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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/03/1975CITY COUNCIL NOVEMBER 3, 1975 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, November 3, 1975, in the Conference Room, Municipal Office Building, 1175 Williston Road. MEMBERS PRESENT Paul Farrar, Chairman; John Dinklage, Michael Flaherty, Catherine Neubert MEMBERS ABSENT Duane Merrill OTHERS PRESENT William Szymanski, City Manager; Richard Ward, Zoning Administrator; Vincent J. D'Acuti, Airport Commissioner; Al Cumming The meeting was opened at 7:30 p.m. by Chairman Farrar. Minutes of October 20, 1975 It was moved by Mr. Flaherty, seconded by Mr. Dinklage and voted unanimously to approve the Minutes of October 20, 1975, as presented. Disbursement orders It was noted by the Chairman that the disbursement orders were ready for signature. Additions to the Agenda Five items were added to the Agenda, namely: Time Sharing of the new computer system with other municipalities: Report on status of replacement for the Fire Chief; Traffic situation; the C.C.T.A. deficit; the Water Department. Report from Airport Commissioner Vincent J. D'Acuti Mr. D'Acuti said the Air National Guard building turned over in July has now been rented to G.E. for a manufacturing facility; reconstruction of the East-West taxiway has been done; the U.S. Customs operation has been moved to a new area; the waiting room and observation area has been enlarged, very important because there had been many complaints that people could not see the planes arriving or departing; Air New England plans to construct a maintenance building. The Airport Master Plan has been completed and printed and Mr. D'Acuti distributed copies to the members of the Council. The Master Plan covers the projected development of the airport to 1992 and is a requirement in order to be able to apply for Federal funds. Mr. D'Acuti reviewed the Master Plan, stressing the Land Use section providing for the efficient use of the airport and protection for the community. Noise is expected to be an increasing factor and he said he had brought this to the attention of the Planning Commission as something to be considered in their plans for re- zoning the triangle. He felt single family residences should be discouraged in this area. Mr. D'Acuti said he personally would like to recommend to the City that Airport Drive and Kirby Road be connected. The Council studied the map and discussed possibilities for this, some members feeling Kirby Road would have too many angles for a practical connector. Mrs. Neubert said she objected to the fact that Mr. D'Acuti, who represents South Burlington on the Airport Commission, had not come to Council and explained the Master Plan before it was approved instead of waiting until it was finished. She felt the plan affects people who live here and the City should have had something to say about what is being planned. Chairman Farrar suggested looking at the Master Plan as an overlay with the South Burlington Master Plan and to see if it could be worked in with the Zoning Ordinance. Also the City will have to provide the Airport Commission with some ideas as to how they might change their Master Plan to get two plans which are consistent. Mr. Dinklage suggested it might be useful to formalize a consensus of the Council as to long range plans for connecting Kirby Road and Airport Drive as a guide to anyone who was going to move into that area. Mr. Farrar said he would like to see a proposal as to how it could be done and Mr. Szymanski said it could be done, there is room enough, without moving any homes, but there would be some curves. Mr. D'Acuti concluded his report by stating the airport is self-supporting. Airport tax agreement Chairman Farrar said an agreement was signed three or four years ago which sets the tax on the property owned at that time by the airport, and a stipulation says any new property acquired by the airport would be taxed at its fair market value. The Airport Commission said this was not acceptable and appealed to the Board of Civil Authority. A hearing was held and it was suggested that the way to handle the problem was to consider the generalized problem and see if there might be a better way to handle it. The question for Council now is whether or not it wishes to open negotiations, and if so, what it is willing to achieve by doing this. Mrs. Neubert asked what if Council doesn't negotiate and doesn't set up a committee. Mr. Farrar said the Commission then would have to complete the Board of Civil Authority appeal hearing. Mr. Farrar said he personally thought the only thing worthwhile in trying to add to the agreement would be to get some better definition of how a fair market value would be determined, something to be used for criteria. He said he didn't see any drawback to sitting down and discussing the situation with the Commission. Mrs. Neubert said she saw no harm in discussing either, but she didn't feel the City should be using special methods for the airport, not a special formula or special consideration. They should be treated like everybody else. Mr. Farrar said the airport does have some value to South Burlington and