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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/19/1995CITY COUNCIL 19 June 1995 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, 19 June 1995, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: William Cimonetti, Chair; David Maclaughlin, James Condos, Michael Flaherty, Robert Chittenden Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager; Wallace Possich, Fire Chief; Bob Wheel, Jim Robert, Ken Dattilio, Michael & Lia Fath, Mike Bishop II, Sacha LaScala, Bob Trombly, Daniel Duffy, Fire Dept; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Ann Peterson, Vermont Times; Lillian, Channel 17; Gary Rounds, Sue Palmer, John St. Hilaire, Kevin Baillargeon, George Brady, Diane Russo, Alexa Macedonia, Patricia Fath, V. & E. Kupiec, H. & P. Atherton, Shari Briggs, S. & T. Sissel, Doug Chioffi, Shirley Prushko, June Davis 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to agenda items): No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Hafter reported the following: a. The Water Commission will meet on 20 June at 5:00 p.m. b. The Fire Department's 25th anniversary will be celebrated by a get together at J. C. Park at noon on 1 July. c. The MPO meeting scheduled for 21 June has been postponed. d. The City has gotten 3 grant awards: the first is for GBIC and is a $2500 matching grant from the State Industry Dept. to develop a strategy for economic growth around the Digital property; the second is a grant of $4,000 for the Natural Resources Committee to do a street tree inventory; the third was announced by Gov. Dean and amounts to $200,000 for a senior center at the Pines development. e. Mr. Hafter gave members the latest Grand List. The breakdown between commercial and residential property is 50.1 to 49.9, respectively. f. Mr. Hafter gave members a letter from the "Little Tax Group" outlining their proposal for a property tax system. g. Mr. Cimonetti noted receipt of an invitation from the Friends of the Hort Farm for a design exercise regarding the property to be held this Saturday. h. Mr. Cimonetti noted the following meetings: 1. Steering Committee for Light Rail, Thursday, 1-3 p.m. 2. MPO meeting on Commuter Rail, 28 June 3. Annual meeting of GBIC, Friday 4. CCTA budget hearing, next Wednesday i. Mr. Chittenden expressed concerns he had gotten from citizens about people biking double-breast in the road where there is a bike path available. 3. Discussion with Residents of East Terrace re: Road Improvement Program: Mr. Hafter provided background information, noting there had been drainage problems and the road was very old with no curbs or gutters. Last year road work was done. There is now a sidewalk in. Residents have had questions about the design which includes a "drop-off" on the side of the road for about the first 20 homes. Mr. Audette said the road & sidewalks were built according to subdivision regulations. The hardest thing to do is to try to blend in with an older neighborhood. The sidewalk is on city property and is pitched to keep water from running onto the properties. Mr. Audette said they tried to put in retaining walls where needed and spared no cost on this. The project will be a little over the anticipated cost. People in the neighborhood have been very understanding during the work. Some, however, are now questioning the height of the sidewalk. Mr. Audette said that in all cases standards were followed. The Gas Company is proposing to continue further up the street placing a line between the curb and sidewalk. There are sleeves under the road and sidewalk for gas lines, so the road just built won't have to be torn up. Mr. Atherton, a resident of the street, felt the work has created a disaster. He said there is a 15 foot dropoff to his driveway. There is no place for water on the lawn to drain off. Cars are scraping the road when they try to come up the driveway. He felt that in icy conditions, there will be serious dangers for people walking to the house. Mr. Audette said there will be another course of paving that should eliminate the scraping problem. Ms. Prushko said she is afraid of where water will go from the driveway. She felt an engineer needs to look at the situation. Mr. Maclaughlin said he had visited the site and felt the sidewalk is very unusual. It sits almost as high as a table. Driveways now head up where they used to be flat, and water cannot flow to the street. He felt garages are now ends of "mini runways" for water. Mr. Audette said everything will be graded so water will run around houses. There will be catch basins, if needed. Ms. Davis said she is concerned about water in the basement and garage. She has never had a problem before but fears there will be one now. She asked who will plow the sidewalk. Mr. Cimonetti said the city will. Ms. Davis said the men who did the work were very considerate in every way. She had a concern, however, for handicapped people falling off the sidewalk from a wheelchair. Mr. Hafter said the areas with dropoff from the sidewalks will be graded. He said he wants to know immediately if water gets into garages, so the situation can be fixed. Mr. Baillargeon said he has the worst problem of all. He has to get in and out of a very short driveway, and his house is at the lowest point. Mr. Hafter said they are talking with the adjacent owner about extending the driveway to the side. Mr. Audette noted this particular house couldn't be built today because it is too close to the property line. Mr. Audette also noted all trees which were damaged or removed will be replaced. Mr. Condos noted that prior to the work there was actually ledge sticking out through asphalt, and he felt the work done had made an improvement. He added that the city will do everything possible to solve problems. Mr. Cimonetti told neighbors to keep in touch with Mr. Audette and Mr. Hafter. 4. First Reading of Amendment to Ordinance Regulating the Placement of Utility Lines within Public Road Rights of Way and Public Property; Schedule Public Hearing: Mr. Cimonetti said the amendment defines the area which on Shelburne Rd. there must be undergrounding of utilities. Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the First Reading of the Amendment and to schedule the second reading and public hearing for 17 July. