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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/07/1982CITY COUNCIL JUNE 7, 1982 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, June 7, 1982 at 7:30 pm in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, Leona Lansing, William Burgess, Hugh Marvin Others Present William Szymanski, City Manager; David Minnich, Assistant City Manager; David Spitz, Planner; Margaret Picard, City Clerk; Gloria Yandow, City Bookkeeper; Albert Audette, Street Department; Betsy Davis, Sara Thompson, Stephanie Powelson and Pat Pizzagalli, Visiting Nurse Assoc.; William Wessel, Frank Mazur, Catherine Debo and Karen Carmichael, CCTA and SSTA; George Mona and Kirk Woolery, Planning Commission; Lowell Krassner Meet with City Attorneys to discuss pending litigation and also discuss the police contract in executive session Mr. Burgess moved to go into executive session for the purpose of hearing a report from the City Attorneys and of discussing the police contract. Ms. Lansing seconded the motion and all voted aye. Mr. Flaherty later moved to come out of executive session and Mr. Burgess seconded the motion, which carried with all in favor. Minutes of May 17, 19 and 24, 1982 The May 17, 19 and 24, 1982 minutes were approved on a motion by Mr. Burgess, a second by Mr. Marvin, and a unanimous vote. Disbursement orders Disbursement orders were signed. Meet with Visiting Nurses Association to discuss funding Ms. Davis said the VNA wanted to talk with the Council to answer any questions they might have, and to ask for more funding for the program, in an attempt to compensate the VNA for the federal funding it would be losing. She said they felt that tax dollars spent for VNA programs saved the community other dollars. They provide $110,000 of services to the city and have been level funded for the past 2 years. Ms. Davis said the effects of the funding cuts was not clear, but they will probably lose $160,000, mostly from the hospice demonstration program and the home visit program. She felt that 8-10% of the total volume of visits the VNA did were in South Burlington, which is roughly the city's share of the population of the county. Mr. Flaherty asked the city's contribution compared to the county, and was told they were a little low. The VNA's total budget is 2 1/2 million dollars. Ms. Davis estimated they visited about 200 people in the city. Mr. Farrar felt the Council should look for a way to help all it could, and Mr. Burgess and Ms. Lansing agreed. Mr. Farrar said they would get back to the VNA. Meet with Chittenden County Transportation Authority Mr. Mazur said the Council had been given copies of a letter dated June 2, 1982, which is an informal annual report. He went over that information. He said revenues had gone up 23% and that the special transportation service (SSTA) had been created. This is an independent agency. Mr. Mazur said survey data showed that on the day the survey was taken 20% of the people rode on the South Burlington routes. The transportation budget for next year will go up 3%, but transportation expense is down this year because bus waiting time has been reduced. $166,000 of federal funding has been lost, and next year they will be down to zero funding. Mr. Szymanski asked about the bus going into University Mall and Ms. Debo said the problem with that was that it could not take the same route going both ways because of the traffic pattern within the mall. Perhaps if some curb work were done it would be possible. Planner Spitz felt something might be worked out when Corporate Circle went in. Ms. Carmichael said the SSTA had been in operation 3 weeks and they had 75 people signed up from the 3 towns involved in it. Mr. Farrar asked how many of those were from South Burlington. Review Planning and Zoning agendas There were no comments. Accept resignation of William Copp from the Zoning Board of Adjustment Mr. Flaherty moved to accept the resignation of William Copp from the Zoning Board and direct the City Manager to write a letter of appreciation to him. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. Set 1982-83 tax rate Mr. Szymanski said the rate for the city was .943 for operating budget, .249 for debt service, and .072 for other government entities, for a total of 1.264. The rate for the school was 3.057 for operating, .147 for debt service, and .051 for the roof repairs, for a total of 3.255. The combined total is $4.519. Mr. Flaherty moved to set the tax rate for 1982-83 at $4.51.9. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and it carried unanimously. Discuss Disability Policy to be added to the Personnel Rules and Regulations Mr. Farrar felt the draft as presented in Mr. Minnich's June 4, 1982 letter was fine, with the exception that it should be spelled out that the rate of pay a person would receive would be the rate for whatever position they were moving into, given the number of years of service they had. Mr. Flaherty moved to accept Article VI, Section 6.8, with the addition suggested by Mr. Farrar, and to incorporate it in the Personnel Rules and Regulations. