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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/08/1982CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 8, 1982 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Monday, February 8, 1982 at 7:30 pm in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, William Burgess, Hugh Marvin Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; David Minnich, Assistant City Manager; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Director; Albert Audette, Street Department; Margaret Picard, City Clerk; Pat Burgmeier, The Other Paper; Thomas Hubbard, Recreation Department; Lowell Krassner, Natural Resources Committee; David Spitz, Planner; Rick Ward, Marnie Kneeland, Denis & Eric Renaud, Wayne Rathrun, Mary Anne Gucciardi, Gary Farrell, Ethel Schuele, Georgie Brown Minutes of February 1 and 2, 1982 On page 3 of the February 2 minutes, at the beginning of the second paragraph, it should be noted that Mr. Reinholz asked that the Council furnish a proposal to the union. Mr. Burgess moved to approve the February 1 and 2, 1982 minutes with the above noted correction to the minutes of February 2. Mr. Flaherty seconded and the motion carried unanimously. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Meet as Liquor Control Board to consider application for first class license for Ward Business Inc. (Old Board, Shelburne Road) Mr. Flaherty moved to adjourn as the City Council and meet as the Liquor Control Board. The motion was seconded by Mr. Burgess and carried unanimously. Mr. Szymanski said that Mr. Rick Ward was applying for a first class license to operate the former Old Board on Shelburne Road. The fire chief was at the site today, but there is extensive remodeling going on and it will probably be Wednesday before he can formalize his inspection. Mr. Ward said he wanted to open on Thursday. Mr. Szymanski said he wanted the board to know that Mr. Ward has an extensive motor vehicle violation record and that he hoped this was not a reflection of how he would operate his business. He told Mr. Ward that if the license is approved, if the city has any problems of this sort either inside or outside the building and lot, he would recommend to the board that the license be revoked or suspended. He also informed Mr. Ward that the city expected taxes to be paid when they are due, and if they are not, he will recommend to the board that when the license comes up for renewal, that it not be renewed. Mr. Farrar said the board members could be empowered to sign the license on completion of a successful fire inspection, but Mr. Marvin felt things should be in order before the license was approved. Mr. Ward said he had things booked 2 months ago and was scheduled to be open this weekend. Mr. Marvin moved to consider this license at next Monday night's meeting. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and it carried with Messrs. Marvin and Burgess voting yes and Mr. Flaherty voting no. Mr. Burgess moved to adjourn as the Liquor Control Board and reconvene as the City Council. Mr. Marvin seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Work on proposed fiscal 1982-3 budgets Community Library - Mrs. Schuele said the first two pages of the budget stayed within the increase suggested by the City Manager. The third page is a prioritized supplementary list. The first two items on it have been in the past two budgets but have had to be cut out. Mrs. Schuele explained the other items in the list, and then went over the proposed budget. Mrs. Brown noted that it was hard to ask for more staff, but the library is used a great deal and it is hard to give the service without expanding the staff. Circulation has increased from about 5,000 to 22,000 in the past 5 years, and there are about 3,000 library cards out. Recreation - Mr. O'Neill noted that the budget stayed within the guidelines for the increase and that the Recreation Committee had approved it. He had projected a 10% increase in salaries for full-time employees and he used the assumption that the part-time people who would be hired this year would have worked for the department before, in which case they are paid more than new employees. The rate structure will stay the same as last year. Other increases will be in the soccer program, because the middle school asked the department to pick up the intermural program, and a new line item is maintenance at the O'Brien Center - 12-13 hours per week to take care of that. Mr. O'Neill went over the proposed capital expenditures. He noted that with the uncertainty in Washington it was doubtful if the $8,000 for the Potter property development would be spent this year, even though it is in this year's budget. The $8,000 shows in the 1981-2 budget and he wanted to carry it through to the 1982-3 budget. Mr. O'Neill felt he would obligate the funds before the start of the next fiscal year, so Mr. Farrar felt the money should not be shown in both places. Mr. O'Neill said the money to fix the Jaycee park backstop would be added to last year's funds, which were not enough. The department also wants to replace the backstop and fancing on the tennis courts at Central School and complete the fencing at Jaycee park and at Red Rocks. Mr. Marvin asked what a decision to close an elementary school would have done to the recreation budget and was told there would have been great organizational ramifications. When a closing was being evaluated, Mr. O'Neill said his department was asked for information on how the schools are used now, but not for its opinion on a closing. Mr. Marvin asked Mr. O'Neill if he would be concerned if the subject came up again and was told he would be. Natural Resources - Mr. Hubbard said this budget was within the suggested increase. Some erosion problems at Red Rocks will be taken care of this year. Bulk mailing costs will go up this year. Mr. Farrar thought there was a known and planned increase in second and third class