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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 08/16/1999SOUTH BURLINGTON CITY COUNCIL 16 AUGUST 1999 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 16 August 1999, at 7:30 p.m. in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members present: James Condos, Chair; David Austin, Joan Britt, Terrance Sheahan, Chris Smith Also present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Steven Stitzel & Tim Eustace, City Attorney; Lee Graham, Police Chief; Anna Johnston, The Other Paper; Channel 17; George Sporzynski, Lou Bresee, Chris Madden, Mark Lemnah, Sandy Fead, Janith Lockwood, David Jacobowitz, Lance Llewellyn 1. Comments & questions from the audience (not related to Agenda items): a. Ms. Johnston asked about the possibility of a citywide leash law. Mr. Condos noted there is a leash law for Red Rocks and Dorset Parks, and there is a "control law" for the rest of the city. Mr. Austin asked if there are a lot of reports of dogs running loose. Mr. Hafter said no. Mr. Sporzynski noted there is also a leash requirement on the rec paths, and there is a problem when dogs are not leashed. Mr. Condos suggested putting an item in The Other Paper to remind people of the existing laws. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: The following announcements were made: Annual Regional Planning Commission meeting, next Tuesday at the Inn at Essex. It was also noted that the initial comment period on the updated Regional Plan has a 9/15 deadline. Channel 17 Board meeting will be held on Thursday, 11:45 a.m. There will be a discussion of future funding for Channel 17. The annual MPO meeting will be held at Dewey Lounge in the Old Mill at UVM on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Mr. Hafter announced the following: The next City Council meeting will be 7 September. A Steering Committee meeting is tentatively set for 23 September. The City/School Committee will report back to the Steering Committee at that time. There will be a meeting of regional elected officials on 26 August at 7 p.m. There will be reports from the Housing Committee and a report from the Corrections Department on facilities. The Family Music Fest will be held at Dorset Park on 29 August from 4-7 p.m. The event is free to the public. 3. Interviews for appointment to the Library Board of Trustees and Rec Path Committee: The Council interviewed Janith Lockwood for appointment to the Library Board. Ms. Lockwood said she just retired from teaching in South Burlington and is looking for something to do for the city. Mr. Sheahan asked if Ms. Lockwood felt it was an asset to have a joint High School/Community Library. Ms. Lockwood said if it were financially feasible to explore separate facilities, it might be valuable, but she felt it would be more limited to have just a High School Library at the school. The Council then interviewed David Jacobowitz for the Rec Path Committee. Mr. Jacobowitz said he lives near the path and did some volunteer work when the effort to have a rec path first began. He added that he would like to get more people to use the path. Mr. Hafter said there is good news on Phase III of the Rec Path. All of the easements have been worked out, and the work will soon go out to bid. Mr. Jacobowitz suggested connecting the path to other rec paths and also making it walkable throughout the year. 4. Discussion of plans for the Shelburne Rd. Post Office: Messrs. Lemnah and Madden noted that the Shelburne Rd. Post Office is under the jurisdiction of the Burlington Postmaster. The facility needs about 5,000 sq. ft. and currently has only 3,000. They are looking to make the facility into a "store" concept. They want to be sure this is what the community wants the Post Office to do. Mr. Condos asked when the work would be done. Mr. Madden said there would have to be a 30-day comment period for the city to appeal. Then the approval process would be set in motion. Mr. Sheahan asked if this would affect the White St. Post Office. Mr. Madden said they are totally separate. Members had no issue with the proposed upgrade of the Shelburne Rd. facility. Mr. Austin moved to authorize the Chair to sign a letter indicating there is no objection on the part of the city to the proposed expansion of the Shelburne Rd. Post Office. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos noted that the White St. Post Office is crowded, busy, and does not have enough parking. He also noted that the city is establishing its City Center and urged the Post Office to work with the city on locating a new facility in that area. Mr. Lemnah said the Post Office is already working on doing something about the White St. facility and will be back to discuss this. Mr. Sporzynski said it would be a good idea to have some bike racks at the post offices. 5. Public hearing on request to quitclaim "school rights" interest on Vermont National Country Club property: Mr. Fead said they have tried to get a response from the City of Burlington but have received nothing. Mr. Eustace said he had been told that the Burlington City Council was interested in making the conveyance but were also interested in being compensated. Mr. Condos said that if Burlington is compensated, South Burlington should receive some of the compensation. Mr. Fead said the way the documents read, Burlington was to get $37/year and had to give South Burlington $14 of that. Mr. Fead noted that this issue now constitutes an impediment to the title to the property and they would like to get it cleared up. It would be acceptable to them to have the same split in any compensation. Mr. Austin asked where the piece of land is. Mr. Fead said it is in the southwest corner of Swift and Dorset and is roughly a square parcel. He was not sure of the length of the sides of the parcel. Mr. Austin felt the city should consider a broader policy as there are probably other properties with the same situation. Mr. Eustace said the 1865 agreement suggests there are several of these in the city. Other members agreed that the Council should consider the broader issue. Mr. Condos asked if there was any urgency on the part of the applicant. Mr. Fead said the client signed contracts agreeing to address the issue by 1/99. He said he would like to see it resolved as expeditiously as possible. Mr. Austin said he was inclined to think the city didn't need to be compensated, and if Burlington were to come to the same conclusion, there could be an agreement. If Burlington wants compensation, South Burlington would want it as well. Mr. Austin felt South Burlington should be compensated for legal fees. Mr. Eustace said the city has 3 options: wait and see what Burlington does, style the deed which would give South Burlington a percentage of what Burlington gets, or do what Mr. Austin suggests. Members felt they would like to get more complete information on other pieces of land that might be involved before they deal with just this piece. Mr. Austin moved to continue the public hearing until more information is available. