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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 03/08/1993CITY COUNCIL 8 MARCH 1993 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, 8 March 1993, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: Michael Flaherty, Chairman; John Dinklage, James Condos, William Cimonetti, Robert Chittenden Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager; Joe Weith, City Planner; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Dept; Don Whitten, Water Pollution Control Dept; Richard Ward, Zoning Administrator; Margaret Picard, City Clerk; James Goddette, Fire Chief; Brian Searles, Police Chief; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Tom Chittenden, Dave McLaughlin 1. Comments & Questions from the Public not related to items on the Agenda: No issues were raised. 2. Finalization of 1993-4 Budget Review: Mr. Dinklage moved to approve the 1993-4 City Budget. Mr. Condos seconded. Members then considered specific line items in the budget. Mr. Chittenden moved to eliminate the $4,000 appropriated for the Chamber of Commerce. There was no second to this motion. Mr. Dinklage moved to increase the total amount appropriated for Social Services from $37,000 to $40,000 and to fund this increase by reducing the reserve future adjustment by an equivalent amount. Mr. Condos seconded. Mr. Cimonetti said he opposed this as the Council had encouraged level funding. He did feel that re-apportionment of the $37,000 could be considered if the Social Responsibility Committee so chose, possibly to increase the VNA appropriation at the expense of one of the new agencies. Mr. Chittenden felt $37,000 was more than should be appropriated but said he would support level funding. He felt this spending was not fiscally responsible. Mr. Flaherty noted the total increase in three years has been 1/2 the inflations rate and didn't feel this was irresponsible spending. Mr. Condos noted the social needs continue to grow as witnessed by the number of citizens in South Burlington that are being served by the agencies requesting funds. He said he would like to support the motion but felt the city is very lean this year and that funds are needed elsewhere. He noted the $5,000 from drug seizure funds that will be used to support CASA and felt that would be an increase in social responsibility funding. In the vote that followed, the motion failed 2-3. Mr. Cimonetti then moved to fund social responsibility at $37,000, exclusive of the $5,000 from drug seizure to be given to CASA, but that the Social Responsibility Committee not be held to precisely the distribution they presented. Mr. Condos seconded. Mr. Dinklage was afraid the motion might send a mixed message to the Social Responsibility Committee. Mr. Cimonetti said he was trying to give them the ability to shift funds if they see fit. The motion then passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden felt that spending $600 for delivery of agendas was not necessary. He said the Police could do it. Chief Searles said according to contract, the Police cannot do non-Police work. Mr. Chittenden also felt there shouldn't be binding arbitration for the Police contract. Mr. Flaherty reminded Mr. Chittenden that this was passed by the citizens by a 7-1 margin. Mr. Chittenden felt there should be a new vote. Mr. Chittenden then move to cut the "other salaries" in the City Manager's budget (City Engineer) by $10,133. There was no second to this motion. Mr. Ward said he felt the City Hall roof needs to be repaired this year. He noted panels are falling into offices and this could be a very dangerous situation. With the recent weather, ice is falling from the roof and computers are getting wet due to leakage. Mr. Condos said the city should get someone in to evaluate the problem and give an estimate for fixing it. Mr. Ward also felt the janitor position should be put to bid as the current situation is not working well. He noted also that the back door, where the Police enter, is rotting. Mr. Chittenden moved that the Planning/Zoning Assistant position be eliminated from the budget. Mr. Cimonetti seconded for discussion. Mr. Condos felt the position is very important as Mr. Belair helps with enforcement and with reviews of development plans. Mr. Ward noted that if Mr. Belair is released, the Departments will be right back where they were three years ago, with inadequate help. Mr. Cimonetti felt it was dangerous to remove 1/4 of the labor force of two departments and noted this person performs the very important task of code enforcement. Mr. Weith echoed this and noted that development review is picking up and he is already backed up to May with plan reviews. In the vote that followed, the motion was defeated 1-4. Mr. Chittenden then questioned money spent for training and travel by the City Clerk and Planning/Zoning Departments. Ms. Picard noted her travel is to attend VLCT meetings on new rules for City Clerks and for election procedures. Mr. Chittenden then moved to cut the Dues and Subscriptions for the Planning/Zoning Depts to $200. Mr. Cimonetti seconded for discussion purposes. Mr. Ward noted the Departments subscribe to publications that deal with