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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/11/1975SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL MEETING MARCH 11, 1975 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, March 11, 1975 in the Conference Room of the City Hall, 1175 Williston Road. MEMBERS PRESENT Chairman Michael D. Flaherty, Paul A. Farrar, Catherine M. Neubert, Duane E. Merrill and John A. Dinklage. MEMBERS ABSENT None OTHERS PRESENT William J. Szymanski, City Manager; Arthur A. Hogan, Executive Director of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission; C. Harry Behney, Sonny Audette, Donald C. Duell and Charlotte C. Marsh. Chairman Flaherty called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. DISBURSEMENT ORDERS The disbursement orders were presented to the Council members for signatures. MEET WITH ARTHUR HOGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE CHITTENDEN COUNTY REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSION FOR DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED LEGISLATION FOR CHITTENDEN REGIONAL COUNCIL Mr. Hogan explained the proposed legislation for a Chittenden Regional Council. In essence, the Regional Council would be an inter-governmental body, the members being appointed from the elected members of councils or selectmen of the communities in the county. He compared the function of such a council with the method used when the Champlain Water District and the Chittenden County Transportation Authority came into being. At that time local officials met around a table, discussed the aspects of these enterprises, and worked together for the communities concerned. He emphasized that the government now is funding above the local level, that other states have organized Regional Councils in order to get government funding for regional projects such as sewers, waste disposal units, etc. Mrs. Neubert asked if it meant that we would have to allow other communities to use our landfill as a regional landfill, and whether we might be placed in a position where we would have to pay for another community's sewer construction. Mr. Hogan said that the Council would be working on regional projects and that all communities would have a vote. The Council members expressed their concern about taking any action since they had not had time to study the draft that had just been presented to them. Chairman Flaherty pointed out that at this time what Mr. Hogan wanted from our Council was a vote on the concept of the Regional Council, that the fifth draft which had been presented to the members was very preliminary, that it was to be reworked before going to legislation. Mr. Hogan pointed out that the Environmental Protection Agency was even now releasing funds only to state or sub-state agencies. City Manager Szymanski pointed out that the assessment for South Burlington could amount to as much as $20,000 annually. Chairman Flaherty asked when Mr. Hogan wanted the consensus of opinion of our Council, and Mr. Hogan said now, at this meeting. He said he had to receive conceptual agreement from most of the communities right away so the bill could be drafted and sent to legislature to be acted upon during the present session. Drs. Farrar and Dinklage both felt such a bill could not be rushed through during this session. Dr. Dinklage asked if there was provision for a referendum and Mr. Hogan said yes. Charlotte Marsh asked if the proposal was for some kind of organization that would be federally financed. Mr. Hogan said yes. Charlotte said she hoped the Council would not agree to the concept. City Manager Szymanski said that South Burlington had been instrumental in setting up the Regional Planning Commission when we were planning for sewer construction and that now we were getting into another beauracracy. Mr. Hogan said that already there were several areas where funds would be available only through a multi-community agency, such as B.O.R., Criminal Law projects, Transportation, Economic Development, Environmental Protection, Hud and HEW. He pointed out that if the Regional Council never went to a federal agency for funding it would be good for the Council to sit with other elected officials to go over pertinent matters. Mr. Merrill expressed his concern as to why this matter was being rushed, noting that the draft had just been received, the members had not had time to go over it thoroughly and that the city would incur a large financial obligation. Mr. Behney explained that the Regional Planning Commission is a planning organization, the Chittenden Regional Council would be an organization of elected officials to carry out solutions to problems. He compared it to our Steering Committee which allows different entities to sit down and discuss mutual problems. He said action at this point would only set up an organization and plan for the one meeting a year. Mrs. Neubert asked what Mr. Hogan wanted of the Council. Chairman Flaherty replied that Mr. Hogan wanted the Council's consensus of the concept. Mr. Hogan was asked what other communities he had contacted. He answered saying he had a letter from Mayor Paquette of Burlington, had met with officials of St. George, Shelburne and Westford and was going to meet with Colchester officials. Some of the objections to the concept voiced by council members were the ambiguity of draft #5, the amount of money involved, the need for haste in making a decision and the fact that our community could be forced to support a project which did not meet its approval. Dr. Farrar said he too shared everyone's aggravation, but if he looked at it from a more realistic point of view he felt we should go ahead and approve the concept of the organization. Mr. Merrill said he disagreed, he wanted more imput. Mr. Hogan said if a majority of the communities favored the concept he would proceed to reserve the title, have a meeting of members to sit around a table and to edit the article. He said he recognized the shortness of time but felt we would have created a benchmark for the council to work from. Chairman Flaherty called for a vote. Dr. Farrar voted in