PORTICO SAVED, DEC. 23, 2008.

----- Original Message -----
From: Lea Terhune
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 7:08 PM
Subject: Re: portico, 2 Appletree Point Lane


Thank you, Joe. Communication is good. How would I know any of this unless I were a mind-reader? So the Mayor has been responsive and followed up, but it was invisible to me. I should feel better; but, respectfully, somehow it feels worse to know that the Mayor was aware of this, and still it took 3 years to fill an abandoned pool, 2 years to get a vacant property maintained, 6 months to get a compromised portico structure stabilized, and there is yet no Vacant Building Permit, and the VB fees have not been paid!

I'm sure the Mayor noticed that a felon was captured in a vacant building on So. Champlain St. and that it did not have a VB permit, was not secured, and did not have a property maintenance plan. There are very real safety risks in the city if the vacant building ordinance is not enforced. Ask the people who were assaulted and robbed in that area when a felon suspected of these crimes was hiding in a vacant building. And ask my neighbors.

Happy Holidays everyone. We know who got the job done [Norm Baldwin], who helped [Bob Schwartz, Ron Wanamaker, Preservation Burlington], and who didn't [the Code Enforcement director]. To those who helped behind the scenes, thank you. The job got done just in time -- Ch3 News tonight warned that this snow is heavy and roofs need to be cleared, or risk collapse.

Lea Terhune



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----- Original Message -----
From: "Joe Reinert"
Sent: Tuesday, December 23, 2008 10:10 AM
Subject: Re: portico, 2 Appletree Point Lane

Dear Lea,

Thank you for your e-mail to Mayor Kiss. It appears as though Norm Baldwin has answered your immediate question about the portico. The Mayor is currently out of the office but I will make sure he is aware of your additional concerns.

I do want to respectfully disagree with your statement that the Mayor has not been responsive to your concerns. Your e-mails in general regarding this property have not gone unnoticed by the Mayor or this office. You and I exchanged correspondence regarding your concerns about the pool on the property and at the time it appeared the issue had been resolved to your satisfaction (I understand that more recently you saw this as a continuing issue). When you initially raised the concerns about the portico and this property, the Mayor followed up with staff about the issue. Earlier this month the Mayor also initiated cross-department meetings to discuss how we deal with vacant buildings.

We appreciate your feedback and look forward to continuing to work constructively on these issues.

With best regards,
Joe Reinert, Assistant to the Mayor