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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/06/2023 CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 6 February 2023, at 6:30 p.m., in the Auditorium, 180 Market Street, and by Go to Meeting remote participation. MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Riehle, Chair; M. Emery, T. Barritt, Sen. T. Chittenden, M. Cota ALSO PRESENT:J. Baker, City Manager; D. Kinville, City Clerk; P. Conner, Director of Planning& Zoning; M. Machar, Finance Director; T. DiPietro, Public Works Director; L. Bailey, R. Greco, M. MacDonald, D. Peters, C. McDonald, P. Taylor, B. Sirvis, J. Louisos, S. Dooley, J. Bellevance, M. Mittag, K. Moore, Rep. N. Hyman, C. Trombly, K. Donahue 1. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency and review of technology option: Ms. Baker provided instructions on emergency exit from the building and reviewed technology options. 2. Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: No changes were made to the Agenda. 3. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda: Mr. Donahue expressed concern that when the drop-off centers re-opened services dropped dramatically. They no longer take Christmas trees, appliances, mattresses/bedding, etc., and those things have to be brought to Williston. The drop-offs were originally set up so there weren't so many people having to drive around with such things. Now it's completely changed. Mr. Donahue felt this should be looked into Mr. Donahue also expressed concern that the city is spending money on luxury road projects (e.g., the bridge over the interstate) but there are crumbling city roads. He said the back side of his street hasn't been touched in 30 years. They were told that Pinnacle won't be done till 2024 of'25. Ms. Baker said she would look into the drop-off center. Mr. Barritt noted that the Pine St. center in Burlington now takes only compost, which he felt was a waste of that site. 4. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Council members reported on meetings and events they had attended, noting the following: CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 2 Mr. Cota: Green Mountain Transit is considering re-instituting fares for Chittenden County. The assessment for South Burlington for FY24 will be $591,000. Mr. Cota said he will be happy to continue to serve but would yield if the Council wants to appoint a Council member after he leaves the Council Ms. Riehle: The Airport will still be going through with the hotel plan, but they are not sure when. They are going to bid for repair to the cemetery fencing which should be done this spring. The final noise exposure map will be out in September. Senator Leahy's "gift"to the Airport was a $34,000,000 appropriation to redo the north end of the terminal building. The Airport also received a healthy audit report. Ms. Baker: A Town Meeting Day website has been established with voting information. There will also be public sessions on 2/8, 2/14, 2/28 and 3/6. Recent public safety issues in the past week included: a fire on Spear Street this morning, 32 rescue calls during the 24-hour cold spell, and a stolen car event that resulted in 2 damaged Police cruisers In January, there were 10 referrals to the Community Justice Center from police officers. 60% of these were resolved there. With Chiefs Locke and Burke, attended a meeting regarding regional dispatch. There will be 3 public sessions on the Comprehensive Plan this week. The Senior Center is a huge success, and they are looking for volunteers to help with programs. The Dorset St. signal project is kicking off this week. The 44 properties that were scheduled for a tax sale have been reduced to 7. Discussions are underway with the owners of those properties. The auction is set for 16 March. The VHAP program is still available, and 5 people took advantage of that and got up to date. The annual celebration for the Fire Department will be on 23 February at which time new recruits and promotions will be introduced. CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 3 5. Consent Agenda: a. Approve and Sign Disbursements b. Approve minutes from 3 January and 17 January 2023 City Council meetings c. Approve application for a Community Recovery and Revitalization Program grant to support the construction of additional water storage in the City's high service area d. Approve the application and acceptance of an ARPA 2022 Pretreatment Grant to complete an assessment of our industrial wastewater users e. Approve the annual Certificate of Highway Mileage f. Approve the FY2022 TIF Annual Report Ms. Emery asked to remove "f" from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Emery then moved to approve Consent Agenda items a-e. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Emery asked about the Efficiency Vermont rebate. Ms. Machar said 5,600 were reported in the previous year. 5,500 were received this fiscal year. Ms. Emery also asked about the $5,000,000 debt on the City Hall building. Ms. Baker said that is just the TIF amount. Ms. Emery then moved to approve Consent Agenda item "f." Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Receive a presentation from the Sextons and provide direction to staff or take action: Ms. Kinville said the Sextons are asking to increase lot prices. She noted they have been working hard to bring the cemeteries up to an acceptable level; however, the role of the Sextons is limited as all decisions must be made by the Cemetery Commission (i.e., the City Council). The Sextons are asking that the Council make the Sextons the Cemetery Commission or expand their role so they can do more. Ms. O'Brien said the city's cemetery plots are very inexpensive. They are asking to increase the cost to $500 for a resident and $700 for a non-resident. Burlington charges $700 and $1200 for CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 4 the same size plots. There is also the possibility of selling "cremation lots" which would be smaller. Ms. Riehle asked where this money goes. Ms. Kinville said it goes to care and maintenance. Plots have "perpetual care" included in the fee. Money is in a special fund to which the city contributes $1,000 a year. That fund now has $13,000. Mr. Taylor noted that fund also paid for some of the cleaning supplies for recent work. Ms. O'Brien noted the neighboring car dealership on Shelburne Rd. has plowed snow into the fence which has been almost knocked over. Ms. Riehle asked if the Council would still appoint members if the Sextons became the Cemetery Commission. Ms. Kinville said they would. The Council would also approve recommendations made by the Commission. Ms. Kinville then showed a list of work in progress and note the City Attorney will be working on rules/regulations for a Cemetery Commission. Mr. Taylor said when they have that information, they can give the Council a better idea of what is expected from the Cemetery Commission as separate from the City Council. Ms. Kinville showed a picture of the repair work done at the Shelburne Rd. cemetery including the cleaning and repositioning of gravestones. Ms. Baker said a Resolution will be needed to increase the fees. There is still work needed before the Council can vote on the fees and on the Cemetery Commission change. Ms. Kinville then showed a picture of a proposed art project at the Shelburne Rd. cemetery which was brought to the Sextons by a local artist. She expressed concern with the permanence of the project as it might have to be moved to sell lots under it. There is also the issue of blocking visibility to the rear of the cemetery where there have been issues with vagrants. Mr. Taylor thanked Ms. Riehle for working with the Airport Commission to get the fence at the Airport Dr. cemetery fixed. CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 5 7. Receive and accept the FY22 Audit from RHR Smith: Ms. Machar noted that FY22 ended with a surplus. Ms. MacDonald said the FY22 audit was clean. She recommended that Council members read the summary. The fund balance for the general fund (p.17 of the audit) is $4,800,000. $2,500,000 is an unassigned fund balance. $1,200,000 is for the Dorset Street project. Ms. Riehle asked what "non-spendable funds" are. Ms. MacDonald said this is money that has already been spent, either on inventory or on prepaid items to be used in the next fiscal year. An example of this is the DPW fuel storage tank. Ms. MacDonald noted that the city underspent the budget by about $300,000 and commented that it is hard to be more accountable than that. She also noted the all enterprise funds have positive balances. Ms. MacDonald said that the one small issue noted in the Management Letter has already been addressed. Ms. Baker thanked Ms. Machar for her diligence and professionalism and noted that Ms. Machar and a small team of people do a great job. 8. Receive December financials representing the financial state through the first half of FY23: Ms. Machar said expenses are consistent with previous years. Revenues are at 62% of the conservative estimate. With a lot of construction, permit fees have increased, and interest rates have more than tripled. Mr. Barritt noted that Colchester is funding the building of a Recreation Center using the Local Option Tax. He also noted that South Burlington's Local Option Tax receipts are ahead of projections. 9. Receive Proposed Land Development Regulations Amendment#LDR-22-09 that adjust the Environmental Protection Standards adopted in 2022 and possibly set a Public Hearing for 20 March at 7:30 p.m.: CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 6 Mr. Conner said the minor amendments relate to stormwater projects, distinguishing between natural and man-made slopes, and exempting very small pre-existing lots from the 100-foot wetland buffer (for many of those homes the 100-foot line goes into the house). Ms. Riehle noted the reducing of the 100-foot buffer would allow for a deck or a small shed. Mr. Conner also noted that the amendments also allow for wetland standards in City Center to be reviewed administratively using the same standards as those used by the DRB. Mr. Cota said the reducing of the buffer to 50 feet in those cases makes sense. He asked about the slopes issue. Mr. Conner cited the Maple Leaf Motel where a slope was created down to the K-Mart Plaza. Mr. Barritt moved to set a public hearing on 20 March 2023 at 7:30 p.m. for LDR-22-09 amendments. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Discuss H-68, "An Act relating to removing State and municipal regulatory barriers for fair zoning and housing affordability," and potentially take action: Ms. Riehle said she hoped the Council can provide clear direction as to the position of the city regarding some provisions of H-68. She would like to be able to go to Montpelier with a thoughtful discussion of what South Burlington has done and how the bill can be improved. Ms. Louisos said the Planning Commission had a robust discussion and felt it is important for the city to give feedback and that it come from the City Council. The Commission felt that H-68 has admirable goals, but some of the language doesn't work with what South Burlington has already done. The Commission had no issue with keeping its high-density development, but they don't want to impact the conservation