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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/17/1991CITY COUNCIL 17 JUNE 1991 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Wednesday, 17 June 1991, at 7:30 PM, in the Conference, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: Michael Flaherty, Chairman; John Dinklage, James Condos, William Cimonetti, Robert Chittenden Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Joe Weith, City Planner; Brian Searles, Police Chief; Stephen Stitzel, City Attorney; Don Whitten, Water Pollution Control Dept.; Michael Sheridan, Channel 17, Ruth Poger, The Other Paper; Bud Bailey 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to Agenda Items): No issues were raised. 2. Signing of Resolutions Honoring South Burlington High School Men and Women's 1991 Tennis Teams: Mr. Flaherty read the Resolution honoring the men's team. Mr. Dinklage moved the Council approve and sign the Resolution as read. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Flaherty read the Resolution honoring the women's team. Mr. Dinklage moved the Council approve and sign the Resolution. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Public Hearing on Ordinance to Regulate Parades and Public events on City Streets; second reading: Mr. Condos moved to waive the reading of the Ordinance. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Both the City Manager and Police Chief indicated there has been no opposition stated to them from members of the public. Mr. Cimonetti asked whether those who stage parades have seen the Ordinance. Chief Searles said he had discussed it with some groups that hold such events. Mr. Cimonetti asked why there was a $10 fee as he didn't feel the Ordinance places any additional cost on the City. The City Attorney said there are out of pocket expenses associated with processing the applications. Mr. Dinklage moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed 3-2 Messrs. Cimonetti and Chittenden opposing. Mr. Dinklage moved to pass the seconded reading of the Ordinance as presented. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed 3-2, Messrs. Cimonetti and Chittenden opposing. 4. Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to Table II, Section 3, "Noise" of the South Burlington Zoning Regulations; second reading: Mr. Hafter noted that waivers will be dealt with on a case by case basis. Mr. Dinklage moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passes unanimously. Mr. Dinklage moved to approve the second reading of the Amendments to Table II, Section 3, "Noise" of the South Burlington Zoning Regulations as presented. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Approval of Application for Engineering Planning Advance from State of Vermont; related issues: Mr. Hafter said he felt the City needs to move forward on this. Mr. Wilbur of Webster-Martin said the planning advance would be a no-interest loan, payable only at the time construction is done. The state figure is $120,750. Mr. Flaherty asked how long a study this would be. Mr. Wilbur said a year for the facility plan, a year for the design, then a year skipped, followed by a year for construction. Mr. Flaherty asked what the City would get for a preliminary study. Mr. Wilbur said the state has to approve a scope of work for the study. The City chooses its own consultant to do the work. Mr. Cimonetti asked who prepares the scope of work. Mr. Hafter said the City can pick a specific engineer. The money would come from studies under the Water Pollution Control Dept. Mr. Cimonetti questioned whether $120,000 is the correct number. He noted there is a statement that Webster-Martin can do the work for the $120,000 even though it is less then the stated percentage of the total. Mr. Chittenden asked why the City doesn't go to the voters first. Mr. Hafter explained that the City doesn't have any numbers to go to the voters with. Mr. Wilbur said that is what the next step will do. Mr. Weith noted there are commercial and residential projects on hold because there is no sewer capacity. Mr. Dinklage said there is a question of using a "purist approach" and going to bid for every pencil or going with a firm whom the City has dealt with and has confidence in. The City Attorney noted there is no bid requirement on state/local projects. It is purely a decision of the municipality. Mr. Condos felt it was a question of time. A new firm would have to go through all that has been done in the past. Mr. Dinklage moved to table the item until Monday, 24 June, until the City Manager can report back on options to define a scope of work with the possibility of putting it out to bid. