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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/28/1996CITY COUNCIL 28 May 1996 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Monday, 6 May 1996, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: William Cimonetti, Chair; James Condos, Robert Chittenden, David Austin, Terrence Sheahan Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Ann Slattery, Asst. City Clerk; Sonny Audette, Street Dept; Lee Graham, Police Chief; Gayle Barone, Doug Isham, Michael Flaherty Mr. Hafter presided over the opening of the meeting. 1. Administering of Oath of Office: Assistant City Clerk Slattery administered the Oath of Office to new Council members Sheahan and Austin. 2. Election of Officers: Mr. Hafter opened the floor for nominations for Chair. Mr. Chittenden nominated Mr. Cimonetti. Mr. Sheahan moved that nominations be closed. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Cimonetti was elected 4-0, abstaining from voting himself. Mr. Austin nominated Mr. Condos for Vice Chair. Mr. Sheahan moved that nominations be closed. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos was elected 4-0, abstaining from voting himself. Mr. Sheahan nominated Mr. Austin for Clerk. Mr. Chittenden moved that nominations be closed. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Austin was elected 4-0, abstaining from voting himself. Mr. Cimonetti presided over the remainder of the meeting. He congratulated the new members and all who ran for the positions. He noted that the Council positions are more public than the Planning Commission. The agenda is prepared by the City Manager and if a member has an item he wishes to add, he can bring it to Mr. Hafter's attention by the Friday before the meeting. Mr. Cimonetti also noted that in the past the Council has had a meeting in which they discussed goals and objectives, etc., and that such a meeting might be planned for in upcoming weeks. 3. Set Time and Place for Regular Meetings: Mr. Condo moved that the Council set its regular meetings for the first and third Mondays of each month at 7:30 p.m., at South Burlington City Hall. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Annual appointments to be made by majority vote of the City Council pursuant to City Charter Chapter 3; Section 301(2): Mr. Chittenden moved to appoint Margaret Picard City Treasurer/Trustee of Public Funds. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regarding the position of City Attorney, Mr. Cimonetti noted that the 3-year contract with Stitzel and Page expires next month. The City Manager recommends a one-year extension of the contract and rebidding next year due to the large number of pending lawsuits. Mr. Chittenden felt bidding should happen now as there are many good people. Mr. Hafter said his concern is for costs, noting that when you change contractors in the middle of a project, there will be a lot of additional cost. Mr. Cimonetti noted that arguments are being heard at the Supreme Court tomorrow and there are still arguments to be heard at Superior Court relating to the tickets issued to Club Fantasy. Mr. Condos said he would be uncomfortable to think that Stitzel & Page would not be the attorneys for what is pending and thus he was inclined to agree with the City Manager's recommendation. Mr. Hafter said he was willing to talk to Mr. Stitzel to negotiate a one-year extension and the rate that would be asked for. Mr. Chittenden asked that Mr. Hafter do this and that the discussion be continued at the next meeting. Mr. Chittenden moved to table the discussion about the position of City Attorney until the next meeting with the City Manager to establish what the terms of a one- year extension with Stitzel & Page would be. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Chittenden moved to appoint Richard Ward to the position of Zoning Administrator. Mr. Condos seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter noted that there has been an effort to get only sworn officers for the First Constable position as it is preferable to have them under the Police Chief's control when they perform their jobs. Chief Graham noted that the major function of the Constable is to serve warrants. Mr. Sheahan moved to appoint Lt. Ernie Lemay as First Constable and Police Officer Paul Edwards as Second Constable. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos moved to appoint Chuck Hafter as Grand Juror and City Agent. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos moved to appoint Sullivan & Powers for the third year of a three-year contract as City Auditor. Mr. Chittenden seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Information on Appointments to be made by the City Council in June/July: Mr. Cimonetti said positions will be advertised and all applicants will be interviewed. He noted that with both Mr. Sheahan and Mr. Austin coming over from the Planning Commission, that board is short 2 members and there is a potential for a serious problem if the 2 new Councilmen were also to remain on the Commission since the City Council appoints Commission members and Commission members are responsible to the Council. He suggested giving consideration to limited appointments to the Commission to people who have previously served while the Council goes through the regular selection process for permanent new Commissioners. Mr. Sheahan noted there will be some issues for which the Commission will not be able to get a quorum without additional members due to conflicts of interest on certain applications. Members agreed to present names of candidates for temporary appointment at the next meeting. Mr. Hafter will contact people in advance as to willingness to serve in this limited appointment. The Council agreed the candidates should be former Planning Commission or City Council members with no more than 10 years since they last served. Mr. Cimonetti said that in the past certain positions have been filled only by City Council members. These include representatives to Regional Planning Commission, MPO, Solid Waste District, Channel 17 CCTV Board, and UVM Liaison. The last 2 of these are now not filled. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.