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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/09/1992CITY COUNCIL 9 MARCH 1992 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Monday, 9 March 1992, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: Michael Flaherty, Chairman; John Dinklage, William Cimonetti, Robert Chittenden, James Condos Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Sid Poger, The Other Paper; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager; Albert Audette, Street Department; Brian Searles, Police Dept; James Goddette, Sr., Fire Dept; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Dept; Ronald Nemcosky, Dennis Lutz, Carol Lutz, Jan & Mary Jane Rozendaal, Ellen & Bill Dorsch, Jan Smith, Jill Coffrin, Chris Cavin, John Hughes, Nile Schneider 1. Comments & Questions from the Public (not related to Agenda Items): No issues were raised. 2. Public Hearing on Bicycle Path Grant Proposal: Path to be located along northern I-189 right-of-way from the Outlet Mall to Spear St. and along west side of Spear St. right-of-way to University of Vermont: Doug Weber of Pinkham Engineering outlined the proposed route of the path and noted that a majority of the path will follow the CWD pipeline. He said the city is pursuing Agency of Transportation and federal funding and thus design requirements must be met. There are some grading concerns at Farrell St. but these are being worked out. A 120 ft. span bridge will cross the stream and, the path will then go on to connect with the running track at the Forest Service. The path will be kept within the city right-of-way to Gutterson Field House. Mr. Weber then explained the grant application procedure and noted that application deadline is this coming Monday. It will be a competitive process, and he felt the results would be known some time in May. Mr. Cimonetti noted the closeness of the path to some front yards. Mr. Weber said they are trying to negotiate these and acknowledged that it may be tight in some places. Mr. Rozendaal asked if the ditch along the road will be a culvert. Mr. Weber said there is provision for drainage and a drainage pipe. Mr. Rozendaal asked about the possibility of going behind his house instead of in front. Mr. Weber said talks on this possibility are being pursued. Mr. Nemcosky also felt the path should go behind the houses. Mr. Lutz said he supported the path very much and noted the current dangers, especially when roads are icy. He suggested an ordinance to prohibit bikers from the travelled road once the bike path is built. He also suggested going behind the houses. He noted that there is a stand of 24 ft. pine trees that acts as a barrier and contains lots of wildlife. He didn't want to see those trees removed. He felt the path should go on the back side of the trees. Dr. Hughes supported the path and felt the city couldn't consider a bike path without this crucial link. He wasn't sure about prohibiting bikers from the road. Mrs. Dorsch also felt the path should go behind the trees. She expressed concern about there being no place for joggers. Mr. Hafter then noted receipt of letters from three other residents of the area supporting the project. They are Jim Bensen, Dr. Gump, and Ms. Rozzi. Mr. Dinklage moved to direct staff to complete and submit the application as proposed with the understanding that the city will continue to try to obtain right-of-way to move the path behind the tree line. He further moved to instruct staff to work as closely as possible to mitigate any problems with homeowners. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Continuation of Budget Discussion; Approval of Preliminary Budget for presentation at Steering Committee: Mr. Flaherty noted there is a tabled motion to increase the social services allotments to $37,000. Mr. Cimonetti spoke against the motion saying that all other budget items have been held at or below inflation rates. He said he has compassion for the programs but they are not affordable and that his opposition is to the motion not the programs. Mr. Chittenden also opposed the motion noting there have been over 50 bankruptcies in town and he felt there had to be a responsibility to those paying taxes. Mr. Dinklage said under normal circumstances he would support level funding for social services, but he is swayed to support the increase because of the significant number of S. Burlington citizens served by the organizations being funded. Mr. Condos agreed, but added that he would support the increase only if $3,000 was removed elsewhere from the budget. Mr. Hafter recommended removing $2,000 from the comp. time reduction plan and $1,000 from either the "other salaries" (consultants) or street lights budget items. He also suggested the possibility of not mailing the annual reports and making them available in locations around town which would be a substantial cost savings so that $1,000 could possibly be taken from that item. Members then voted on the tabled motion to include as a line item for social services a budget item of $37,000. Motion had been made by Mr. Dinklage and seconded by Mr. Condos. The motion passed 3-2 with Messrs Cimonetti and Chittenden voting against. Mr. Dinklage then moved to compensate for the increase just approved by reducing the printing budget by $0,000 and the comp. time reduction plan by $0,000. Mr. Condos seconded. The motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Cimonetti voting against. Mr. Dinklage then moved to approve the proposed budget for presentation at the Steering Committee on 19 March. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Cimonetti voting against. Other Business: Mr. Dinklage noted a compliment paid to the Police and Recreation Departments by a Virginia delegate to the DARE program conference. Mr. Condos noted that his daughter has participated in the program and he too commends it highly. Landfill Issues: Mr. Hafter noted receipt of information on landfill closure. It noted that S. Burlington closure costs will be approximately $973,000 and estimated that the city will have collected $550,000 toward this amount. The state has said that if S. Burlington had charged $24/ton they would have escrowed over $1,000,000. Because they did not do this, no grant money will be made available to the city. Mr. Condos said he had no idea where the $24/ton figure came from. Mr. Hafter suggested some possible courses of action. The city could ask the voters for bonding authority for the additional funds. He also noted that if the city can keep the landfill open an additional year they would have to increase charges to $45/ton. Mr. Cimonetti said there is nothing that says you have to close the landfill as soon as you stop using it. You just can't put anything more into it. Mr. Condos noted that the temporary landfill can't support what would be put into it if all communities use it. Mr. Cimonetti said he is not ready to double charges to make up for not getting the grant. He said the city has an obligation to close the landfill, and he didn't want to jeoparadize any possibility for grants. Mr. Hafter said a decision is needed by 17 April if there is to be a bond vote in May. Other Business: Mr. Hafter said the committee working on the ice rink/recreation building would like a bond vote on the May ballot. Mr. Hafter said he is working on language on the city growth item for the ballot. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.