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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 07/20/2020CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 20 July 2020, at 6:00 p.m., via Go to Meeting remote technology. MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Riehle, Chair; M. Emery, T. Barritt, T. Chittenden, D. Kaufman ALSO PRESENT: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; A. Bolduc, City Attorney; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; A. Cate, Public Works Department; M. Lyons, Assessor’s Office; D. Goodman, M. Metz, L. Smith, S. Dooley, B. Sirvis, J. Barrows, A. Strong, L. Vera, D. Burke, A. Margules, M. Turner, R. White, N. Andersen, M. Mittag, A. Rosatto, 1. Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: No changes were made to the Agenda. 2. Possible Executive Session to discuss pending or probable civil litigation to which the public body may be a party and confidential attorney-client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to Council: Mr. Barritt moved the Council meet in Executive Session to discuss pending or probable civil litigation to which the public body may be a party and confidential attorney-client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to Council. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Following the Executive Session, the City Council meeting was recessed for the convening of the Steering Committee meeting at 6:00 p.m. The Council meeting was resumed at 7:00 p.m. 3. Comments and Questions from the public not related to the Agenda: Ms. Dooley asked the Council to declare a public health emergency due to racism. She also asked if there are reactions from the executive session whether they would become agenda items. Ms. Riehle said the Council is still working on the executive session topic. She hoped for a fuller public discussion in a week or so. Ms. Sirvis thanked Messrs. Hubbard and Rabidoux for the sign denoting the future site of the Dog Park. 4. Announcements and City Manager’s Report: CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 2 Mr. Chittenden noted that a semi-truck driver is contacted him with concern for striping at Williston Road/Dorset Street and was concerned that people don’t know where the lanes are. Mr. Cate said that was supposed to have happened. He will try to get an answer. Mr. Barritt noted receipt of two mailings with no return address containing information from bogus websites as to why masks are not good. Ms. Riehle said he got the same mailings. Ms. Riehle noted receipt of kudos from business owners praising the city for requiring masks. She also noted that Vermont is in better shape than most other states and thought that is because people are following the rules. Ms. Riehle said that Airport employees have created a garden at the old dog park site. Their first harvesting will be brought to the Food Shelf. Mr. Dorn: Cited the work of Al Rozatto, one of the most active volunteers at the Food Shelf. City Hall is beginning to reopen. Mr. Dorn recognized Mr. Hubbard and Ms. Holm for helping to bring about the safe return. The City Clerk’s office has a lot of activity with voting and other services. It is expected that on 3 August, almost all staff will be back to normal employment. All of the mandates are being practiced. Two new Police Officers are on their way to the Academy for training. A number of senior managers, who have been very busy in recent months, are taking some vacation time in the next few weeks. Ms. Riehle noted that she and Ms. Emery helped to prepare ballot envelopes to be sent out at the City Clerk’s office. Ms. Riehle also noted that every other Wednesday, Middle School students are standing in a vigil in front of the “Black Lives Matter” signs. Mr. Hubbard noted that the opening of midland Avenue has been postponed until sometime in August. CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 3 5. Consent Agenda: a. Approve and Sign Disbursements b. Approve minutes for 8 and 15 June c. Affirm committee appointments based upon discussions held in executive session on 6 July 2020 Mr. Barritt moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously via a rollcall vote. 6. Approve bid for Dorset Street paving contract: Mr. Cate said the recommendation is to go with the F. W. Whitcomb at a price of $437,387.75. work will start where the previous work ended and will go as far as Healthy Living. Mr. Barritt asked the status of adaptive signaling. Mr. Cate said they have changed some video detection which will be part of that. It will probably be finished next spring. Mr. Barritt suggested looking at the left turn into University Mall where the turn lane is empty and the arrow stays green for 30 seconds, while southbound traffic has to wait. Ms. Emery asked about the repaving of Queen City Park Road. Mr. Cate said that was one of the projects that was trimmed when the budget had to be reined in. Mr. Barritt then moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously via a rollcall vote. 7. Presentation of proposed traffic calming measures for Midland Avenue: Mr. Conner noted that a connector is being constructed from South Village to Midland Avenue and that money had been