As seen in Burlington Free Press - Vermont

Moran referendum wording due Monday

By John Briggs
Free Press Staff Writer

January 4, 2008
Burlington voters will have the opportunity to say yes or no to the latest development proposal for the Moran Plant.

The Parks, Arts and Culture Committee of the City Council met Thursday and couldn't agree on the final wording of the advisory ballot question to present to voters at the city's annual meeting in March.

Committee Chairwoman Barbara Perry, I-Ward 6, however, said the committee would send the question to the city attorney for final editing and vote Monday, before the City Council meeting, on whether to send it to the full council with the committee's recommendation.

Whatever the final wording, the advisory question would ask voter approval to move ahead with the redevelopment proposal Mayor Bob Kiss introduced last spring.

That calls for a $21 million (including ($7.4 million in public money) redevelopment of the building for combined public and private uses.

Ice Factor, a Scottish company, would create a 65-foot ice-climbing wall inside the building, and a rock-climbing wall. The company would also operate an outdoor skating rink in winter and a restaurant and a cafe inside the building. The nonprofit Green Mountain Children's Museum, still in formation, would open the first children's museum in the state, and the Community Sailing Center, a nonprofit group that has been based in the plant for several years, would remain.

The building would be under the management of the Parks and Recreation Department, which would operate a children's splash park outside the building during the summer.

The plant and its immediate 2.8 acres would become a part of Waterfront Park.

Thursday, in a second public meeting on the Kiss proposal, about 15 residents braved a frigid night to hear details for themselves.

Maurice Mahoney, a former city Democratic Party chairman who led the fight against the Moran redevelopment plan of Mayor Peter Clavelle in 2005, said no organized opposition has surfaced against the Kiss proposal, but questions abound about the details of the financing and what provisions the city will make to protect itself should one of the tenants be unable to meet their obligations.

Helen Douglas, who lives in Ward 7, said she previously wanted the old power plant torn down but attended the meeting out of curiosity.

"I want to know how they're going to do this and make it work financially without costing taxpayers any money," she said.

Kiss told those at the meeting that the details of the financing would be worked out if voters in March give the administration a go-ahead on the concept.

Contact John Briggs at 660-1863 or jbriggs@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com .