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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/19/1978CITY COUNCIL JUNE 19, 1978 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, June 19, 1978 at 8:00 pm in the Assessor's Office, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; William Burgess, Michael Flaherty, Martin Paulsen, Ken Jarvis Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Ray Stearns, Clark Benson, Frank Mazur, Ray Conchieu, Peter Jacob, David Boehm, Yvan Beliveau, Wayne Wilson, Jim Draper, David Morency, M. Argast, J. H. Tushin, William Wessel, Mr. Bartlett, Tracy Gleason, Ray Lawrence, Sterling Emerson, Harry Scurry Mr. Farrar stated that everyone had been informed of the move into the Assessor's office since the Conference Room was in use. Additions to agenda The following item was added: 11. Action on setting a date for changes to the Subdivision Regulations. Minutes of June 6, 1978 It was moved by Mr. Jarvis and seconded by Mr. Paulsen to accept the minutes of June 6, 1978. The motion passed unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Mr. Bartlett of the Disabled American Veterans to present the city with a flag and a plaque Chairman Farrar was presented with a plaque, which he read, and a flag that had been flown over the U. S. Capital. Mr. Farrar thanked the Disabled American Veterans and said the city appreciated this. Report on the CCTA Frank Mazur gave the Council members a report on the CCTA and a budget proposal for 1978–79, a copy of which is attached to the minutes. He then went through the report. He said they had had a passenger increase of 7%, which was a new record, that the bus validation program had been cited in the Wall Street Journal, and that they were getting good support from the Regional Planning Commission. The average age of the busses was 12 1/2 years and 46% were 20 years old or older, which meant high maintenance costs. Insurance rates have also risen dramatically. Mr. Mazur said that they would like to do some route studies to see how they can increase off peak ridership. He also said they had been forced to raise the fares to 50¢ for peak hours and 35¢ off peak. They are going to use a pass system of $16.50 per month for unlimited rides. Mr. Mazur said they hoped to get employers to get their people to use the busses. On the elderly and handicapped service, Mr. Mazur said they hoped to keep two busses for that. People would be picked up at home and taken to specific places. He said they could only do this if they could keep the Rural Demonstration Program equipment. Mr. Mazur hoped that they would be able to build an additional facility for bus storage, feeling that this would help the busses last longer. He said they hoped to improve on-time performance and might hire a consultant to tell them how they could be more efficient. Mr. Mazur told the Council that the busses had a hard time meeting their schedules on Williston and Shelburne Roads because of the congestion, and he also told them that erosion of the business core in Burlington would have a significant impact on the transit system. He pointed out that they have one of the lowest costs per mile for busses in the entire country. Interviews for Boards and Commissions William Wessel – Mr. Farrar asked how Mr. Wessel saw the role of the Planning Commission in modulating the growth of the community and how he thought it could be done. Mr. Wessel replied that there were two ways to do it - one was regulatory, whereby the city administered the Subdivision Regulations, etc. and the other was the long-range planning that was done. This is looking ahead to how one wants South Burlington to look in 10 years and seeing how this will affect the Capital Programming. He said the Commission was working on the criteria for lifting interim zoning and that in terms of a growth policy, he would stand on what they have done in the past and what will be done in the next month. Mr. Farrar asked if he felt there were any tools that the city could use that weren't available right now and was told that one which was not available short-term was the adoption of a growth rate. He said that accomplishment of the 6 goals set for the lifting of interim zoning would be a step in the right direction and added that he felt it was not growth which needed to be controlled, it was the adverse impact of growth. Mr. Jarvis asked about his attendance record and was told that he had attended 91% of the meetings and that the average member attends 87% of them. Mr. Wessel reminded the Council that the Commission meets every week, which is an extraordinary burden for its members. Each member spends an average of 1 1/2 hours preparing for the meetings, which last about 3 hours. He said that he, as chairman, was spending 6-7 hours a week to get the work done. Mr. Jarvis asked if he would still have that kind of time in his new job and was told he had been in the job for 6 months and there had been no problem so far. Mr. Jarvis asked if Mr. Wessel felt the Council should provide more professional services to assist the Commission and was told that he had first thought a full time engineer was needed but now was not so sure of that. He told the Council that perhaps there should be an analysis of the work load in city hall to see where the pressures are. He said that the Commission has a traffic engineer and that its primary needs for traffic data are beginning to be