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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda - City Council - 03/09/2009 • south Charles E. Hefter, City Manager AGENDA SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL CITY }BILL 575 DORSET STREET SOUTH BURLINGTON, VERMONT ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING 7:00 P.M. Monday, March 9, 2009 1) Administer oath of office (Donna Kinville, City Clerk) 2) Election of City Council officers(City Manager presiding) a) Chair b) Vice Chair c) Clerk 3) Set time and place for regular meeting; First and Third Monday of each month. * 4) Annual appointments to be made by majority vote of City Council pursuant to City Charter, Chapter 3, Section 301 (2) 5) Consider entering executive session to discuss real property acquisition. 6) Adjourn Respectfully Submitted: Th Charles a er, City Manager * Attachments 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4107 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com dk.40, &If) south Charles E. Hatter, City Manager March 5,2009 Chairman and City Council City of South Burlington South Burlington, VT 05403 RE: Annual appointments to be made by majority vote of City Council pursuant to City Charter, Chapter 3, Section 301(2) To All Members: Attached is a copy of the City Charter, Chapter 3, Section 302 (2) that requires the following appointments be made annually by City Council: Position Incumbent City Treasurer Donna Kinville Asst. City Treasurer Denis Gravelin City Attorney Stitzel & Page Zoning Administrator Ray Belair Assistant Zoning Administrator Cathyann LaRose Auditor Angolano & Company First Constable Sgt. Paul Edwards Second Constable Det. Andrew Chaulk Grand Juror Charles Hafter City Agent & Trustee of Public Funds Charles Hafter All the incumbents are willing to serve another year. Please make appointments as required by City Charter. Sincerely, Charles Hafter City Manager ccappts.2008 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4107 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com A 1 . necessary to carry out the provisions of this charter as well as those provided by law. The offices of fence viewer, fire warden, weigher of coal and inspector of lumber shall be abolished. ( 1 ) The officers of the South Burlington School District shall continue to be those provided by law for school or school districts; provided, however, that the school directors shall hold no other school district or city office except as provided otherwise in this charter. When a vacancy occurs on the Board of School Directors, the remaining members of the board may fill the vacancy until the next annual meeting when the School District shall fill the vacancy. (2 ) The council by majority vote of all its members shall appoint annually the city treasurer, whose office shall be no longer elective and the city attorney, zoning administrator, auditor, first and second constable, grand juror, city agent, and Trustee of Public Funds . (3) The term of office of the City Clerk shall be three years, the first term to expire in 1975 . Sec. 320 . CITY COUNCIL - NUMBER, TERMS OF OFFICE, ELECTION (a) There shall be a City Council consisting five (5) members . (b) Three members shall have terms of office of three years; two members shall have terms of office of two years . (c) All present selectmen shall serve as councilmen until the expiration of their terms and their successors have been duly elected and have qualified. (d) All councilmen shall be elected at large, and shall hold no other city or school district office except as provided otherwise in this charter. Sec. 303 . ORGANIZATION (a) Forthwith after their election and qualification, the council shall organize and elect a chairman, a vice-chairman and a clerk by a majority vote of the entire council and file a certificate of such election for record in the office of the city clerk. (b) The chairman of the council or in his absence, 'the vice-chairman shall preside at all meetings of the council and shall be recognized as the head of the city government for all ceremonial purposes . 