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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/02/1970BOARD OF SELECTMEN MEETING NOVEMBER 2, 1970 The South Burlington Board of Selectmen held a regular meeting at the Middle School Library, Dorset Street, South Burlington, Vermont on Monday, November 2, 1970, at 7:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Charles H. Behney, Chairman; Gregory L. Premo, Raymond E. Stearns, and Frederick G. Blais. MEMBERS ABSENT None OTHERS PRESENT Robert M. Janes, Town Manager; Charlotte C. Marsh, Code Officer Ward, Town Engineer, William Szymanski, Highway Department Foreman Audette, Free Press Reporter Eric Loring, Vermont Tax Department Supervisor Howard Turner, School Board Member Henry W. Caswell, Jr., Robert Slayton and William Emberly from Webster-Martin, Inc.; Mrs. George Mathon, Mr. Charles E. Dennison, Mr. Arthur Shields, James Lamphere, Chairman of the Planning Commission; Architect Terrance Boyle, Lister Patricia Fastiggi, Franklyn McCaffrey and George Smith. Chairman Behney opened the meeting at 7:30 P.M. and everyone participated in the Salute to the Flag. READING OF THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 19 and 26, 1970 MEETINGS Mr. Stearns made a motion to accept the minutes of the meetings of October 19, and 26, 1970. Motion was seconded by Mr. Premo. Minutes of the 19th were accepted unanimously, and the minutes of the 26th were accepted with a vote of two in favor and Mr. Premo abstaining as he was not present at the meeting. The South Burlington Board of Selectmen held a regular meeting at the Middle School Library, Dorset Street, South Burlington, Vermont on Monday, November 2, 1970, at 7:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Charles H. Behney, Chairman; Gregory L. Premo, Raymond E. Stearns, and Frederick G. Blais. MEMBERS ABSENT None OTHERS PRESENT Robert M. Janes, Town Manager; Charlotte C. Marsh, Code Officer Ward, Town Engineer, William Szymanski, Highway Department Foreman Audette, Free Press Reporter Eric Loring, Vermont Tax Department Supervisor Howard Turner, School Board Member Henry W. Caswell, Jr., Robert Slayton and William Emberly from Webster-Martin, Inc.; Mrs. George Mathon, Mr. Charles E. Dennison, Mr. Arthur Shields, James Lamphere, Chairman of the Planning Commission; Architect Terrance Boyle, Lister Patricia Fastiggi, Franklyn McCaffrey and George Smith. Chairman Behney opened the meeting at 7:30 P.M. and everyone participated in the Salute to the Flag. READING OF THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 19 and 26, 1970 MEETINGS Mr. Stearns made a motion to accept the minutes of the meetings of October 19, and 26, 1970. Motion was seconded by Mr. Premo. Minutes of the 19th were accepted unanimously, and the minutes of the 26th were accepted with a vote of two in favor and Mr. Premo abstaining as he was not present at the meeting. RECOMMENDATION FOR PHASE IV SEWER BIDS - WEBSTER MARTIN, INC. Mr. William Emberly of Webster-Martin, Inc., Consulting Engineers, read the following from a letter addressed to Mr. Charles H. Behney, Chairman of the Board of Selectmen: "Re: Recommendation of award of contracts for Phase IV New Sewer Works - We hereby recommend that the Town of South Burlington award the contracts to the following contractors with the stipulated amounts as submitted in their Proposals which were opened on the 29th of October at 2:00 P.M. Contract No. 1 - Murray Construction Co.$839,000.00 Contract No. 2 - Ralph B. Goodrich, Inc.151,934.31 Contract No. 3 - S. G. Phillips Corp.155,318.85" Mr. Blais asked how the figures compared with the estimate for the construction. Mr. Emberly said the town could figure on about $8,475.00 to finance above the amount of the bond. Mr. Blais then said he would like to go into the details in depth, and Mr. Emberly said he would be glad to meet with him at his convenience. Town Manager Janes said the key to going ahead at this time would be for the Board to accept the recommendation. Mr. Premo made a motion to accept the Webster-Martin, Inc., recommendation. Mr. Stearns seconded the motion which passed unanimously after a discussion on the qualifications of the S. G. Phillips Company. Chairman Behney then asked Mr. Emberly what the town's next step should be and Mr. Emberly said there was some paper work to be concluded and made arrangements with Mr. Behney, as authorized agent for the town, to meet with him on Nov. 3, 1970, in Webster-Martin's conference room. Mr. Emberly said the firm would get right into the developing of contract documents, so that the contractors could get moving rapidly, especially in the Shelburne Road area. PHASE IV EASEMENTS - REVIEW OCT. 9, 1970 TOWN ENGINEER'S MEMO, ZONING OFFICER'S