Report on First Meeting of Citizens' Committee

At the two community meetings that we (Jason Van Driesche of Local Motion, Roy Feldman of SEABA, and Elisa Nelson of the Ward 5 NPA) organized in mid-March, a large number of people offered to serve on the Citizens' Committee on the Champlain Parkway.  It took a lot of head-scratching to figure out who to ask to be on the committee, as we wanted it to be broadly representative but not too large.  Here is what we came up with:

• Will Flender (Flynn/Home area resident and Burlington Walk-Bike Council member) 
• Rick Norcross (Maple/King area resident and South End business owner) 
• Basil Vansuch (Ward 5 NPA steering committee member and Flynn/Home area resident) 
• Brian Waxler (with Pomerleau Real Estate, which owns many commercial properties in the South End) 
• Liz Segal (owner of The Lamp Shop on Pine Street) 
• Jon Shenton (Five Sisters resident and graphic designer) 
• Louise Stoll (Southwind resident and former assistant secretary of transportation under Bill Clinton) 
• Kate and Ella (fifth-grade students at Champlain Elementary, working as a team) 
• Jason Van Driesche (Five Sisters resident and Local Motion staff) 
• Roy Feldman (South End resident and SEABA director) 

The committee met for the first time last week.  Our discussion focused mainly on process -- that is, how we would approach the task of developing recommendations over the next few months.  We also reviewed the recommendations that came out of the two community meetings and began to organize and prioritize them.  Our next meeting will be with the folks at Burlington Public Works, with the goal of asking a lot of questions and developing a clearer understanding of where the project is at.

Within a month or two, we should have something that will be ready for community review.  At that point, we'll need lots of feedback and guidance from other South End residents and business owners as to whether we're on the right track.  Stay tuned for updates!  And contact Jason at jason@localmotion.org with any ideas or questions.