6 FRANCIS X. MURRAY Attorney and Counselor At Law Two Bedford Green, South Burlington,VT 05403 Office:802-862-3174 Fax:802-862-2937 Email:vtlaw@aol.com March 6, 2009 Mr. Chuck Hafter Manager, City of South Burlington 575 Dorset Street So. Burlington, VT 05403 Dear Chuck: Thank you for your time on February 9, 2009 and for your respect to me during our meetings in November and December. I look forward to working with you. I have a great deal of respect for your integrity and expertise. The Council will need all of your ability to be successful. Enclosed is a draft resolution for Monday evening's meeting. I have forwarded copies to my fellow councilors for their consideration in advance of our meeting. Gratefully yours, Francis X. Murray, Esq. Councilor Elect enclosure _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ - _ _ _ _ __ _ _ a a • City Council Resolution regarding need for Expanded Space for City Services Whereas, the Police Department of the City of South Burlington is the best in Chittenden County, as well as one of the best in the nation; Whereas, South Burlington desperately needs professional working space for its Police Department, and has needed such space for quite sometime; Whereas, on two recent occasions [May 2006 and November 2008] the City sought, but failed, to secure taxpayer approval of different plans for additional police space; Whereas, the City recently sought and received offers from City property owners to sell their property to the City for the location of a new police facility; Whereas, the City already owns property where existing services by police, fire and city hall are centrally located and unified; and said property could potentially be used for needed construction and/or expansion of said services at a potential saving in cost to taxpayers; Now therefore be it resolved that South Burlington's City Council directs its Manager to solicit RFP's from architectural firms, especially local firms with a working knowledge of the City, to work closely with the City Council, the Community and City Employees to assess and develop reasonable facility options to accommodate space needs for expanded municipal facilities for the community of South Burlington; Be it further resolved that the City Manager of South Burlington prepare said RFP in a reasonable expeditious manner and submit a draft of said RFP to the City Council for its approval; Be it further resolved that as part of the assessment described in two paragraphs above, the Council and its Architect shall review all previous studies, options and plans for said facilities heretofore developed for South Burlington; Be it further resolved that as part of the assessment described in the preceding paragraphs, the Council, Community, City Employees and the City's Architect shall assess community property already owned by the South Burlington taxpayers as well as property recently offered to the City for purchase, and develop a comprehensive, reasonable and pragmatic plan for the development of reasonably needed community facilities for presentment to taxpayers for their decision; Be it finally resolved that the Council, as part of its endeavor described above, shall utilize subsections (8) (a) and (b) of section 310 of the City's Charter, which were added by voters at Tuesday's election, by convening public meetings throughout South Burlington for the purpose of increasing transparency for the above described process and securing critical, essential public input. 40 • south : Charles E. Hefter, City Manager Memorandum March 5, 2009 EXECUTIVE SESSION To: Chair and City Council From: Chuck Hafter, City Manager q) Subject: Executive Session items Please be prepared to discuss: 1. Property Acquisitions: The City is actively involved with the purchase of three separate parcels at this time. I want to bring Council up to date on where negotiations stand. For the benefit of new members I will briefly summarize what has been very long processes on two of the parcels: • Leduc Farm: This project has moved forward very nicely and Alex Wiley of the Vermont Land Trust will be present to discuss the status with you. She will ask you for a letter of intent, so the VLT can request additional funding from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. This project is a joint effort of South Burlington, Shelburne, the VLT, and at least one private foundation. The Leducs own several large parcels in South Burlington and Shelburne (see map). The South Burlington two parcels total about 84 acres. This acreage has long been identified as very desirable for green space, and to help conserve a"green corridor" from Dorset Park to Shelburne Pond. The Leducs have carved out several homesteads for their family, but are willing to sell the remainder, at market value. The parties have put together an agreement whereby the VLT and a private foundation will hold the "risk" in the project by purchasing the development rights on the property for resale in the South East Quadrant. Shelburne and South Burlington will contribute cash to the project; our share is $500,000 which Councilor Boucher has negotiated down from an original request in excess of$1.2 million. 