Ward 2 NPA

Regular Meeting

Burlington, VT · December 11, 2025

Minutes

Meeting Agenda Ward 2 Neighborhood Planning Assembly (NPA) Dec 11th, 2025 | 6:30-8:30pm | All are welcome Join in person: O.N.E. Community Dinner ONE Community Center, 20 Allen Street 5:30-6:30pm | Free | Donations welcome Menu: Winter Holidays Feast with Potato Kugel & Join remotely: Applesauce, Butternut Squash Soup, Quinoa Kale & https://zoom.us/j/93179389982 Radicchio Salad with Cranberries and Citrus Vinaigrette, and Apple Cider Donut Cake Music: Ben Wang Facilitator: Grace Sherwood (she/her) Notetaker: Kason Hudman 6:30 pm Introduction 5 min Agenda: Motion to approve from Molly, seconded Sean, third, agenda approved 6:35 pm Public Forum (2 minutes max per person) 10 min Jan Hicks, Community Dinner Founder, talks about how a friend named Patrick found an industrial food processor in the dumpster. That food processor later broke, so part of the budget we are voting on tonight is for the commmunity dinner Solve, Ward 2 resident, informs everyone that on Monday the city council will discuss the Memorial Auditorium redevelopment, encourages people to attend to speak about the possibility of a long-term land lease. Melo Grant, City Councilor, wants to remind everybody about Town Meeting Day coming up in March, and encourages everybody to watch the Progressive Nominating Caucus on Town Meeting TV. Also encourages everybody to get involved in the upcoming campaign. Monica, Ward 7 Resident, announces that on Sunday, December 21st, there will be a New North End Holiday market at the Miller Center. 10am-3pm. Grace Sherwood, mentions that Jess in the kitchen has a lot of food leftover in the kitchen Charlie, Ward 2, mentions that people at the Ward 3 Polling Place needs some extra help on Town Meeting Day. Charlie will help train people who are willing to do it long-term, over the course of the next few years. 6:45 pm Community Vote for Apartheid-Free Resolution 5 min Duncan Kreps, Jill Clark-Gollub, Paul Fleckenstein - VT Coalition for Palestinian Liberation Grace Sherwood introduces the resolution and mentions that it was gone over in detail at the previous meeting. Grace then reads through the resolution from top to bottom. Grace then calls for a vote. Votes in Favor: 29 Votes Opposed: 0 Ward 2 NPA - December 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 1 The resolution passes. 6:50 pm Overdose Prevention Center 25 min Theresa Vezina- Special Assistant on OPC Implementation Theresa opens up reminding everybody about the community survey that is currently available for people to take on the City of Burlington website. The survey can be found under the Mayor’s information on the city website. Question from Ward 2 resident, wants to know if Theresa can give an overview of the survey right now. Theresa answers that she can’t go over the whole survey because there are a lot of questions on the survey, but she can give a general overview. She says that the survey asks about the location of the OPC, the benefits of the OPC, and the concerns of the OPC. Nora, Ward 2 resident, scanned the QR code for the survey and briefly went over what the survey looks like in order to further elaborate on the answer to the question. Theresa mentions that the survey is not the end all be all, but is only one way that the city will get this information. Question from Ward 2 resident, wants to know if the survey will be made available to the population the OPC is trying hardest to reach, specifically drug users. Theresa answers that this is one of the first things that the OPC team did, and this will continue happening. Jess, who works for VCJR, mentions that it has always been very important from the beginning that the people most likely to use an Overdose Prevention Center were consulted and their voices uplifted during this process. The idea is to have a service that this population will use and feel comfortable with using, so it is important that this process takes place. The Ward 2 resident follows-up, wanting to know if the answers to the survey from drug users could be made available to the public in an anonymous format. Theresa answers that the ultimate report will include all survey responses. The Ward 2 resident suggests showing the film “Love in the Time of Fentanyl”, and Theresa and Jess both agree. Becky, Ward 2 resident, wants to know how influential the results of the survey will be in the implementation of the OPC. Theresa answers that the survey will help them throughout the implementation, but it will not determine whether or not the OPC happens since that decision has already been made. Becky mentions that it is important for the community to get more educated about Overdose Prevention Centers. Theresa mentions that one of the most important things people are learning about Overdose Prevention Centers is that they are not just places where people can safely use drugs, but are instead places where a lot of social services become available to people. Jess talks about how positive this idea has been received among the population this place is most looking to serve. Becky, Ward 2 resident, asks if they have gone to the other NPAs. Theresa answers that they have been to every NPA except for the Ward 8 NPA, but they have done listening sessions at the library which is located in Ward 8. 7:15 pm Budget 15 min Vote on FY2026 Ward 2 NPA budget. Grace introduces the proposed budget. - $1000 to Community Dinner - $400 for a new Food Processor - $1000 for Outreach (tabling, advertisements, postering) - $30 Arts and Craft Table Supplies Ward 2 NPA - December 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 2 - $30 for Zoom Subscription - $180 for Door Prizes 22 Votes in Favor 0 Opposed The budget passes. Question from Ward 2 resident, asks about the community dinner cost. Jess, who runs the community dinner, answers that the money will cover ingredients and will also allow Jess to bring in more guest chefs. 