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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/06/1978CITY COUNCIL MARCH 6, 1978 CORRECTION On line 1 of the March 6, 1978 minutes, it should read March, not February. The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, February 6, 1978 at 8:00 pm in the Conference Room, Municipal Offices, 1175 Williston Rd. Member Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, Martin Paulsen, Frank Armstrong Member Absent William Burgess Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Lawrence LeCours, Frederick Tuttle, A.C. Audette, Frank McCaffrey, James Goddette, Bruce O'Neill, Fran Brock, Free Press Agenda additions The following items were added to the agenda: 10. Discussion of the Bob Larson letter 11. Discussion of a School Board request 12. Sewer construction renewel note 13. Discussion of Pyramid Mall Minutes of February 21, 1978 Mr. Armstrong moved that the minutes of February 21, 1978 be approved. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Discussion of two School Board requests Mr. Tuttle said that the additions and alterations to the high school were coming along well and it would be occupied in September. He said that the requests were verbal because the Board does not have firm information and the figures he is using are just for planning purposes. The requests are for equipment for the addition to the high school and money for paving the Central School parking lot. He said the equipment fund would be phased over 3–4 years and would be $322,000, with 55% of that going to the 3 Industrial Arts programs. Any help the city could give would be appreciated, he said. Paving the parking lot at Central would cost $5–6,000 and it is a priority but the equipment fund is more important. Mr. Flaherty said that the $322,000 figure would go to $400,000 with interest and was told that was correct. Mr. Tuttle said that he would like a reply as soon as possible. Review Planning Commission and Zoning Board agendas On #3 of the March 7 Planning Commission agenda, Mr. Paulsen asked if there should be some Council input. It was decided that Mr. Farrar would ask if the Council could come to that Commission meeting and discuss the sewer policy with them. On #5 of the Zoning Board agenda (Lakelands appeal), Mr. Armstrong asked how that would tie in with the route of the Southern Connector. Mr. Szymanski said that it could be a problem. Mr. Farrar said that the Connector Committee would be meeting on the 16th and would know more about possible locations for the road at that point. It was decided to discuss this item at the next Council meeting. Review City Attorney's recommendation on Interim Zoning Regulations (See attached copy) Mr. Armstrong moved that the City Council deems that any increase in traffic on Williston Road would be unacceptable and unsafe. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously. The Council went through the recommendations and Mr. Paulsen moved that the City Attorney be instructed to prepare Interim Zoning following item 2, Commercial Traffic District, as outlined in his letter of March 3, 1978. The motion was seconded by Mr. Flaherty and passed unanimously after some further discussion. Appointment to Natural Resources Committee Mr. Szymanski said that he had advertised the position but had not gotten any additional applications. Sylvia Smith is the only applicant. Mr. Armstrong moved to appoint Sylvia Smith to the Natural Resources Committee. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. Letter from Mayor Paquette regarding Winooski River wasteload allocation Mr. Farrar said that Mayor Paquette wanted to meet with South Burlington and other communities to discuss the capacity of the Winooski River. Mr. Szymanski said that the Mayor wanted to lower the dissolved oxygen from 6 to 5 parts per million because then sewage treatment plants will not have to go to nitrate removal or a higher level of treatment. There will be a meeting to discuss this at 9:00 am in Burlington City Hall on March 21, 1978. Mr. Szymanski said that he understood that lowering the oxygen would kill some types of fish. Mr. Farrar said that the Council members could decide for themselves whether or not to go and said that Mr. Szymanski would represent the Council. Consider engineer's proposal for investigating sections of sewar lines to determine infiltration cause Mr. Szymanski said that he had asked Webster-Martin what it would cost to investigate two of the high infiltration areas and that $2400 for one and $13,000 for the other were top prices. (See attached letter). Mr. Paulsen had a question on one of the figures and Mr. Szymanski said that he would check into it. Discussion of Bob Larson letter (see attached copy) Mr. Paulsen said that Mr. Larson had made some sound observations and recommendations