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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/07/1990CITY COUNCIL 7 MAY 1990 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, 7 May 1990, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present Paul Farrar, Chairman; Michael Flaherty, John Dinklage, James Condos, William Cimonetti Also Present Charles Hafter, City Manager; Joe Weith, City Planner; William Burgess, Ann Pugh, Mary-Barbara Maher, Catherine Peacock, Planning Commission; Margaret Picard, City Clerk/Treasurer; Mary McKearin, Business Manager; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Brian Searles, Police Dept; James Goddette, Sr; Fire Dept; Richard Ward, Zoning Administrator; William Ellis, City Attorney's Office; Sid Poger, The Other Paper; Tyler Hart, Homer Dubois, Carl Cobb, Craig Leiner, Nancy Podeszwa, George Hart, Steve Hart, John Caulo, J. Patrick Brennan 1. Comments & questions from the public (not related to Agenda items) No issues were raised. 2. Public Hearing on Amendment to Final Plat for Butler Farms Residential Subdivision relating to establishment of a second access Tyler Hart said that Mr. Dubois had agreed to build all of Adirondack St. to city standard. The part on the Butler Farms side would be paved by 1 August. Mr. Burgess noted that the Planning Commission had said that since building permits for 7 lots had already been issued in error, Adirondack St. would be all right to consider as a second access for these lots. The Commission made no decision on the other lots requested by the applicant. Mr. Farrar noted that both the Council and Planning Commission must come to a decision in order for this amendment to be approved. Mr. Ward advised that he had met with Mr. Cobb and Mr. Dubois about a month ago. They had requested 7 building permits for lots on which they had contracts. At the time, they were talking only a gravel road. The Commission had then Oaked the gravel road as a second access for the 7 lots under contract. Mr. Dubois then said he would build 300 ft. of the road and blacktop it for the additional 37 building permits. He stressed that no building permits had ever been issued for any of the lots, including the 7 under contract. In the original approval, the Planning Commission granted 146 lots. The State will approve only 91. Mr. Farrar said the question is what the Council will require in order for the developer to build that portion of the development already approved by the Environmental Board. A secondary question is what the Council will approve to allow issuance of the 7 building permits for which the developer has contracts. Mr. Dinklage said he wanted the residents of Oak Creek Village to know what is being debated. He felt the Planning Commission and the Oak Creek residents didn't expect such a traffic load in the Oak Creek development. He didn't feel a decision should be made until the residents are aware of what this will mean. Mr. Dinklage also felt the Council should hear from the Planning Commission. Mr. Hart noted the Oak Creek approval does require that road when that development goes beyond 50 units. Mr. Condos wanted to know what Fire, Police and Highway Dept. heads have to say. Mr. Cimonetti wanted the issue returned to the Planning Commission to get their ruling first. Mr. Dinklage said he would be willing to act on the 7 originally requested units. Mr. Weith advised that the Planning Commission is to hear a request for the additional lots on 22 May. Mr. Flaherty said he didn't see this as a major problem. He saw it as 2 developments with 2 accesses. Mr. Audette said if the road is gravel, the city won't plow it. If the road is paved, the city will plow. Mr. Dinklage asked what the problem is with paving the road this year. Mr. Audette said there shouldn't be any. Chief Goddette said he felt that road would serve as a second access for the Fire Dept. Chief Searles saw no significant problems from the Police Dept. point of view. Mr. Dinklage agreed that safety issues appeared to be met, but he felt this is a planning issue and should be handled as such. Mr. Hart advised that their memo was in response to what the Council had asked for. He said if the Council is not going to grant the full 37 units, Mr. Dubois would like to put in a gravel base for the 7 units under contract. Mr. Cimonetti felt strongly that the matter should first be handled by the Planning Commission. Mr. Flaherty moved that the Council approve Adirondack Street as the second access for Butler Farms and upon paving of Adirondack Street agree to issuance of 7 building permits with additional permits to be approved by the Planning Commission and City Council. There was no second to this motion. Mr. Dinklage then moved the Council reject the proposal submitted on behalf of Mr. Dubois in Tyler Hart's letter of 3 May and refer the matter to the Planning Commission for their recommendations. Mr. Cimonetti seconded. Mr. Hart noted that in the past it has been the policy to issue a permit when a gravel base was down. Now it seemed the Council was talking about blacktopping for only 7 more units. In the vote that followed the motion passed 3-2 with Messrs. Farrar and Flaherty opposing. Mr. Dinklage asked that when the item is warned again, the number of lots in question be part of the warning. 3. Public Hearing: Amendment to Motor Vehicle Regulations pertaining to adoption of certain speed limits pursuant to Title 23, VSA 1007 Mr. Flaherty moved the Council accept the findings of fact and make them part of the record. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Dinklage then moved to waive reading of the proposed amendment. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Farrar read the list of roads involved in the amendment. Mr. Cimonetti said he had an unofficial discussion with a Shelburne Selectman. They don't intend to raise the speed limit above 35 mph on Dorset St., so this means the speed limit would change at the town line. Mr. Dinklage moved to approve the proposed amendments to the Motor Vehicle Regulations. Mr. Flaherty seconded. It was noted that references to Brady Landscaping should be changed to indicate the address of the property. Mr. Dinklage moved to amend the motion by changing references to Brady Landscaping to 1240 Airport Parkway. Mr. Flaherty seconded. The vote on the amended motion passed unanimously. 