[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6184394,"mediaKeyId","5090923-d09654a8179f303e50129b46314285b1","parentId",5090923,"title","South Burlington leaders set FY26 priorities: cemeteries, TDR reporting and legal review of building-energy enforcement rise; many items moved to 'bike rack'","audioSeconds",8584,"startMs",1026000,"endMs",9610000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5090923-d09654a8179f303e50129b46314285b1&start=1026&end=9610","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5090923-d09654a8179f303e50129b46314285b1/thumbnail_1026000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6184394/South-Burlington-City/Chittenden-County/Vermont/South-Burlington-leaders-set-FY26-priorities-cemeteries-TDR-reporting-and-legal-review-of-building-energy-enforcement-rise-many-items-moved-to-bike-rack","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6184394-cac73857512edd6976e5fc46c3a96c6c/orig.mp4?Expires=1771169615&Signature=Igkcvl8PxmfE6whHDOfNLqk~U24svrQX3Ycd~dhhYNnIZQ6dXHcW6iGHKjYTwSCD5-MS6aAH~TDHG60d3PgYryyxJ2WOZ9uOnmf6~05Cr38CWAvrfduaTm7NuS5h7m8pW0IbDlE8yyFdy9IsSvHcqD0S09RQQjcuTBNYov7U6F6g01DEdwEG6C44r54dvBXpt0Ude6IuCFgpaPoi7gHBByV--UnqsSAdA5bomNXnq5yrYCD6JczD2JIY-as5G798RXWxhNkjwRFZztsyNaperpRhefCe6~uFt8NUgX6J1tN5WZW7uOfvPbf~Di5tmZc3Jsp8TpGeO0YpA8ALowdyZA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","South Burlington City, VT","date","2025-06-28T04:49:41Z","article","South Burlington City leadership and the city council met in a working session to narrow policy priorities and strategies for fiscal year 2026, endorsing several staff requests and tabling many ideas for future consideration.

City Manager Jesse Baker opened the meeting, describing the session as \"our annual working meeting between the leadership team and the city council to develop our shared work plan for FY26.\" Staff presented a leadership-team package of 49 recommended initiatives organized by capital projects, master plans, operations, partnerships, ordinance updates and study/research items.

Council discussion and a dot-prioritization exercise produced several explicit outcomes: the council moved cemetery governance and administration from the bike rack to active work, instructed staff to provide reporting on transfer-of-development-rights (TDR) activity, and asked the city attorney and staff to review municipal authority to enforce building-energy or thermal-code requirements. Councilors and staff also agreed to advance a public-tree plan (public trees/street trees) as a priority and to keep a long list of other items on a 'bike rack' for future years.

Planning Director Paul Connor summarized legal uncertainty around local enforcement of energy codes, saying the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission's legal review indicated \"it's unclear whether municipalities have enforcement authority on the energy codes.\" The council directed staff to pursue a legal review and to return with a recommended path (education, permitting changes, or ordinance drafting) rather than immediate enforcement.

Cemetery work moved to active status after members described a multi-part need: adopt rules and regulations, appoint or fund a cemetery administrator to house operations and lift a local moratorium on plot sales, and begin work on beautification projects (Eldridge Cemetery was cited as receiving a $50,000 anonymous gift for improvements). Jesse Baker summarized the implementation step: \"Cemeteries moving to off the bike rack to regular work. We've already started that.\"

Councilors and staff also agreed on process items: leadership will integrate committee proposals where they overlap with the leadership team's recommendations, staff will provide a crosswalk of committee work plans, and the council requested a staff briefing and, in one case, an executive session to discuss land acquisition negotiations tied to the City Green project.

Bigger context: staff noted FY26 will include an array of ongoing modernization projects (new permitting and finance systems), dozens of master-plan deliverables and approximately $84,000,000 of capital projects in the pipeline (not all expected to be spent in FY26). Leadership also flagged upcoming staffing transitions (police chief, library director, stormwater team and a deputy city manager recruitment). Daily government operations — estimated roughly as 18,000 public-safety calls and maintenance of 166 miles of roads, paths and sidewalks — will continue alongside new initiatives.

