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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 02/24/1997CITY COUNCIL 24 FEBRUARY 1997 The South Burlington City Council held a meeting on Thursday, 24 February 1997, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: James Condos, Acting Chair; David Austin, Terry Sheahan Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Peg Strait, Asst. City Manager; Margaret Picard, City Clerk/Treasurer; Joe Weith, City Planner; Bob Wheel, Assistant Fire Chief; Ken Datillio, Fire Dept; Sonny Audette, Street Dept; 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience (not related to Agenda Items): Mr. Condos noted there will be a Solid Waste District meeting tomorrow. Mr. Hafter gave members the list of funding proposals from the Democratic plan in the Legislature. These will be discussed at the Legislative Breakfast. Mr. Hafter praised the Highway Department for work done in the first three years of the 5-year highway bond. He gave members a list of completed projects. 2. Continue Review of Proposed 1997-8 FY Budget: a. City Clerk: Ms. Picard said their budget is up $1000. They are asking for 2 new desk chairs, a new printer and a new adding machine. The supply budget is down as this is not a major election year. b. Planning Department: Mr. Weith showed members examples from the new GIS mapping program. The Department budget is up $4,000 over last year, mainly in the area of personnel. He noted they have been underestimating salaries in the "other" and "leave time" categories. There is a $700 decrease in the operating budget but an increase of $400 in the advertising budget due to increased Free Press costs. There have also been more public hearings to be warned. Mr. Hafter noted that if The Other Paper becomes a weekly publication, the city may use them for meeting warnings. There is also a request for two desk chairs. c. Zoning Department: Mr. Hafter said this budget is almost the same although advertising is up for the same reasons as in Planning. Revenues are also up due to increases in fees. The zoning department is also requesting 2 chairs and a 35 mm camera. d. General Ledger: Ms. Strait advised that under this category are appropriations for Assessing, Tax Recording and Collecting, Maintenance of City-Wide Ledgers, and Maintenance/Recording of Payroll. There are no operational cost changes. There are, however, four capital requests: 2 modems, a printer housing and the first payment on the reappraisal process. e. Fire Department: Mr. Hafter advised that the City is proposing one new career fire fighter position to start 1/1/98. There has not been an increase in personnel in the department for 8 years. Department members then presented statistics on responses, particularly at Station 2. Call volume has increased 23% in the last 5 years. 30% of calls are received at Station 2. There were 4374 calls for service in the last 4 years, most of them medical in nature. Firefighters noted that when the City opened Station 2 on Shelburne Road, there was a long-term manning plan. Generally, there have been 2 firefighters in Station 1 and one in Station 2. If one of these was not available, Station 2 has been closed down. Between 1992 and 1995, Station 2 was closed 48% of the time. Between those same years, there were 1943 calls in Station 2's district. 644 of these had to be answered by Station 1 because Station 2 was closed. The average response time when Station 2 is open is 3.2 minutes. When Station 2 is closed, that response time increases to 5.5 minutes. The desired standard is a maximum of 4 minutes response time. Firefighters noted that a fire doubles every minute. In heart attacks, CPR is crucial in the first few minutes. Mr. Hafter then showed a chart comparing a 40-hour work week with a swing shift person. With a swing shift, the city could pick up more than half of the time Station 2 was closed. That would increase the time Station 2 is open to 72%. There would have to be stipulations with this: only one firefighter could be on vacation at any one time, and the swing shift person would not have to be given two weeks notice on a change of shift. Firefighters noted that the area of the city served by Station 2 is growing. That engine will now have a defibrilator which is very important. They are handling a lot more medical calls, partly due to increased growth in the city's southern part of town and also because of the increasing number of senior residences in the city. Mr. Hafter noted that in 1995, there were 142 simultaneous calls. An added firefighter would certainly be a benefits in those situations. Other items in the Fire Department budget that are of note include: Hepatitis B vaccination for new recruits, a slight increase in fire prevention, an enhanced maintenance program, a reduction in liability insurance and a decrease in gasoline balanced by an increase in diesel fuel for the new trucks. Capital expenses include: the 3rd of 4 payments on the smoke evac units, replacement vehicle payment, purchase of spare gear, the 3rd of 4 payments on the doors and on the Scott Air Packs and the final payment on the copier. f. Highway: Mr. Audette noted that 2 members of his department have retired, so salaries are down. Liability insurance is also down. Power for traffic lights is up; the city is going to look into replacing the system on Dorset St/Kennedy Drive. This will reduce some power need. Capital expenses include the payment of short term notes. Three vehicles will be replaced this year. Mr. Audette noted the continuing facilities problem. He is going to look toward finding a facility and looking into financing scenarios. Mr. Audette then reviewed projects planned for the year: 1. He hoped the Van Sicklen Bridge could be done. 2. On Airport Parkway, some ravines will be filled in and the road will be curbed. In the area of park maintenance, Mr. Audette said there are no major increases in this area. Mr. Condos expressed concern with road line painting. He said the city may have to do it twice in the year instead of waiting until July. g. Revenue Projections: Mr. Hafter that 90% of revenues come from property taxes, and there aren't many other options. He noted that receipts from photocopying will be down because the State has said the city can't charge more. Mr. Hafter said that one of the most troubling areas is the closed pelletizing plant. They are still paying the lease fee, but if there are no revenues, this may also be cut. h. Ten Year Capital/Operating Plans: Mr. Hafter noted a big drop in bonded indebtedness next year as the municipal building and Brand Farm will be paid off. Some of the future projects include: widening of Hinesburg Rd., Kennedy Road reconstruction, the Community & Recreation Center and park ballfields, work on the municipal building, the public works building (scheduled for 1998-9) and the Lime Kiln Bridge. Additions to the 10 year capital budget include a new person in Public Works in 1999 and additional personnel as the city grows in Police, Fire and at City Hall. Mr. Sheahan moved to present the budget as outlined to the Steering Committee. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 3. Review Planning Commission Agenda for 2/28/97: No issues were raised. 4. Review Minutes of 3 February 1997: Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the Minutes of 3 February 1997 as written. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.