Burlington Town Meeting To Consider Joining MWRA

BURLINGTON, MA -- Burlington's representative Town Meeting will consider whether or not the town should join the Massachusetts Water Resource Authority when it meets Monday night beginning at 7:30 pm Burlington High School’s Fogelberg Performing Arts Center. Other big-ticket items on the warrant include the construction of a new Department of Public Works facility and recreation facility, a new sludge removal system for Mill Pond, and a new fire engine.

Town Meeting will also vote to approve Burlington's proposed, $135.5 million operating budget and its $2.5 million capital budget. The biggest bylaw consideration facing the body is an article that, if passed, would ban the use of non-reusable, plastic shopping bags in Burlington.

Joining The MWRA

The Board of Selectmen and Town Meeting Water Committee have voted to recommend that town meeting pass Article 15 to address water shortages, particularly in the summer months. The $5.3 million article would raise money through a bond issuance that would eventually result in the shutdown of the Vine Brook water treatment plant and have the town get a majority of its water from the MWRA. Approval is projected to raise the average residential customer's water bill by $10 per year and would likely alleviate water shortages the town experiences in summer months when the Shawsheen River table drops.

Plastic Bag Ban

This warrant article was originally proposed last fall by a group of Burlington High School students who are part of the BHS Global Activists. Article 32 would impose a five-cent tax for every plastic bag given to a consumer by a store in Burlington. In the 55 towns that have passed similar proposals, retailers have generally passed the cost on to consumers or started using paper bags while simultaneously encouraging shoppers to use reusable bags. Most towns also write in exemptions for the plastic bags that are used for fresh produce and other perishable goods.

New DPW/Recreation Facility

At $16.5 million, Article 18 is most expensive item on the warrant. If passed, the article would clear the way for the first phase of the construction of a new, centralized DPW facility and maintenance center for the Recreation Department. The new facility would be built on Meadow Road. This warrant article covers the design of the project and the site prep work for construction that would happen in the $15 million second phase, which Town Meeting is expected to consider within three to four year.

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Patch file photo.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).