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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 05/15/2000CITY COUNCIL 15 MAY 2000 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 15 May 2000, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; J. Britt, C. Smith, T. Sheahan Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; P. Bestenbostel, Assistant City Manager; Bruce O'Neill, Recreation Department; Roger Farley, The Other Paper; David Boehm, Carl Lisman, Jay Nadeau, Sonny Audette, Tony Cairns, David Kaufman, Tom Moreau, Jim Ticehurst 1. Comments & questions from the audience, not related to agenda items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's report: Mr. Sheahan: The Regional Planning Commission will meet next Monday. Mr. Condos: The MPO will meet on Wednesday in Hinesburg. Mr. Hafter will attend. Ms. Britt: The Channel 17 Board meeting will be on Thursday, 11:45 a.m. Ms. Britt also thanked everyone for the experience of working with the City Council and city government during her term in office. She said the city is served very well. Mr. Condos presented Ms. Britt with her Council nameplate inscribed with her dates of service. Mr. Hafter reported the following: A memo was received from Dennis McBee of the New Directions Program (which addresses substance abuse concerns). Because of the recent fatality in the city, a public forum will be held on 24 May at St. John Vianney Church, 7-9 p.m. There will be both a panel presentation and an open forum. Mr. Condos suggested a discussion on these concerns at the next Steering Committee meeting. A memo was also received from the Lake Champlain Basin Program advising that the city has received a $20,000 grant for the stormwater project. The reorganization meeting will be held on Tuesday, 23 May, 5 p.m. The Commuter Rail Steering Committee will meet on 22 May at 1:30 p.m. Phase III of the bike path is moving forward. Sonny Audette is project director. Mr. Audette noted that the proposed completion date is 1 June 2001, but Munson is aiming to finish this fall, if the weather permits. Work will begin on Spear Street and work back. Paving will be done as they go, and the challenge will be to keep people off the path till it is finished and safe. 3. Consideration of approval of Amendment No. 2 to Agreement and Lease between City and Dorset Park Skating Association to permit construction of second skating facility: Mr. Hafter said the agreement also allows the Skating Association to sell bonds. He reviewed the process by which the agreement was reached. There have been no adverse responses to the plan. Mr. Hafter asked the Council to authorize him to sign the lease if the project is approved by the DRB at its meeting tomorrow night. Ms. Britt asked about the possibility of using excess heat generated by the facility for the proposed swimming facility. Representatives of the Association said they have no problems with this if it can be done. Mr. Hafter felt there could be a separate agreement worked out for that. The project will require a minor amendment to the Act 250 permit. Ms. Britt moved to approve Amendment #2 to the agreement and lease between the City and Dorset Park Skating Association and to authorize the City Manager to sign the agreement and bond documents. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Consideration of adoption of Water Department policy reference exemptions from sewer charges: Mr. Hafter noted that every year at this time the city gets calls regarding water used to fill pools. Since sewer charges are billed as a percentage of the water bills, people feel that because the pool water doesn't go into the sewer system, they should not have to pay the sewer fee on that water. Mr. Nadeau of CWD said they have developed a policy that is a little more lenient. They are trying to discourage people from using hydrant water for pool use because it requires more manpower. Consequently, the fee for using hydrant water will go from $25 to $50, and there will be a system developed to calculate pool capacity so that a credit can be issued for people using their own tap water to fill their pools. Mr. Sheahan moved that the city adopt the new Water Department policy including the change in hydrant water fee from $25 to $50. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Condos asked about hydrant replacement. Mr. Nadeau said they are getting bids and hope to replace 5 and possibly 6 this year. 5. Review Development Review Board agenda for 16 May: No issues were raised. 6. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 7. Presentation of Chittenden Solid Waste District Budget FY 2001; consideration of approval: Mr. Moreau said the operating budget is up 3.3%. Employees are paying 1% of their gross salary toward medical insurance. This equals about 5% of the insurance cost. A significant investment is being made in the Williston facility to help sort materials. There is a problem finding labor, so the facility is not generating the income it should. There is also a temporary agreement being worked on with Burlington to open a facility. It will probably not happen by July 1, but should happen by September. Software systems have been updated and bills can be gotten out faster now. Mr. Hafter asked if there will be any assessment to the communities. Mr. Moreau said absolutely not. Mr. Hafter also asked the status of the biosolids project. Mr. Moreau said that is in South Burlington's hands. The South Burlington staff has seen a proposal which will be evaluated before it is brought to the Council. The difficulty with the facility is that is was paid for with tax exempt bonds that have a lot of stipulations attached and cannot be refinanced until after 2003. Mr. Audette asked what affect another landfill in Colchester would have. Mr. Moreau said it is hard to tell. Colchester has a lot of hurdles to overcome before that would happen. Mr. Audette also asked about the status of the lawsuit. Mr. Moreau noted that on 29 July 1995 the District and its commissioners were sued on civil rights issues. Two of the four counts were subsequently dismissed, but two counts remain. As of three weeks ago, the Judge agreed to reactivate the case. Mr. Condos added that those bringing suit have been asked to respond to the question of what the individuals named in the suit did to violate the appellants' rights. If they don't respond, the Court will be asked to drop the suit against the individuals. Mr. Sheahan moved to accept the Solid Waste District budget as presented. Ms. Britt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Executive Session: Ms. Britt moved the Council adjourn and reconvene in Executive Session to discuss personnel issues and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: The City Council returned to regular session. Ms. Britt moved adjournment. Mr. Sheahan seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 10 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.