set aside for traffic calming measures. After a meeting with Public Works last year, the recommendation was to install a series of stop signs at 3 intersections that go through Dorset Farms. Mr. Conner also noted that it will probably be a couple of months before the road is completely open. Mr. Mittag asked if there are culverts to allow wildlife to move north/south. Mr. Conner said he would check on that. CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 4 Mr. Barritt asked whether residents want the 3 stop signs. Mr. Conner said he and Mr. Rabidoux are fully committed to meeting with people to get a design meets residents’ approval. Ms. Emery asked about the history of the road. Mr. Conner said the connection was approved as part of the Master Plan for South Village in 2005. There were trigger points as to when linkages needed to take place. Some mitigation was anticipated and funds were provided for that. The connection was a “must do” in city policy at that time. Mr. Conner added that whenever there are more than 50 homes in a development, there must be more than one access point. That was another factor in the approval of the connector. The road was designed to be a through road which is why it is so wide. Narrower roads are now being built. Mr. Mittag asked how roads can be removed from the Official City Map. He noted that 2 studies have said not to build a road through the Great Swamp. Mr. Conner said the Official Map is similar to the LDRs and can be amended following public hearings. Ms. Dooley said she has listened to a lot of reports and doesn’t recall conclusions quite as definite as Mr. Mittag has suggested, and there were mitigations. Mr. Barrows noted that a committee has been meeting with Mr. Rabidoux for a year. The stop signs are a temporary measure. What they want is bumpouts, and that has been delayed due to the COVID situation. In response to a question as to why there is a need for stop signs in the interim, Mr. Conner noted this was a request of the neighborhood. It is a very low cost measure, and the signs could be re-used. Mr. Chittenden moved to authorize the stop signs as outlined in the recommendations. Mr. Kaufman seconded. Motion passed unanimously via a rollcall vote. 8. Council acceptance of the IZ Open Sp0ace Committee report and consideration and possible approval of a letter formally accepting the report: Mr. Bolduc said the letter is a result of comments and questions from landowners and was put together based on “best practices.” The letter outlines the acceptance language and also containers the disclaimer that this is not part of the Land Development Regulations. It does not hinder the report being use4d for planning purposes down the road. Ms. Emery said she wished there would be more language thanking the committee members. She also felt the report provides direction to the city regarding preservation of spaces where there are species, etc. CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAG3E 5 Mr. Barritt suggested adding the words “at this time” to the disclaimer. Ms. Emery felt that was already implicit in the language. She felt the language allows the report to be used to enact laws and asked that it just be accepted as is. Mr. Strong felt that if that language had been given to the committee, it would have lost some members, but he had no problem accepting the language as presented. Mr. Mittag was concerned the report would end up “on the shelf.” Mr. Chittenden felt the language is defensible as is. Ms. Dooley said there is never a guarantee that a report will become policy, and the need is to cover all the bases. She urged support of that language as is. Ms. Riehle said she would go along with Ms. Emery and the City Attorney and leave the language as is. Ms. Emery then moved to accept the IZ Open Space Committee report and approve the letter formally accepting the report. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously via a rollcall vote. Ms. Riehle personally thanked everyone who served on the committee. 9. Council consideration and possible approval of an agreement related to an application for change of use pending before the Burlington Development Review Board: Ms. Riehle noted that the Council did not come to a conclusion during its executive session and will thus not act on this item. Mr. Smith, a Queen City Park (QCP) resident, said that any urgency around this item comes from Burton and di not want the Burlington DRB to get any idea that South Burlington endorses the Burton project. He asked why the city is even negotiating with Burton and ignoring the QCP residents. He then cited violations of ordinances inherent in the Burton project and asked that the Council postpone any decision until residents can present their concerns to the Burlington DRB so that the neighborhood is not irreparably damaged. CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 6 Ms. Emery said that the notion that Higher Ground did not generate noise in its present location is not true. A Burlington resident and direct abutter said the hope is that the Council will consider the concerns of residents, including traffic, noise, infrastructure, and give residents the chance to weight in on this when it is