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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 12/19/1977CITY COUNCIL DECEMBER 19, 1977 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, December 19, 1977 at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Room, Municipal Offices, 1175 Williston Road. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Frank Armstrong, Michael Flaherty, William Burgess, Martin Paulsen Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Mary-Barbara Maher and Robert S. Babcock, Representatives; Dan Meyer, Free Press; A. Audette Addition to agenda Mr. Armstrong said that he would like to add a discussion of the sidewalk snow-clearing situation to the agenda. Minutes of December 5, 1977 Mr. Burgess moved to accept the minutes of December 5, 1977 as read. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Discussion with South Burlington Legislators of pending legislation Mrs. Maher asked how the Council felt about the new regulations concerning unemployment compensation and Mr. Farrar replied that if all part-time people were eligible for it, it would tend to discourage the city from hiring. It would make better economic sense, he said, to pay someone overtime to do the job or the job might not be done. Mrs. Maher said that it could cost the school department a lot of money. Mr. Szymanski said that the problem was mainly with summer help. Mrs. Maher said that the State could not do too much about the regulations - they could only decide who was and who was not covered. Mr. Babcock said that a large issue would be how to divide the tax surplus and he mentioned repealing the income tax surcharge, lowering the income tax, or repealing the old-age assistance tax. Mr. Farrar said that the city had done away with the poll tax. Mr. Babcock felt that there would be strong sentiment for repealing the old-age assistance tax and he thought that repeal of the inventory tax would be a big issue. Mr. Farrar said that he had reservations about the inventory tax but that he was not sure where the lost revenue would be made up from if it were repealed and he felt that way about the poll tax also. He felt that individual communities should be given the option and then see what happens. Mr. Babcock asked if the inventory tax would effect South Burlington greatly and Mr. Szymanski said that it was about 9% of the Grand List. Mr. Flaherty said that he would like to have the inventory tax a local option. Mr. Armstrong agreed with that and said that he would also like to do something with the old-age tax. Regarding Mr. Babcock's bill for funding the school system, Mr. Farrar said that he felt that if money was taken away on a statewide basis it should be returned on a state wise basis also. He also was not sure that property taxes were out of line here in regard to the other taxes people paid. He said that property taxes forced people to see if they were using their land to its best economic value. Mr. Babcock said that if they could fund education outside the Miller formula, the net effect for most places would be a reduction in property taxes. Mr. Armstrong said that if the surcharge were repealed, it would be an immediate tax relief. Mrs. Maher felt sure that would be repealed. Mr. Babcock described his bill and formula for State aid to education. Mrs. Maher felt that under either system there would be inequities. After discussing other legislation, Mrs. Maher said that she was still trying to get a bill through to help S. Burlington in its enforcement problems. There is not much sympathy in the Legislature for it, however, since not many towns seem to share the problem. They all agreed that they needed a law to do it - a Charter amendment would not be enough. Mrs. Maher said that she has revised the bill again this year and that Dick Spokes has added his opinions. She said that the bill would require that the violator be notified a specified number of times and if the violation was not corrected, he would be called before the Council, which would act as a mini-court, and could fine the person until the violation was corrected. It would not be for gross violations, she said. The Council should be prepared to go to court over those. Mrs. Maher said that as far as road salt is concerned, the Highway Department is trying to see if it can do without it as an experiment this year. Mr. Babcock suggested that the Council call him and Mrs. Maher in the last part of January or early February so that they can make another report on what is happening. Review of Planning Commission and Zoning Board agendas There were no comments. Review of Tax Distribution Policy The Council discussed the policy briefly. Mr. Burgess moved to approve the Policy for Distribution of Tax Income. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. (see attached copy) Consider Urban Systems street repaying for next year Mr. Szymanski had submitted a list earlier for this type of project and he wanted to add Holmes Road to the bottom of the list for repaying. The city's cost would be $2300. Mr. Burgess moved to add Holmes Road to the list of Urban Systems paving projects as a fourth priority. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. (see November 7, 1977 minutes) Sidewalk snow clearing Mr. Armstrong felt that many of the sidewalks in the city were not well cleaned. Mr. Farrar said that there was an ordinance dealing with the problem and Mr. Armstrong said that it should be enforced. He discussed the possibility of having the city do the work and then assess the charges to the person or business responsible for that section of the sidewalk. He suggested that the City Attorney be consulted on the question of the legality of that. He said that he would like to see the sidewalks actually cleared. Mr. Audette said that the street department clears the walks and then people push the snow back into the sidewalks when they clear their driveways. Mr. Armstrong was also concerned about the snow and slush which remains after the sidewalk has been cleared. This frequently turns into ice, he said. Mr. Audette felt that the police could be a help. He said that they have sent them a couple of times to tell people not to push snow back in the sidewalks and that lately they had been very helpful. It was suggested that patrolmen be encouraged to say something to people doing it as they see it. Mr. Farrar asked Mr. Szymanski to talk to the police chief about the matter. Review of Unemployment Insurance Mr. Szymanski said that the city would be under Unemployment Compensation soon and that they could be insured several ways. The one he favored was through the League of Cities and Towns. The insurance was cheaper, but they had to have 1,000 members. He said that only two other towns have said that they are interested in it. Mr. Farrar briefly discussed that plan and said that he liked it. Mr. Szymanski said that, based on past experience, the city would not have much of a problem. There have been no claims in the past year. Mr. Szymanski said that one thing to consider was that if there was compulsory retirement, as there is in South Burlington, the retiring person is eligible. He further suggested that the town could set up a trust fund for this purpose. Mr. Burgess moved that the South Burlington City Council adopt the League of Cities and Towns proposed insurance policy for financing Unemployment Compensation if such a plan is made available by the League and if it is not, that we make payments in lieu of contributions. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. The meeting was declared adjourned at 9:50 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.