Ahead of the 10-2 vote, dozens of people who oppose the park renovation turned out to try to convince councilors to vote down the $5.8 million in financing. The opponents, part of a group called Keep the Park Green, say the renovation will result in the removal of healthy trees and is too expensive.
The renovation will, in fact, cost more than previously expected. The lowest bid came in at $4.9 million, significantly higher than the initial estimate of $4 million. Mayor Miro Weinberger attributed the higher price tag to increased cost for soil remediation and the plan to protect existing trees during construction. He also blamed the opposition group and delays in the process for causing the cost to spike.
Members of the city Department of Public Works and the Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department continued to amend the design up until Monday’s meeting to try to lower the cost. Still, “the sticker shock was real,” Councilor Adam Roof (I-Ward 8) said at the meeting.
The final price tag of $5.8 million will cover the costs of the lowest bidder, S.D. Ireland, as well as other contractors and design work.
Property taxes will cover $1.25 million of the total. Most of the remainder will be funded by tax increment financing dollars, bonds and grants. Additionally, private donors gave a total of $1.5 million toward the project. Among them was Trey Pecor, president of Lake Champlain Transportation, who donated $500,000.
Councilors eventually decided the amount would be worth it. “Nice things cost money,” Councilor Dave Hartnett (D-North District) said.
The vote marks the conclusion of a planning process that began in 2011. The new park will include widened walkways, a new fountain, more seating and more landscaping. As part of the effort to cut costs, the city eliminated a planned public bathroom for the park, though there will be plumbing and Weinberger pledged to find cash to eventually install toilets.
Keep the Park Green members criticized both the high price tag and the proposed redesign. Michael Long called the planning process “secretive” and the ultimate plan “heavy on hardscape and exorbitantly priced.”
“I hope you give some consideration for the people who are going to be paying for” the plan, Donna Walters, another opponent, told the council.
The meeting marked a last-ditch effort for the group to halt the project. Last summer, members reached a compromise with the council to keep more trees in the park than the original proposal called for.
This winter, members of Keep the Park Green secured enough signatures to get a question on the ballot asking voters to weigh in on the park plan, but the city council voted against putting it on the Town Meeting Day ballot. The group then filed suit against the city, contending that the project required voter approval because it involved taxpayer money. A judge denied the group’s effort to stop the project from moving forward while the case makes its way through the courts.
Construction is expected to be completed in July 2020.
Separately on Monday, the council approved a measure asking a committee to review the city’s conflict of interest policy. The Hartnett-backed proposal would examine whether councilors and other city officials should be required to publicly disclose more detail about their conflicts. “We don’t want to lose the public trust. We can’t afford to do that,” Hartnett said. The committee will report back to the full council in July.
Monday also marked the final meeting for longtime Councilor Jane Knodell (P-Central District), Hartnett and Richard Deane (D-East District). New councilors Perri Freeman, Franklin Paulino and Jack Hanson will be sworn in next week.
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Where does Weinberger plan to put the statue of himself? I don’t see it in the artist rendering.
I also hope they are not planning to get rid of leash laws so dogs can play Frisbee untethered or just wander aimlessly while its owner sits contemplatively.
The centerpiece of this disastrous design is the kids’ fountain jets, which will be operable for only two months of the year. The park will look sparse and denuded after this project. Joan Shannon was on WVMT this morning, claiming that fewer trees will make the park “warmer,” because trees make “cold” shade! She also said the current amount of trees are a “safety issue” because the police can’t see “all the way through the park.” SMH.
So this city council that refused to put on the town meeting ballot, an advisory concern signed by twice the minimum required voters that addressed many problems, including the $4million dollar price tag, approved a new more expensive version that eliminates wooden benches for metal ones which are less comfortable and heat up or cool down quicker, more concrete space and even less greenery to produce an even hotter park in the increasingly hot summers we have, let the arborists and his team who are not trained in tree removal (their job specs require them to work with contractors since 1998) to cut down all these trees, and then added $1.8 million dollars for the city to pay for it?!
“Where does Weinberger plan to put the statue of himself?”
Completely baseless sarcasm. Do you have any more reason to think that the current mayor would want a statue of himself than former mayor Bernie would? Than Clavelle would? Than Brownell would? Than Kiss would? On what basis? Because you just don’t like him?
I’d say the most likely mayor to promote the idea of a statue of himself would be by far the biggest egomaniac of the bunch: Bernie and his Cult of Personality. And if you heard about such a plan, you and all the Bros wouldn’t be making sarcastic remarks about it, you’d be cheering it on.
Trump is off the leash now, and so is Miro . . . enabled by a complicit and enfeebled City Council, backed by the local 1%ers and the Wealth Extraction Club ( the Chamber of Commerce), our Neo-liberal Huckster will continue to dig Burlington deeper into debt for these ego-feeding vanity projects, and then he will leap for higher office in a flash.