satisfied by its own budget. Mr. Paulsen asked how long Mr. Wessel had served and was told it was 5--6 years. David Morency - Mr. Farrar asked what tools or actions should be different from what the Commission is doing now. Mr. Morency replied that the first thing that concerned him was the growth and by that he meant he was concerned about its control. He said he has seen the Commission acting as a reactive body and he felt they should be planning to control growth and adopt standards to measure the rate of growth so that they can see where they are exceeding a good growth rate. He felt interim zoning would help them to do this by giving them time to develop standards. He said there were standards for parking but none yet to determine the impact of a development on city services. Mr. Farrar asked if the city should control growth and if so, how? Mr. Morency said that he felt growth should be orderly and he would worry about the tax rate getting out of whack because of too much growth. Mr. Jarvis asked for Mr. Morency's background and was told he taught math at UVM, had lived in the city 5 years and had 4 children. His background is engineering. Mr. Jarvis asked if he felt the Commission was balanced as to philosophies, background, etc. and was told that it seemed pretty good since lately they do not seem to be having unanimous votes. Mr. Jarvis asked about more in-house professional service and Mr. Morency replied that he agreed with Mr. Wessel about that. He said he did not want to tell the city how to run its business and that he was not qualified to do so, but he pointed out that the Commission needed more technical help and that it should be readily available. In his first year on the Commission the traffic engineer from Regional Planning had been available. He favored analyzing the city work load to see if it was economically feasible to hire a full time person. Mr. Burgess asked what the Commission was doing about growth control and Mr. Morency replied that he had done some research and written the High Traffic Generators report. The Commission is working on a new zone and on setting standards for planning during this period of interim zoning. Mr. Paulsen asked how long Mr. Morency had been on the Commission and was told it was 2 years. Peter Jacob - Mr. Farrar asked why Mr. Jacob wished to serve on the Planning Commission and was told that in the past there had been a member of the Water Board on the Commission, which helped both boards. He said there were a lot of times the Water Board was vitally interested in development and that it was helpful to have someone on the Commission who saw things from the Board's point of view. Mr. Farrar asked what Mr. Jacob would like to see changed and he replied that he felt the planning process could be speeded up if Steve Page, the planner, were given more responsibility. He could look at plans submitted and tell the Commission if they were good or not. The Commission could then deal with things that were in question. Mr. Farrar asked Mr. Jacob's philosophy of growth and was told that he did not favor no growth - he was in favor of good planning. Mr. Jacob was not sure it was the Planning Commission's job to sit as judge and jury over growth - he felt it was their job to implement the Comprehensive Plan, and work within the tools the city had. He also felt the Commission needed direction and that in the past years it has fallen down on keeping in touch with the Council. The two bodies should meet and discuss things together more often, he said. Mr. Farrar asked if Mr. Jacob had read the Comprehensive Plan and what he thought of the 2% growth rate the Plan dictated. Mr. Jacob told the Council he had read the Plan and would have to go along with what it said. He said the city had to plan for its services but he was not sure they could put a specific number on the growth rate. Mr. Paulsen asked what experience Mr. Jacob would bring to the Commission and was told that he had graduated from St. Michael's College and since then had been in banking and real estate. He was on several city and town committees and had worked with people for a long time, giving him a grasp on administration, personnel, and personalities. Mr. Paulsen asked if he was familiar with any other Comprehensive Plans and was told he had looked at some and that he got publications dealing with planning issues. He felt his real estate knowledge would help out. Mr. Farrar asked if he would be interested in any other Boards and was told he would not. James Draper – Mr. Draper said he had been with Green Mountain Power for 15 years and was a vice president. He had lived in South Burlington in 1959 for a year and in Burlington for 15 years. 