sure that we have the vehicles to be able to run the routes. And if we were to be more specialized, then that would just amplify some of the pressures with having a vehicle available that would be able to service the route. And this is especially the case during the wintertime because during wintertime, we provide seasonal service to Sugarbush and Stowe Mountain Resort. And so our fleet of buses is at its lowest at that time. The... I'm trying to think if I answered your question probably not very well, but... You did, thank you. Other questions? Tim? Yeah, just a couple of simple ones. Thank you, Clayton, for being here. Is the app that the state provides or somebody is still working to track buses? Like if you're standing at a bus stop, you can actually see where the bus is. Yes. What is the name of that app again? And so it's, I think it's the Transit app. Transit, okay. One of the things that would be interesting is that the Ride Ready app, which will be the... That's the name of the app that people will be able to pay for. It will have the same sort of tracking, and so it's going to be interesting to see which system is better. They're pulling from the same data, but we may just go to the one system if it proves to be comparable. And then the second question is how can people pay now when they get on the bus? What are their options? Well, with it being fare free, they don't have to pay anything. Well, after you start charging. But after they start charging, we suspect that upwards of 90% of our riders will be paying using a smartphone. And because that's, we know, based on our watching riders, it sounds kind of creepy, that about that level and show having a smartphone when they're on. And in a sense, they'll just... Sort of like the Duncan app, they'll just download the Ride Ready, which is the GMT app through the company GenFare that produces our fare boxes and the software that supports them. And so they'll be able to just kind of pass their phone over the fare box similar to what they would do to pay in with their phone at the grocery store. They'll also be able to pay on the bus with the credit card. They'll be able to pay on the bus with the debit card. They'll be able to pay with cash. And one of the things that would be critical for our cash-based riders is that we'll offer smart cards. And so that means that somebody without a smartphone, without a credit card or debit card, would be able to get a card that they would get at our transit centers and they would be able to add cash to it at the transit centers. And that is what would allow the cash-based riders to have the same fare-capping protections as those folks who are able to have other electronic payment. One of the nice things about the GenFare system is that although it takes about an extra year from our implementation, but about a year from now, anyone that goes to Walgreens or a ride aid would be able to add cash to their ride-ready account and wouldn't have to come to the transit center. Okay. Thank you. Megan? I don't have any questions. I just want to thank you. I think your riders are terrific. I ride to work regularly. And it's an excellent service. So I really wish that more people would use it. And ever since I've been sitting up here, I've been trying to do things to make that happen. Thank you. Yeah. So I think it's, I think it is a real service. And yes, the number one, they're standing room only and sometimes they have to say, we can't take any more people and there's another bus coming. So the number one is definitely being used. Sure. And I also take number 11, which serves as also the hospital and various things. So I'm glad that you're looking into different sources of funding. Yes. And our hope is, is that, you know, increased access for Howard center users also would increase access for everybody and that by having the number 11 more frequent, that perhaps we'll see folks using that if the route aligns with their needs. Instead of the number one and that perhaps that will help with some of the overcrowding on the one. Yeah. I take 11 when I can. Yeah. Larry. I was interested to hear your comment about the other side of South Burlington and getting public transportation one way or the other. So I'd be glad to be part of that discussion. Excellent. And I'm concerned about my stop at Queen City Park Road. But once the Champlain Parkway goes in, so we'll have to talk. Oh, absolutely. And that is obviously going to require us to do a lot of route changes and definitely the number five would be changing. And I also want to make sure that, you know, I'm realistic that my desire to connect the South Burlington communities is also staring in the face. The fact that I don't know how to pay for it. And, but I just want to make sure that you know that that's something that I recognize as, as a need. So number five serves South Meadow quite, quite heavily. I was on it the other day when everybody, when the high school got out and I could barely get on the bus. Yes. Anyway, so thank you. Thank you. And thanks for riding the bus. Great. I don't have any questions. Thank you. Thank you so much. I hope you have a good rest of your meeting. And good luck. Thank you. You too. Now we're going to other business. Is there any other business? Seeing none. Tim, do you have the. We need a motion to go into executive session. Yes. So I would like to move that the council make a specific decision on the public policy. I'm just finding that premature general public knowledge of the council's discussion of one contracts and negotiating for securing a real estate purchase or lease options. Two contracts negotiating or securing a real estate purchase release options. Three labor relations agreements with employees and for the valuation of a public officer employed would clearly place this public body. I had a substantial disadvantage. Second. that the city council move in, uh, entering to executive session under 1VSA 313A2, 1VSA 313A1B, and 1VSA 313A3 for the purpose of discussing one, contracts negotiating or securing a real estate purchase or lease options, and two, again the same thing, three, labor relations agreements with employees and for the evaluation of a public officer or employee, inviting Jesse Baker, Steve Block, Paul Conner, Erica Qualan, Colin McNeil, and Tom and Janet Bellavance into the session with council for discussion of the first topic, and then again inviting, uh, Jesse Baker, Steve Block, Colin McNeil, and a lot of blanchard in the session with a council discussion of the second topic, inviting Jesse Baker, Steve Block, and Colin McNeil in the session with council for the discussion of the third topic, and finally inviting Jesse Baker in the session with council discussion of the fourth topic. Second. All All in favor? Aye. And we will adjourn. And I'll be setting these motions to sue. You did. Thank you very much. OK. Thank you very much.