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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/02/2022 CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 2 May 2022,at 6:30 p.m., in the Auditorium, 180 Market Street,and by Go to Meeting remote participation. MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Riehle, Chair; M. Emery,T. Barritt, Sen.T. Chittenden, M. Cota ALSO PRESENT:J. Baker, City Manager; D. Kinville, City Clerk; P. Conner, Director of Planning& Zoning;T. DiPietro, Public Works Director; M. Machar, Finance Officer; P.Taylor, M. O'Brien B. Sirvis, R. Greco,J. Bellevance,J. Louisos, S. Dopp,J. Leas, C.Trombly, L. Kupferman,S. Dooley, A. Jensen-Vargas 1. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency and review of technology option: Ms. Baker provided instructions on emergency exit from the building and reviewed technology options. 2. Additions,deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: Ms. Baker noted there were copies of some amendments to the Agenda. 3. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda: Ms. Groeneveld asked the Council to be sure to treat people kindly and cited recent comments made by one Council member about another member. She said that issues require solutions and kindness, and everyone should feel safe and welcome. 4. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Council members spoke of meetings and events they had attended. Ms. Baker: Noted that Chittenden County is rated high in reported COVID cases, and members of the staff have been affected. She urged people to remain at home if they are sick. The City is switching to a new email system. City IT personnel will help Council members to make the switch. Staff is considering how to integrate Policies and Strategies with the Comprehensive Plan kickoff. The hope is to find a date when the most people can participate. Staff is in the final stages of adopting the Red Rocks Park management plan. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 2 Ashley will be leaving the city as of Friday as she has accepted a position in Burlington as Director of Capital Projects. It will be hard to fill her shoes. Public Works and CWD are beginning to explore water power expansion. This will require a bond vote. A second tank at Dorset Street and one at the Auclair property are being explored. The city did not receive the Transportation Grant, and staff is now looking at a way to expand the paving program. The entire budget is now devoted to Dorset St. Committee openings have been posted, and applications are due by 25 May. Saturday(7 May) is Green Up Day. Residents can pick up bags at City Hall and drop off filled bags at Public Works. Last Saturday featured both Tyke Baseball and a Senior Center Brunch. 5. Consent Agenda: a. Approve and Sign Disbursements b. Approve Minutes from 7 February,7 March and 4 April 2022 City Council Meetings c. Receive report from staff on Veterans Park at Dorset Street Ms. Riehle noted that Veterans Park issues will be on an upcoming agenda. Ms. Emery moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Sen. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Receive an Update from the Cemetery Sextons: Mr.Taylor reminded the Council that the Council is the Cemetery Commission (by State Law); the Sextons are in charge of maintenance. Mr.Taylor then showed photos of the 2 cemeteries. He noted that a person has been doing "ground sonar" to determine where there are no unmarked graves. There are also clean-up plans for the Shelburne Road cemetery on 9 July which will include headstone cleaning in conjunction CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 3 with the Vermont Old Cemetery Association (VOCA). Ms. Kinville then reviewed items identified in 2019 for the Sextons to address.These include: accurate listing of all resting souls, grave stone realignment and repair,fencing, lot pricing, and beautification (e.g., benches). Ms. Kinville noted there is no accurate list of resting souls. Shelburne Road fencing needs addressing, and Eldridge has one section of fencing down due to an automobile accident. The Sextons are looking to create a reflection are with benches, etc. Ms. Kinville noted that when the City of Burlington still owned the Eldridge Cemetery, indigent residents were buried with no records. Partial sonar has verified some open areas. Ms. Kinville then showed a comparison of South Burlington lot prices with those of nearby municipalities. The Sextons are recommending prices be increased to$500 for residents and $700 to non-residents. There is also a possibility of smaller plots for urn burials. Mr.Taylor showed a photo of the broken fencing at Eldridge and said it should be replaced with the same kind of fencing and a barrier to prevent it from being hit again. He noted that this is the area where soldiers from the War of 1812 are buried. He also noted that the Airport took down some fencing. Ms. Riehle said she would talk with them again. Mr.Taylor noted the city should check to be sure it received insurance money from the accident that took down some of the fencing. Ms. Emery felt the City should put up the fencing. Sen. Chittenden noted that the fencing is a requirement of State Law. Ms. O'Brien noted that due to wet conditions at Shelburne Road, the cemetery is difficult to use, and there is question as to whether it should be for urns only with a reflection area. Ms. Kinville showed a picture of the swale area and indicated a possible reflection site. Mr.Taylor said it could be a very beautiful spot. 7. Public Hearing on Proposed Amendments to Land Development Regulations(LDR- 22-01, LDR-22-02, LDR-22-03, LDR-22-04): Sen. Chittenden moved to open the public hearing. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Conner noted these are the amendments that the Council warned last month. No additional public comments have been received. Mr. Conner also noted the Council had made some amendments,and the Planning Commission updated its report to reflect that. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 4 Ms. Louisos summarized the amendments, noting that they create a General PUD type for areas that didn't yet have a PUD type. The Commission also considered some site amenities similar to those in the Form Based Code area (e.g., small parks) and set standards for site plan review. Public comment was then solicited. There were no public comments. Ms. Emery said she received an email with concern as to whether a park lot could be located where homes used to be. Mr. Conner explained that the land in question is still zone R-4. Mr. Cota asked if there is discretion for the DRB to work with developers regarding amenities. Mr. Conner said there are many amenities that can be applied, which allows for discretion. Ms. Louisos said that some of the areas involved are very close to parks, and up to 50%of an amenity can be applied to an off-site amenity. Mr. Cota asked whether commercial properties now have a PUD type. Mr. Conner said they do. Mr. Cota then asked about a security area that is on the fence where the regulations call for a parking lot to be. He asked how someone would comply with that. Mr. Conner explained that any commercial project is an amendment to a site plan. Whether it amends a Master Plan depends of the nature of the Master Plan. Any application is subject to the regulations in place at that time. Mr. Conner stressed that no new Master Plan has yet been applied for under the new regulations. He added that if a building is part of the security fence, an applicant can build parking in front of that building. Ms. Emery then moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Possible action to approve amendments to Land Development Regulations following the public hearing: Ms. Emery moved to approve the proposed amendments to the Land Development Regulations #LDR-22-01, LDR-22-02, LDR-22-03 and LDR-22-04 as warned. Mr. Cota seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Discuss the Status of Beta's permitting and Legislative Bill H736 regarding municipal zoning, parking and the Airport: CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 5 Ms. Baker said this is a South Burlington success story with a cutting edge company wanting to expand into the city. When there were issues, people worked quickly to address them. This included special hearings to take more testimony from Beta on 25 April, and ultimate DRB approval. Regarding Legislative Bill H736, language was ultimately removed so there were no unintended consequences to the Chamberlin neighborhood. Ms. Riehle commended the Planning&Zoning Department which wrote a decision in 24 hours when this could typically take 45 days. Time was of the essence, and Ms. Riehle commended the Department on behalf of the City Council and cited the very dedicated employees who serve the city. Mr. Cota added praise for the work of Development Review Planner Marla Keene. Ms. Emery noted that some members of the Planning Commission were directly contacted by members of the Transportation Committee whom she thanked for their effort. Sen. Chittenden noted that H736 has passed the House but not yet the State Senate. There have been many versions, and language is now coming back to the Senate and will then go to the Governor. Mr. Barritt noted that everyone understood the importance of this project and its ability to reduce pollution and noise. He felt that new doors are opening, and that ultimately the project was approved locally. Mr. Cota cited the "embarrassment of talent" in South Burlington and suggested that the city should have a lobbyist in Montpelier as the City of Burlington does. He said that is how legislation gets developed. Ms. Emery felt the local legislators were the city's lobbyists. Sen. Chittenden felt that the multiple voices made the issue unnecessarily complex. Mr. Klugo, representing Beta, asked what the process is for going back and having the design as submitted be approved. Mr. Conner explained that the current application was approved by the DRB. Any new application could be submitted under the new regulations just adopted. The approved application would have to lapse or be amended, which is the standard practice. Mr. Conner stressed that what the DRB approved was an amended application that complied with the regulations in effect at that time. The DRB did not approve an application under the amendments approved by the Council at this meeting. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 6 Ms. Greco asked how the State got involved. Ms. Baker explained that the Governor can get involved because what was being applied for was good for the state to meet its climate change goals. Sen. Chittenden noted that the original language was very broad, and he suggested less broad language and said he felt the language wasn't needed at all. Ms. Riehle noted that she had served in both houses of the State Legislature, and said that she would be very rich if she had a dollar for every time language in a bill was changed or people changed their minds. She cited the need to compromise. 10. Approve the Bylaws for Committees Established by the South Burlington City Council: Ms. Baker cited her surprise at how many committees there are and how they operate under separate rules. The Bylaws provide for annual training for committees, appointment process for City Council liaisons,the ability of the Planning Commission to appoint sub-committees, and a section on conduct. Mr. Cota moved to approve the Bylaws for Committees as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Riehle said these Bylaws will be very helpful as the Council makes its next round of appointments. 11. Affordable Housing Committee and Housing Trust Fund to present their recommendations on using ARPA funding to incentivize the development of affordable housing: Mr.Trombly reviewed the Committee's work to narrow down an RFP process. Realizing how fast the money needs to be used,they utilized existing channels. They also looked at how other communities had used their ARPA funds. The recommendation they came up with was unanimously approved by the Committee. Some of the elements of the RFP are: a. All proposals have to have a minimum percentage of affordability b. The developer must have provided this type of housing previously c. The developer must be able to provide the project within the timeline d. The applicant can strengthen an application in a number of ways: CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 7 1. Exceeding the inclusionary requirement 2. Providing home ownership (not just rental) 3. Going beyond the energy efficiency requirement 4. Providing a mix that includes 2 and 3 bedroom units 5. Providing more than one housing type 6. Demonstrating how they will use the ARPA funds The developer will also have to indicate what kind of outreach they will use. Ms. Riehle said she thought the plan would be for exclusively affordable housing, not a mix. Mr. Kupferman said they wanted to encourage a developer who wasn't going to include affordable housing to do so and to provide a chance for other developers to provide more affordability. He stressed that$1,000,000 won't build a whole significant project. Ms. Riehle noted Habitat for Humanity provides 100%affordability and ownership at less than $1,000,000. Mr. Kupferman said this proposal does not preclude Habitat. Ms. Emery felt that 15%affordable units was too low. Mr.Trombly said they wanted to encourage a wide range of applications, things no one had thought of. Ms. Emery said they should think higher and bigger, such as a Habitat or Cathedral Square. Mr.Trombly said the ARPA money wouldn't be the only funding source. The $1,000,000 is being added to get affordable housing. Mr. Kupferman noted that based on time constraints, if a project isn't in the pipeline now, it wouldn't be able to apply now. Ms. Riehle said she was disappointed they weren't asking for net zero. She noted Habitat's annual heating bill is$300., which is affordable. She also wanted the ARPA money to have a lasting impact on the community, and she had envisioned it going to affordable owner-occupied units all over the city. Mr. Kupferman said their thought was not to make it so difficult that nobody applies,which is why they said "close to net zero." Mr.Trombly stressed that an application that ticked off multiple criteria would rise to the top. Mr. Barritt said the city won't see any applicants unless a developer already has a design and sees they can get some money from the city. He also stressed that land is so expensive that you are never going to get those smaller buildings. Ms. Dooley said she spoke with the Executive Director of Habitat and asked if they had ever built a net zero house. He said they had built one and "would never do it again." The cost is prohibitive and not worth it because you are taking money away from building more homes. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 8 Ms. Dooley also noted she had sent the Habitat Director the Committee's proposal and he was "thrilled." Ms.Jensen-Vargas said she loved the Habitat model but noted it does not create a "generational model" (i.e., passing the property on to your kids to give them a "leg up"). She said the Committee hoped the proposed model could reach out to new Americans and the most disadvantaged people to build generational wealth. Ms. Dooley reminded the Council that State law requires that an "affordable" unit remain perpetually affordable. Mr. Barritt then moved to approve the recommendations of the Affordable Housing Committee and Housing Trust Fund as presented. Mr. Cota seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Review the Quarter 3 Financial Report: Ms. Machar reported that spending is at 60%of the budgeted projection, and revenues are at 90%. There are some things not yet paid for, but at present things are looking good for the year end. The local option taxes have come in higher than anticipated. There will also be a savings from a console that is now not needed. Ms. Emery asked if there is any impact due to inflation. Ms. Machar said the biggest impact is on utilities and capital projects with costs much higher than anticipated. Ms. Baker said it would be good to think about how to use any surplus to address some of the inflationary costs. Sen. Chittenden said this was the best prepared report he had seen in 8 years. Ms. Baker credited Ms. Machar for presenting the information and developing the report. Mr. Barritt asked if there have been any'bites' on 19 Gregory Drive. Ms. Baker said there have been initial conversations. The property is now vacant and is a challenging site. Some FY22 dollars will be used for painting, etc. Ms. Baker also noted the market is flooded at this time. 13. Discuss the FY22 Community Services Funding allocations: Ms. Machar directed attention to the chart of what had been done in the past 5 years. Staff's recommendation is to use the $15,500 as it has been used in the past year. Ms. Riehle noted a request from Dr. Childs for$13,000 for the Youth Center and that the city had given them $11,000 last year. Ms. Machar said that came from the surplus. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 9 Ms. Riehle moved to approve the Distribution of Community Services Funding as recommended by staff. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 14. Convene as South Burlington Liquor Control Commission to consider the following: Gonzo's Indoor Golf Club, 1st Class&3`d Class Restaurant/Bar License;Waffle Chalet(renewal), 1st Class Restaurant/Bar License: Ms. Emery moved to convene as Liquor Control Commission. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Emery moved to approve the liquor licenses as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Cota moved to reconvene as City Council. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Councilors' Reports from Committee Assignments: Ms. Emery: At the final meeting of the Airport Rezoning Task Force, members voted unanimously to deny the Airport's rezoning request because it was not in line with the City's Comprehensive Plan. The request and Task Force recommendation will now go to the Planning Commission. If the vote to deny the request, it will not come to the City Council; otherwise the Council will see it. Ms. Emery cited the excellent job done by Kelsey Peterson and consultant Brandy Saxton. Ms. Riehle: The Climate Task Force members wanted to send interim recommendations to the Council related to building requirements, but the determination was to wait for a more formal process. The Task Force has not yet received updated emission numbers for the city, so it has not yet set new goals. Ms. Riehle: The scheduled Airport Commission meeting was cancelled. Mr. Cota: On 17 May, GMT will decide whether to continue zero fares. The time to advocate is now. Fare boxes would have to be updated and there is no budget for this. They would have to come up with a new way to collect fares or continue with zero fares. CITY COUNCIL 2 MAY 2022 PAGE 10 16. Other Business: Mr. Barritt asked to get some work done on Dorset Street to address pothole, etc. Ms. Baker said this can be done. 17. Consider entering executive session for the purpose of discussing labor relations agreements with employees: Mr. Barritt moved that the Council make a specific finding that premature general public knowledge of the Council's discussions regarding the negotiation of labor agreements with City employees would clearly place the public body at a substantial disadvantage. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Barritt then moved that the Council enter executive session for the purpose of discussing the negotiation of labor agreements with City Employees inviting Ms. Baker and Mr. McNeil into the session. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The Council entered into executive session at 10:12 p.m. and resumed open session at 10:35 p.m. As there was no further business to come before the Council Mr. Barritt moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:35 p.m. Clerk