Obviously city property is just up for grabs. Build on it, Squat on it.Keep it by force.

Is that down by the homeless camp

It is within the camp

So I keep seeing these being assigned to Bill
Ward, but is anything happening? Or do they just get assigned and then ignored? Can someone please inform us on how this is being addressed .

Try to call Mr Peterson at DPW tomorrow and see what he says

The Sears Lane Encampment is not an area where the property owner (the City) is building any structures. There is activity there which is happening without the city’s approval. The City Attorney's office is aware of the violation by the campers and is working with CEDO to bring it to a resolution.

In regards to how the site is being managed, the City of Burlington issued a Request For Proposals on September 21, 2021 for Management of the Sears Lane Encampment. That RFP can be found on the City’s Website under the Community, Economic and Development Office (CEDO). The link to the RFP is also listed below:
https://www.burlingtonvt.gov/sites/default/files/tiles/Final%20Sears%20Lane%20RFP_1.pdf

The only building activity that the City is engaged in on the property is the installation of a fence around the site. The details of the fence permit are as follows:
A permit was applied for by the Department of Public Works on September 9, 2021 for the “Installation of approximately 1,065 Linear Feet of 6' high chain link fence, with a new 12' double gate around 48 and 68 Sears Lane”.
The required 15-day appeal period will expire at the end of the day September 28, 2021 after which the permit can be released and the construction can begin.

Marissa, if you would like to speak with me about this you can reach me at wward@burlingtonvt.gov where we can set up a phone or in person meeting if you would prefer.

Marissa, thanks for insisting on an answer. I posted about this on 5/8/2020. In the year and 4 months since posting, this is the first real official plan that we've gotten and from what I can see it's a proposal for OTHER people to suggest what to do and and a permit for a new fence. Why even assign it to Bill Ward? Why does Marissa need to call Bill Ward to have him explain what he already wrote? I think it's a bad look to be calling someone out when they are expressing their frustration over the city's inaction, especially with a statement that is a veiled "why don't you say that to my face" sentiment. Not what one wants to hear from a city official. If it takes almost a year and a half to come up with this plan, I can't see how a further discussion is necessary.

Thanks Bill for your reply but I respectfully disagree. If someone builds a structure on my property, I as the property owner am responsible. Saying that the city is not building any structures so it’s not your issue is just passing the buck. If the city owns the land the city is responsible for managing the property. I understand there is an RFP that was sent you by CEDO, this is great. In the mean time, something needs to be done about what is happening NOW. I also am aware that to do Supreme Court precedent folks can not be ask to leave without providing alternate housing. Fine. What is not fine is the complete lack of any enforcement of city code and rules. The property is unsafe for the people living there and for me as a business owner less than 100 ft away. I have emailed you and all of the code team, the mayor, and Brian Pine, about this in the past to hope to gain a better understanding and never received a reply.

Hi Bill- thanks for your response. I would really like to connect. I will shoot you an email and we can figure out a time that works. I would then be happy to then be happy to update the other member of the SeeClickFix community

Issue 9733991 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

FrankMcL,

To answer your questions – “Why even assign it to Bill Ward?” and Why does Marissa need to call Bill …..” They are excellent questions.
As the original department implementing SeeClickFix in 2012, my department became the default location of issues that have no specific keeper. Categories like “other” could be any of the 20 City Departments. We try our best to act as a dispatcher department and assign miscellaneous complaints to the most appropriate department. Some departments like the Fire Department do not specifically participate in active reports because they have a 24-7 phone dispatching 911 system and we don’t want residents reporting emergencies like fires on a non-emergency system like SeeClickFix. For this reason, our department became that catch all department for these types of complaints for departments without a SeeClickFix staff member.

The encampment issue on Sears Lane is a good example of a category noted above because it has a number of different departments working on it rather than one. The Police Department, CEDO, DPW, and the Howard Center have staff that visit the site and the Staff at the Mayor’s office has been working on this regularly. An example of that work was earlier in the pandemic with the proposal by Beta Technologies for temporary homeless housing on the site in code compliant shipping containers like the one in the attached photo. The grant for that proposal was rejected and the project failed for lack of funding.

As for the second question, no one is required to call me. It was an offer she could accept or decline to speak with me in detail about my written response.
Part of the reason we try to keep our responses short and simple on SeeClickfix is because detailed responses like this one can be time consuming and the written word can be easily misinterpreted. A perfect example of this was my post to Marissa. I posted what I thought was an innocuous and diplomatic offer to speak with a resident in detail about an issue she was concerned about. You have described my comment as intimidating by “calling someone out”. You are welcome to your interpretation of what I wrote but I can assure you I was not calling anyone out and I expect our phone call or meeting to be polite and professional. The comments from anonymous members of the public are not always polite and professional. I know most of the public SCF users are genuinely concerned residents and this encampment is deserving of concern. There are also internet trolls who make anonymous insults to stir hate and discontent.

I always welcome the genuinely concerned citizens and will work with residents on areas that are under my span of control as the Director of Permitting and Inspections or guide folks to the correct city department.

This area is now being utilized as a material handling site for the Shelburne Street Roundabout project and a construction site for the Champlain Parkway.