BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The Burlington City Council on Monday approved a resolution aimed at increasing oversight of student housing. Other discussions included backfilling funding to provide nonpolice interventions for those experiencing mental health emergencies, and clamping down on car break-ins.
The Burlington Police Department is diverting more mental health crisis response support to the Howard Center after state funding ended for the city’s BTV Cares program.
The mayor says police responding to mental health emergencies is not ideal. The grant was supposed to support social workers and other non-law enforcement interventions. But the original pitch, which included a paramedic, was never fully realized.
“I am concerned that there will be gaps that we might not be able to fill and certain names that we haven’t heard from before or for a while will pop up in the news again,” said Burlington City Councilor Melo Grant, P-Central District.
The program is planned to end on Dec. 15, but the council voted to continue deliberating at their next meeting.
Council approves student housing resolution
Councilor Marek Broderick, P-Ward 8, sponsored a resolution to require Burlington colleges to provide information about their housing inspections, to report their housing code violations and ask the ordinance committee to require colleges to inform their students about their rights to file external complaints with Burlington’s Department of Permitting and Inspections.
“To the students that are here, you have recognized the big issues that are in front of us, the overenrollment, the underhousing and the disinvestment in that housing,” said Councilor Gene Bergman, P-Ward 2.
UVM officials countered, saying, “The minimum housing standards are outside of the scope for what can be regulated by the municipality… these standards would interfere with the intended functional use of the institution and place an exceptional and undue burden on the university.”
The resolution passed unanimously.
Council to consider increased penalties for car break-ins
Council President Ben Traverse, D-Ward 5, sponsored an ordinance that would now make breaking into cars an unlawful trespass. The ordinance states that in recent years, there has been a significant increase in car break-ins.
This would, in theory, give the city’s civil court a better opportunity to enforce and administer justice. The ordinance will be sent to committee.
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