rates for the next few years. Mr. Farrar mentioned possible help from correctional center inmates. The proposed jogging exercise course was discussed. Fine Arts - Mr. O'Neill said the budget had been approved by the Fine Arts Committee. There are no major changes proposed. Highway Department - Mr. Audette passed out the equipment list and noted that the figures were with a trade-in. Mr. Farrar asked whether, in order to maintain the quality of the roads as they are today over a period of several years, there was enough money in the maintenance part of the budget. Mr. Audette felt that, for a program of repaving, the city would have to start with $100,000 per year. He felt there should be about 15 years between each repaving, depending on traffic. There are 55-60 miles of streets in the city, so about 4 miles should be repaved every year, and Mr. Audette said he would have to check, but a good figure for repaving costs would be about $34,000 per mile. He noted, however, that most of the roads in the city were in bad shape and a lot of work had to be done before they could be repaved. Mr. Audette felt that Kennedy Drive from Dorset St. to Hinesburg Road needed rebuilding. The Council looked at the proposed Street Department capital improvement budget. The items are prioritized and it is dated 2/5/82. Mr. Marvin said the cost to widen Kennedy Drive from Dorset to Hinesburg would be $300,000, and he asked about the other side. Mr. Audette said that was in good shape but if it were widened, it might cost $100-$150,000. Mr. Audette had proposed no changes to Williston or Shelburne Roads. Shelburne Road is the State's and he had no problems with Williston Road as far as its condition. Mr. Marvin felt that when Digital and Mitel expanded, there would be problems on Kennedy Drive. Mr. Audette felt that when Dorset Street was fixed, it would draw a lot of traffic, which would help Williston Road. Mr. Marvin felt that after Dorset Street were done, Kennedy Drive should be and Mr. Audette felt that would help. Mr. Marvin asked what it would do to the maintenance budget if Dorset Street and Kennedy Drive were put up for a bond issue and taken care of and Mr. Audette said that would help the department catch up. Mr. Farrar said it sounded like the city needed to put between $50-75,000 per year more into the budget for streets. Mr. Marvin did not feel the proposed budget was enough to keep from falling farther behind this year and Mr. Farrar agreed. Mr. Gary Farrell gave the Council a copy of the letter he had sent them last October regarding the road widening on Williston Road at Gaynes. He said this project had been in the Capital Budget for almost 10 years. He said the stretch of road was about 800' long and represented less than 1% of the city's road system. It has the highest traffic count in the State, and in the past two years over 9% of the accidents in the city have occurred on that 800' stretch. There are a lot of turning movements, which mean that the benefits of having a 4 lane road are greatly reduced. There were 42 injuries in that area for 1981 as of the end of October of that year. Mr. Farrell said he was present as a private citizen, a businessman in the city, and part owner of the Sheraton Inn. He felt that section of road should be fixed now and that it was 30 times as dangerous as the average section of road in the city. He referred to a 1976 letter from a traffic engineer in the State Highway Department which suggested that that road be widened within a year. He noted that the Sheraton had deeded 400' of frontage to the city in 1979 for that purpose, and he referred to the Williston Road Task Force report and a memo from the City Planner responding to that report. Mr. Farrell felt that doing this project would be an opportunity for the city to consolidate and line up the curb cuts in that area. He did not think the section of road was geared to handle the volume of traffic it does - 30,000 cars per day, and he felt that the hospital expansion would make the problem worse. He felt the cost was small compared to the number of people affected. Mr. Farrell felt he could raise the city's share of the cost from the businesses located in the area and he just did not feel the project could wait any longer. He could not speak for any other businesses, he said, but he thought the businesses in that area might consider contributing to the annual amortization of any costs for the project. Planner David Spitz noted that there were a lot of highway needs in the city, but he also noted that there were congestion problems, and he did not see anywhere near enough money to attack the problems. He felt the city was falling behind in dealing with congestion problems. He felt the figures in the Capital Budget were out of line, because they show 10% city funding and the rest federal and state funding. He felt there were sections of road which could be widened at the same time they were being improved, and this might be done within the annual budget. He also felt there were areas where congestion problems could be eased just by dealing with intersections, and he suggested putting more money into this budget item. He felt that width on Kennedy Drive was not a problem, since it is wide enough for cars to get around cars making turns. Mr. Spitz felt the prioritized list of road improvements was very close to the Commission's list. He said he had traffic counts for all the major roads in the area if the Council wished to look at them. Meet in Executive Session to Discuss the Police Association Contract Mr. Flaherty moved to go into executive session for the purpose of discussing the Police Association Contract, with the understanding that when the Council comes out of executive session it will be only for the purpose of adjourning. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. At 10:00 pm the Council came out of executive session and adjourned. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.