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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 07/19/1977CITY COUNCIL JULY 19, 1977 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, July 19, 1977 at 8:00 p.m. in the Conference Room, Municipal Offices, 1175 Williston Rd. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Frank Armstrong, William Burgess, Martin Paulsen, Michael Flaherty Others Present Catherine Neubert, William Schuele, David E. Siriano, Sheila Roberts, Karin Larson, Stanley Roberts Agenda Item 8 was moved to 3rd position and #3 was placed at the end. #11-Signing of the Water Department note was added. #12-Discussion of action on EDA funds was added. Minutes of June 27, 1977 Mr. Armstrong moved to accept the minutes of June 27, 1977 as printed. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Report on the completion of the East Terrace extension Mr. Farrar said that they should determine who was responsible for the work and what the deadline was for it to be done. Mr. Siriano, who lives at 50 East Terrace, said that as far as he could tell, the drainage system as it is put in is inadequate. He said that the drain is too high for the water to run in and this creates a pool in the driveway and a pond in the front yard. The culvert is on the north of the property and goes out to the back and ends. Mr. Siriano felt that the way it ends could also be a danger to children. He said that he never sees a lot of water in the ditch and that even if he did, it would stay there because it would have to flow uphill to get off the property. Mr. Farrar asked if there were curbs there and Mr. Paulsen said that there were not and none were planned. Mr. Farrar asked whether further paving would raise the level but Mr. Siriano said that he did not know whether any more was planned. He pointed out that some work had been done but that it just did not seem to have been effective. Mr. Farrar said that he would talk to Mr. Szymanski tomorrow and if what is left to be done will help the problem, the Council will leave it and if not, the Council will discuss it at the next meeting. Report on Southern Connector by Mrs. Neubert Mrs. Neubert gave the Council maps with proposed changes on them. She said that one of the proposals was ridiculous because it used the K-Mart parking area as an access and exit. She said that she had looked at the Environmental Impact Study and found it inadequate in several areas. Queen City Park Road would be closed off during construction and gravel would be brought from the Hinesburg pit. This, she said, would require those heavy trucks to travel on 116 and Swift Street and South Burlington has limits on some of its roads. She would rather the gravel was brought from Winooski because trucks could get on the Interstate and come down. She was concerned about the creation of turbidity in Potash Brook and how that might impact Red Rocks park. The Study said merely that the project would impact on South Burlington and Mrs. Neubert is concerned about how much and exactly what kind of impact will occur. She has been unable to get satisfactory answers to her questions. She would also like more traffic data. Mrs. Neubert recommended that the City apply for funding for the project because if they do so, the preliminary engineering is done free. The proposal then goes to the Highway Department and the Legislature. If the Transportation Committee approves it, the City pays 15% and it is done. If the City cannot afford it, it is dropped, but the engineering has been done. She said that it will not cost anything to apply. Mr. Farrar asked if she wanted to apply for the whole thing and Mrs. Neubert replied that they should apply to have the interchange built. The whole thing should be done, she said, because it will be needed by the time it is built. She also recommended that action be taken immediately to stop the interchange in its present configuration on proposed plans because there are better plans than that. Mrs. Neubert felt that the Council should have the Highway Department in to explain the intersection or consider reactivating the Route 7 Task Force and maybe attack it from that end. Mr. Flaherty moved that a) the Council make formal application for the design plans for the South Burlington Southern Connector and b) that they ask a representative of the State Highway Board to come in and explain the Burlington Southern Connector and its impact on South Burlington in the near future. The motion was seconded by Mr. Armstrong and passed unanimously. Mrs. Neubert said that she would like to be sure that it was done this time. She said that last December the Council had made a motion on the subject and never followed through. She read the motion made on December 6. Mrs. Neubert said that she has a very serious concern about traffic and the way it is planned for and she requested that the City Council create a permanent Transportation Committee to deal with it. There is a lot of material available on the subject and nobody in City Hall has the time to study it. She has been having trouble getting help and feels that there should be a professional in City Hall to answer questions and suggested a professional planner or a splitting of the City Manager-City Engineer job. Mr. Armstrong moved that in this case the City Council take the position that the Environmental Impact Statement on the Southern Connector does not specifically outline the impact on South Burlington and that it should in many cases. