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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 08/19/1974SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 19, 1974 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting in the City Hall Conference Room, 1175 Williston Road on Monday, August 19, 1974. Chairman Flaherty opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. MEMBERS PRESENT Chairman Flaherty, William J. Cimonetti, Dr. Paul Farrar, Mrs. Catherine Neubert and Duane Merrill. MEMBERS ABSENT None OTHERS PRESENT City Manager Szymanski, Richard Underwood, Assessor; Reporter Jack Tabaka, Highway Department Supervisor Audette, Zoning Administrator Richard Ward, Charlotte Marsh and Peter Grassadonia from the State Office of Manpower Services. MINUTES OF THE AUGUST 5, 1974 MEETING On page 7, first paragraph, third sentence, should be corrected to read "Mr. Farrar stated the City Manager should be instructed to prepare grants for Federal and State Aid for the project." On page 7, last paragraph on the page. The sentence reading "The answer was No", should be corrected to read "The answer was it could be done if he had the manpower; i.e., take men off nights to days, also there was a lack of signs as well as a lack of enforcement with the speeding cases. Dr. Farrar made a motion to accept the minutes of August 5, 1974 with the corrections. Mr. Cimonetti seconded the motion which passed unanimously. JOINT MEETING OF CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSION ON AUGUST 7, 1974 READING OF THE MINUTES Dr. Farrar made a motion to accept the minutes of the joint meeting of August 7, 1974 as written. Mr. Cimonetti seconded the motion and all approved. DISBURSEMENT ORDERS Chairman Flaherty announced that the disbursement orders were on the table for signing by the Council. EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING ACT Mr. Flaherty introduced Mr. Peter Grassadonia of the State Office of Manpower Services. He distributed a pamphlet on the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) of 1973. This bill went into low in 1973 and would allocate funds to be used for training people who are disadvantaged or unemployed to help them find jobs. There are different criteria in determining disadvantaged: i.e., a family that has an income of less than $4,000 for a family of 4, a disadvantaged person who is unemployed. There are three titles, I, II, and III. Title I-Training: This could be on the job or classroom training. Title II - Public Service Employment: A person would be put into a public agency; e.g., a state office, ietc. in this program. His total wages for the training period of up to 11 months would be paid for. At the end of that time his salary would be picked up by the participating agency. Title III - Special Programs: This would include migrants, and youths whose families are below the $4,000 income with 4 in the family. Work could be in the area of mental health, in the federal parks, etc. Pay would be $2.20 per hour for 26 hours a week. The State office is looking for representatives from all agencies to sit in on the Northwest Regional Manpower Planning Board consisting of the Burlington, St. Albans and Middlebury areas. This Board would meet about once every quarter to determine job opportunities and training. Chairman Flaherty asked if the program was functioning yet. Mr. Grassadonia said no, but hopefully would be in 3 to 4 weeks. Mrs. Neubert asked if we accept a contract to train someone, do we guarantee employment after the training period. He said there would be no contract but that the department of Labor followed up on how the trainee was working out. Mrs. Neubert asked if funds were provided to train the retarded children. He said yes, that Employment of the Handicapped would start in September to find work especially for handicapped children. Chairman Flaherty asked what type of person they were looking for the Northwest Regional Manpower Planning Board, e.g., businessman, professor, academic, etc. Mr. Grassadonia said it should be someone who knows the manpower needs in the area. He would like to have two or three names submitted as soon as possible. Charlotte Marsh asked who thought of this idea and Mr. Grassadonia replied the U. S. Congress. A question was raised about liability - what if we hired some inexperienced people and they cause injury to our employees, what would happen. The question was answered by the remark that they would be covered by Workmen's Compensation. Dr. Farrar made a recommendation to give the Chairman the power to make recommendations for the appointments to the Northeast Regional Manpower Planning Board. If anyone has any suggestions they should rever them to Chairman Flaherty. Mr. Grassadonia emphasized that there will only be 21 members on the Board for the Northwest area, representing various work locations. Chairman Flaherty said he felt he would have some recommendations within a week. MEET WITH MR. MYETTE, CHAIRMAN OF ZONING BOARD OF ADJUSTMENT Chairman Flaherty reported that he had received a phone call from Mr. Guyette's secretary saying Mr. Myette had been called out of town. His appearance before the Council was postponed until a later meeting. APPOINT CORRECTIONS LIAISON COMMITTEE Chairman Flaherty stated he had contacted some of the residents suggested to him at the last meeting to be on the Correction Center Liaison Committee who would work with the prison officials. The following have accepted: Alex Guyette, Jr., 194 Laurel Hill Drive Attorney Saul Agel, 2 Deborah Drive Richard Smullen, 75 Laurel Hill Drive Police Chief Richard Carter Mr. Flaherty had not been able to contact the other persons whose names had been suggested, but should be able to get in touch with them by the second meeting in September. Present thinking is for a committee of 7 members, but it could be more or less. CITY MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS LIABILITY INSURANCE Mr. Szymanski stated that he had contacted three insurance carriers regarding liability insurance for municipal