I doubt Miro is done convulsing the city with his ideas of over-populating the city and turning Burlington into Anywhere USA. Then he will gentrify the poorer folks out of town, keeping just enough of them in high rise urban projects style housing so he and the other Wall Street worshipping Democrats can point to them and say “Look, we love poor folks, look at all that diversity! Just don’t come down to Church Street or the Waterfront”
But . . .the Elite and Elect will be happy with glamorous shopping , enjoying the arts, and fine dining and living the Beautiful Life in the Manhattan of New England, the Boutique City of the North: Burlington Vermont . . it’s sooooo vibrant it’ll make your loins grow moist just thinking about it.
@G Chesterton
“The centerpiece of this disastrous design is the kids’ fountain jets, which will be operable for only two months of the year.”
This Burlington, Vt. We are not above the Arctic Circle! Have you never gone swimming in the lake in May or Sept.?
Plus with less trees there will be more sunshine. Can’t wait to take my kids there!
I’d say a man all too happy to be painted into a mural has enough hubris to construct a statue of himself. Incidentally, I hope the artist rendering of the park incorporates enough minorities. I’d hate to see the shiny new park vandalized for lack of diversity.
As far as the park, it needs an update. I’m not sure I get the water feature or the giant slab of concrete but something has to be done to what it currently is.
Did they make sure to include a couple of Sharps Disposal boxes in the project for the junkies to put their syringes in?
Another one of miros wetdreams coming true.
@ Lade:
“I’d say a man all too happy to be painted into a mural has enough hubris to construct a statue of himself.”
Ah. I see. So then you’d be talking about Bernie, right? He’s a former mayor, he’s certainly full of hubris, and he’s in the mural.
@ Old North End Guy:
“But . . .the Elite and Elect will be happy with glamorous shopping , enjoying the arts, and fine dining”
Wow. Jealousy is such an ugly emotion. Yeah, what a terrible, terrible thing it is for Burlington to have a nice downtown where all kinds of people like to hang out, with shopping (including, finally, a hardware store — thanks, Miro!), with arts, with some decent food and drink, and with young people (an endangered species everywhere else in Vermont). And that, by the way, is exactly what Bernie intended when he developed the Church Street Marketplace.
@Gigrape52@gmail.com
“Another one of miros wetdreams coming true.”
I hope you are talking about the fountain jets. Is this keeping you up at night?
Always the same few naysayers in Burlington, perennially against everything. I have taken time to look at the plan and can’t wait to see it become a reality, and for the park to become more inviting to all citizens and taxpayers.
Well, this is too bad, but they had to do it before the new Council members take their seats, or the decision would have been in doubt. As usual, there are two schools of thought in these comments (or more?) but true to his sarcastic and snide attitude, one of our regulars (Mr. Assumptions) has fit two comments in, both insulting other commenters. I hope he’s done. He’s babbling about Bernie, for gosh sakes.
As he would no doubt say if my baseball team lost to his, “Get over it.”
I must add – that is one hilarious quote by Councilor Shannon on the radio. May she sit in the full glare of the sun this August. Trees cool it off too much – love that. May climate change open her eyes someday.
[Yes, it’s fine if you dislike this comment. You are a small self-righteous minority of grumblers. Have at it.]
@ Messing
I guess you didnt notice, or dont care, that the FIRST sarcastic and snide comment on this thread was by your anti-everything comrade in arms Mt. Philo. And the SECOND one was by Old North End Guy. And the THIRD one was by Lade. But all of those passed under your radar because you agree with them. Its only when someone challenges the anti-Democrat orthodoxy that you get your tighty whities in a bunch about sarcasm.
Have a great day.
Hi, all. Please stick to commenting on the story, not on other’s comments. We’ll shut it down if the bickering doesn’t stop. Thanks!
@Sasha . . . don’t shut it down, just ban those who don’t talk about the article. They aren’t hard to figure out and see. And it isn’t just on this article that they tend to do this kind of behavior on, it is many others.
Or just make it a policy of one comment per article to cut down on the sniping.
Good luck.
Thank you, Sasha.
Why not switch to using first and last names? VT Digger requires that, and they also require that all comments refer to the article. It has virtually eliminated bullying. I’m all for correcting someone who has posted false facts, but attacking others’ posts, for any reason, is not ok and it brings the quality of the publication down.
Hi RealityCheck,
I appreciate your suggestion re: requiring commenters to use first and last names.
Like every media outlet, we wrestle with how best to encourage thoughtful, civil comments on our site. It’s a challenge, for sure. Our approach to commenting hasn’t changed much since I wrote this piece for our media issue a couple years ago, explaining it. This policy is intentional: https://sevendaysvt-test.newspackstaging.com/vermont/why-do…
For now, we rely on a team of moderators to ensure commenters are following our guidelines, and we appreciate readers who report comments that they feel cross a line. Find the guidelines here, and linked below every commenting box on our site: https://sevendaysvt-test.newspackstaging.com/vermont/Commen…
Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks Kathy, I think a level playing field is very helpful.
Some people (dozens, on this site) don’t really want a dialogue. They think of this as whining. They should look elsewhere for totally like-minded folks. Issues can be openly discussed. Oh – and if anyone thinks it’s bad here, it’s much worse on Facebook – the threads there can go on forever back and forth!. It’s a jungle in there.