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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 01/04/1999CITY COUNCIL 4 JANUARY 1999 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 4 January 1999, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: James Condos, Acting Chair; David Austin, Terrance Sheahan, Joan Britt Also Present: Charles Hafter, City Manager; Rep. Frank Mazur; Rep. Susan Wheeler; Steve Stitzel, City Attorney; Joe Weith, City Planner; Albert Audette, Street Dept; Peter Keating, MPO; Fred Fravell, KFH, Marcel Beaudin, Planning Commission 1. Comments and Questions from the Audience (not related to Agenda items): No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: a. Mr. Hafter announced the following: 1. the first meeting of the Dorset Park Committee on 1/12 2. a meeting of the MPO on 1/5 at 10 a.m., regarding the Exit 13 study; Mr. Audette will represent the city 3. a train ride from Essex Junction to Burlington on 1/8 to which all members are invited 4. a luncheon given by the Vermont Association of Police Chiefs, 1/12, at the Capital Plaza Hotel; Mr. Hafter to attend with Chief Graham 5. a legislative breakfast at the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, 1/11, 7:45 a.m. at which Governor Dean will give the keynote address Mr. Hafter also noted he had been shown an article on safety for builders in "Tools of the Trade" which features South Burlington firefighters and fire truck. 3. Public hearing on Amendments to Zoning Ordinance; second reading of same: a) Rezone 700 Airport Parkway from Airport District to Mixed I-C: Mr. Weith showed the location on the map and noted the change had been requested by the landowner. b) Rezone 210-226 Airport Parkway from Mixed I-C to Residential-4 District: Mr. Weith explained that this was suggested by the City Council. Letters were sent to homeowners, but no response has been received. The Planning Commission supports the change. c) Technical Review, add Section 515: Mr. Weith said this section would allow the Planning Commission to require an applicant to pay for the reasonable cost of a technical review (e.g., traffic study, drainage study) d) Establishment of City Center Design Review Overlay District: Mr. Weith said this amendment would require design review for new construction, change of use, alterations to a building. He showed three sub-zones within the City Center. Each would have its own design characteristics. e) Amend Sign Ordinance to include design review of signs in Dorset St./City Center District: Mr. Weith showed the limits of the district. The amendment would require design approval of signs in that district. It also adds some clarifying language. In the design review amendment, Mr. Condos questioned the meaning of "tower" and said he wasn't sure the city wanted radio towers there. He suggested adding the word "architectural" in front of "towers." Other members agreed. Mr. Austin asked if members had any further thoughts on having a change of use trigger design review. He felt it was a little intrusive to tell an owner who has no plan to modify the exterior of a building for a change of use that he has to do so. He also felt the amount of money was so small, it made him wonder if it would just be a waste of money. Mr. Sheahan felt it was a mechanism to start moving in the direction the city wants. He noted that nothing else had worked. Ms. Britt felt that a change of use was a great time to start the process moving forward. She wanted to try it to see if it would work. Mr. Beaudin said he felt that even small changes would be a vast improvement in that area. Public comment was then solicited. There was none. Mr. Austin moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Austin moved to waive the reading of the amendment to rezone 700 Airport Parkway from Airport District to Mixed I-C District and approve the amendment as presented. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Britt moved to waive the reading of the amendment to Rezone 210-226 Airport Parkway from Mixed I-C to Residential 4 District and to approve the amendment as presented. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Britt moved to waive the reading and approve the amendment to add Technical Review, Section 515. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Austin then asked about clarity of language in the Design Review amendment. The City Attorney agreed that language should be clarified to indicate that substantial reconstruction involves changes to the outside of the building. Members agreed to let the City Attorney draft appropriate wording and to vote on this amendment later in the meeting. Mr. Austin then moved to waive the reading and approve the amendment to the Sign Ordinance to include design review of signs in Dorset Street/City Center District. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Presentation of Transit Funding Alternatives, Analysis & Recommendations: Mr. Keating said the MPO's goal is to increase public transportation opportunities, but there is also a need to find funding. Last year, a study was undertaken on 5 ideas that might be applicable in Chittenden County. KFH was then hired to evaluate these ideas and to make recommendations. Mr. Fravell then presented KFH's findings. The 5 most feasible ideas they felt were: a) a 1 cent per gallon regional gasoline tax b) a 1 cent sales tax increase c) a 5% tax on short term car rentals d) a $30/year student transportation fee for college students e) advertising and other initiatives With regard to the gasoline tax, Mr. Fravell said the problem is that in Chittenden County a 1 cent tax would not raise enough money to fund the system. The sales tax, on the other hand, would raise about $12,000,000, and