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos raised the possibility of increasing the one-time user fee which is now $2.50 per gallon. He noted that the town of Williston imposes a fee between the approval and hook-up stages in order to keep people from holding onto capacity for a number of years. He felt the City might want to look at this option. Mr. Weith said the current policy doesn't address this possibility. He felt it was an idea worth looking into. 6. Adoption of Resolution to Establish a No Parking Zone on the cul-de-sac on Dubois Drive: Mr. Hafter noted that last Saturday there were 18 cars parked in this location for access to the quarry. He said homeowners have no objection to the Resolution. Chief Searles said he felt it was reasonable. The main problem is the use of the quarry, but he felt this action would help the cul-de-sac problem. He noted the parked cars create a problem for emergency vehicles getting around the cul-de-sac. Mr. Cimonetti asked if it would be a tow zone. Mr. Hafter said it would. Mr. Cimonetti said he felt language to that effect should be in the Resolution. Mr. Dinklage moved to approve the No Parking Zone as described in the draft resolution adding the words "--and tow away zone.--" after "no parking" in paragraph #1. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Approval of finance agreement with Town of Colchester and State of Vermont for Preliminary Engineering Study relating to rehabilitation and replacement of Lime Kiln Bridge; approval of side agreement with Town of Colchester for indemnification of local share of costs: Mr. Hafter said the City Attorney drafted a bridge finance agreement which says that if either town pulls out, that town pays the full town's share. Mr. Dinklage moved to approve the finance agreement with the Town of Colchester and State of Vermont for the preliminary engineering study relative to rehabilitation and replacement of the Lime Kiln Bridge and to authorize the City Manager to sign the side agreement with the Town of Colchester for indemnification of local share of costs. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Consideration of City Contribution to installation of pedestrian crossing phase to traffic signal at Ramada Inn/Econolodge on Williston Road: Mr. Hafter explained the history of problems at the intersection and the bidding process. He said there is a new low bid of $4051.69. Applicants have agreed to put $1,000 in as a contribution. Mr. Cimonetti moved to proceed to have the City pay the balance on the installation of the pedestrian crossing phase on the traffic signal at the Ramada Inn/Econolodge on Williston Road, not to exceed $3,000. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Mr. Condos said he would like to see signs at the Texaco-Holiday Inn intersection that there is a pedestrian crosswalk down the street. In the vote that followed, the motion passed unanimously. 9. Rate Renewal of Blue Cross/Blue Shield; proposal for bonus payment to employees who are double covered: Mr. Flaherty noted that there has been over a 300% increase in Blue Cross/Blue Shield rates since 1982. He recommended a $1,200 payment for an employee who uses coverage of a spouse. He said that if the spouse then loses his/her coverage, the employee can then be included in the City's plan at the beginning of the next month. Mr. Dinklage asked if this agreement is solid with Blue Cross/Blue Shield. Mr. Hafter said they have agreed. Mr. Dinklage said he supported this act but felt it was just "robbing Peter to pay Paul" as the carrier will just adjust the rates. Mr. Dinklage and Mr. Condos raised the question of whether to do this for just one year. They noted that health insurance is very critical to people. Members agreed they would like to see input from the school district which has done something similar. Mr. Dinklage moved to table the item until more information is available. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Letter of financial capability to fund landfill closure; consideration of landfill tipping fee for 1991-92: Mr. Hafter noted that last year the Council adopted a rate to escrow money for closure by September, 1992. The rate is now at $9 per yard. He then noted there are two new statutes: communities can now bond for closure costs and they can also build costs for post closure monitoring into the annual budget instead of putting the money in escrow. There are two options now open to the Council: a) maintain current tipping fees and have a resolution to hold a bond vote on the remaining $265,027 by election day, 1992 or b) increase tipping fees and escrow total closing fees by July, 1992. For the second option, the cost would have to be $14 per yard. Mr. Cimonetti said he supported option 1 with refinement of closure costs. Mr. Condos said the City should start to think of what to do with the landfill site after closure. Mr. Dinklage asked if it's possible to cap the landfill and still continue to use it. Mr. Audette said it couldn't be done because the landfill is next to the Airport. A landfill must be at least two miles from the closest turbo- prop runway. The consensus of the Council was for the first option. 