traffic standards (ITE manuals), landscaping, etc. He stressed that these aren't comic books but contain technical information used for site plan reviews and zoning hearings. In the vote that followed, the motion was defeated 1-4. Mr. Chittenden then moved to reduce Planning/Zoning training and travel to $250. Mr. Cimonetti seconded for discussion purposes. The motion was defeated 1-4. Mr. Chittenden moved to eliminate $2,283 from the salary for the Library Director position. Mr. Cimonetti seconded for discussion. Mr. Chittenden felt the Library Director was being overpaid. Mr. Cimonetti explained the funding procedure for the Library Director and felt that for just over $5,000 from the City Budget the City was getting a Library Director and he felt this was not extravagant. In the vote that followed, the motion was defeated 1-4. With regard to the Fire Dept. budget, Mr. Ward recommended that as a result of the contract just signed with the 6 regular firefighters, the amount paid to "call people" be increased by $15,000. He felt call people should be treated equally. These personnel are currently paid about $8. per hour for fire calls only, and Mr. Ward felt the city will lose its call people. He stressed they are not "volunteers" but have been paid on a fire call basis for 22 years. Chief Gaudette noted the regulars get paid for training sessions only if they are mandatory; otherwise they get comp time. Mr. Flaherty said he would like the opportunity to have the Council discuss this issue. Mr. Chittenden said he had a problem spending $3,000 for a washing machine for Fire Dept. uniforms. He felt they could continue to be cleaned at Greers. Mr. Chittenden then moved to eliminate the $3,000 item for the Fire Dept. washing machine. Mr. Cimonetti seconded for discussion purposes. Mr. Ward noted the uniforms cost $3.50 for one washing at Greers and sometimes they have to be done 2 and 3 times to get cleaned. With blood-borne viruses, clothes have to be washed thoroughly, and most of the rescues these days are medical. Chief Goddette noted that sometimes it takes more than a week to get things back from Greer's. He noted the machine could last as long as 10 years and this would ultimately be a savings to the city as they are spending about $1,000 a year for uniform cleaning now. Mr. Cimonetti agreed this would ultimately put the city ahead. In the vote that followed, the motion was defeated 1-4. No issues were raised on the Police or Highway budgets. In the area of Water Pollution Control, Mr. Cimonetti noted the city will be paying Burlington $63,000 for sewering East Woods. This will be a net loss as the residents of that area are charged the same rate as the rest of the city. He felt the Council should soon discuss changing this situation while there is still capacity at the Bartlett Bay Treatment Facility. Mr. Hafter said the savings would more than pay for the amortization on the project. Mr. Cimonetti said there might also be some cost stabilization talks with Burlington. The Council then voted on the motion to pass the proposed budget. The motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Chittenden opposing. Members then considered the 10-year Capital Plan. Mr. Hafter noted he had made changes based on slowdowns. Many items, including the I-89 Hinesburg Interchange, Hinesburg Rd. widening, Municipal Building work have been put back a year. He asked if members wanted to put the Kennedy Drive on-ramp into the plan and members said they did. Members also asked that the Recreation Path to be paid for from Planning fees be put into the Capital Plan. Mr. Hafter noted that items scheduled for this year in the 10-year additions to the operating budget plan have been pushed back one year. The only addition being funded is a Police person and this will be paid for out of fines, etc. Mr. Condos moved to accept the City Manager's 10-year capital Plan and 10-year Additions to the Operating Budget Plans as presented. Mr. Cimonetti seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Further Discussion of Motion of City Council Reference School Budget Charter Limitation Vote: Mr. Flaherty asked to step down from this discussion due to a conflict of interest. Mr. Cimonetti said he would like more than a cursory discussion with the Steering Committee on this. Mr. Dinklage felt the intent has been accomplished by drawing attention to it. He preferred to leave it on the table tonight and felt it was appropriate to discuss it with the Steering Committee. Mr. Condos agreed. Mr. Cimonetti suggested discussion as a Steering Committee item but said the Council could take action tonight that would put in place a one-item City Council agenda following the Steering Committee meeting to consider the tabled motion. Other members agreed. Other Business: Mr. Cimonetti noted that at the Planning Commission there was a discussion on the sign situation for the new Saturn Dealership. The Commission couldn't act on this but were sympathetic with the Saturn situation. He felt it would be appropriate for the Council to hear the issue from the applicant. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 10:05 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.