there is a precedent for this. The attraction of a car rental fee is that people from outside the area would pay for it. It would raise about $975,000., but such a fee would not be related to user benefits. With the student transportation fee, students would be able to board the bus by just showing a card. It would be necessary to work with the colleges on this. With such a fee, students would want to see expansion of the system to meet student needs. Mr. Fravell noted that any one of the options would require Legislative approval. A final option is that the state would pay a significant portion of the bill. Mr. Fravell noted that other states have much more involvement in funding local transportation. A state public transportation authority has been formed to look into the issue. It will be meeting tomorrow. Mr. Condos felt that advertising and other initiatives should be pursued regardless of what else is done. He felt there was no hope for a student fee and that too much would be expected in return. Mr. Condos said the option he prefers is additional funding from the state. Mr. Sheahan said he would like to see all the players come forth and agree on a plan. He noted there has been no recommendation from the Regional Planning Commission. Mr. Mazur said that to get to 40% funding from the state (which is what other communities get) would require an appropriation of $1,600,000. He hoped to pursue this in the coming legislative session. Mr. Condos stressed that additional mass transit won't happen if there's no funding for it. Mr. Hafter asked if the consultants had looked at adding on to the vehicle inspection fee or registration fee. Mr. Fravell said those could be part of a multi- part option. 3. Public Hearing on amendments to the Zoning Ordinance (continued): Mr. Stitzel presented language to clarify the design review amendment. Mr. Austin then moved to waive the reading of the amendment to establish a City Center Design Review Overlay District and to approve the amendment with minor revisions to section 24.20 and the addition of the word "architectural" in front of the word "towers" in Section 14.403. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Consideration of adoption of Resolution Establishing City Center Design Review Committee: Mr. Austin suggested changing the word "contracting" to "construction." Other members agreed. Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the Resolution as amended. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Continued Discussion of Act 60 Legislative Issues: Mr. Hafter noted that the Council had raised the question of what would happen if the city doesn't collect enough money to pay the state's Act 60 bill. The City Attorney was asked to research this. Mr. Hafter noted this is probably a one-year issue as the state will probably collect taxes itself after this year. Mr. Stitzel said that payments to the state are due on 1 December and 1 June. The language says "shall pay." Failure to pay has sanctions (interest and withholding of state fund). Right now South Burlington has to pay the full amount due to the School District by the end of the school year, whether they collect the money or not. If there were serious delinquencies, the city would have to borrow to pay this. Mr. Stitzel said they would have to do the same thing with the state. Mr. Stitzel then addressed the city's exposure in this situation. He noted that the problem would most likely arise in bankruptcies where the law states that money that would pay property taxes must be used to repay pension fund that may have been unlawfully taken from a business. Mr. Stitzel noted that the city is carrying very few delinquencies. If there is a problem collecting taxes, the city might have to start the sale of delinquent properties sooner. Mr. Hafter suggested proposing to the Legislature that the city not be liable for the percentage of uncollected taxes until a future date, possibly until 1 September, on an interest free basis. He felt this was reasonable. He also noted that the city had a very low delinquency rate of about 2%. Members agreed that this request should move forward. 7. Consideration of request from Vermont Youth Orchestra: Mr. Hafter said that the city is looking for uses for the Calkins building. The VYO looked at it and is interested to see if it is possible to have new construction on the site. Mr. Hafter said he suggested to them that the city might be interested in an arrangement that resulted in an amphitheater or other concert space. Mr. Hafter noted that this is one of several sites the VYO is studying. Mr. Sheahan felt the city would be remiss not to consider it as long as there is some public benefit. He felt it could be a positive addition for the city. Ms. Britt was concerned with not knowing the scope of National Gardening's plans for the area. Members suggested putting the VYO in touch with National Gardening. 8. Consideration of Approval of Capital Equipment Note and related documents for purchase of Scott Air-Packs: Mr. Hafter said the note is for $30,000. at 3.9% interest. Ms. Britt moved to approve the note and related documents as presented. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Review City Council Minutes of 21 December: Ms. Britt moved to approve the Minutes of 21 December as written. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 11. Executive Session: Ms. Britt moved the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel issues and litigation and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Austin seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: The Council returned to regular session. Mr. Austin moved adjournment. Mr. Sheahan seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.