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty. Mr. Armstrong said that he objected to the road in the interchange going into the K-Mart parking lot. He felt that was wrong and the Council should take a stand on it. Mrs. Neubert asked how the Council felt about her proposal for a permanent Transportation Committee and was told that they would like it cleared with the other committee, Mrs. Neubert said that they would understand, and Ms. Larson agreed. The motion passed unanimously. Discussion on FAI 89, Dorset Street, Kennedy Drive interchange Mr. Armstrong said that some time ago the City Council had decided to request the State Highway Board to schedule a full interchange there and that he was not sure that this was what they really wanted. He said that it would aggravate the present situation. Mr. Farrar said that he had talked to Regional Planning and that they feel there is a possibility of funding in the next year and that they suggest the engineering be done for the whole project but that only the North ramp be built. It is Bruce Houghton's opinion that will help the present traffic situation. Mr. Armstrong said that he was in favor of the north ramp. Mr. Farrar said that he wanted to keep their options open. Mr. Flaherty pointed out that if a full intersection were made development in the area would increase and Mr. Schuele agreed. He also expressed concern that if they asked for a full intersection, that is probably what they would get and he wondered if the City was prepared for the consequences. Mr. Farrar said that the Zoning laws would take care of some of that but Mr. Flaherty said that he was afraid that if they make that area as attractive to business as Williston Road, the City will have twice the traffic it has now. Mr. Schuele recommended that the Council send a memo to the Planning Commission suggesting a strengthing of the Zoning in preparation for the pressure. Mr. Paulsen moved to make application to the State for the final design on the northbound ramp at Kennedy Drive and Dorset Street and also request preliminary engineering on a new full interchange located in South Burlington. We also suggest investigation of a full interchange at Kennedy Drive and Dorset Street or at Hinesburg Road (route 116). The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Schedule for the construction of sewerage collection system for Country Club Estates Mr. Armstrong said that he would like to reserve capacity at the Airport Parkway plant for these homes in the event that expansion at the plant is not approved in 1978. Mrs. Neubert said that she would like a justification of that project - she felt that there were only two homes with problems and the expense was not warrented. Mr. Armstrong felt that by 1981 there would be more homes with problems and Mr. Flaherty said that he has had a lot of complaints and that he would rather spend the money on sewers than on roads. Mrs. Neubert did not agree. Mr. Armstrong moved that the City Council advise the City Manager to reserve sufficient sewer capacity for the existing homes in Country Club Estates at the Airport Parkway sewage treatment plant. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. Review of Planning Commission and Zoning Board agendas Since the Planning Commission was already meeting, there were no comments on their agenda. Mr. Farrar said that he suggested a comment on #2 on the Zoning agenda. This house was erected in direct violation of the Zoning Ordinance and without a building permit and now the owner is trying to correct the error. Mr. Farrar said that he was not sure that this was the way to go about it. He said that it was a violation of the site-plan. Mr. Burgess moved that the City Council recommend strongly to the Zoning Board of Adjustment that appeal #2 on August 1 not be granted because of the precedent it is apt to set and the further difficulty that it will create if allowed to continue. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. Discuss Growth Policy Mr. Armstrong said that the Comprehensive Plan says that the City should grow at 2% per year or the County Growth Rate, whichever is larger, and he wondered if we were adhering to that. Mr. Farrar said that the Council had tried to do that, but that several things were making it hard to do. He said that next week they would meet with the City Attorney to discuss several legal possibilities. Liquor Control Board Mr. Flaherty moved that they adjourn as the City Council and meet as the Liquor Control Board for the purpose of acting on a 2nd class application. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. The application was from the Savemore store at 40 Airport Road. The Police Chief said that he had no objection to granting the application. Mr. Paulsen moved to approve the liquor license application as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Mr. Flaherty made a motion at 9:20 P.M. to adjourn the meeting of the Liquor Control Board and reconvene in regular meeting to consider the two items that were added to the agenda. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Water Department Note After a discussion concerning the renewal note for the Water Department truck Mr. Flaherty made a motion to sign the note as presented. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Discussion of Action on EDA Funds Mr. Armstrong made a motion that in the future all E.D.A. applications should be forwarded to the Regional Planning Commission for review, that the Regional Planning Commission should set the priorities in which the applications should be funded and also that a suitable resolution be drafted and adopted which incorporates the motion. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. Mr. Flaherty then said he felt that the Vermont Congressional delegation should be informed of the City Council's displeasure of the manner in which the E.D.A. applications were handled. Mr. Paulsen made a motion at 9:25 P.M. to meet in Executive Session to discuss appointments to the different Boards and Commissions. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. Mr. Paulsen made a motion at 9:30 P.M. to adjourn the Executive Session and reconvene the regular meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and passed unanimously. Appointments to Various Commissions, Committees and Boards Mr. Paulsen made a motion to make the following appointments: The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously Mr. Paulsen made a motion to appoint Paul R. Graves to the Zoning Board of Adjustment for a two year term. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess. The motion passed with a vote of three to two, with Chairman Farrar and Mr. Flaherty voting Nay. On motion made by Mr. Armstrong, seconded by Mr. Flaherty, and passed unanimously the meeting was declared adjourned at 9:50 P.M. Approved Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.