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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/19/2001CITY COUNCIL 19 November 2001 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 19 November 2001, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; C. Smith, T. Sheahan, D. O'Rourke Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Rep. F. Mazur, Rep. A. Audette, J. Hamilton, M. Flaherty, J. McNamara, L. Roberts, S. Walker, A. Broderick, J. Ladd, K. Fisher, B. Miller, B. McEwing, A. Johnston, Channel 17 1. Comments & questions from the audience not related to Agenda items: Rep. Mazur reported on his annual community survey. He felt that overall people want more local control. They are also satisfied with the type of development in South Burlington. 47% of those surveyed favored using the income tax instead of property tax to fund education. People are generally concerned about road maintenance and are against rail having priority over roads. People are also generally opposed to commuter rail. The reforming of Act 60 is a #1 concern. Other top priorities include: Shelburne Rd. reconstruction, a separate library in the town center, no more big box stores in South Burlington, a process for more input in city issues, more treatment facilities for substance abuse. With regard to education funding, Rep. Mazur said education spending is going up 6% a year. What the State puts into education grows at 2% a year. The local share is growing at 16% a year and the sharing pool is growing at 20% a year. This year, there is a $7,000,000 deficit for education funding that will grow to $18,000,000 by 2003. At present, there is money to cover this, but this may not always be true. The Governor is talking about lowering the threshold for income sensitivity from $75,000 to $50,000. Mr. Condos noted that the Governor is also talking about holding the amount per equalized pupil where it is or lowering it instead of having the $131 scheduled increase. Rep. Mazur said that there appear to be no support for this in the Legislature. Mr. Smith said that until costs can be controlled, the system can't work. Mr. O'Rourke noted that health insurance costs are going up 16-18% a year, and that's where the increase in school budgets is. 2. Announcements/City Manager's report: Mr. Sheahan: Regional Planning Commission meeting, 26 November, 6 p.m. Mr. Hafter: The Steering Committee meeting is now scheduled for 17 January at 7:30 p.m. Mr. Condos asked that Mr. Hafter advise the School board that the Council would like the meeting to be sooner than that. There will be a public information meeting tomorrow at 5:30 p.m. at Waterman Building on the UVM campus regarding the new housing project. Mr. Hafter will attend. 3. Consideration of request of property owners in Spear St. South sewer district to review establishment of special assessment district: Mr. Hafter reviewed the history of the project and the process used in the past for these types of sewer districts. The total cost for this project is $94,000. Mr. Hafter said the city can cover this without having to borrow. Special assessment districts can be formed in two ways: by a vote of the city or by unanimous consent of all members of the proposed district. The neighborhood has 10 years in which to repay its half of the cost. Mr. McNamara said it had been thought that everything was all set but some people did not understand that payments were based on assessed value instead of being divided equally among participants. He asked if this can be changed so that everyone pays an equal share. This would result in two people participating in the district who will not participate otherwise. Mr. Condos said this would set a new precedent as the entire city pays its share based on assessed value. Mr. Roberts said everyone has 200 ft. of frontage so they should all pay the same thing. Mr. Condos asked if dividing the cost equally can be handled administratively. Mr. Hafter said the city can send an invoice and residents would have to pay once a year. This would also act as a lien on the property. The method would allow people to pay up in advance which they can't do now. Mr. Sheahan said he would agree to do this for this case but would want to look at it in the future to see if it should become a future policy. Mr. Sheahan moved to divide the cost for the Spear St. sewer district equally among participants. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Consideration of request from Lake Champlain Housing, J. Ladd, Director of Housing Development, for waiver of impact fee increases for Farrell Street housing: Mr. Hafter noted the city has refused a similar request from a private developer in the past. Mr. Broderick said there are things that make this request unique: the project is for 160 units of affordable housing, and rents have been capped. The Act 250 approval was gotten in April and site work began. Then there was a last minute appeal that took until October to settle. This resulted in increased costs. A 41% increase in impact fees would be very tough to handle. Mr. Broderick estimated the project will yield $170,000 a year in property tax payments. Mr. Ladd added the city needs to send a message that there is support for projects like this. Mr. Sheahan said he felt the Council has set a precedent on this and that it would be unfair to pass these costs onto other people in the city. Mr. Smith was sympathetic with the problem but agreed with Mr. Sheahan. Mr. O'Rourke said he was enthusiastic about the project but didn't see how the Council could meet the request. Mr. Ladd said the result would be that they have to "pull things out" of the units. The Council felt it could not consider this request. 5. Liquor Control Board: Mr. O'Rourke moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented a request for a First Class Restaurant and Cabaret License from Rick's Italian Café, Inc. (in the location of the former Jake's Bar and Grill). He indicated that the application was in order. The applicant said the restaurant will specialize in Italian food, steak, and seafood with homemade pasta. They will have a large wine list. Mr. Hafter reminded the applicant that if they have entertainment they will have to get an entertainment permit. Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the first class restaurant and cabaret liquor license for Rick's Italian Café, Inc. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Smith moved the Board adjourn and reconvene as City Council. Mr. Sheahan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Update on Burlington International Airport: Mr. Hamilton said that until September 11th, they were on schedule with construction and were going to finalize those plans at this time. However, September 11th has had an impact. October travel was down 12% from last year although the airport is still ahead of last year overall. It was also still the second highest October ever. Mr. Hamilton didn't think it wise to expend considerable funds at this time, and bonding agencies are not looking favorably on airports as well. The Phase 3 plans will thus be scaled down but will be revisited in January to see what the forecast is. Mr. McEwing then reviewed Phases 1 and 2. Phase 3 would include expansion to the north, including the baggage area and expansion of the parking garage. Mr. Sheahan asked about the time line. Mr. Hamilton said they would go to the voters in March which means a January cutoff for getting things on the ballot. This will be evaluated in January. Mr. Condos said the Airport should address the situation of having all parking exits at a point facing White Street. Mr. Hafter asked if new FAA rules impact the location of the road. Mr. Hamilton said they do not. 7. Review Development Review Board agenda for 20 November 2001 meeting: No issues were raised. 8. Minutes of 5 November 2001: Mr. Sheahan moved to approve the Minutes of 5 November as written. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. 10. Executive Session: Mr. Sheahan moved that the Council adjourn and reconvene in Executive Session to discuss litigation and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Regular Session: The City Council returned to regular session. Mr. Smith 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.