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Discussion of Cross Vermont Trails Mr. Sporzynski said there is a 75 mile path across Vermont which would begin in Burlington and run to Wells River. The concept is that each town will build its part of the path and create rules for it. South Burlington could use existing parts of its path. Old road bridges are being recycled and could be used on this trail. The plan would expand South Burlington's existing networking and would allow a connection to Williston. Mr. Condos noted that the expense in moving the bridges would make it cheaper to get a new one. 7. Consideration of acceptance of proposal from Llewellyn, Inc. and Michael Dugan, AIA, for design services for new public works yard: Mr. Hafter reviewed the history of the item. He noted that the proposal changes some of the original assumptions that were made. The cost of the work would be $93,400 which represents 4% of the total budget for the project. Mr. Hafter recommended accepting the contract and also appointing a Council member to be on the committee to work on the project. Mr. Llewellyn said the bid package will be ready by mid-December. Mr. Sheahan moved to accept the proposal from Llewellyn, Inc. and Michael Dugan and to authorize the City Council Chair and City Manager to sign the scope of services page. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sheahan agreed to be the City Council representative to the committee. 8. Discussion of proposed Community Identity and Development Forum: Mr. Hafter said that he and Joe Weith had a very good discussion with Peter Cole on this. Mr. Cole said he was thrilled with the idea and felt it was important to the City Council leadership to establish the focus(es). Mr. Condos said the Council felt it was important to see this as a citywide discussion. Mr. Sheahan noted that in the past, there hasn't been the kind of public participation the city wanted and that it was mainly the same group of people raising the same issues. Ms. Britt suggested inviting specific neighborhoods. Mr. Cole said there would be decisions as to how to engage the community. He hoped to attract 60-80 citizens. A decision will be made as to dates for the forums. 9. Review of design plan for Spear Street sewer collection system: Mr. Condos noted that he and Mr. Hafter had met with residents of the west side of Spear St. Mr. Hafter said the original design had been to collect sewage from the 5 properties on the east side which would go across and join sewage from the 9 properties on the west side and be pumped into the system. The most logical way to do it, however, would be to go down to Pinnacle at Spear without having to cross Spear St., but the law would require the last house in the area to be a member of the district, and the owner does not want to join. Mr. Hafter said he had discovered it is possible for the City Manager to exempt a property owner from joining such a district. He recommended that if any other properties want to join in the district during the 10 years of the levy, they would have to pay the levy from then on. Mr. Austin was concerned with setting a precedent on this and felt all houses should have to join on. Mr. Hafter noted there is also discussion on the west side as to whether to put the line closer to the homes (for a cheaper hook-up) or down the west property line. There is no agreement on this as yet. Ms. Britt was concerned with creating an incentive not to hook on right away. She noted that in the past people have been required to hook on who did not want to. Mr. Stitzel noted that in some communities if a person has recently upgraded or installed a septic system, they had 10 years in which to hook on so they could amortize their investment. Mr. Condos reminded members that this would have to go to a vote if the homeowner in question does not agree. 10. Review Development Review Board Agenda for 8/17/99: No issues were raised. 11. Review minutes of 29 July and 2 August: Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the minutes of 29 July as written. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Ms. Britt and Mr. Smith abstaining. Ms. Britt moved to approve the minutes of 2 August as written. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Austin moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented an application from the new owner of Colonial Deli Mart. He said the application is all in order. Mr. Austin moved to approve the second class License for Colonial Deli Mart as presented. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Executive session: Mr. Austin moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council in Executive Session to discuss personnel, contract negotiations, litigation, real property acquisition and appointments to Boards and to resume regular session only for the purpose of making appointments to Boards and signing a contract. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular session: The City Council returned to open session. Joan Britt moved appointment of Janith Lockwood to a three-year term on the Library Board of Trustees (2002) and David Jacobowitz to a three-year term on the Recreation Path Committee (2002). David Austin seconded. The motion passed unanimously. Joan Britt moved authorizing the City Manager to sign a contract with Cole Consulting for facilitation services for the community identity project in the amount of $3,830. Chris Smith seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 11 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.