officials, a requirement as of July 1. Bids were as follows: Hackett, Valine & MacDonald $ 1,605 Pomerleau Agency 1,445 Smith, Bell and Thompson 1,605 All would carry the same coverage of $100,000 per individual and $1,000,000 total. Coverage would include the City Manager and members of all boards, commissions and committees. Other city departments recommend the firm of Hackett, Valine and MacDonald. Dr. Farrar was asked to check if the Water Department is covered as well as the Board of Civil Authority. Dr. Farrar then suggested we go along with the lowest bidder. Councilman Merrill suggested we ask the City Attorney to review it as a package to get a better deal and then pay for it proportionately. City Manager Szymanski was instructed to review all coverage, check with the School Board, and come back to the Council with a recommendation. CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR AND ASSISTANT Chief Monnell has indicated that he did not wish to be reappointed to the post of Civil Defense Director. Mrs. Neubert made a motion to appoint Albert C. Audette as Civil Defense Director and Mr. James Goddette as his assistant. Dr. Farrar seconded the motion which passed unanimously. SHORT DISCUSSION ON ROUTE 7 Councilwoman Neubert stated that she had called various people located on Route 7. She also collected all the material relevant to the Route 7 matter before meeting with the Vermont Highway Department. Councilman Cimonetti felt that all the information she has should be reviewed by the Council before it is submitted to the Highway Department. MEET WITH MR. UNDERWOOD, CITY ASSESSOR Mr. Underwood advised the Council that there would be a reappraisal in 1976, and that the Council should start thinking about who to have do it. It takes about two years to complete the entire appraisal. The City Charter states that reappraisals should be done every five years on all property subject to taxation. Mr. Underwood explained that the records are kept up to date when there are any changes such as additions, new building, remodeling, etc. Dr. Farrar asked what were some of the biggest problems in appraisals. Mr. Underwood said some people complain if they think they are paying more than neighbors might be paying for what they consider is the same type property. Councilman Cimonetti noted that the Airport has acquired additional property since the tax agreement with the airport was drawn up. He felt the additional property should be assessed and added to the evaluation, exclusive of the agreement. It was agreed that the matter should be brought to the attention of the City Attorney for an opinion as to whether or not the additional property was taxable. Councilwoman Neubert asked when properties were taxed once they had undergone some changes which would affect the amount of the tax. She was advised that such changes affected the tax bill as of the following April. LETTER OF RESIGNATION Councilman Cimonetti read his letter of resignation which was addressed to Chairman Flaherty. The letter read, in part, that his resignation was necessary because he has been transferred to another location by the company he works for. Chairman Flaherty said he would accept his resignation, but would like to have Mr. Cimonetti stay on indefinitely until he has to leave and that he would formally accept the resignation at the second meeting in September. Mr. Cimonetti's replacement would serve only until the next election. NEXT MEETING Charlotte Marsh noted that the next regular meeting would fall on Labor Day. Councilwoman Neubert made a motion to hold the next meeting on Tuesday, September 3, 1974, and that future meetings would begin at 7:30 P.M. The motion was seconded by Dr. Farrar and passed unanimously. DONATION OF FUNDS AGREEMENT FOR SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT FREE BUS TOKENS TO ELIGIBLE AGED, BLIND AND DISABLED INDIVIDUALS In regard to the city's involvement in the above subject, City Manager Szymanski read a letter of opinion from the City Attorney, which stated that there were no legal objections to the city's contributing $150 to the program but that the donation could not be paid for from revenue sharing funds. Mrs. Neubert made a motion that we approve the Donation of Funds Agreement for social services which provides free bus tokens to the eligible aged, blind, and disabled individuals, the amount of the donation not to exceed $200. Also that the City Manager be empowered to execute the form. The motion was seconded by Councilman Cimonetti and passed unanimously. VISIT WITH SENIOR CITIZENS Chairman Flaherty reported that he had had an interesting visit at the Senior Citizens meeting last week. The Senior Citizens had a few questions for him, one that they wanted an explanation of the free passes to Red Rocks and the use of the Green Mountain Parks pass as proof of their eligibility. The other question had to do with whether or not the city would go into the garbage collection, and if so, when. On motion made, seconded, and passed, the meeting was recessed for 15 minutes at 9:45 P.M. When the regular session reconvened at 10:00 P.M. Dr. Farrar made a motion to go into Executive Session to discuss the acquisition of Lakeland Estates. EXECUTIVE SESSION During the executive session discussion was held with Mr. Unsworth, owner of Lakeland Estates, regarding city acquisition of that property. At 10:15 P.M., Mrs. Neubert made a motion to adjourn the Executive Session and reconvene the regular session. The motion was seconded by Dr. Farrar and passed unanimously. REGULAR SESSION Chairman Flaherty reconvened the regular session at 10:16 P.M. Dr. Farrar asked that the city manager be empowered to get an appraisal of the Lakeland Estates property, the cost of the appraisal to be shared by the city and Mr. Unsworth. If Mr. Unsworth declined to sell the property at the appraised figure then he would pick up the appraisal cost in full. On motion made, seconded and passed the regular meeting was adjourned at 10:30 P.M. APPROVED Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.