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. Mr. Audette asked how employees would know about this change to the Regulations and Mr. Minnich said that in early summer he planned to reprint them and distribute copies to city employees. Mr. Audette asked about future changes. Mr. Farrar said that was a good point, and that amendments such as this probably should be handed out soon after they were adopted. Mr. Marvin suggested an employee newsletter and Mr. Szymanski mentioned posting proposed changes. Mr. Farrar liked both ideas, but Mr., Audette felt that putting notices in the paychecks would be better than posting. Mr. Marvin moved that such a program be started: to add to the paychecks notices relating to items which the City Council has passed that affect the Personnel Rules and Regulations or any pay schedules. Mr. Flaherty seconded the motion. Mr. Farrar asked whether this would be easy to implement and was told it would. The motion carried unanimously. Other business Mr. Marvin suggested that with the change in the Blue Laws recently, the traffic lights on Shelburne Road should go to a 7-day schedule, instead of the present 6-day one. He had talked to the State about it and they said all that was needed was a letter from the City Manager requesting it. Mr. Farrar felt that was an excellent suggestion and Mr. Szymanski said he would take care of it. Mr. Flaherty left at this time. Sign Water Department renewal notes Mr. Szymanski said there were two notes. One is for Spear St. and was constructed some time ago. It is for $22,820 with the Merchants Bank for 1 year at 10.15%. The other is for the East Woods improvements done last year. This one is for $50,000 for 1 year with the Merchants at 10.1%. Mr. Burgess moved to sign the notes presented by the City Manager. Ms. Lansing seconded the motion and all voted aye. Sign documents for municipal building bond sale Mr. Minnich said there were 4 documents to sign and he explained what they were. Mr. Burgess moved to sign the Resolution and Certificate, to authorize the Chairman to sign the Loan Agreement with the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank, to authorize the City Council to sign the Certificate of Registration, and to authorize the City Clerk to have J. Paul Giuliani deliver these documents to the bond bank. Ms. Lansing seconded the motion and all voted aye. Discuss future method of taking Council minutes Mr. Szyanski said they had advertised twice in the Free Press and The Other Paper to find someone to take Council minutes, but no one has worked out yet. He said the thought now was to record the meetings and only type up the motions and other important items. Mr. Minnich said either he or the City Manager would write the motions in longhand and the tapes could be kept for a year or so. Mr. Mona noted that the Commission frequently went back to old minutes to see what proceeded a motion. Ms. Yandow wondered if 1 year was long enough to keep the tapes. Mr. Spitz felt having the highlights hit as well as the motions would be better. That could be done by listening to tapes after the meetings. Mr. Farrar preferred the present system if possible. Mr. Minnich said no one on the staff had the time to listen to and transcribe the tapes. Mr. Marvin suggested talking to the people who sell the kind of recording equipment the city would have to buy to see if they knew anyone who could take minutes. Mr. Szymanski said he would investigate. Continue discussion on Zoning Regulations The Council discussed map changes. The DesLauriers Quarry Hill property was discussed first. Mr. Spitz put a map of the land up. He noted that the proposal was for R4 zoning in the area near East Terrace and R7 in the area near Horizon Heights, with the crest of the hill being the dividing line. The original DesLauriers proposal was for the dividing line between commercial and residential to run east-west, but now they would like to angle it over so there is more commercial area to the east, near the Interstate. Mr. Marvin felt this should be discussed with the DesLauriers present. Mr. Mona said the Commission would not allow commercial access through a residential area. Mr. Farrar felt State law on that should be checked. Mr. Woolery said it was a development stipulation and there are many references to that policy in the minutes. Mr. Marvin suggested that the landowners be required to show where they would expect to access this land. Mr. Farrar noted that whatever proposal was chosen, the amount of commercial land would still be reduced. Mr. Spitz felt it would be better to leave the line as originally proposed, which has been approved by the Commission. Mr. Mona liked the new plan better. Mr. Marvin moved to accept the new commercial line as shown on the April 8, 1982 map of the Quarry Hill property, furnished by the DesLauriers. Mr. Burgess seconded the motion and all voted aye. The Council then looked at the Tilley property. The Tilleys have gone out of business and would like to move the industrial line closer to Old Farm Road than presently proposed. Mr. Spitz felt a buffer would be needed from the R1 zone along Old Farm Road and he felt the tree line in the area could serve as a buffer and boundary marker. Mr. Marvin agreed. Mr. Spitz noted that access to that land was not good from Old Farm Road and it should be from somewhere else. The meeting was adjourned at 10:40 pm. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.