Firstly, happy Town Meeting Day to lots of towns in Vermont! And congratulations to Andy Watts, Ethan Lawrence, and Meg Zimmerman for being elected to the Town Selectboard.

TL;DR: February was budget season in Essex Junction. The Council approved a ~4% budget increase, finalized ballot items, discussed pedestrian and bike safety improvements, finalized a new city logo, extended an agreement with CVE, and updated development fees.

Overview
February was a busy month for the Essex Junction City Council. Much of our work focused on preparing for the upcoming Annual Meeting and continuing discussions around the FY27 city budget.

Budget season is when we take the deepest look at how city government actually works. We examine what services residents expect, what they cost, and how we balance those priorities responsibly.

Here are a few highlights from February:

Budget & Ballots
The Council spent a good portion of February reviewing and discussing the proposed FY27 city budget and the ballot items that will ultimately go before voters at Annual Meeting.

We worked hard to keep this a flat budget. The overall increase is ~4.2% percent, mostly due to an expected ~10% rise in employee health insurance costs in the second half of FY27.

We also finalized the initiatives you will see on the ballot in April. The city put together a flyer describing the budget and ballot items here.

Outside of formal meetings, councilors spent time engaging with residents about these upcoming ballot articles. There have been several opportunities for people to learn more and ask questions, both in person and online.

I always appreciate those conversations. Even when people disagree, hearing different perspectives helps make better decisions.

Pedestrian & Bike Safety
The Council also discussed a couple of transportation items related to pedestrian and bike safety. The key topics were a proposed pedestrian crossing on Pearl Street and a potential bike lane on Park Street.

Most interesting to me in the Pearl Street discussion was the data. It showed that most non-crosswalk crossings were people heading to bus stops. I like that we are working to make it easier and safer for residents to take alternative transportation.

Regarding Park Street, it is, by some measures, our most dangerous pedestrian corridor. It is also a gap in the bike network. For example, if you were riding from the Brownell Library to Williston, the bike path ends at Five Corners and does not restart until just before the dam.

The biggest complaint I hear from residents is speeding, and Park Street is no exception. Widening streets does not actually increase car throughput because traffic tends to expand to fill the available space. Wider roads can also encourage drivers to go faster. So IMHO, narrowing Park Street for a bike lane is a win.

I support looking for a good crosswalk on Pearl Street and continued study of the proposed Park Street bike lanes. If we want a walkable downtown and safer streets, we need to be willing to make incremental improvements when opportunities arise. The City’s ongoing focus on street safety is important and well worth supporting.

Development Fee Adjustments
Another item before the Council was an update to the Land Development Code fee schedule.

These fees ensure that the cost of reviewing development proposals is largely borne by the projects themselves, rather than by taxpayers more broadly. Over time, staff costs and review requirements change, so it makes sense to revisit the fee schedule periodically.

I supported the fee increase because raising fees lessens the burden on taxpayers. However, I would have preferred to have these fees indexed for inflation, to simplify future updates.

Logo Finalization
We've finalized the new City Logo:
While I don't love it, the puzzle-piece logo was, IMHO, the most representative of the City of the proposals that were presented to us. Thank you to the re-branding committee for your hard work!

I'm looking forward to a plan to update the City Limit signs, letterhead, and hopefully some new swag.

CVE Noise Waivers
The Champlain Valley Exposition (CVE) came to us asking for an extension of their noise waiver agreement with the City. The proposal before us was to extend the current agreement, for 20 waivers a year, from the current 3 years to now 10 years.

Having more certainly in their ability to hold concerts helps make local banks feel more comfortable to loan them money for long-needed upgrades to the grandstand.

I want the CVE to succeed; they are a valuable member of our community. Note that we are holding our elections there. I'm also a big fan of the new EJFD training facility on their property. That said, there are definitely residents impacted by the noise and traffic in the area of the fairgrounds.

I felt like the proposed agreement gave the CVE what they asked for, without returning anything additional to the city. Therefore, I was one of the votes against the agreement, which passed 3 – 2.

Looking Ahead
As we move into March, the Council will finalize the Annual Meeting warning and continue refining the FY27 budget.

If you have thoughts on any of these topics, or anything else happening in the city, please reach out. Hearing directly from residents is one of the best parts of serving on the Council.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for staying informed and for sharing your thoughts. It makes our city stronger.

As always, this post is my opinion and not necessarily the opinion of the City nor the City Council.

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Brian Shelden
City Councilor
bshelden@essexjunction.org
(802) 879-7665