7:30 pm Listening Session with State Legislators 60 min Rep. Abbey Duke begins, mentions that the Legislative Session begins in January, and will last until May. Abbey is in the Vermont House of Representatives, which includes 150 members, 11 of which are from Burlington. There are 14 committees, Abbey is on the Housing and Economic Development committees. Abbey mentions that the most important first thing is the state budget. The Vermont state budget is $9B, $3B of that is federal funds. The potential loss of federal funding is very concerning for the budgeting process, and will likely be a big issue on the docket for the state legislature. Abbey mentions that housing is another big issue that the state legislature will be dealing with during this session. Abbey mentions the CHIP program, which will unlock funding for more housing infrastructure, but more needs to be done on housing. Jill Krowinski joins, also highlights the loss of federal funding as a big challenge for the upcoming session. Jill is also concerned that Gov. Scott may potentially use the budget as a political tool to keep the House in session working on other things, which is concerning to Jill. Jill mentions money that has been invested in educating more nurses in Vermont, which she says is Kason Hudman, Ward 2 Resident, asks about eminent domain laws and wants to know why the empty state office building next to the bus station is sitting empty. Jill and Abbey answer that the state office building is falling apart in the basement, which increases liability for the state if the building were to be opened. Abbey and Jill also both mention that punishments for negligent landlords and carrots to induce them to sell their properties will be things that the Housing Committee will be looking at during this session. Grace Sherwood, Ward 2 Resident, mentions to the state legislators that it would be a grave mistake to spend millions of dollars on a new women’s prison, which is a proposed plan at the moment. Representative Brian Cina, who joined, mentions that he agrees and he proposes an ambitious plan to instead build detention/re-entry dormitories and lots of housing with the money instead. Gene Bergman, Ward 2 City Councilor, mentions that there are 5 Charter Changes that have sat at the State Legislature for a long time. Jill explains that the legislature has passed a lot of charter changes actually, however, the Governor will often veto them and the question is, do we want to continuously hold votes that are doomed to fail. 8:30 pm Door prize drawing + Adjourn! Our next meeting is Thursday, Jan. 8! Ward 2 NPA - December 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 3 Scan the QR code (or click here) to: Email us • Go to our website • Watch meeting recordings on CCTV's website • Connect with us on Instagram • Request a time slot with the request form • Get to all links related to this meeting Appendix to the Agenda Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee To contact the entire Ward 2 NPA Steering Committee, email ward2npa@googlegroups.com Name Email Joined Term expiration Lauren Ebersol lebersol27@gmail.com 2023 2027 Kason Hudson kasonhudman@gmail.com 2024 2028 Charlie Giannoni charliecpg@gmail.com 2024 2028 Marc Stannard Marc.Stannard@outlook.com 2024 2028 Nora Aronds noraaronds@yahoo.com 2025 2029 Grace Sherwood Gsherwood703@gmail.com 2025 2029 NPA Guiding Principles ● Operate through democratic principles and democratic procedures. ● Provide a safe and welcoming forum where residents can actively share their voices about issues that matter to them, and where they can learn from the voices of others. ● Cultivate involvement by a diverse spectrum of community members through active outreach and through eliminating barriers to participation. ● Operate in a manner that models respectful, inclusive, culturally, and economically aware practices. ● Be a fun, creative, and vital organization that provides value and benefit through the multitude of perspectives shared by those who participate. Ward 2 NPA Ground Rules ● Meetings should have clearly defined agenda and roles. ● Honor time limits: A best effort must be made to start on time, follow the agenda, and finish on time. ● Listen to others: Make efforts to be an open-minded member of the group. ● Respect the agenda and the process: Try to remain focused on the issue at hand. ● Share your opinion respectfully: Speak out, but not over, others’ comments. ● Treat people how you would like to be treated: Be respectful of everyone, including guests. Ward 2 NPA - December 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 4 Elected officials representing Ward 2 Mayor Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak Progressive mayor@BurlingtonVT.gov City Councilors Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Melo Grant Progressive megrant@burlingtonvt.gov 802-310-0962 Ward 2 Gene Bergman Progressive gbergman@burlingtonvt.gov 802-598-3602 School Board Members Central District (Wards 2 & 3) Jean Waltz jwaltz@bsdvt.org 802-355-7856 Ward 2 Polly Vanderputten pvanderputten@bsdvt.org 802-578-8653 Vermont State House Representatives Chittenden-15 Troy Headrick Independent theadrick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-15 Brian Cina Progressive/Democrat bcina@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Kate Logan Progressive/Democrat klogan@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-16 Jill Krowinski Democrat jkrowinski@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-17 Abigail Duke Democrat aduke@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Vermont State Senators Chittenden-Central Tanya Vyhovsky Progressive/Democrat tvyhovsky@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Martine Gulick Democrat mgulick@leg.state.vt.us (802) 828-2228 Chittenden-Central Philip Baruth Democrat/Progressive pbaruth@leg.state.vt.us (802) 503-5266 Ward 2 NPA - December 11, 2025 - Notes - Page 5

Ward 2 NPA

Minutes

Agenda

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