4. Presentation from Regional Planning Commission on Shelburne Rd. Transportation Management Association (TMA) Mr. Leiner noted Regional Planning has had the opportunity to tap into a program developed by Urban Mass Transportation Effort. In this program, experts travel around the country and share their experties with communities. He then introduced Nancy Podezwa, Executive Director of the Greater Princeton, NJ TMA. He noted Ms. Podezwa had met with the City Planner, developers and CCTA people. Ms. Podezwa said she had viewed the Shelburne Rd. corridor and seen the congestion. She noted there is both interest in and need for a TMA. She then gave a brief history of Princeton's TMA. She noted that TMA's differ in response to the nature of an area. They may include shuttle bus services, commuter rail, ride pool matching, etc. She cited 3 vital factors: involvement of both public and private sectors with an emphasis on the private sector; identifiable, achievable goals; and systematically built support and expanded services. Mr. Hafter asked if it makes sense to talk about a South Burlington TMA or should it be a TMA for the whole area. Mr. Weith said it is important to know how the Council feels about the concept as a major development is using a TMA as part of their project. The Council indicated its interest in the concept but expressed concern about creating anything that might ultimately need a subsidy. Mr. Cimonetti didn't think Princeton and S. Burlington were comparable. Mr. Dinklage saw merit in looking at the problem from a different perspective but wouldn't want to see any city money in it. Mr. Caulo, representing the Larkin/Milot development, asked that people keep an open mind. He felt it wasn't correct to say the city didn't have the same problems as Princeton. 5. Discussion of Regional Planning Commission issues: Pat Brennan Mr. Brennan noted there had been a 10-10 vote on a motion to terminate the services of the Executive Director. The motion was to "operate in a business-like fashion." He noted that at the end of the audit, they had gotten a very poor management report. They tried to initiate action for improvement but the next audit said the same thing. Now some things are being corrected and arrears are being handled. He noted there aren't business practices to handle these issues. He said the Commission has laid out a set of tasks for the Director to complete at a certain time. He said the vote was essentially a vote on who runs the Regional Planning Commission. Mr. Farrar said the Council has felt that the Regional Plan should be voted on by the communities. Mr. Brennan said the question is whether the city wants a strong commission or a consulting group. Mr. Farrar said there is a question of the way things are achieved. There is, he said, a strong sense of local government in Vermont. He felt the problem with the Regional Planning Commission is that there was never an attempt to take regional and local plan elements that didn't match and try to reconcile them. Mr. Brennan said this isn't quite true. Mr. Farrar stressed that if Regional Planning can't convince a community to change its plans, the change doesn't represent the interest of that community. Mr. Dinklage asked if Mr. Brennan had seen any conflict between S. Burlington's Plan and the Regional Plan when there had been a newly proposed Regional Plan. Mr. Brennan thought the problem was they had the same old Regional Plan. A new plan is now being worked on. Mr. Flaherty asked if there won't be a problem with an innovative plan. Mr. Brennan said there is a concensus that "status quo" is not what people want. Mr. Cimonetti felt there should be accountability back to the communities. The communities pay for the Commission. He preferred that Regional Planning "recommends" not "defines" He felt the community "defines." Mr. Dinklage felt that before the city's Planning Commission makes recommendations, they have to understand the data. The value of Regional Planning is that it can look at trends, project them, and alert communities to potential problems. Mrs. Maher noted she had never called upon Art Hogan for a service that she didn't get immediately. Mr. Brennan said he would like to improve the dialogue between himself and the Council. He noted there is a question of the "one vote-one community" concept. Mr. Flaherty said he would like proportional rather than the 1 to 1 concept. Mr. Cimonetti agreed. He said if S. Burlington contributes more, it should not be outvoted by someone who comes only on the last night to vote. 6. Discussion and approval of implementation of MMA position Classification Pay Plan Members agreed to hold this discussion until after the executive session and discussion on Wednesday. Approval to proceed with gypsy moth aerial spraying program pursuant to final contract Mr. Hafter said the area involved is the same as has been talked about previously. Mr. Flaherty moved to authorize the City Manager to sign the contract with the State for gypsy moth spraying. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter said no date has been set yet. It depends on the stage of larval development. 8. Minutes of 3 May 1990 Mr. Flaherty moved the Minutes of 3 May 1990 be approved as written. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed 4-0, Mr. Condos abstaining. 9. Planning Commission Agenda. No issues were raised. 10. Sign Disbursement Orders Disbursement orders were signed. 11. Liquor Control Board Mr. Flaherty moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented the following catering permit requests: a) Reception for Board Members and Donors of Baird Children's Center catered by DON-JAY (Cork & Board), at Green Mountain Power Bldg, 22 May 1190, 7:30-9:30 p.m. b) Wedding catered by Wetherbee's at Kof C, 23 June 1990, from noon to 8 p.m. c) Wedding catered by Wetherbee's at Kof C, 19 May 1990, 1-8 p.m. d) Wedding catered by Wetherbee's at Kof C, 9 June 1990, 4-11 p.m. e) Green Mountain Annual Dinner, catered by DECO, INC (Sneaker's) at the Green Mountain Power Offices, 16 May 1990, 6-10 p.m. Mr. Flaherty moved the Board approve the Catering permits as presented. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter then presented a second class beverage license request for the new Heather's Huddle. Mr. Dinklage moved the Board approve the beverage license request for Heather's Huddle as presented. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Executive Session Mr. Dinklage moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council in Executive Session to Discuss Dorset Street damages, compensation deliberations, Dorset St. litigation regarding utilities, personnel matters, and real property acquisition. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Adjournment The Council reconvened in regular session. Jim Condos moved adjournment, Michael Flaherty seconded. The meeting adjourned at 11:00 PM. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.