favor, saying the concept is good. Mr. Merrill voted no, he was not willing to approve at this time, saying the tax situation is bad, he didn't want to be locked into this. Mrs. Neubert voted no, stating she agreed with Mr. Merrill. Dr. Dinklage admitted he was swayed by the negative votes, but he was sufficiently confident of the actions of the different towns - if there is substantial disagreement, legislation would not go through and he also voted in favor of the concept. Chairman Flaherty voted in the affirmative, so the vote was 3 to 2 in favor of the concept. MEET WITH DONALD DUELL TO DISCUSS REQUEST FOR FUNDS TO ASSIST IN SENDING THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CHORUS TO PHILADELPHIA, PA. IN APRIL TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EASTERN DIVISION MUSIC EDUCATORS NATIONAL CONFERENCE Mr. Duell explained that last years spring concert of the Middle School chorus was taped and won in a competition as the best sounding chorus. As a result the chorus was invited to sing at the Eastern Division Music Educators National Conference on April 18, 1975 in Philadelphia. Total cost of the trip is estimated to run about $5,000. $4,500 has already been raised from projects put on by the chorus members and from donations. He was requesting a donation of $500 from the city. City Manager Szymanski asked if the chorus members would be willing to distribute the proposed budgets as a project if the money was donated. Mr. Farrar motioned that the council adopt Mr. Szymanski's suggestion that the city donate the $500 and the chorus members distribute the budget. Motion seconded by Mr. Merrill and passed unanimously. WORK SESSION ON PROPOSED BUDGET-HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT The Council went over every account in the Highway Department with the exception of the accounts for salaries and social security. Mr. Audette explained the items in each account. He was questioned about keeping more definitive records on the use of each piece of equipment. He agreed that this should be done and explained that it would require additional help. In answer to questions as to why Account No. 553, Park Maintenance was budgeted from the highway department instead of the recreation department Mr. Audette said that he had met with the Recreation Committee and an agreement was reached which resulted in the account being figured in the highway department budget. In reply to questioning about account no. 554, Fire Hydrants, Mr. Szymanski explained that installing and maintaining the hydrants was the responsibility of the city, not the water department. The Council did not make any changes to the Highway Department proposed budget at this time. FIRE DEPARTMENT The Council went over every account in the Fire Department budget with the exception of the accounts for salaries and social security. Questions were asked about the use of account no. 16, Volunteer Fireman. Mr. Szymanski explained that originally the volunteers agreed to work for nothing. Mr. Audette said that the amount budgeted was used to pay for equipment of the volunteers, for fireman's gear and replacement of the gear and equipment. It was brought out that the $6,140 budgeted for this account did not cover all the expenses. The insurance program for the volunteers was questioned. City Manager Szymanski was instructed to make out a full report on the insurance program as well as determining how many hours the volunteers are working and how far the budgeted amount goes toward paying for the expenses. The matter of the volunteers being paid for the hours worked once the budgeted amount was used up was also discussed. The Council did not make any changes to the Fire Department proposed budget at this time. FINE ARTS DEPARTMENT The Council went over every account in the Fine Arts proposed budget. Mr. Szymanski was instructed to put an explanation in the Senior Citizens Account #06, that part of the budgeted amount, anticipated to be $800 for the coming year, would be reimbursed by a state grant. Account No. 07, the Community Library account was questioned by the members. Mr. Szymanski was instructed to check into this account as to whether or not the city is paying its fair share of the cost of operating the library. The Council did not make any changes to the Fine Arts Department budget at this time. Chairman Flaherty asked if the council would meet on another work session on the budget at 7:00 P.M. on Thursday, March 13, 1975. The members agreed to the meeting being scheduled. At 9:30 Chairman Flaherty had to leave the meeting and Dr. Farrar, Vice Chairman, then chaired the meeting. DISCUSSION ON CEMETERY COMMITTEE BUDGET Charlotte Marsh reported that she had an item to bring before the Council. She was concerned about the use of the interest from the Cemetery Trust Fund, saying the money should not revert to the general fund, that it should be used solely for cemetery expenses. Dr. Farrar told Charlotte that the council already had agreed that the fund interest amount would be a separate line item in the proposed budget. Charlotte then said she wanted to be sure that the interest money would be in a separate bank account. She would then spend the $200, plus or minus, for work that needed to be done at the cemeteries. She felt it should not be used for any salary payments as that would entail the keeping of books for deductions such as taxes and social security, but for one-time items such as tree removal, fence work, or the construction of a new entrance. The Councilmen were in agreement with her suggestions. Dr. Dinklage summed up the procedure for the use of the interest - that we should first spend the trust fund money so there wouldn't be a question of a balance and then use the budgeted amount from the general fund. Miss Marsh agreed to this. Dr. Farrar asked if the $1,000 budgeted plus the trust fund interest of $237 would be sufficient for her cemetery budget. Miss Marsh said yes. Dr. Dinklage made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 P.M. Motion seconded by Mr. Merrill and passed unanimously. Approved Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.