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Continue Discussion of Fire Department Apparatus Needs; Presentation from Diane Russo: Mr. Cimonetti noted that Ms. Russo did this study from her own interest. Ms. Russo read her report which included the following information and comments: She felt the city should immediately begin the purchase process for three new pieces of fire equipment. This is not, she said, a new issue and added that she felt that at the 5/16 meeting City Council members had been impolite to the Fire Chief, interrupting his presentation and telling him not to overreact or make things seem worse than they are. Ms. Russo said she had inspected the equipment and reviewed repair records and insurance data. She said she couldn't imagine why it is taking so long to attend to this issue when other issues are not "life threatening" as this is. She felt the safety of citizens should not be a bottom of the agenda item. Ms. Russo continued by saying the city has undergone many changes in the 20 years since the present equipment was purchased. She did not feel the capital improvement policy has worked well to address these changes. She then gave members an exhibit showing the history of discussion of these matters and cited the Minutes of February, 1995 where this issue was raised. There will be an ISO review next year and Ms. Russo felt it was not likely the city would retain its current standard. This means that residential and commercial fire insurance could go up as much as 30%. Ms. Russo noted that when Barre was reviewed it had to buy 2 fire vehicles to retain its rating. Ms. Russo said three of the fire trucks are not safe for firefighters and the three vehicles have no serviceable life. She felt future litigation could cost the city more than new equipment if anyone was injured because of the condition of the equipment. She then cited equipment failures on the way to fires and noted that Engine #4 couldn't be started recently to respond to a car fire. There are no spare parts for these machines as the manufacturers are out of business. Ms. Russo wanted a clear commitment to purchase all three pieces of equipment and asked the Council for a date when the Chief could start on this project. She felt there should be a special meeting to discuss financial issues and that this item should be a top priority till all equipment has been bought. George Brady cited a fire in 1982 in which he and another firefighter were injured when an aerial ladder collapsed and they fell 30 or 40 feet. He noted this was a second hand piece of equipment. Mr. Maclaughlin felt the Council was ready to deal with the issue. Mr. Flaherty said everyone wants proper equipment, but the Council has to find out how to pay for it. Mr. Condos cited the great strides the Council has made in getting safety equipment for fire fighters. He noted that one vehicle is already scheduled to be replaced in the next budget. Now that the Council has the Chief's report, they can proceed further. Mr. Maclaughlin noted the Council chose to lower the tax rate by a very nominal amount instead of dedicating more money for fire vehicles. Mr. Hafter noted the process for purchase of one truck is now beginning. A citizen asked if there could be a bond for these purchases. Mr. Cimonetti said that is one way to do it. 6. Further Consideration of Impact Fee Appeal for Dorset St. Beverage: Mr. Cimonetti noted that a reconsideration of trip ends counts has revised the peak hour additional impact from 9 to 5 more vehicles. Mr. Flaherty moved to accept Joe Weith's recommendation for Dorset Street Beverage's appeal. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Consideration of Approval of Entertainment license for Rocky's New York Pizza, 364 Dorset St: Mr. Hafter advised that this is the first application to be heard under the new process which has the application heard by the City Council instead of the Liquor Control Board. He said the application meets the standards and no conditions are recommended. The license fee has been paid. Mr. Chittenden moved to approve the Entertainment license for Rocky's as submitted. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos raised the question of the entertainment generating more traffic. Mr. Hafter said that if there is a problem, the issue will come back to the Council. 8. Continued discussion of Policy Regarding Provision of Public Information on Electronic Media: Mr. Hafter said it is the recommendation that anything prepared via electronic media be available in the media. There would still be hard copy available. He recommended a price of $5.00 per disk. Mr. Cimonetti said his one concern is that it has been city policy not to make available exit checklist data on disk. It is available on hard copy. He felt the City Clerk should be consulted. Mr. Chittenden moved to table the issue until the next meeting for discussion with the City Clerk. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Consideration of Designation of Alternative Delegate to the MPO; Discussion of Delegate Appointment: Mr. Flaherty moved to appoint Mr. Cimonetti as MPO representative with Mr. Hafter as alternate. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Review Zoning Board Agenda for 26 June: No issues were raised. 11. Review Minutes of 22 May, 5 June and 8 June: Mr. Condos moved to approve the Minutes of 22 May as written. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos moved to approve the Minutes of 5 June as written. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Messrs. Flaherty and Chittenden abstaining. Mr. Condos moved to approve the Minutes of 8 June as written. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Messrs Flaherty and Chittenden abstaining. 12. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 13. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Maclaughlin moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden stepped down from the Board as holder of a liquor license. a. Consideration of Approval of Annual Entertainment Permit for SBC Enterprises, Inc, dba Club Fantasy, 1087 Williston Rd: Mr. Cimonetti noted this permit application was being heard under the old format because it was submitted before the Ordinance was changed. He asked the applicant if there were any changes from the original permit application. Mr. Cliche said he had filled out a new application. Mr. Cimonetti said the Board had never considered an application that included TV and arcade games and videos. Mr. Cliche said that in Barre he was required to include these. Mr. Cimonetti said the Board didn't need to concern itself with those things as they are not regulated. He said the Board would consider recorded and live music, stand-up comedy and patron dancing. He stressed that the Board is not attempting to set up new regulations. Mr. Maclaughlin asked the applicant to confirm that this application included no live dance troops. Mr. Cliche said that was correct. Mr. Maclaughlin questioned the size of the dance floor which he said was very small and had no railings. Mr. Flaherty then moved the Board approve the application as submitted. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed 3-1 with Mr. Maclaughlin opposing. b. First Class Cabaret License for Brick Oven: Mr. Hafter said the Board will be getting more and more cabaret license requests because on 1 July the "no smoking" in restaurants ban goes into effect. Cabarets can have a smoking area that is enclosed. The Brick Oven meets all requirements. Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the Cabaret License for the Brick Oven. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden rejoined the Council. Executive Session: Mr. Chittenden moved the Council adjourn and reconvene in Executive Session to consider litigation and personnel issues and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: The Council reconvened in regular session. Mr. Chittenden moved adjournment. Mr. Flaherty seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:05 PM. Respectfully submitted: Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.