575 Dorset Street South Burlington, VT 05403 tel 802.846.4107 fax 802.846.4101 www.sburl.com The conserved land will be held by the VLT and resold to a working agricultural project. The City will retain an easement to build a recreation path on the property. Currently VLT is working with a South Burlington group, called Common Roots, which is attempting to raise $250,000 to purchase the property for use as a project of the community and school system. The thought is that the school system can use agriculture as another avenue to reach at-risk students. The VLT will require that agriculture be the only use on the property in perpetuity. • Marceau Meadows: Due to a great deal of dysfunction on the part of the Marceau family, and only slightly less dysfunction on the part of a former city planner, this has been a project that makes great sense to all parties, but cant seem to get done. The work to complete the project has been on-going for at least three years. In the 1990's, Ms. Marceau sold half of the family property on Hinesburg Road just south of Butler Farms to John Larkin for a housing development. In addition, the Marceaus sold the development rights from 34+- acres of the other half of their property to Mr. Larkin. The Marceaus retained development rights on an additional 10 acres fronting Hinesburg Road (containing the family home and an apple orchard). The remaining parcel was subdivided into two lots. Lot A is the front 10 acres and Lot B is the rear 34 acres with no underlying development potential. (See map). In addition to selling the development rights to Larkin, in a process known as Transfer of Development Rights (TDR), the Marceau's made two other side agreements with Larkin. First, they gave (sold?) Larkin a Right of First Refusal (ROFR) on the rear lot B. They also gave Mr. Larkin the right to refuse any future development on Lot B if in his sole opinion such development was a threat to his ability to build and sell houses in his future development. The Marceau family did not all agree to the purchase by Larkin and the parents eventually divorced and the family split over the transaction. The remaining property went to Dr. Marceau who has assigned his affairs over to daughter Marcy and her partner Alex Bird. Why does the City want this property? The City's interest is in the rear 34 acres (Lot B)which are the most appropriate location in the SEQ for recreation fields. The land is also almost completely flat, especially compared to any other large undeveloped parcel in the area. Tom Hubbard, recreation director, loves this parcel. The City will buy the whole parcel if necessary. Several years ago, the City Planner Juli Hinds, made an offer to the Marceau family to purchase Lot A for $1 million and Lot B for $660,000. She had no authority to do so from either the Council or myself. The Marceau's accepted this offer of$1.66 million and Ms. Hinds brought it to City Council in executive session last year. The Council, rightfully, asked that the parcels be appraised by a professional before making any offer. Ms. Hinds took exception to this for several reasons, and her reaction is one reason she decided to leave City employment. The appraisal came back at $155,000 for the rear 34 acres (with no development rights) and $675,000 for the front ten acres for a total of$830,000. The Marceau's were indignant that they thought they had a deal at the much higher number. Eventually, with the assistance of broker Tony Blake, the Marceau's began to realize that they were not going to sell that property for anywhere near the original asking price. Marcy and Alex continue to feel strongly that the City did not treat them fairly by not proceeding with the purchase at $1.6 million. To make a long story shorter—in January I visited the Marceau's in their home in Sharon, Vermont and negotiated a sale price of$850,000 for the entire 44 acres. We issued a purchase and sale agreement, and a deposit check for $50,000 to the Marceau's. However, the agreement was only to go into effect if the Marceau's could get Mr. Larkin to relinquish the ROFR and get his written agreement that the use of the property for recreation fields by the City would constitute an acceptable use by Mr. Larkin. Marcy Marceau/Alex Bird and John Larkin do not get on (this is an understatement) and we have been put in the middle of their negotiations. Mr. Larkin wants