Sales tax increase, Maryland Avenue among discussion items
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
Midway through the second item of Tuesday’s Committee of the Whole agenda, the City of Burlington lost power and lost its quorum, which caused officials to adjourn the meeting.
The Committee of the Whole meeting, held via Zoom videoconferencing, came to a close at around 7:20 p.m. when officials discovered widespread power outages throughout the city as the result of a thunderstorm.
Fire Chief Alan Babe was among the first officials to be informed of the issue while City Administrator Carina Walters was in the midst of presenting a municipal resolution related to half-cent sales tax increase.
“Just so you understand, we have got some significant issues happening in the city with trees down and wires,” said Babe, noting several Common Council members went missing during the discussion.
Mayor Jeannie Hefty said after the meeting was adjourned both City Hall, where some officials were recording the meeting, and the Burlington Public Library lost power.
The power outage, she said, left the city with no other option because some aldermen were working to address issues at their homes.
“We lost some of our aldermen – they lost power at their home, so we did not have a quorum and had to call it,” said Mayor Jeannie Hefty.
According to the National Weather Service, which issued severe thunderstorm warnings in neighboring counties, the Burlington area saw peak wind gusts of near 50 mph.
We Energies reported widespread outages affecting more than 3,000 customers in the City of Burlington and surrounding areas.
Several people reported that power was restored within an hour or two.
To read the full story from Tuesday’s interrupted meeting, including the county sales tax proposal, see the July 9 edition of the Burlington Standard Press.
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