Manhunt
Housing awareness
Police search for suspect in bank robbery
Students host fundraiser at homecoming
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South Burlington’s Community Newspaper Since 1977
the OCTOBER 3, 2024
otherpapersbvt.com
VOLUME 48, NO. 40
S. Burlington School Board searches for new member
Preserving history
LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
PHOTO BY TOM O’KEEFE
South Burlington sextons lead headstone clean-up at historic Eldridge Cemetery. Read more, page 7.
With the start of a new school year just underway, the South Burlington School Board is now searching for its fifth member after Elaine Cissi resigned last month, just seven months after being elected. Cissi was voted in on Town Meeting Day this year, filling the two-year seat vacated by former board chair Kate Bailey. Her last meeting will be at the Oct. 9 board meeting. She told her fellow board members in September that the decision to resign was a challenging one, but unexpected family responsibilities will demand more of her attention this year and make serving the rest of her term difficult. “I want to be absolutely clear that I so admire every single one of you at this table so much,” she said. “You have the backs of the community; you have the backs of the students. Your hearts are so in the right place.”
“This has absolutely nothing to do with my attitude toward the work or the people because you’re amazing. All of you are amazing,” she said. Although Cissi was new to the school board scene, she has been an active member in the South Burlington community since she and her family moved to the city over a decade ago. Previously, she served as the president of the Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School parent-teacher organization. “This has been my daughter’s home for so many years. She went to Rick Marcotte (Elementary School) and is now at (Frederick H. Tuttle Middle School), and it’s a huge life change for all of us,” she said. “But I looked at all the circumstances and said, ‘This is what I have to do.’” She began her campaign for the school board seat in February as the former school board was moving through a challenging budget season with the rollout of a new See SCHOOL BOARD on page 13
Pizza Hut development gets go-ahead from city Director of Planning and Zoning Paul a decision in September in favor of the city, a revised plan for the property’s develOriginal appeal heads after opment was greenlit by the city’s develop- Conner said the appeal could allow Bourne saying that Bourne failed to include the requisite number of affordable rental units ment review board in May — nearly one to keep his options open going forward. The original plan was stonewalled over and that an ATM was prohibited by the city’s year after an original proposal was denied by to Supreme Court the city. a disagreement about the number of market regulations. LIBERTY DARR STAFF WRITER
The abandoned Pizza Hut and Shell Gas station on Shelburne Road could see new life
Meanwhile, the developer and owner of the property, Gary Bourne, has now appealed to the state’s Supreme Court an environmental court’s decision siding with the city in its rejection of the initial proposal.
rate and affordable housing units in the development and a drive-through ATM, which was set to service a Chase Bank. That decision was appealed to the state environmental court last year, which issued
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The original plan proposed 30 units — 10 more than the city’s base zoning density See PIZZA HUT on page 13
Shelburne Road, S. Burlington Maple Tree Place, Williston
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