By Councilor Bryn Oakleaf
Hello, Winooski. I serve as the City Council Liaison to the Municipal Infrastructure Commission, who is charged with helping the City Council and staff "Invest in the City’s municipal infrastructure, including energy resources, facilities and technology; roads and sidewalks; and water, sewer, and storm water lines and facilities."
The commission met on June 8th, focusing on infrastructure policy priorities that may support the Master Plan. You can view the Municipal Infrastructure section and the entire Master Plan here.
The topics that will be forwarded to City Council by the Commission are:
- Support City in selecting projects for American Rescue Plan Act and State stimulus funds
- Continue work to attain goals identified by the 2017 Transportation Master Plan
- Evaluate and recommend additional non-vehicular network improvement areas
- Assess alignment of the City regulations and ordinances to the Master Plan and recommend revisions if inconsistencies or barriers to implementation emerge (i.e. provide support to the Planning Commission in revising the City’s Form Based Code)
- Support ongoing work of Capital Projects (i.e. Main Street Revitalization, etc.)
- Make progress on additional Master Plan goals and key objectives identified relating to:
- Energy efficiency and climate resiliency
- Accessibility of City infrastructure
- Assess next steps relating to historic preservation
On June 26th, the City Council will hold its annual policies and priorities strategy session. During that retreat, City staff and Councilors will discuss critical topics for Commissions to include in their work plan for the year ahead. These Municipal Infrastructure Commission recommendations will help the Council identify strategies to move the Council-directed priority infrastructure areas to their next stage of implementation. In addition to these policy priorities, the Commission reviewed a request to remove 6 trees at 32 Mallets Bay Ave in relation to the Champlain Housing Trust (CHT) affordable housing project approved by the City Council on June 7th. There will be 8 new trees planted to offset the removal of the 6 existing trees. The Commission approved CHT’s request.
Winooski residents interested in topics relating to our municipal infrastructure are encouraged to attend future Commission meetings. The Municipal Infrastructure Commission is currently convening on an “as needed” basis and the next meeting will likely take place in July. To sign up for our meeting notices, click here. To learn more, visit winooskivt.gov/1389/Municipal-Infrastructure-Commission.
Please get in touch if you have any input or questions on the work of the Commission.
Bryn Oakleaf - boakleaf@winooskivt.gov