6--7 months ago they moved back into South Burlington. He felt his Green Mountain Power experience would be helpful to the Commission - consumer affairs was his responsibility. Mr. Farrar asked if he had read the Comprehensive Plan and was told that the city did not have any more copies so he had only been able to read parts of it. He said it was similar to the ideals in other Plans but that the planning of the last 10 years had not been productive because it had not carried out the goals of the Plan. He said attention had to be paid to certain areas in a different way than in the past and said that people living in the greater community were quite upset by what they saw. He cited two fast food places with a common drive near an interstate and said that if that had been legal, the ordinances should be adjusted. He felt that was the epitome of what the public ridiculed its officials for. He also said there should be more long-range planning and that perhaps the Commission had been swamped by activity in the past decade but that they should have sounded the alarm to the city and forced the City Council to act and to supply them with professional help. He felt permanent professional help was necessary on the board. Mr. Flaherty asked if he felt there should be a study of City Hall operations and was asked who would study it. Mr. Draper said he would be very careful forming a group to study City Hall. He said that the Council could discuss personalities in closed session and suggested that perhaps some people in City Hall were in the wrong jobs for their talents. He stated that he had been on the Board of Aldermen in Burlington, was the liason with the Planning Commission, was on the ordinance committee and had attended Zoning Board meetings. He was one of a committee who did major remodeling on the city Master Plan. Mr. Jarvis asked why he had left Burlington and was told that the children had grown up and moved away and that he had wanted to live in South Burlington now. He said he liked being involved in community activities and was not interested in elective office. Mr. Paulsen asked how he would address the traffic congestion on Williston and Shelburne Roads. Mr. Draper replied that he did not think too much could be done in 1–2 years and he said there would have to be a higher level of activity in the city to fight for its life vis­à­vis its interests, Burlington's, the County's and the State's. He felt better long-range planning was needed and said they should use the interim zoning's year's grace period to do a lot of needed work. Mr. Wessel said that a year ago he had told the Council that it was the unanimous recommendation of the Commission to hire technical assistance and that they had been given a budget of $4,000, not the $12,000 man they had requested. David Boehm – Mr. Boehm said that he was a native of Albany, New York and that he had lived in Connecticut for 3 years. He then moved to Maryland where he was a city planner and engineer. In that state the Planning Commission is only an advisory board and the professionals make the decisions. He said his strength was in engineering and that he had been very active in the Maryland community affairs. He told the Council that he would like to get involved in South Burlington and would serve on another board, although the Planning Commission was his preference. Mr. Farrar asked his present employment and was told he works for an architectural firm in Vermont that does landscape work mainly outside the state. He said that he had the time to spend on a Board. Mr. Farrar asked if he had read the Master Plan and was told he had not but he had read the Zoning Ordinance and Subdivision Regulations, which looked pretty standard. He felt he could offer fresh opinions and his professional background. Mr. Boehm said he would accept appointment to another board. Mr. Burgess asked his philosophy on growth and Mr. Boehm replied that he felt 2% sounded like a good figure short-term but that the important thing to do was to try to predict the growth of a city and adjust to meet it. Public hearing on conditional use applications within interim zoning district Trachte Metal Building Co. – north of Nordic Ford – Ray Lawrence and Elmer Argast represented the appeal. Mr. Farrar asked for an overview of the project and its impact on the city, especially on traffic. He said that the Council would then meet in the next two weeks and frame specific questions so that they could be answered at the meeting after that. He said the city wanted copies of everything the developers would present. Mr. Ray Lawrence located the project. He said the proposal was to build a 61,300 sq. ft. mini warehouse on lot 1. No more curb cuts on Shelburne Road would be created. No zoning variances were needed. Shrubs will be planted along Shelburne Road and the bulk of the building will not be visible. There will be two toilet facilities and no school impact. Mr. Argast said that a survey of ten warehouse facilities had been made to determine traffic impact and that the low count was 4 cars per day and the average count was 15 per day. Mr. Farrar asked him if he could document that, saying that the city would like documentation of facts so that they could be made part of the record. Mr. Argast said it would be hard to document it but that he would try to do so. (Letter attached.) Tracy Gleason - music store at southeast corner Dorset St - Kennedy Drive - Mr. Harry Scurry, representing Mr. Gleason, passed out a letter to the Council (copy attached). He said that Mr. Gleason wanted to use the existing residence at 700 Dorset Street to move the music business currently near Zayres into. Mr. Scurry read the letter. Mr. Farrar asked for documentation of the traffic and was told that the only way that could be provided was through Mr. Gleason's records. The property, said Mr. Scurry, was 2 1/2 acres and the use was minimal considering the extensive frontages. Mr. Gleason said the move he proposed was necessitated by the fact that his present property has been sold so that his mother can retire. The business now needs a new location and he felt this was the best one for him. He spent