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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/15/1995CITY COUNCIL 15 May 1995 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, 15 May 1995, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street: Members Present: William Cimonetti, Chair; Robert Chittenden, David Maclaughlin, James Condos, Michael Flaherty Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager; Joe Weith, City Planner; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Wallace Possich, Fire Chief; Alice Boyd, Janet Delneo, Michael Provost, Frank Mazur, Edward Champagne, Peter Rowan, Anne Brown, Robert Fisher, Sue Pritchard, Kathleen Gaimn, David & Paula Schneider, Tim Barritt, David Els, Bill Miller, S. Marchant, Deborah & Dwight Palmer, Roy St. Pierre, Sherri Briggs, Darrel Duffy, Robert Trombley, Michael Bishop, Jim Robert, K. J. Martin, Sacha Lascala, Ken Dattilio, Gary Rounds, Matt Vinci, Dan Morrissey, Roger Dickinson, Joseph Teltz, Will Moran, Craig Rounds, Harley Brown 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to Agenda Items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Hafter announced the following meetings and events: a. An Executive Session will follow this meeting to discuss litigation. b. The Economic Development Committee will meet Thursday at 4 p.m. at City Hall. c. Through the efforts of Lee Wrigley, the Community Lutheran Church will give a right of way for the bike path that will connect Williston Rd. through to Barber Terrace. 3. Approval of resolution designating May as Employ the Older Worker Month: Mr. Cimonetti summarized the resolution. Mr. Condos moved to approve the Resolution as presented. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Consideration of implementation of traffic calming techniques in East Woods neighborhood: Mr. Hafter explained there has been a great increase in traffic in East Woods. It is thought this is due to traffic on Shelburne Rd. and to the failure to complete the Southern Connector. The Planning Commission now has a proposal from National Gardening to build two office buildings. It is estimated that 34% of the traffic from these offices would go through East Woods. Neighbors are concerned about this. Mr. Hafter said meetings have been held with the developer and neighbors and city staff to look for traffic calming measures. They have come up with the idea of "neck-downs" at 4 locations in East Woods. The Planning Commission approved the development with the condition that the City Council approve traffic calming techniques; otherwise, the developer will have to go back to the Commission. The plan is for four temporary neckdowns narrowing the road to 18 ft. This would require drivers to slow down and be aware that they are in a residential neighborhood. Mr. Barritt said the neighbors have come up with 4 or 5 locations and may want 2 more. Mr. Cimonetti stressed this is not a closing of any streets in the neighborhood. Ms. Pritchard said residents would like a green space behind the barriers. Mr. Cimonetti said he would support a trial of 4 neckdowns to get a sense of the impact they will have. Mr. Morrissey described the barriers as 7 inch high asphalt curbing with green space behind. If the barriers are to become permanent, he said he would recommend they be redone in concrete. Mr. Condos noted the neighborhood has had many problems and he felt this was a good trial and relatively inexpensive. He favored giving it a try. Mr. Maclaughlin agreed and was glad to see some action on the problem. Mr. Flaherty agreed then asked how the city can determine whether it works. Mr. Hafter said traffic counts will be recorded as well as speeds of traffic. Neighbors will be able to tell the Council what they observe. Mr. Condos thanked Wright & Morrissey and National Gardening for trying to be good neighbors. Mr. Chittenden, moved to implement on a trial basis for one year traffic calming methods as described tonight in the East Woods neighborhood. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Presentation of a Report on Fire Apparatus Replacement: Chief Possich said a very high rate of repair costs is being incurred due to the age of the fire fighting equipment. He said the city has 4 primary pumpers of which only two are adequate. He described the inadequate equipment as follows: Pumper #3: age and lack of parts due to age are big concerns. The company that made this pumper is now out of business. Pumper #4: This is the second responding truck from Station #1. It is 25 years old and is incurring high maintenance costs and reliability problems. In the past year, the truck has had to be towed off the road while on response. This is very embarrassing and is a concern to citizens. Both the engine and transmission manufacturers are out of business and no parts are available. There is also extensive rusting. Chief Possich said they have spent $1400 this year to keep #3 on the road and $1600 to keep #4 on the road. This is only emergency repair costs, not regular maintenance costs. They have been told that #4 is not worth $2500 in resale. The Tower 77 truck is also a problem. It has 65,000 road miles and 147,000 motor miles. It was bought used from New York City in 1982 and was rebuilt in South Burlington. It has served the city well, but now it has become a liability. Because of its complexity, local people cannot work on it and they have to get people in from out of town. They have also had to change the operating procedure for the truck because the former procedure could have broken the unit in half. This truck has spent 45 days out of service since last June. It has cost $10,740 to keep the tower truck on the road. Chief Possich said he is also concerned with the limited reach of the tower truck. With added heights to buildings in the city, there are now numerous properties in town where the top levels cannot be reached with the tower truck. 