REPORT ON TWO EASEMENTS Town Manager Janes reported that the Town Attorney has certified that the town has obtained all the easements necessary for the Phase IV sewer project except for the following four: 1. Queen City Park Association 2. Frederick J. Fayette (Fayetteco) 3. Mr. Thomas Farrell 4. Ned Pettingill Mr. Janes then read a recommendation from the Town Engineer, dated October 9, 1970, in which Mr. Szymanski said that Mr. Farrell will grant the easement if the town accepts the 520 feet long sewer system on Bacon Street (400 feet of this sewer was built by the Fire District without an easement from Mr. Farrell). This sewer serves two residences and three commercial establishments, and is constructed to the standards of the Fire District at time of construction. Mr. Szymanski's recommendation is to accept this line and a 20 foot easement which Mr. Farrell is willing to grant. Mr. Blais made a motion on the basis of the Town Manager's and Town Engineer's recommendation and subject to the review of the Town Attorney to accept this sewer. Seconded by Mr. Stearns and passed unanimously. QUEEN CITY PARK ASSOCIATION EASEMENT Mr. Szymanski said he would prepare a plan and obtain the easement from the Queen City Park Association. FAYETTE EASEMENT Town Manager Janes said that we have been negotiating with Mr. Fayette, the easement is prepared, and he thought Mr. Ward could clean up the details in a week. Charles H. Behney could sign the agreement as authorized agent. PHASE IV EASEMENT, CONTINUED Selectman Blais asked if we had been paying for sewer easements. Mr. Szymanski said, no, just the nominal fee of $10. Chairman Behney said the contract did include $10,000 set aside for purchasing easements. Code Officer Ward said that in negotiating with Mr. Fayette there always has been a discussion of an exchange of work. Chairman Behney asked how much property is affected and Mr. Szymanski said about 1300 ft. At this point Chairman Behney referred to the minutes of the meeting of September 28, 1970, agenda item "second reading of zone change request- Fayette" as follows: "Mr. Stearns moved that the ordinance be approved, changing the land from Business A to Business B and that the plan as submitted be used for construction and that furthermore the plan be approved by the Town Engineer and Zoning Administrator and that the 4 - 5 foot cedar trees be incorporated and that a minimum of 1 1/2% be used for landscaping and that the necessary easement for sewer construction be granted. Mr. Premo seconded the motion and it was passed unanimously with Mr. Pizzagalli abstaining." Mr. Blais asked why this was not brought to his attention before. Mr. Janes said that it did not come to a head until last Wednesday, and the Chairman was kept informed. Mr. Janes said the Code Officer did a great job on this. He also said the Town Attorney was contacted to review this from the town's position, and it was a policy matter, not a legal matter. The matter was brought to the Board's attention at least twice, and twice to the Planning Commission's attention, first the request was for site work, and now it is for a pipe. Chairman Premo asked if there was money covered by the Federal or State grants for easements. He was told there was not, but the sum of $10,000 was figured in the project for easements. PHASE IV EASEMENTS, CONTINUED Chairman Behney then asked for a motion on the Fayette matter. Mr. Stearns made a motion that easement not be sought from Mr. Fayette for $3,000. Seconded by Mr. Blais, and passed unanimously. Mr. Blais made a motion that no building permit be issued on the property subject to review of the Zoning Ordinance Change granted by this Board of September 28, 1970, and a report made to this Board. Seconded by Mr. Stearns and passed unanimously. PETTINGILL EASEMENT Town Manager Janes reported that the big problem now seems to be the Pettingill easement, and said he had received a letter on this date from Mr. Pettingill which stated he would be on vacation for another week or so, but would get to work on the matter after his vacation. Selectman Premo then requested a report on progress on the three remaining easements at the November 16th meeting. The easements are on the property of the Queen City Park Association, Mr. Fayette and Mr. Pettingill. FIRE DISTRICT NO. 1 EASEMENT Mr. Szymanski said he anticipated no trouble getting an easement from Fire District No. 1 for Contract 3. REVIEW OF TENTATIVE EQUALIZED FAIR MARKET VALUE BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE TAX DEPARTMENT Chairman Behney introduced Mr. Howard Turner, Supervisor, State Tax Department to those present. He had been invited to attend and explain briefly the reasons for the state's equalization study. Mr. Turner said