a long time looking for the location and said he had been a member of the business community in South Burlington for 25 years and that the building would be improved once he got in there. Mr. Farrar said the Council would get back to him with some questions. Sterling Emerson - Real Estate office at 1210 Shelburne Road - Mr. Emerson submitted a letter (see copy) to the Council. He said that the property had been in the family for years and that it had been rented as a residence. This use has become less and less desirable and he would like to use the property for his new real estate business. The building will not be enlarged or changed other than to remove the garage and put parking in the rear. He anticipated 10-12 cars per day but when Mr. Farrar asked if he could document that he said that it was an opinion based on his experience as a realtor with another business. Mr. Emerson said he felt there would be a secretary and two collegues using the home with him. He asked that consideration be given to the various types of offices allowed in the ordinance and said that this use was more in keeping with the value of the property than a residence was. Mr. Wayne Wilson said that he owned the property to the north of this and said that they had a swimming pool in the back and were concerned about privacy if this use were allowed. Mr. Farrar asked for a letter documenting Mr. Wilson's concerns and was told it would be provided. Consider late tax penalty waivers Mr. Farrar said that waiving of tax penalties was the business of the City Manager but that he could report actions taken and ask for advice from the Council. The final decision was his, though. In one case this year Mr. Szymanski cited a possible conflict of interest so he has asked that the Council make a recommendation on the case. Rand Corp. - Mr. Szymanski said that the amount was $1890 and that a previous penalty had been waived in 1972. He did not like waiving penalties a second time. Mr. Tushin represented Rand and he spoke to the Council. He said that the company was aware that the tax should be paid on time but said that Mr. Rand had been in Florida and had not been able to sign the check until he got back, which was the 15th of the month. He said the letter had gone out that day, and arrived on the 20th. The postmark read the 18th but Mr. Tushin did not believe that it could have arrived on the 20th if it had been mailed on the 18th. He said that he had been late with the taxes in 1972 and was not going to do it again and he pointed out that the letter went through a postage meter which could have been set to any date. Mr. Flaherty felt the intent had been to pay on time and did not see a problem in waiving it. Mr. Farrar said the penalty was 8% and the interest was 1/2 of 1% for each month and he suggested that since it was a second offence the 1/2% interest be collected but not the penalty. Mr. Burgess felt a business should do things right and said he was not very sympathetic. Mr. Jarvis did not feel strongly either way. Mr. Paulsen was concerned about setting a precedent and felt whatever was decided, the policy should be written. Mr. Farrar said the consensus seemed to be that the City Manager consider waiving the penalty and assessing the interest. Hannaford Brothers Co. - Mr. Szymanski said that he had received a letter from them saying that they had moved and the bill had been lost when the man who usually handled them moved to another department. Mr. Jarvis felt that was a reasonable excuse. Others - the other late taxes were submitted to the Council but they took no action. Consider projects to be submitted to Regional Planning for update under the Overall Economic Development Program Mr. Szymanski said Regional Planning had send the city a letter concerning this (see attached copy). The council discussed projects they would like to see done. Mr. Flaherty said he would not be able to attend the meeting on June 22 and Mr. Farrar said he would try to make it. Planning Commission and Zoning Board agendas There were no comments. Action on setting a date for amendments to the Subdivision Regulations Mr. Jarvis moved to accept July 3 as the date for a public hearing on the proposed amendments to the Subdivision Regulations. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. Highway Department Union contract Mr. Farrar said he would talk to Mr. Rounds about the request for safety shoes. Chittenden County Transportation Authority Mr. Ivan Beliveau said that he would like to be interviewed for the vacant position on this board. He said that he was a civil engineer and that in his education his area of concentration had been municipal management with a lot of planning and transportation. He has lived in the city for 4 years and studied at UVM before that. He has lived in Maine and Massachusetts as well as Virginia. He was very interested in the CCTA, saying that it went well with his education and interests. He felt his knowledge could help the authority. Mr. Farrar asked if he would like to do anything specific and was told he would like to work with models to maximize profits and minimize coats. He would like to see patronage of the busses continue to rise and he would like to help with marketing as well as planning. Mr. Szymanski said he would provide the with copies of Mr. Beliveau's resumé. The meeting was declared adjourned at 11:15 pm. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.