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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/20/2000CITY COUNCIL 20 NOVEMBER 2000 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 20 November 2000, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; T. Sheahan, C. Smith, D. O'Rourke Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; P. Bestenbostel, Asst. City Manager; L. Lamoureux, A. Audette, A. Rowe, A. Johnston, Channel 17 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 on 27 November, 6 p.m. Mr. Hafter: Attended a presentation at the Regional Planning Commission last week regarding demographics. The numbers show that Chittenden County will grow by 130,000 people in the next 20 years. The Planning Commission is working on the Comprehensive Plan. The plan has to be mailed to neighboring communities 30 days prior to the public hearing. The Planning Commission public hearing is scheduled for 9 January 2001. The Plan will then come to the Council. The Commuter Rail Steering Committee will meet on 27 November. Mr. Hafter gave members the scoping information that Dubois and King will use regarding evaluation of various sites for the South Burlington station. Mr. Hafter and Mr. Magowan will ride the tracks to try to identify any additional sites. There is also a draft of an MOU from the state. Nothing has yet been submitted to the DRB regarding a temporary station. Focus forums were held regarding the proposed aquatic/community center. Mr. Hafter gave members copies of a synopsis of the forums. The first legislative breakfast will be 2 January 2001. Subsequent breakfasts will be 5 February, 5 March and 2 April. On the next agenda there will be two public hearings on planning issues, one on a zone change on Patchen Rd., the other on a Sign Ordinance amendment to allow banners. There will also be a complaint regarding a vicious dog. The city is trying to get the state to provide a report on the reappraisal process. Planning for the City Council retreat will begin soon. 3. Update on Kennedy Drive improvement project: Mr. Hafter reviewed the history of the project. Mr. Lamoureux then showed the plan. He noted that it involves Kennedy Drive east of Dorset St. all the way to Williston Rd. It does not reconstruct the Williston Rd. intersection, but other intersections will be reconstructed. Kennedy Drive is over 35 years old. The base is deficient. Intersections (Kimball Ave, Hinesburg Rd, Timber Lane) are operating at a low level of service which will drop to "E" by 2008 if nothing is done. The project is also looking at pedestrian and bike traffic. Four alternatives were considered: 1) no build; 2) rehab and widening; 3) rehab with no widening; 4) rehab, widening, and a center median. The unanimous choice was option #2. Mr. Lamoureux showed a typical cross-section. The bike path would remain as it is with widening happening on the other side. The work will result in 4 lanes, each 11 ft. wide, with curbs on each side. There would be some right and left turn lanes added and medians at the intersections. All new signage will be provided with additional signs at intersections to bring bikers and pedestrians more to the attention of drivers. Truck traffic has almost doubled in the past few years. This makes pavement deteriorate faster, so the project will increase pavement thickness to 7-3/4". There will be additional plantings along the side of the road. Four proposals were received for the job. Macfarland-Johnson was chosen. Mr. Hafter noted that the project is being funded by an 80-20 federal/city split. Money is in the city budget for the work. Mr. Rowe said Macfarland-Johnson is already at work. Members asked to see the scoping plan. Mr. Condos expressed concern with the intersections at Williston Rd. and Hinesburg Rd. He said he would like to see them more restrictive. He felt the distance between corners is very expansive. He also thought that raised crosswalks should be considered. Mr. Sheahan noted that recent signal changes have helped. Mr. Condos said he would like to see more street trees. Mr. Lamoureux said there is a landscape architect on the project. He felt there would be a good design. 4. Consideration of adoption of special assessment district for construction of sanitary sewer, Spear Street South: Mr. Hafter reviewed the history and proposed resolution. All the neighbors will have to sign the resolution so the district can go forward. The estimated cost is $70,000. The city would pay half and the property owners the other half. Mr. Sheahan moved to create a special assessment district for Spear Street South and have the City Council sign the accompanying resolution. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Consideration of request from residents of Old Farm Road to form a special assessment sanitary sewer and water district: Mr. Hafter said this would be a similar process to the Spear St. South process. The city hasn't done a water project recently but has in the past. Mr. Hafter said he has no objection to doing this, but there will have to be some engineering work to get a more accurate idea of the cost. Mr. Sheahan suggested the possibility of having this work coordinated with the proposed O'Brien project. Mr. Hafter said that would be a good idea. Members agreed to go ahead and get more information. 6. Consideration of report from CCMPO regarding traffic control device at the intersection of White Street and Airport Parkway; recommendation of 3-way stop: Mr. Hafter reviewed the history. He said the MPO did a very fine technical memorandum. They said the intersection meets the warrants for a traffic light. They also considered a 3-way stop and eventually recommended this. They feel it will suffice for the next 5 years and will be a minimal cost. A traffic light could be added in the future. Mr. Audette recommended having a cruiser there for the first month or so until people get used to the stop. Mr. Hafter will bring in an ordinance for Council approval. Mr. Condos noted he had 2 calls regarding traffic problems on East Terrace on nights of UVM athletic games. He checked it out, and it looked very bad. He felt it would be hard for emergency vehicles to get through. Mr. Condos recommended sitting down with Burlington and UVM people and South Burlington Police to try to come up with a solution. 7. Acceptance of resignation of Betty Smith from Library Board of Trustees: Mr. Smith moved to accept the resignation of Betty Smith from the Library Board of Trustees and to authorize the City Manager to send a letter of appreciation for her services. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Review agenda for DRB meeting on 21 November 2000: No issues were raised. 9. Review City Council minutes of 7 August: Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the Minutes of 7 August as presented. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Sign disbursement orders: Disbursement orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:35 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.