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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 09/24/2002CITY COUNCIL 24 SEPTEMBER 2002 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 24 September 2002, at 7:30 p.m., in the conference room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members present: J. Condos, Chair; D. O'Rourke, S. Magowan Also present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Rep. A. Audette; D. Kinville, City Clerk; G. Dow, WPCD; C. Jones, L. Murphy, Community Library; J. Nadeau, CWD; A. Johnston, The Other Paper 1. Comments & questions from the audience not related to Agenda items: Ms. Kinville advised that the City Clerk's office will be staying open until 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays beginning next week. 2. Announcements & City Manager's report: Mr. O'Rourke: Subcommittee on the Community Center has met and will meet again on 9 October, 4:30 p.m. Mr. Magowan: CCTA meeting tomorrow at 5 p.m. Mr. Hafter: Corrections Center Committee meeting tomorrow at 4 p.m. at the jail. Mr. Hafter also noted that the new Corrections Center Superintendent is Sue Blair. Mr. Hafter advised that he will be out of town from 27 September through 2 October to attend the City Managers' Conference in Philadelphia. Mr. Dow reported that the work on the sewage force main project is 90% done. He felt the work will come in within budget. Mr. Hafter: The fiber optic switchover work for Verizon on Williston Rd. has about 3 weeks to go. The Dorset St. project to replace the culvert should be done a week from Friday. The detour has been working well but the bike path was closed in that area for safety concerns. 3. Consideration of approval of warning for November ballot: 1) City Clerk approval additions to the checklist, and 2) emergency communications equipment bond: Ms. Kinville explained that the ballot item would allow City Clerk's to make additions to the checklist without going to the BCA. This needs a majority approval by voters. Passage of the item will eliminate a lot of time and confusion for voters. The BCA will still be notified of changes to the checklist and they will have the right to question any changes. Mr. Magowan moved to approve the ballot warning as presented. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Update on Community Library activities and planning: Ms. Murphy said the current Library budget is $279,404, a 7% increase from last year. 67% of the budget is for salaries. The Library is now open 56 hours a week. Ms. Murphy then reviewed circulation figures. She noted there has been a large increase in requests for audio-visual materials, especially books on tape and on CD. They are also seeing a request for music CD's. 79% of checkouts are by community members. The layout of the Library has changed significantly. The new community entrance is open so community use can be tracked. The Library is averaging 150-200 community members a day. Access has also been improved for seniors with better access to large print shelving. A book drop-off is being maintained at Hannaford's on Shelburne Road for convenient return of books. Mr. Jones noted that the Library partnered with UVM students on a market survey. Results of the survey indicated that citizens of South Burlington don't have a high awareness of the Library. Those using the Library indicated that they were inhibited by behavior of the high school students. Readers want more availability of best sellers especially for local book club members. Readers also felt the hours of operation on the weekend were too limited. The Library is looking at fundraising possibilities. This year they will apply for the second year of the Freeman Foundation grant and hope to use those funds to enhance the community room, relocate and expand the children's room, and increase signage. There will be discussions about the possibility of having the Library included in the proposed Community Center. Mr. Hafter suggested possibly having a branch located at the Community Center. Mr. Condos asked if there is any interest in changing the time limit on service on the Library Board. Mr. Jones said members still support that as they feel it allows for "new blood." 5. First reading of Ordinance for Water Department Regulations; schedule public hearing and second reading: Mr. Nadeau said the proposed Ordinance would make the Water Dept. similar to other departments. He felt that having an ordinance strengthens what the Department can do and what citizens can do. He then reviewed sections of the proposed ordinance. The Ordinance will define where water lines will go. If the city wants larger mains than what is currently needed, the larger size would be required but the city would pay the difference. The Ordinance also covers types of materials, water meter locations, and defines what the city owns and what the customer owns. The Ordinance also requires that wells be disconnected by the customer before hooking onto the city water system (this is to insure there is no possible contamination). Mr. Nadeau noted they are working on regulations regarding cross-connections and back-flow protection. Mr. Hafter noted there are community horror stories when there was no back-flow protection. Mr. Nadeau said a new section of the Ordinance addresses water allocation. It is similar to the section in the Sewer Ordinance. Mr. Magowan asked how this blends with the DRB process. Mr. Nadeau said that he reviews plans from the beginning and he felt the DRB is right on board with the Water Dept. Mr. Magowan asked where the city stands with regard to water availability. Mr. Nadeau said they did a study on possible locations for water tanks. This year, they are narrowing those sites down based on an estimate of how much water will be needed and where it should be. There is some capacity left, but the high zone is maxed out. Other sections of the Ordinance deal with hydrants, what the Water Dept. can do in an emergency, liability, responsibility for hydrant repair if a motorist hits it, disconnection when customers don't allow Water Dept. access, definition of rates, disconnection for non-payment. An appendix lists the rate and fee schedule. Mr. Condos noted that people across the country are very concerned with the safety and security of public utilities. Mr. Magowan moved to waive the first reading, approve the first reading, and schedule the second reading and public hearing for 4 November. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Appointment of voting delegate to National League of Cities Congress of Cities Meeting: Mr. O'Rourke moved to appoint Mr. Condos as voting delegate with Mr. Hafter as alternate. Mr. Magowan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Consideration of approval of Unincorporated Association Account Form with regard to investment of the Blanchette Bequest with A. G. Edwards: Mr. Gravelin said that the performance of funds has been analyzed and several firms were interviewed. With the concurrence of the committee, A. G. Edwards was chosen. Funds will be transferred this week. Mr. Magowan moved to authorize Mr. Condos and Mr. O'Rourke to sign the documents. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Minutes of 19 August and 9 September: Minutes could not be acted upon as there was not a quorum of those present at the meetings. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.