on an agenda. Ms. Brock said residents want to work together with the Council. Residents feel there will be “pre” and “post” partying at the site, and with the police so far away in Burlington, residents are very concerned. Ms. Riehle said the Council’s hope is to address all concerns including traffic, noise, Red Rocks Park, the one-lane bridge, etc. There are parameters as to what a city can do in this type of situation. The hope is that Burton would agree to address the issues so that this won’t wind up in a court case. Another resident said that they have a lot of information the Council won’t get if it’s talking only with Burton. For example, there are 425 parking spaces, and Higher Ground has said they expect up to 500 cars. Where will those cars go? Also, the safety assessment of QCP Road, Pine St, etc., didn’t include an already high-crash area, and South Burlington would be responsible for this. There are also many “holes” in the noise assessment. The impact of an outdoor patio with a bar for 125 people hasn’t been addressed. Residents feel that nothing being proposed will protect their neighborhood and they asked the Council to support them. Another resident stressed that South Burlington does not have to approve this. Ms. Vera also cited the impact on QCP residents and felt it would be a horrible “nail in the coffin” for the neighborhood. She noted that from her bedroom she can see a light in the Burton parking lot. She asked that residents be a party to any discussions as they are involved community members. ` 10. Continued Interim Zoning application #IZ-20-01 public hearing seeking a Jurisdictional Opinion for the re-subdivision of three parcels totaling 3.65 acres and for the development of up to 15 dwelling units in buildings containing no more than four dwelling units per building for the “Park Road” phase of a previously approved Master Plan for a 450- acre golf course and 354-unit residential development, 1170 and 1180 Dorset Street: CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 7 Ms. Emery moved to open the public hearing. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Burke explained that this is part of the National Country Club property on the right side of Park Road. It is one of the parcels that got a higher density as the result of a Court decision in 2005. There is a maximum of 15 units with no building more than a 4-plex. Mr. Burke said they are looking at duplexes or less. He showed a proposed plan. A question has arisen as to whether the property is subject to the Interim Zoning bylaws. Mr. Rosatto, representing the homeowners across the road from this project, said you almost can’t cross the road now to access the bike path as there is no crosswalk. He said they are not opposing the development but are looking for an answer. Mr. Conner said that issue is a not a province of this hearing, but it will be shared with the Bike/Ped Committee. There was no further public comment. Mr. Barritt moved to close the public hearing. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Interview and possible appointment for member of the Bike/Pedestrian Committee: The Council interviewed Nic Andersen for appointment to the Bike/Ped Committee. Following the interview, Mr. Chittenden moved to appoint Nic Andersen to the Bike/Ped Committee. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Set property tax rates and tax installment dates for FY21: Mr. Hubbard explained that the Council had used a projected grand list number to prepare the FY21 budget, and this year “hit it on the nose.” The proposed tax due dates being recommended are: 15 September, 15 December, and 15 March. The city is optimistic that most taxes will be collected and feel they will not have to borrow money due to the extension from 15 August to 15 September. Mr. Barritt asked what happens if the school budget doesn’t pass. Ms. Lyons said interim bills CITY COUNCIL 20 JULY 2020 PAGE 8 will go out on 15 August. If the school budget passes on 11 August, they would probably not hear from the state before 15 September, not in time for the first payment, so there would have to be a later revised bill. Mr. Hubbard said there will be a letter explained all of this to voters and taxpayers. The city is also reaching out to The Other Paper to help provide people with information about the process. Ms. Emery then moved to approve the tax rate and new due dates. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously via a rollcall vote. 13. Councilors’ Reports from Committee Assignments: No reports were presented. 14. Other Business: Ms. Emery asked about the big piles of dirt near the Airport. Ms. Riehle said she will find out. Mr. Dorn noted the need for a second executive session. Ms. Emery moved that the Council meet in executive session to discuss the negotiating or securing of real estate options or leases and to include in the session Messrs. Dorn, Hubbard and Conner and to resume open session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The Council entered executive session a 9:11 p.m. Following the executive session Tim Barritt moved to adjourn. Meaghan Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously, and the meeting was adjourned at 10:40 p.m.