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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/21/1979CITY COUNCIL MAY 21, 1979 CORRECTION On page 3 under the Timberlane appeal, it should be noted that Mr. Cass was a representative of the construction company, not a doctor. The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on May 21, 1979 at 7:30 pm in the Conference Room, City Hall, 1175 Williston Road Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, William Burgess, Kenneth Jarvis, Martin Paulsen Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; Andy Potter, WJOY; John Bergin, Free Press; Thomas Fraga and Peter Lavellee, S.B. Police Department; Preston Peters, R. Narkewicz, A. Cass, Vincent Bolduc, Wesley Daum, Jr., Ruth and R. J. Farrell, Ted Mable, Barbara Lozon, Eleanor May, Mary Blanchette, Diane Geerken, Ben Haynes, Jim and Barbara Lanpher, Lowell Krassner Agenda additions The following items were added to the agenda: 1) A discussion of the minutes. 2) Continue discussion on Energy Coordinator. 3) Sign Water Department note. 4) Meet as Liquor Control Board to sign entertainment permit. Minutes of May 7 and May 16, 1979 Mr. Burgess moved to approve the May 7, 1979 minutes. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all were in favor. On page 1 of the May 16 minutes, at the bottom of that page, in the first motion of the last paragraph, that motion should read that the meeting dates be the first and third Mondays of the month and that the meeting time for June, July and August be 8:00 pm and starting in September that the meeting time will be 7:30 pm for the rest of the year. On page 2, it should be noted that the vote on the motion to approve the ordinance regulating conduct in city parks was unanimously in favor. Mr. Paulsen moved to approve the May 16, 1979 minutes as corrected. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and all were in favor. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Continue public hearing on Interim Zoning application of Fernand LaJeunesse for a mobile catering service at 21 McIntosh Avenue. Mr. Szymanski said the Council members had gotten a letter from the Fire Chief detailing what needed to be done to Mr. LaJeunesse's garage if he wants to cook in it (copy attached). The applicant has also seen the letter, and it will become part of the record. Mr. LaJeunesse put a site plan of his lot and buildings up on the board. The plan showed places for 6 cars to park and two locations for the bus. When it is being used, it will be parked on the grass near the garage. When he anticipates that he will not be using it for 10 days to 2 weeks, he will park it behind the house on the other side of the house. Mr. LaJeunesse also said that if he were allowed to blacktop the bus parking area by the garage it would make the lot look better and eliminate a problem with mud from this parking area getting into the road. Mr. LaJeunesse proposed to blacktop from 2-3' away from his fence on the garage side of the house over to a line which was square with the side of the house that touches the garage. Mr. LaJeunesse reiterated that the two people working for him now do not drive cars and he said that only 2-3 cars would be using the 6 parking spaces shown on the site-plan. Mr. LaJeunesse said he had been told by a neighbor that there had to be a 15' buffer strip between commercial and residential land and he was not sure that strip could be paved. Mr. LaJeunesse was asked where the zoning line between residential and commercial land lay on his property, if it was in fact on his property. He did not know and Mr. Szymanski was asked to check that out. Mr. LaJeunesse said he could leave the strip next to the garage grassed if the Council would rather see that than blacktop. Mr. Vincent Bolduc, a neighbor of Mr. LaJeunesse, submitted a petition to the Council with about 20 names on it (copy attached). These neighbors objected to the proposal for 7 reasons. Mr. LaJeunesse submitted a letter also to the Council (copy attached). In it he said that he was no longer asking for a temporary permit, but rather a permanent one, and he said that he now planned to cook all the chicken in the garage. He felt the expense involved in renovations required by the Fire Chief justified the use of that area for cooking. He also said that he did not think traffic would be any more intense in the area than it had been before Interim Zoning was enacted. He estimated 10-15 cars per day. Mr. Farrar ruled that the original warning covered the changes proposed tonight by Mr. LaJeunesse. No one objected to that ruling. Mr. LaJeunesse said he would not cook chicken in the bus on the property. In response to a question, he said that grease from the chickens would be collected and stored until he had enough to sell. Mr. Daum felt that health regulations would not allow such grease to be stored inside the garage and he felt that if it were stored outside, it would attract small animals. He objected to outside storage for that reason. Mr. Jarvis moved that the public hearing on the application of Fernand LaJeunesse be closed. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all were in favor. Continue discussion on Energy Coordinator Ms. Geerken said the Council had been given copies of the statute regarding the Energy Coordinator. She felt that there should be energy audits of the city's public buildings. She was told that if she had comments or questions, she should bring them up with the Planner or the City Manager. Public hearing on Interim Zoning Applications Roland and Evangeline DesLauriers for office buildings at 345 Dorset St - Mr. Preston Peters represented Ralph DesLauriers and said that although Mr. DesLauriers could not be at this meeting, he would like to come to the next hearing and Mr. Peters will make a presentation tonight. Mr. Peters showed the Council a plan of the lot, which has a building built by Barbara Shepard on it already. The lot is heavily wooded and a small drainage ditch runs through it. The land is flat. Across the street are light industrial buildings and behind the lot is residential land. The buildings across the street seem to be closer than 65' from the right of way, which these buildings would be. Two buildings are proposed - one will be 30' x 76' and the other would be 52' x 32'. One curb cut will be made and the present cut to the Shepard building will be enlarged so that building and one new one can be serviced by the cut. Mr. Deslauriers would like to move the parking lot closer to the drainage ditch, which is unsightly, and perhaps landscape around the ditch to make it attractive to walk from the parking lot over the ditch to the building. Mr. Peters said the plan would require a variance from the Zoning Board, which felt he should have Council approval before they heard the appeal. He also said he did not know if Mr. DesLauriers wanted to build both buildings at one time. The proposed buildings are the same scope as the Shepard one. The land is zoned residential. Mr. Farrar asked why two buildings were proposed instead of one but Mr. Peters did not know. Regarding traffic, Mr. Peters said that office buildings did not generate a lot of traffic and he estimated 6-12 employees per building. He also said that the buildings would not need much sewage capacity- perhaps 270 gallons per day. Mr. Peters was asked to estimate the traffic count from people other than employees who might use the building and to break that number down by time of day. Mr. Burgess moved to continue the public hearing at the request of the applicant until the next regularly scheduled meeting. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion and all were in favor. Timberlane Medical Center for an addition to the building. - Dr. Cass said that the proposal was to add an addition of 14' x 43' to unit E of the complex. This is within the required 400' setback from Kennedy Drive's centerline. Dr. Narkewicz said that the patient demand at the center had made it necessary to add another doctor as of July 1. This man has already been hired and for the first 2-3 months will ease the workload of the present doctors. After that he will slowly assume his own patients, perhaps as many as 30 per day. That number is about all a doctor can handle in a day. The extra space to be added will be just enough for this new doctor and it is intended to promote patient comfort. If the addition is denied, the new doctor will still come and practice, but it will not be as convenient for patients. Dr. Narkewicz was asked to provide an average patient flow over a 1-2 week period and he replied that it was probably in the range now of 120-150 patients per day and the extra 30 for the new doctor would be added to that figure. Dr. Cass said the new addition would be within 262' of the Kennedy Drive centerline. Mr. Szymanski said he would check with the city's traffic engineer to see if he had traffic counts for that area. It was noted that perhaps 15-20% of the patients use the bus to get to the complex. Mr. Burgess moved to close the public hearing on the Timberlane Medical Center addition with the understanding that the Council will receive traffic information presently in Bruce Houghton's or the Police Department's files on this area. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Set city and school district tax rates for fiscal 1979-80 Mr. Szymanski said the city's operating tax rate was 84.6¢ and that debt service was 16.4¢, for a total of $1.01. The school tax rate is $2.78.8 and their debt service is 20.7¢, for a total of $2.99.5. The total for city and school combined is $4.00.5. Area sewer charge for this year is zero. These figures were warned at the budget hearing. Mr. Flaherty moved to accept the City Manager's recommendation on setting the tax rates as read to the Council this evening, for the fiscal year 1979-80. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Consider appointments and reappointments to commissions and boards Mr. Szymanski said the positions had been advertised on May 14 and had been in the Spokesman. The City Manager was requested to contact present members of boards and commissions to see if any members wished to serve again, and if so, which ones. He was also asked to look at the list of people who had applied for positions in the past 2 years, and for one reason or another, had not been chosen. He was asked to see if any of those people were still interested. Mr. Paulsen moved to table the appointments as listed on the sheet from the City Manager until the next meeting and have these people contacted to see if they are willing to serve again and also to schedule interviews at the next meeting for anybody interested in serving on any of these boards. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all were in favor. Police Department Association Contract Mr. Flaherty moved to adjourn to Executive Session to discuss the subject of the South Burlington Police Department Association contract and reconvene in about 10 minutes and take action if necessary. Mr. Jarvis seconded the motion and the vote was 5-0 for. In about 10 minutes the Council came out of Executive Session. Mr. Farrar said that the Council had agreed to increase the clothing allowance for detectives by $50 to $200. On overtime consideration for time worked in excess of 8 hours in a 24 hour period, the Council proposed that that become effective on January 1, 1980, noting that the budget had already been set for this year. Specific language will be worked out to go in the Rules and Procedures document regarding scheduling which allows men to attend special seminars and take courses. The Council hopes that scheduling can be done at the Department which will lessen the problem of people working more than 8 hours in a 24 hour period. Anticipated cost to pay the overtime is about $2000 per year under present scheduling. Language regarding the bargaining unit in the old contract is not consistent and should be altered. Messrs. Lavallee and Fraga went in another room to discuss the Council's proposal. Sign Water Department note Mr. Szymanski said the Water Department had a note with the Merchant's Bank for $30,320 at 5.85% interest. Mr. Flaherty moved to sign the Water Department renewal note. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all were in favor. Planning Commission agenda Mr. Farrar felt the Council should discuss city policy on private utilities and wondered what the Commission policy was on that. He also felt the Council should give the Commission some feedback on the Goals and other chapters of the Master Plan that have been revised and sent to Council for consideration. He asked that those items be on the next agenda. Mr. Burgess asked that another item for the agenda be a discussion on enforcement of stipulations. Mr. Paulsen felt that occupancy permits were a good lever to use on enforcement. Discussion of the minutes Mr. Paulsen noted that many of the items discussed by Council were open-ended. Many are not gotten back to and he suggested a standard item 3 on the agenda which was a discussion of the contents of the last minutes. Mr. Paulsen also noted that during Interim Zoning the Council has not had much discussion of the appeals after testimony is over and receives recommended motions. He felt it would be good to have a list of pros and cons for each motion to approve or deny. He wanted reasons for it along with a recommended motion. Mr. Szymanski said the staff really needed more input from the Council on how it wants to go with the motions and it was suggested that the Council have time to discuss each appeal and then direct staff to write a motion based on that discussion. It was decided to try that procedure. Mr. Paulsen also said that on Friday at noon at the Sheraton there would be a meeting to hear General Cram talk and that a member of the Council should attend that meeting. Police Department Association Messrs. Fraga and Lavallee said that they had contacted other members of the bargaining unit and that the initial response to the overtime compensation beginning on January 1 was negative. He said the police had two counter proposals - one is to begin the compensation on October 1 and the other is to give compensation time starting July 1 and go to overtime pay on January 1. After some discussion it was decided to start with overtime pay on October 1, 1979. Meet as Liquor Control Board Mr. Flaherty moved to adjourn as the City Council and meet as the Liquor Control Board. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and it passed 5-0. Mr. Szymanski said the Windjammer Restaurant wanted an entertainment permit for one singer and one or two musicians on Thursday through Saturday from 7pm to 1:30 am. Mr. Burgess moved to authorize the City Manager to sign the entertainment permit for the Windjammer Restaurant to run concurrent with its liquor license and to expire when the current liquor license expires, subject to the approval of the Police Chief. Mr. Paulsen seconded the motion and all were in favor. Mr. Burgess said he would like to start a policy of tying entertainment permits to liquor licenses. The meeting was adjourned at 9:25 pm. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.