certain concessions from the City to give his "use" consent, but I feel these can be worked out. However, he also wants $200,000 from Marceau to release his ROFR. The Marceaus will not go over $75,000. (In addition, the Marceaus want the City to do their negotiations with John Larkin for them). I have instructed Steve Stitzel not to continue any work until the Marceaus and Larkin reach a deal, if ever. Meanwhile, despite a purchase and sales agreement, and taking our $50,000 deposit check, the Marceaus have put the entire property up for auction on March 27, 2009. We have requested our check back since we just discovered that Marcy Marceau never signed the purchase and sale agreement. Talks are dead, as far as I am concerned. I want to discuss if the City wants to make a separate arrangement with John Larkin, who has no objections to a park next to his development, to bid on the City's behalf at the auction. I do not know the floor price for the property. I have a silent partner going to the open house on the property this afternoon, and I hope to get that information. We may be able to get the property or even only the rear acreage at a much reduced price. I apologize to being so wordy, but this has been an incredible process. • Goodrich: Mark Goodrich has control of 22 non-developable acres adjoining Muddy Brook in the SEQ (see map). The 22 acre parcel adjoins an additional larger 32 acre parcel previously purchased by the Airport to provide off-site mitigation for their proposed development at the southern end of the Airport. This parcel has been appraised by the owner at $100,000. Why would we want this land if it is not developable anyway? The answer is that the 22 acres will have enough assimilative capacity to provide 100% of the necessary off-site mitigation for the entire City Center project. This would provide a long-term solution to a difficult problem at a very reasonable cost and would permanently protect 22 acres of property along Muddy Brook. The information on this potential purchase is new to all Council members. How can the City afford these purchases? The City collects a 1 cent property tax as part of the total city tax rate that is dedicated to the purchase of open space or land for recreation purposes. It is expected that the balance of open space accounts on June 30. 2009 will be approx. $550,000. The City can also issue a tax-anticipation note, and use the future tax collections from the 1 cent tax to guarantee the note for any remainder above our current collections. No additional property taxes should be necessary and no long-term bonding. Police Station: Mike Simeneau, Chief Whipple and I are prepared to review in detail the proposals submitted for location of the Police Station. We are putting a presentation together, but may not have all the elements in place until Monday evening. I have invited Police Chief Whipple and Union President Ron Bliss into the executive session. Leduc Property 4 South Burlington and Shelburne, Vermont Y Scale:1:3,500 it K i �__� — `F l ' ,,,. I l j a 'l 3T:9acre3 + ; r I = -, " j 48.2 acres � (46.7 acres in S.Burlington) # 0.' f Ir yx y S ;,I4 i __4-- , . 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I ` _ � w • • aim••. 7,. • 4 t AI 1,1,_ s r ' � IGoodrilch Property av M.An.■� 4111011 `r=1 �„'rj.. City of South Burlington lb _� WIwoo . 0,• • Southeast Quadrant lbw — �• ,J is ^G;:.'�'; � �* Open Space Master Plan ram'. �.`� ''•'.'' r 11111W61tP pti �The Cre.Illy. �' ���i�1 S ■ II-� m,... �� 1.. L.�SEQZone `` ♦ Property Lines �� �� .P♦�1:1�t �� 71111 Streams EC 1 0 1 a ECG', ilki Ponds ources �� 4!5( `' '� ►• ��4 } Natural communises a buffers w\� =1�;:�, INVIII Natural community connections 41 Oil• �q� i���� �Existing Open Space Parcels 1:��� �Ch se fa to c ro m.ned land p rk,a ewer � Hom,.nwners Asso tlonopenespace Transfer of Development Rights open space Other conserved parcels /101 If Priority Conservation Parcels s h a sl Marceau Property e / �. a b U _hee•e Fa t 0(r M J. n e �Mti Leduc Property ,'emsC fl gr O. 25_0. '- e. r City of South Burlington Meeting Time/Date: Traditional 1st and 3rd Mondays; 7:00 pm List of City Council Meeting Dates FY 2009/10 1st 2nd Meeting Meeting March '09 2 16 April 6 20 (*) May 4 18 June 1 15 July - 20 August 18 Tuesday(Bennington Battle Day) - September 8 Tuesday(Labor day) 21 October 5 19 November 9 23 December 7 21 January '10 4 19 Tuesday(Martin Luther King) February 1 16 Tuesday(President's day) March 1 (*) 15 (*) School vacations: Winter Recess - February 22-March 2 Spring Break-April 20-24 3/6/2009