Burlington Police Station Site Plan Submission Slips Again, Threatening September Groundbreaking

BURLINGTON — April 10, 2025 — Burlington's Police Station Building Committee confronted a mounting schedule crisis April 10 after the project's Planning Board site plan submission slipped from April to June, raising doubts about a September groundbreaking on the $46,225,000 new station. Planning Board member Barbara warned the committee that approval cannot realistically come in fewer than three Planning Board sessions — the board meets only once in July — and that the schedule as written "is not going to work." The delay was caused by late geotechnical borings, with contractor scheduling and frozen ground cited as contributing factors; the team acknowledged missing the May 15 submission deadline and said the formal filing would be uploaded by 5 p.m. the same evening. On the parallel temporary station project, Mill City Construction remains on pace for a mid-August completion despite a two-week delay at the start. The committee also reviewed three exterior color schemes for the new building — gray, red, and blue on gray — with members and a Planning Board liaison pushing for at least partial brick cladding to match neighboring municipal buildings, though the architect noted brick costs approximately twice as much per square foot as the fiber-cement siding assumed in the current budget.