and they should be kept in mind. Name a Green Up Day Chairman Green Up Day is April 29 this year and Mr. Szymanski read a letter from the State Co-ordinator about the program. Mr. Flaherty moved to appoint Sonny Audette the Green Up Day Chairman for 1978. The motion was seconded by Mr. Armstrong and passed unanimously. Sewer construction renewel note. Mr. Szymanski said that the note was for $100,000 at 3.9% interest. Mr. Flaherty moved to sign the sewer renewel note. The motion was seconded by Mr. Paulsen and passed unanimously. Discussion of Pyramid Mall Mr. Farrar said that it was time to think about summations for the District Environmental Commission. He felt that the areas of significant impact would be in transportation. Mr. Paulsen said that he would abstain from discussion because of a possible conflict of interest. Mr. Farrar said that if the completion of the Industrial Road and the recommendations of the Williston Road Task Force were not completed before Pyramid opened, he thought there would be a severe impact on the city's ability to handle traffic. Also, if the Mall opened at the full size that is suggested before the Southern Connector is built, he would have reservations about it. Mr. Farrar recommended that the South Burlington City Council request that the District Environmental Board make those conditions of approval if approval is granted. He also suggested that the Council recommend that the application be turned down if it does not comply with the Regional Master Plan, which he felt was a very important point. The Councilmen agreed that improvements to Williston Road and the completion of the Industrial Road should be finished before Pyramid opens and the Southern Connector should be built to the junction of 189 simultaneously with the completion of the last space in the Mall. City Budget Mr. Szymanski said that the maximum operating budget could be 10% over that of last year. Mr. James Goddette, Fire Chief, went through his budget requests. He said that they have not changed much from last year. He would like to hire one man to take care of absence caused by sick leave or vacation. He presently has 7 men including himself. This new man would be a back-up, and would cut down on overtime currently paid. The Chief's car is 5 years old and has 51,000 miles on it but he feels that it is in bad shape and should be replaced. Mr. Goddette said that next year the equipment costs would drop considerably. Mr. Farrar asked where cuts should be made if they had to be and Mr. Goddette answered that he really did not know where outs could be made. Mr. Audette went through the Highway Department's budget requests. He said that the department had one man who had been juggled around for about 3 years and that they would like to put him into a regular salary account. His salary used to be in park maintenance, but was taken out of that account, so that figure dropped. Mr. Audette said that the Department was going to add a jogging lane to Spear St. He also said that he would like to buy a sewer cleaner which would cost about $60,000. Next year they will also need a new truck, which will cost about $20,000. Mr. Farrar said that both last year and this they have spent more than they put in and that could not continue indefinitely. Mr. Audette also said that he would not know where to cut the budget. Mr. O'Neill discussed the Park and Recreation, Fine Arts, and Natural Resources budget requests with the Council. In Park and Recreation he said that he was requesting a new assistant director whose salary would be spread over the three departments since he would help in all those areas. The total salary would be $8300 per year. He discussed other salaries in the department. He felt that flag football would become a less popular sport and would eventually phase out while soccer was the coming thing. He discussed the Fine Arts budget briefly but said that he would like Ethel Schuele to discuss the library budget with the Council. He discussed the Natural Resources budget and then said that the Recreation Department has grown tremendously in the past few years and is now to the point where 5 or 6 things are usually going on at one time. It is very hard for him to keep up with everything and still plan or do administrative things. He said that he felt the city had grown enough to justify another professional person in the department. Chairman Farrar recommended that the budget meeting ajourn and reconvene the next evening after the Planning Commission meeting, to discuss the Fine Arts and Police Department budgets with Fine Arts Chairman Ethel Schuele and Police Chief Richard Carter. Mr Flaherty made the above into a motion and Dr Armstrong seconded it and it passed unanimously. The meeting was declared adjourned at 11:00 P.M. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.