Calendar of Upcoming Civic Engagement Opportunities
City Council and City Committee Meetings
April 26 Social and Economic Justice Advisory Committee (SEJAC)
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM Virtual Meeting via Zoom Virtual Meeting via Zoom
Zoom Meeting link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82844191234?pwd=YTZwOSswdS9VWXJxMFIxdTc1Y05hUT09 Meeting ID: 828 4419 1234 Passcode: 071412 One tap mobile: (929)-205-6099
April 26 Regular City Council Meeting
6:30 PM City Council Chambers
Zoom Meeting link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87156733181?pwd=TzJ5YVpZMlZTOEYvL2xDa29jbmQ0Zz09 Meeting ID: 871 5673 3181 Passcode: 251097 One tap mobile: (305)-224-1968
May 1 Development Review Board (DRB) Meeting 7:00 PM (Agenda not yet posted)
May 2 Montpelier Housing Committee Meeting 6:00 PM (Agenda not yet posted)
May 3 Restroom Committee Meeting 10:30 AM-11:30 AM (Not yet posted)
May 3 Montpelier Homelessness Task Force 11:30 AM-12:30 PM (Not yet posted)
May 8 Planning Commission Meeting 5:30 PM (Agenda not yet posted)
Country Club Road Spring Public Engagement Meetings
Once again, the City will host three public engagement sessions to get the public’s feedback on three final concept designs and will be soliciting feedback via a City-wide survey. The meetings will match the same style and format as previous public engagement sessions for the Country Club Road Site project. Like before, the purpose of hosting a series of meetings and providing a video with the survey on the website is to provide a variety of opportunities for community members to participate and engage with the project.
April 29
10 AM- 12 PM on site at 203 Country Club Road (former Elks Club Building)
May 3
5 PM-7 PM Hybrid meeting: City Hall Memorial Room and on Zoom
Zoom Meeting link : https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85974370297
Meeting ID: 859 7437 0297 Phone: 929-205-6099
May 8
12 PM-2 PM Remote only meeting
Zoom link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85188776794
Meeting ID: 851 8877 6794 Phone: 929-205-6099
If you’d like to attend any of the following meetings, RSVP here: https://polco.us/n/res/vote/montpelier-vt/rsvp-to-the-country-club.)
The project team put together three conceptual designs that will be presented to the public in each of the above three sessions. At this juncture, the team is looking for feedback from the public in these three conceptual designs. Later in May, the team will present to the City Council findings from these public meetings and the team’s recommendations. Ultimately, the design chosen by the Council will evolve into the Actionable Master Plan and mark the transition into Phase 2 of Master Planning.
It’s important to remember this is a long-term build-out. Likely, the final designs will not be fully completed for another 10+ years. Once the Actionable Master Plan has been created, the City and project team will create a project timeline to outline the stages of development and target goals.
A theatrical experience that may help us to better understand
our own attitudes toward race
Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s “Pass Over” at the Lost Nation Theater
Final performances:
Tuesday April 25 2-4 PM
Thursday April 27 7:30-9:30 PM
Friday April 28 7:30-9:30 PM
Saturday April 29 7:30-9:30 PM
Sunday April 30 2-4 PM
Opportunities to learn about and gain a deeper understanding of what it means
to be homeless in Vermont
May 8 Barriers to Benefits: Everyday Hurdles to Getting Help
6:30 PM-8:00 PM at Kellogg-Hubbard Library, Main Street, Montpelier, VT
People with low income or lacking housing face a daunting variety of impediments to seeking and obtaining assistance. Indra J. Acharya, Consultant/Integrator for THRIVE, will facilitate a discussion with several unhoused people about the difficulties they encounter on a regular basis. These include problems connected with earning too much money, having excessive savings, no transportation, and/or an inability to apply online for help. These are compounded by the fact that each assistance program has its own limits and requirements.
This presentation comes from the Montpelier Homelessness Task Force and is supported by a THRIVE – Vermont Community Health Equity Partnership grant.
To protect participants’ privacy, no recording of the event will be made.
To protect participants’ privacy, no recording of the event will be made.
Also, you may wish to read the following recent news accounts of the coming storm:
“Local Orgs Prep for 30% Increase in Homeless Population” in the April 19-May 2 issue of The Bridge.
“Senate advances 8.5 billion state budget that would end pandemic era motel program” from VTDigger (4/21/23)
The unthinkable is about to happen. Over the next two months (by June 30) more than 2000 people currently living in motels are going to be exited with no clear place for them to live. This is a moment in which Public Engagement is required. Please consider sending an email to your representatives in the legislature and to the Governor letting them know that this is unacceptable. Here’s the letter I sent to key senators and house members last week:
I hope I don’t need to tell you that the forced unsheltering of more than 2000 people starting June 1 and going into high gear July 1 is unconscionable. Not only will this lead to deaths of our neighbors and community members, it will flood the streets of cities across the state with people who are homeless and desperate. This will cause confrontations with residents, visitors, and local police, which in Washington County alone will be terrible for business in downtown Montpelier, Barre, and Waterbury as well as the Berlin Mall.
The only responsible measure is to fully fund and support a transition plan, which includes sufficient funding both to keep people sheltered and to provide the bricks and mortar. I know you and other key legislators have been presented with such a plan. This measure cannot work if people are unsheltered; sheltering is the foundation on which permanent transitions are built.
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