Ending: The working meeting produced an updated staff worksheet that staff will translate into a formal FY26 policy-and-strategies proposal for council adoption at a future meeting. Key follow-ups recorded in the session were: (1) advance cemetery administration and rules, (2) legal analysis of municipal authority to inspect/enforce building energy requirements, (3) quarterly-style reporting on TDR usage and remaining credits, (4) move the public-tree plan into active consideration, and (5) schedule an executive-session briefing on City Green land-acquisition negotiations.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","South Burlington City Council - 6/27/2025","oneSentenceSummary","City leadership and councilors refined FY26 priorities on June 27, elevating cemetery administration, requesting TDR status reporting, and ordering a legal review of municipal authority on building-energy enforcement; many other proposals were parked on a 'bike rack' for future years.","taxTitle","South Burlington City, Chittenden County, Vermont","taxId",2752,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6184399,"Residents deliver 294-signature petition asking South Burlington City to intervene to protect Wheeler Nature Park parcel",915,1207000,2122000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5090923-d09654a8179f303e50129b46314285b1&start=1207&end=2122","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5090923-d09654a8179f303e50129b46314285b1/thumbnail_1207000.jpg","/articles/6184399/South-Burlington-City/Chittenden-County/Vermont/Residents-deliver-294-signature-petition-asking-South-Burlington-City-to-intervene-to-protect-Wheeler-Nature-Park-parcel","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6184399-33dfd51620462737fe9ead9f75719457/orig.mp4?Expires=1771169615&Signature=dEu1CEB9fDlk4GTceLwsTVIkPDQwoQw1U3-k7zJR0hs~g4Do5fxcgcDHx615ahUbv6cemHsmliUbN~2bLGRXsSRh6DdYFKu57vs7lOYpURDrqgzpUiAL-qPC-FjcuAHt2HUIkMU~8GSGDxbw1miInl07gP5zxc-mt4hORsFdTsCpgrqyZ00LVXaoiznb3FjnZQzyuKFxh7sGzWpYEiRX3MrqJkiTZBfW7SMJEenMh0geK8nszfSzUYrTY0hLL93VnLn8G7fUd7whYLYuft7Zi5yFq3CYg-a1lvGTzDZxWqyQ0Vx5izZGonk8LeY~nUPo8ijZaJAiRFOSnrp8gbSJPQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Dozens of South Burlington residents delivered a petition with 294 signatures and urged the city to act to preserve a 6.9-acre parcel adjacent to Wheeler Nature Park that is owned by Jam Golf.

Speakers said they previously pursued remedies in Vermont’s environmental court and the Vermont Supreme Court without success and asked the council to negotiate with Jam Golf — by purchase, encouraging donation for tax benefit, or asking the developer to relocate the buildable parcel outside the park.

The petition’s lead presenter, Jeanne Zagurski, described the recent legal and public-history background and said: \"Last Saturday, we sent out a petition, which you all have now. And within 5 days, we got 294 signatures in support of keeping the park the way it was before this parcel was separated out.\" Several other residents reiterated concerns about wildlife, runoff to an identified spring, and loss of a widely used public view toward Mount Mansfield.

Resident Eric Griffin, speaking as an engineer, framed the question in fiscal and quality-of-life terms, telling the council the parcel \"sacrifices a $200,000,000 natural view for a small number of people to have a place to live\" and calling the land \"a 7 generation place that we shouldn't sacrifice for 1 generation.\" Other speakers described wildlife (pileated woodpecker, American woodcock), fragile wetlands nearby, and the role Wheeler Park plays as accessible green space for new apartment residents near city center.

Speakers recounted prior court actions. Zagurski said the group pursued environmental court and then the Supreme Court without the result they sought; speakers noted that during the prior courtroom proceedings 60 fact witnesses were identified and about 20 testified over five days in support of preserving the park as a contiguous whole.

Council staff acknowledged receipt of the petition. The public requested the council seek a placement of the item on the council agenda for a near-term meeting so staff could open discussions with Jam Golf; one speaker explicitly asked the council to \"put this on the agenda for the Monday meeting and to ask the city, the city manager or the deputy manager to talk to JAM.\" Council members did not take a formal vote on the petition during the working meeting.

Ending: The petition was received and aired publicly; the council heard consistent public appeals to engage Jam Golf on options including municipal purchase, soliciting a donation for tax benefit, or negotiating relocation of development. No formal council action or vote was recorded in the working meeting transcript; residents asked that staff and elected leaders consider bringing the item back for formal council consideration at an upcoming meeting.","Dozens of residents urged South Burlington City Council to intervene after developer Jam Golf subdivided a parcel inside Wheeler Nature Park; speakers described prior court challenges and asked the city to seek purchase, donation, or relocation of the buildable parcel.","actionData","errors"]

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South Burlington leaders set FY26 priorities: cemeteries, TDR reporting and legal review of building-energy enforcement rise; many items moved to 'bike rack'

Residents deliver 294-signature petition asking South Burlington City to intervene to protect Wheeler Nature Park parcel