areas. Ms. Riehle noted that the Senate is putting together a much larger bill, and the process in each House is different. The Senate bill has to go through other committees for input. The concern is that this is being rushed through. South Burlington has a slot on Wednesday to present their concerns to the Senate, but that is not the last time the city can offer comment. Ms. Baker said that time slot has to be confirmed. She added that it would be helpful if the Council indicated what to present as testimony or if a Councilor would like to do the presentation. Ms. Riehle said she has heard that South Burlington is not the only community with issues and that there have already been changes made to the bill. She stressed that there are a lot of steps along the way. CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 7 Mr. Cota asked whether VLCT has made any statements regarding either bill. Ms. Baker said VLCT saw both bills before they were presented. They indicated they are aware of the housing crisis and are interested in stating their priorities. They have not taken a hard position. They have stated that "to solve the crisis just by looking at municipal zoning won't work." The question is whether communities should give up local control to solve 30% of the problem. Ms. Emery said she believes a rental registry and short-term rentals need to be addressed. Mr. Cota indicated he would not sign onto the proposed letter. He said it is the Senate bill that will be moving forward. Sen. Chittenden said the bill is continuing to evolve and that the letter is premature. He suggested delaying action until March. Ms. Riehle said the city, which has been successful in developing affordable housing, could give a broader view to a committee that is struggling with language. She did not want there to be a bill in May that is vague and has impacts all over South Burlington. She felt it is timely to let the Legislature know the city has helpful thoughts that might work for South Burlington and for other communities. Mr. Mittag noted that a lot of communities don't have water and sewer in their town centers and wouldn't be captured by this bill. He added that the bill also preempts some of the work of South Burlington's Climate Action Plan. He said the Planning Commission tried to improve the bill so its objectives can be met. Mr. Barritt said he supports the letter and feels that H-68 overreaches into municipalities and tells them how to manage their zoning. Ms. Riehle noted that one developer called the author of the Senate bill and told her that because of duplexes, people would have to park in the street, which they don't do now in his neighborhood. Ms. Emery said it is important to include progress being made on infill. She also questioned what the bill(s) would do to the city's TDR program and said they can't leave people hanging with promises that were given to them. She supported the letter. Mr. Conner said if the Council goes ahead with the letter, they should give some broad parameters to those who speak at the Legislature so that South Burlington can be a model in the state. CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 8 Ms. Baker said it is a hard position to be in when there is a 3-2 split on the Council position. She wondered if there is a middle ground position that Ms. Riehle could present to the Legislature. She also suggested that Mr. Conner speak to the "on the ground permitting implications" of the bill(s). Ms. Emery moved to approve the letter regarding bills H-68 and 23-091, changing "compromise" to "consultation and in depth discussion" and authorizing the Chair to sign on behalf of the city, and to participate in State level discussions with Mr. Conner and Ms. Baker. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed 3-2 with Mr. Cota and Sen. Chittenden opposing. 11. Discussion of a potential leaf blower ordinance and provide direction to staff: Ms. Baker said staff is working on Ordinances and she wanted to know the Council's priority for this. Ms. Emery said the City of Burlington has such an ordinance which could be a model. She suggested South Burlington's ordinance be year-round (Burlington's is only when it's warmer and windows are open). Mr. Cota suggested asking whether the Burlington ordinance is working and how it is enforced. Ms. Emery said she would like to know how long it will take to get ordinances. The Other Paper has said there is a 25% increase in short-term rentals. Mr. Barritt questioned whether these properties now become commercial properties for tax purposes, and suggested that the State could weigh in on that. Ms. Baker said a team is already doing that research and will come to the Council with input in April. Both Ms. Moore and Ms. Greco supported the concept of a leaf blower ordinance. 12. Other Business: Ms. Emery said there are still dogs walking off-leash on Wheeler trails. She suggested some signage at the beginning of the trails and also a fine. Mr. Cota noted there are signs at Wheeler and Red Rocks in the spring and fall, but they were taken down because of weather issues. He felt fines need to be emphasized. Ms. Riehle suggested having Ms. Milizia discuss this with the Committee and do some monitoring. CITY COUNCIL 6 FEBRUARY 2023 PAGE 9 13. Consider entering a possible executive session to consider the review of a public official, specifically the City Manager: Mr. Barritt moved that the Council enter executive session to consider the review of the City Manager, inviting into the session Ms. Baker. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Council Mr. Barritt moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at p.m. V 02,,zgi , Clerk