the report we just received is an Interim Report, that every two years the tax department is required to estimate the Fair Market Value of every town in the state, and in this odd year they have included new properties, subdivisions, and lease land. REVIEW OF TENTATIVE EQUALIZED FAIR MARKET VALUE BY A REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STATE TAX DEPARTMENT, CONTINUED Starting with the accepted figure of 1968 the state came up with an average figure of 31.15% ratio for South Burlington. Mr. Turner said that our town shows a 9% increase, and the state average is 6%. He then explained how the Fair Market Value Equalization figure affects the amount of State Aid to Education that is received, and that by using the 1968 figure for two years the towns will know, when they are figuring their budgets just what amount the State Aid to Education will be figured on. Mr. Turner was thanked for his presentation, and a copy of the notice of Tentative Equalized Fair Market Value for South Burlington, dated September 14, 1970 is filed with and made a part of these minutes. ACTION ON APPOINTMENT OF PHYSICAL PLANNER - REVISION OF ZONING ORDINANCE AND SUBDIVISION REGULATIONS Town Manager Janes said he had met with Wallace Farnum of the Vermont Central Planning Office who would prepare a contract for the revision of the Zoning Ordinances and the Subdivision regulations once the physical planner was appointed. Selectman Stearns made a motion to accept Terrance Boyle as the Planner to work to the Scope Outline as approved by the Planning Commission. Discussion with Mr. Boyle followed, and he explained how the ordinances and Regulations would relate to the newly accepted Master Plan. Mr. Blais then seconded the motion which passed unanimously. REVIEW OF A ZONING PROBLEM - SELECTMEN TO RECOMMEND A COURSE OF ACTION Town Manager Janes said the above agenda item referred to zoning violations at 25 Millham Court, and advised the Board that the matter had been discussed with the Town Attorney. Code Officer Ward reported that he had sent a registered letter to the Mathons, the owners of the property at 25 Millham Court, advising them that they should approach the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a variance. They have not done so, and Mr. Ward was instructed not to issue a building permit the Mathons are requesting. He now asked the Board what his next step should be. The Selectmen advised Mr. Ward to check with the Town Attorney or the Town Grand Juror for the next step in resolving the matter of this zoning violation. CHECK LIST ITEM 7 - ACTION AT AUTOMASTER MOTOR COMPANY Town Manager Janes said that House Bill No. S-3, passed in the 1969 Legislature, enables the Board of Selectmen to declare many things a nuisance, and wondered if the parking situation at Automaster Motor Company on Shelburne Road wouldn't be in the category of a nuisance. Selectman Stearns said he felt that the Code Officer should persue the violation. ACTION ON REQUEST TO WAIVE CHAMPLAIN WATER DISTRICT'S PERMIT FEE Mr. Stearns made a motion to waive the building permit fee for the Champlain Water District's construction in town. The motion was seconded by Mr. Premo and passed unanimously. PETITION AGAINST THE LOCATION AND DESIGN OF WATER STORAGE TANK Mr. Arthur Shields read a petition signed by residents in the area of a proposed location for a water storage tank on Dorset Street. PETITION AGAINST THE LOCATION AND DESIGN OF WATER STORAGE TANK, CONT'D The petitioners are asking that the stated need for the facility be completely reexamined so that either a desirable alternate location or water storage facility may be worked out, and the threatened "aesthetic pollution" avoided. Mr. Shields expressed his feelings on the subject and said he would obtain more signatures. Chairman Behney said we would accept the petition and distribute copies to the members of the South Burlington Water Commission, the Executive Director of the Champlain Water District and the Chairman of our Planning Commission. The petition is filed with and made a part of these minutes. DEDICATION PLANS FOR FIRE STATION - SET THE DATE Selectman Blais reported that a plaque has been chosen and the scrip approved. He said the contractor will absorb the cost of the plaque, and delivery is promised in about three weeks. Several dates were considered, and the Selectmen agreed to set the date for Sunday, December 6, 1970 at 1 P.M. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDATION FOR FINAL CREATIVE FINANCING OF FIRE STATION At Mr. Janes' request this item was tabled until a later meeting. APPLICATION TO B. O. R. FOR DEVELOPMENT OF NOW APPROVED PLAN OF JAYCEE PARK - REQUEST FOR BOARD APPROVAL Town Manager Janes recommended that the approved plan be accepted and signed by the Board, after which we can advise the state that we want to request Federal Aid for the development of Jaycee Park. This item was tabled until a later meeting as the approved plan was not available for signing. EVALUATION OF LANDFILL AREA PROCEDURES Town Manager Janes reported that operations at our landfill area are now up to state standards. There was a long discussion on the need for more equipment and help in the operation of the landfill. Both Mr. Szymanski and Highway Department Foreman Audette spoke on different aspects of the work. Selectmen Stearns said that Mr. Audette should come in with detailed costs of the needed equipment and anticipated extra labor costs. He also said that leasing equipment should be looked into. Chairman Behney also listed several items that he felt should be checked out as follows: Review the reasons for excluding garbage from the landfill. Should it be mandatory to install disposals in all new residences, etc.? Determine the fee to be levied on commercial truckers. What permit system should be used for residents and should there be a charge for this? Check with other communities on the type of ordinance that governs such an operation, and violation penalties. In discussing future uses of filled landfill areas, Mr. Szymanski said he was requesting a contour map from the state, which should give us a good idea of the progress at our landfill, as well as point out other suitable locations for such operations. Selectman Premo made a motion that the Town Manager be instructed to draw up an ordinance regarding landfill operation. The motion was seconded by Mr. Blais and passed unanimously. DEVELOPMENT OF RED ROCKS OUTDOOR RECREATION AREA In regard to this item Chairman Behney said the ground work and study on what is needed to develop the area should be considered right away so the town can apply for development funds. Selectman Stearns said that Mr. Breen, Chairman of the Beach, Park and Recreation Committee had remarked that it might be wise to retain one or two of the camps. DEVELOPMENT OF RED ROCKS OUTDOOR RECREATION AREA, CONTINUED It was thought that if this was so, action should be taken at once before the owner or owners stripped the buildings. TRAFFIC PROBLEMS - SHELBURNE ROAD Selectman Stearns asked that the effectiveness of the present traffic control system in the area of Shelburne Road and Baldwin Avenue be evaluated by the proper authorities. Mr. Stearns has an intense interest in this evaluation, and strongly urged that the matter be looked into immediately. HOLIDAY INN ENTRANCE Town Manager Janes recommended that we request bids for changing the entrance and lighting system at the Holiday Inn before the Zayres' store opens. Mr. Szymanski said he recommended the town to go to bid after the Topics meeting scheduled for November 10th. There was a discussion about the traffic light system in use, and how best to plan for repairs and changes in the future. PLANNING COMMISSION - VELCO TRANSMISSION LINES James Lamphere, Chairman of the Planning Commission, reported on the hearing on the VELCO transmission lines, and explained the Commission's recommendations. Mr. Premo made a motion that the Board of Selectmen supports the Planning Commission's position in regard to their requirements for the positioning of the VELCO lines. Seconded by Mr. Blais and passed unanimously. CLERK OF THE BOARD APPOINTMENT Mr. Premo made a motion to appoint Mr. Blais as Clerk of the Board of Selectmen to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Pizzagalli's resignation. Motion seconded by Mr. Stearns and passed unanimously. RESOLUTION - JAMES C. PIZZAGALLI Chairman Behney read the following resolution in full: R E S O L U T I O N WHEREAS James C. Pizzagalli willingly gave of his time and talent in the service of his community, and WHEREAS, the period of service to South Burlington was shortened by conditions beyond his control and desire; the quality of his solutions reflected his siligence, sincerety, creativity and inventiveness to the problems in his society. NOW BE IT RESOLVED, that the Town of South Burlington recognizes his contributions and is gratefully indebted, AND BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that we urge James Pizzagalli to continue to serve in whatever capacity possible, and to the limits of his talents. Adopted November 2, 1970 s/ Frederick G. Blais Clerk of the Board Mr. Premo made a motion to endorse the resolution. Motion seconded by Mr. Blais and Mr. Stearns and passed unanimously. Mr. Stearns made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:45 P.M. Seconded by Mr. Blais and passed unanimously. Approved Frederick G. Blais, Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.