the City has made its contribution in the form of the present contract. Mr. Dinklage said he felt it would be allowable to sit down with them and remove some of the rancor but he had heard no arguments yet that would lead him to think the basic agreement should be changed. Mrs. Neubert suggested asking Dick Underwood to work up a formula. Mr. Farrar said any modification of the present agreement would have to be considered and acted upon by the Board of Civil Authority. After more discussion Mr. Flaherty moved that the Council empower its Chairman to appoint a committee to meet with the Burlington committee to discuss the Airport Contract; also that the Chairman ask the City Assessor to provide certain information to the Council. Seconded by Mr. Dinklage and voted unanimously. Possible time-sharing with other municipalities Mr. Dinklage said he had been approached by a selectman from Shelburne asking if there any way the needs of Shelburne could be met by sharing South Burlington's new computer system and paying a fee for this sharing. Mr. Dinklage thought this might perhaps help to defray the cost of the system and that the City Manager could keep this in mind and discuss it with the school authorities and perhaps contact Shelburne, Williston, and others. Chairman Farrar pointed out that basically the system is owned by the School Department and any comments made here could be only advisory. The City Manager said he would be concerned about competing with private industry. City bookkeeping system The City Manager said the School Board has decided to buy the computer system and the City has to go ahead and purchase the terminal for its own use either simultaneously or soon after. He had been told they could have up to the middle of December to order the terminal. The cost would be between $2,600 and $2,700 Chairman Farrar said he felt he and Mr. Dinklage would have a conflict of interest in discussing any piece of data processing equipment; they might discuss but not vote on a motion on whether or not the City should buy this. Mr. Flaherty then moved that the Council empower the City Manager to acquire whichever system he feels is in the best interests of the City within the budgetary restrictions. Seconded by Mrs. Neubert and voted unanimously. Report on status of Fire Chief replacement Mr. Szymanski said he had advertised the position and had received eight applications. Because there was some confusion as to the salary figures he had decided to re-advertise it in the Free Press and it is also to be advertised in the Rutland Herald. He said he would like to have Council interview applicants and give him some recommendations. Mr. Dinklage then asked if Council wished to discuss the question of keeping on with the present system of a full-time chief, or discuss the possibility of having a volunteer chief. Mr. Farrar said if this was going to be discussed there would be no more appropriate time than now. Mr. Szymanski reminded Council that either way there had to be applicants. Mr. Dinklage felt discussion of running the Fire Department with a volunteer chief should consider the impact on the fire prevention activities, fire insurance rates, and responsibility in case of a major airport disaster. Mr. Ward explained Burlington has the responsibility for the airport, South Burlington is just the back-up. He said there was a mutual agreement on this, but when asked if it was in writing he said he didn't know. Chairman Farrar said at the time the Fire Department was set up there was no way to do it except with a full-time chief, but now that there is a functioning department this is a good time to look at the mix between volunteer and paid. He said some communities larger than South Burlington operate with a volunteer chief but with a few full-time employees. Mrs. Neubert felt that having a volunteer chief would make the firemen feel there was no chance of promotion. Mr. Dinklage felt the City might want to provide some sort of compensation but short of full-time, the way other volunteer bodies of the City function. Mr. Szymanski mentioned the difficulty of South Burlington being so spread out affecting the response time for volunteers as compared to a community like Winooski which has a definite center to the city. Mr. Ward said the fire insurance classification would definitely change because of the difference in response time. Mr. Farrar said that would be a question to consider, whether it would cost the taxpayers more in insurance than it would saving the City. Also the question of whether more or less full-time employees would be needed should be discussed before a commitment is made for additional personnel. Mr. Ward said South Burlington should get more involved in fire inspections and if the City doesn't have a full-time chief there should be a full-time prevention officer. Mr. Szymanski suggested this man could be a building inspector also. Chairman Farrar said the information that Revenue Sharing might come to an end means the City has to look at its own areas of expense. If it is decided to hire another person for the department and in the future Revenue Sharing does end, the Council can say it looked at the situation