11. Special Assessment Tax Rates for Sewer Assessment Districts (1991-92): Mr. Cimonetti said he was confused as to why the City wants to assess for the Country Club Estate sewers and not collect the money. Mr. Stitzel said however it happened, the dollar amounts now being recovered for the projects in those location. With regard to the third site, because of the delays, the cost will be much more than originally estimated. The original scheme won't work anymore. Mr. Cimonetti said he felt they should get rid of the artificial assessment and start fresh. He didn't know why this wasn't being done. Mr. Stitzel said you can't get rid of it without revoting. The present proposal is to defer things until the City knows what it is going to do about Country Club Estates. He said the Council doesn't have the option of taking any property out of the assessment as there is an obligation under the vote to assess all four areas. You can't say all you want to recover is part of the money for the areas that were improved. Mr. Cimonetti responded that he was trying to avoid establishing the precedent that residents of Country Club Estates will pay less that 50% of the cost of their sewers. Mr. Stitzel said the Council would have to set up a special assessment vote right now and set up a special assessment for projects that were done. Then later when there is a project for Country Club Estates, there would be another vote and another special assessment for them. Members agreed to have the City Manager check the figures for the next meeting to see the amount of overpayment. 12. Appointments: Mr. Cimonetti noted there are a few boards that have a limit to the number of terms a member can serve. He didn't know how it happened and questioned whether the Council wants to continue this. Mr. Flaherty said it is only the Library Board that does this and he understood that they imposed this limitation themselves. Mr. Cimonetti said he didn't think it was a good idea. Mr. Cimonetti said the question has been raised as to why the Council should interview people for Boards. He said he wanted to know what people hoped to accomplish on a Board. He said he was willing to back away if this isn't what the Council wants. Mr. Dinklage said he didn't want to discourage good people because they don't want to appear before the Council. He felt interviews could be optional and a person not being interviewed wouldn't have this held against him/her. Mr. Condos agreed. 13. Review Planning Commission agenda for 6/18/91: Mr. Condos moved to approve the Minutes of 29 May as written. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Minutes of 29 May 1991: Mr. Condos moved to approve the Minutes of 29 May as written. Mr. Dinklage seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. 16. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Dinklage moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented a second class Liquor License request for Dorset Street Beverage. He said it was checked by the Police. There was a prior conviction for DUI, but police said this shouldn't matter. Mr. Chittenden moved to approve the Second Class Liquor License for Dorset Street Beverage. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented entertainment permit requests from Bambino's for the following: a) Soap Opera Stars, Mark Derwin and Allen Michael, 6/23/91, from 6:00-Midnight. b) Malibu and American Hunks Male Review Show, 8/4/91, 8:00-10:30 PM. Mr. Cimonetti raised the question of why Bambino's is not presenting requests for all of their special events and why other such establishments do not make such requests at all. After a brief discussion members agreed that the City Manager should come back with a process to control this situation. Mr. Dinklage moved to direct the City Manager to implement city-side entertainment permits consistent with guidelines in his memo of 14 June 1991. Mr. Condos seconded. It was noted that if such a permit is within the liquor license, it can include such issues as public safety, parking, traffic, electric wiring, crowd control, etc. You cannot deny a request because of the content of the entertainment. Mr. Hafter felt there should be a fee charged because the process involves a lot of staff time. He noted the state charges $25. In the vote that followed, the motion passed unanimously. Mr. Dinklage then moved to approve the two permits for Bambino's as outlined. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Mr. Cimonetti said he would vote against the motion because he felt the Board wasn't getting full information on the entertainments. The motion then passed 3-2 with Messrs. Cimonetti and Condos voting against. EXECUTIVE SESSION: Mr. Dinklage moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council in Executive Session to discuss contract negotiations and litigation and to resume regular session only to adjourn. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. REGULAR SESSION: The City Council reconvened in regular session. Mr. Condos moved adjournment, Mr. Dinklage seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:45 PM. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.