58% of hotel rooms may not be reachable in an emergency for a variety of reasons. Also, many apartments and condos would require a tower/ariel use. The Chief stressed there must be an ariel unit available. The Chief said that the construction industry has now gone to a light weight truss construction which fails quickly in fire situations. This is very dangerous for fire fighting as there can be a roof failure after 20 minutes. If there isn't a tower truck to reach it, the building might burn down. There are at least 40 building complexes in the city where the reach of the tower unit is questionable or impossible. There are also single family dwellings which, because of setbacks, can't be reached. The Chief said that a 75 foot reach is not enough anymore. At least 95 feet is required. A video presentation followed showing problems with ground ladders and also specific situations in which fire fighting and rescue operations would be hampered by equipment inadequacy. Apartments for the elderly are a special concern, and there are 388 of these in the city. Chief Possich noted that the Insurance Services Office which sets fire rates will be evaluating South Burlington next year. If fire fighting apparatus and other areas of fire protection are not up to standard, the City could see an increase in insurance premiums for fire insurance. If a good rating is achieved, insurance rates could go down. The Chief said South Burlington's engines are antiques compared to what is being put out today. He asked for a replacement plan for 2 pumpers and the tower truck. He said the best estimates he could get would be $200,000 each for the pumpers and $550,000 for the tower, for a total of $950,000. This new equipment would serve the city for 20 years at a cost of $15,000 per unit per year (not including interest), which is about what is being spent today to keep the 3 existing units on the road. He noted that as of 1 July, there will be $106,000 in the fire vehicle replacement fund and felt a bond vote was the easiest way to fund the 3 vehicles. Mr. Cimonetti noted that what is being proposed represents a very big change for the city. He noted there is money in the upcoming budget to replace one vehicle in the coming year. He said he wished the Council could have had this information sooner. Mr. Condos thanked the Chief for his report and noted how important it is to view fire fighting changes. He also noted the Council has committed for one truck and felt the city should begin moving forward on that. Mr. Chittenden felt the capital replacement programs have worked well. He said if more money can be found next year, he would support using it for additional equipment. He felt the frame of the tower truck could be upgraded. Mr. Cimonetti wanted a schedule for the next steps including trade-offs, alternatives, etc. He said he would not want anyone in the city thinking the problem is more serious than it is. 6. Discussion of amendment of ordinance regarding undergrounding utility placement of selected roads in South Burlington; Shelburne Road: Mr. Cimonetti said the state has said that if the city sticks with its ordinance about undergrounding of utilities, there will be a further delay in the Shelburne Rd. project. He said the Council must take action so as not to jeopardize that project. Mr. Hafter said that what is needed is an indication that the ordinance will be amended to remove Shelburne Rd. from the roads that must have underground utilities. There would be a section that requires undergrounding of utilities unless it is not economically feasible. Mr. Condos felt it should be made clear to the state that the city wants to remove as much overhead clutter as possible. Mr. Cimonetti said he would be satisfield to take Shelburne Rd. south of Imperial Drive out of that part of the Ordinance. Mr. Hafter will prepare an amendment to the Ordinance. 7. Set date and time for reorganization meeting: Members agreed to meet on 22 May at 7:30. They agenda will include other items beside the reorganization. 8. Review Planning Commission Agenda for 16 May and Zoning Board Agenda for 22 May: No issues were raised. 9. Review Minutes of 26 April and 1 May: Mr. Flaherty moved to approve the Minutes of 26 April and 1 May as written. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Flaherty moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden stepped down as owner of a business that holds a liquor license. a. Request for off-premises license for One Flight Up, Burlington International Airport: Mr. St. Pierre said that at present the restaurant and lounge are in one unit on the second floor. One Flight Up sells all food and beverages at the Airport. The Airport is enlarging gates 1 & 2 (U.S. Air and United) and there will be more seating before the security gates. The restaurant has permission for a kiosk unit in that area. The area would be walled off and limited to 2 types of wine and 3 types of beer. Mr. Cimonetti asked how they would control people who might want to carry a drink out of the area. Mr. St. Pierre said they will have a person there to control it and also a stand-up sign saying "No alcoholic beverages beyond this point." Mr. Flaherty noted the Airport Commission has been made aware of this and noted that customers want snacks available near the gates. Mr. Flaherty moved the Board approve the request of One Flight Up to permit serving of beer and wine in the recently renovated area of Gates 1 and 2, Burlington International Airport. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. b. Consideration of implementation of license conditions and sanctions against 520 Shelburne Rd., Inc., dba Bambino's: Mr. Cimonetti noted the Police Dept. has seen an increase in problems recently at Bambino's and the Board can discuss what actions to take. Mr. Brown, representing Bambino's, acknowledged there have been problems in recent months, mostly on Friday nights. He said that is the only night they draw a decent crowd. The problems seem to be on the night club side. He noted the violent incident a few weeks ago also occurred there. Mr. Brown said they have no security in the parking lot. This had been discontinued when business went down. There is inside security. He said that 99% of people who come to the club are fine; it is only 1% who don't respect anything and cause a problem. The club has issued "no tresspass" orders to try to bar such people from the club when they are identified. He stressed that they try to do a good job but didn't know that they always succeed. Mr. Brown then explained the security system. Police Chief Graham said he began to notice an increase in problems in April. A patrol officer also noted that things were getting worse. Most problems are on Friday nights which is when the club allows 18-20 year olds in for the entertainment. The Chief felt this contributes to the problem. He said that in the assault a few weeks ago, all participants were in that age group. The Chief also noted that 2 officers were injured there recently. The Department has been at Bambino's every weekend this year with 2 exceptions. This is three times more than the next highest location in the city. Sometimes, an entire shift has had to respond (5 or 6 officers). The Chief gave Board members a graph showing time spent on responses to Bambino's. Mr. Maclaughlin asked what Bambino's plans to do to stop this situation. Mr. Brown said they will take more preventative action and possibly increase staff on Friday nights. He noted the area is changing and is becoming more culturally diverse. He said there is no quick fix answer and added that the problems are also not good for business, so they want to solve them. Mr. Flaherty asked what percentage of Friday night patrons are underage. Mr. Brown estimated half. Mr. Brown asked if there could be a South Burlington Police detail there on Friday nights, noting that patrons respect police more than security people. Chief Graham said it is a Department policy not to work in any establishments that serve alcohol. Mr. Condos asked if security was increased after the slashing incident. Mr. Brown said they added one more person. Mr. Condos said he was disturbed to have heard that a bouncer told the people involved in the incident to leave quickly before the police came. Mr. Brown said he didn't understand that had happened and noted that one of their people tried to stop the assailant and actually followed her and got her license number. Mr. Condos said that he would want to see security in the parking lot if Bambino's is to be kept open. Mr. Flaherty asked what would happen if they gave up the practice of having the underage people in the club. Mr. Brown said that would kill them financially. Mr. Maclaughlin said he didn't want to punish the 99% who behave. He felt added security was the best plan. It was suggested that Mr. Brown, Chief Graham, and the City Manager get together and come up with a plan for added security. Mr. Condos said he wanted to do something now and suggested a revision of the previous stipulations. Mr. Condos then moved to reinstate stipulations regarding Bambino's, specifically those relating to control of the parking lot area stated in the previous permit, adding two people in the parking lot from 9 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Flaherty seconded. Mr. Maclaughlin said he couldn't support it because of the financial impact. Mr. Flaherty said he didn't feel two people was too much to ask given the seriousness of recent problems. The motion passed 3-1 with Mr. Maclaughlin opposing. The Board asked Mr. Brown to continue to work with city staff to see what other measures can be taken. Mr. Flaherty moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden rejoined the Council. 11. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. Executive Session: Mr. Flaherty moved the Council adjourn and reconvene in Executive Session to discuss litigation and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Maclaughlin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: The Council returned to regular session. Councilman Chittenden moved adjournment. Councilman Flaherty seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11:55 PM. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.