and that was why such a decision was made. He suggested seeing what we are getting for the investment in order to make a better decision. Mr. Ward said in the five years the department has been organized there have been a lot of installations that require manning the building 24 hours a day, giving the Civil Defense hookup as an example. The City Manager said the fire insurance can be checked out and he will get statistics. Mrs. Neubert asked about inspections. Mr. Ward said Chief Monell was doing inspections three or four times a week. There were two State fire inspectors here every day who started a full program in South Burlington. One thing they did was to condemn the Sheraton. But as soon as Bud went away the State inspectors went away too. Mr. Dinklage asked Mr. Ward what he thought would be the most effective way to proceed, would it be useful to have a session. Mr. Ward replied he would prefer not to say anything. He said Council could call a session and they would all come in. Half of the men are there on Tuesday night and the other half would come in. Mr. Flaherty explained there are six on the Rules and Regulations Committee and they are primarily working on the rules and regulations. Mrs. Neubert suggested getting statistics and then explain to the Fire Department the reasons for considering this: Council might decide it doesn't make that much difference. Mr. Dinklage said his interest was in seeing where the City wants to be a year from now, or five or ten years from now, in terms of the South Burlington Fire Department, and charting a course for getting there, a long-term objective. Clearly there would be no attempt to force any removal. It was recommended that the Council have copies of the Chief's job description along with the statistics on insurance. C.C.T.A. deficit Chairman Farrar referred to the letter received from the Chittenden County Transportation Authority asking for an additional contribution, and said the City is obligated by the vote of the citizens of the community to pay this bill. Mr. Szymanski said the audit showed the revenue was up from last year but the operating expenses were considerably larger than had been anticipated and the gap widened to the extent of a $50,000 deficit. Mr. Farrar said a bill has been passed by the U. S. Senate and is now in the House. If passed, the C.C.T.A. will be able to apply for funds under this bill. Mr. Szymanski said South Burlington is being asked for $6,157.42 as its share of the deficit and he does know where he can come up with the money at this time. He had not expected any such request for this amount. Chairman Farrar said he would talk with the City Attorney to find out what the legal procedures are for amending the budget by increasing it by that amount, or perhaps shift it from some other areas. Mr. Flaherty suggested having someone come in from C.C.T.A. and explain their operations. Water Department charges Mrs. Neubert asked what the increase in water rates which had been announced in the paper would do to South Burlington's water rates. Mr. Szymanski explained the recent increase by South Burlington of one dollar had taken into account the expected increase by the Water District. He also explained the cause had been found for the error in metering the water for South Burlington which had led to an over-charge of $25,000, and South Burlington is to receive credit for approximately half of this. Traffic problem on Williston Road The Council had been asked by the Planning Commission to meet with them on Tuesday night at 7:30 to discuss the traffic conditions on Williston Road which the Commission felt to be extremely hazardous. Mr. Dinklage said he felt an improvement of the traffic light situation at Kennedy Drive and Dorset Street would encourage people to use Kennedy Drive. The City Manager said he had written the State and asked them to study the intersection. Any improvement would be at the City's expense but the State would do the study. Mr. Ward said an outfit from Boston, traffic engineers, are doing a study on Williston Road. He said he thought they had been hired by Paul Graves. Mrs. Neubert said it was alright to have a traffic study but the traffic study would be based on what the zone is and the Planning Commission still can't make up its mind. She personally felt the zone had to come first. Mr. Flaherty moved that the Council meet with the Planning Commission at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 4th. Seconded by Mr. Dinklage and voted unanimously. Mr. Dinklage urged, without waiting for traffic surveys to begin, looking at ways and necessary procedures for a full interchange at Dorset Street and Kennedy Drive. Mr. Szymanski said there is land available there. Mr. Farrar felt the most important thing is to get the industrial road completed which would drain traffic off from Williston Road. Without that the interchange wouldn't serve anywhere as near as vital a function. Mr. Szymanski said he would get in touch with Mr. Remick. It was moved by Mr. Dinklage, seconded by Mr. Flaherty, and voted unanimously that the meeting be adjourned. The meeting was adjourned at 10:15 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.