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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 08/25/2004City of South Burlington, VT Minutes of Public Hearing -- Kennedy Drive Reconstruction Necessity Hearing August 25, 2004 South Burlington City Council Members Present: Daniel O'Rourke, Terry Sheahan, James Condos, Chris Smith Others Present: Timothy Eustace, Stitzel, Page & Fletcher Ann Pugh, 67 Bayberry -- South Burlington Representative Jill Spinelli, Stitzel, Page & Fletcher Steve Hackett, 140 Kennedy Drive Charles Hafter, S.B. City Manager John Forcier, 140 Kennedy Drive Denis Gravelin, S.B. Assistant City Manager Stephanie O'Brien, 100 Old Farm Road -- O'Brien Brothers Agency Bruce Hoar, S.B. Public Works Director Michel St. Germain, Winding Brook Homeowners Assoc. Darren Benoit, PE, McFarland-Johnson, Inc.Elizabeth A. Peabody, 45 Hawthorne Circle, Treetop Parks Andrew Rowe, PE, Lamoureux & Dickinson Leslie D. Parker, 35 Hawthorne Circle Donald Allen, VTrans Betsy Link, J1 Grandview Drive Steven Lightholder, VTrans Emily Nguyen, T5 Grandview Drive Carol Lyon, Manor Woods Jim Gordon, 57 Bayberry Lane Lois Price, 40 Bayberry Lane Peggi & Rick Rossi-Howard, 26 Bayberry Lane Charles Amblo, 73 Bayberry Lane Philip Carter, 187 Catkin Drive Corinne Deering, 36 Hawthorne Circle Michael C. DiCello, 53 Timber lane-Timber Lane Medical Louis A. Simoneau, 41 Hawthorne Circle Center Condo Assoc. George Kingsbury, 5 Bayberry Lane Ralph B. Goodrich, Ralph B. Goodrich, Inc. Lewis Wetzel, Grandview Homeowners Association Christian Nole, 78 Hawthorne Circle Eleanor Thomas, Manor Woods This Necessity Hearing for the Kennedy Drive reconstruction project was called to order at 6:33 p.m. and immediately proceeded to conduct a site inspection, when the Council, City representatives and several members of the public road a bus to tour the project area. During the tour Darren Benoit, project engineer, gave an overview of the project scope, making several stops along the project corridor. The entourage returned at 7:30 p.m. when the hearing was opened. City Manager C. Hafter asked that the Council consider an additional matter of litigation during its executive session scheduled following the hearing. Chairman Condos called the meeting to order and opened the public hearing by reading the formal Notice of Public Hearing that was distributed to all interested parties. The notice was also mailed to the Chairman of the SB Development Review Board prior to July 27, 2004, posted in the City Clerk's Office, and published in the Burlington Free Press on August 2, 2004. He further explained that the hearing will be conducted in two parts, on 1) Necessity and 2) Damages. Chairman Condos asked the council members for comments on the site inspection. Councilman Sheahan commended those involved with the design for the attention given to pedestrian access and safety. Chairman Condos also noted that this project, citing the city's leadership in storm water management, incorporates the best practices for insuring the highest water quality. The Council proceeded to take evidence from its consultants initially swearing in City Manager Hafter, Public Works Director B. Hoar, Darren Benoit, Andrew Rowe, Don Allen, and Steve Lightholder. Darren Benoit began with an overview of the project orienting those in attendance with the scope of the project. This road was built in 1960 with a 20-year design life, he said. In 1980, traffic on this road amounted to 930 cars per day, with today's count at 18,600 cars per day, it is likely to increase to 25,000 cars per day in the next 20 years. He noted that the road reconstruction would be a full-depth reconstruction as the roadbed is obsolete, changing the width from a 40-foot to a 52-foot wide road with the addition of 2 lanes, improvements at intersections for pedestrian and left-turn controls, and wetland/water quality improvements. Upon request from Councilman O'Rourke, he went into more detail on pedestrian crossing and splitter/safety islands at pedestrian crossings. Following this presentation, Chairman Condos presented for the record the following exhibits: Exhibit A -- Notice of Public Hearing dated July 22, 2004 Exhibit B -- Complete listing of Interested Parties, Owners and Lienholders Exhibit C -- Project Right of Way Plans, sheets 1-25 cover sheet entitled Proposed Improvement Highway Project, City of South Burlington, County of Chittenden, Kennedy Drive (Minor Urban Arterial) dated January 2001, as revised through August 24, 2004. Chairman Condos inquired from the audience those wishing to ask questions of the consultants on the plans as presented with regard to the necessity aspect of the project. He further explained that those in attendance wishing to testify would need to be sworn in, when providing evidence regarding the condemnation of lands and interest in lands. A number of interested parties asked for clarification on noise abatement, further information on pedestrian access and sidewalks, landscaping, and controlled lighting at intersections. There was also clarification on two of the storm water basins planned along the corridor (near Grandview and Treetop), bus stops and boundaries near the area of Timber Lane/ Manor Woods intersection, and sloping rights and boundary near the right hand turn at the corner of Kimball Avenue. Following the question period the following individuals were sworn in in order to provide testimony to the Council: Ralph Goodrich, Stephanie O'Brien, Lewis Wetzel, and Michael DiCello. Lewis Wetzel raised the concern that the City was not taking enough land between the storm water basin in front of Grandview and Potash Brook. Darren Benoit explained that the basin is designed to handle more storm water runoff but only allow into Potash Brook, an amount equal to existing flows. Ralph Goodrich reported that he wanted make sure that a catch basin near his property on the corner of Kennedy Drive and Hinesburg Road was identified; and that the chain link fence indicated on the plans was to be on City property. He also raised an issue of the denial of his requested right-turn driveway into his property from Kennedy Drive. Darren Benoit pointed out that the area where the driveway was requested is within a major intersection of the project and a private driveway, in his opinion, would not be in the best interest of the project, and therefore was not considered. Stephanie O'Brien questioned whether an alternative solution for the reconstruction of the bank with slope rights in the vicinity of right hand turn onto Kimball Avenue. She raised a concern regarding the loss of potential frontage at this portion of the property, when considering the sidewalk, green belt, and sloping rights. City Manager Hafter asked whether the question was that the sidewalk and green space were necessary or not. He also pointed out that once the temporary construction easement expires, future setbacks would be based on the permanent boundary. Darren Benoit mentioned that an alternative to the slope would be to engineer a steeper slope which would be more trouble with future setback as more area would have to be disturbed and likely require permanent easement. Stephanie O'Brien also raised a concern with the taking of land at the O'Brien property currently being leased to the Mobil Corporation near the end of the project at the corner of Williston Road, and its impact on the current facility. There being no further questions or comments, Chairman Condos closed the portion of the Public Hearing dealing with the necessity for this project, at approximately 9:00 p.m. Chairman Condos opened the compensation phase of this Public Hearing. Steve Lightholder gave a brief summary of the process by which appraisals were done and coordinated with the property owners. He noted that the appraisals were done by Allen & Brooks and were submitted to the state for review. He reported that Allen & Brooks met with owners/representatives, using current sales data from South Burlington, Williston and Shelburne, prepared the offers that are included in the material presented to the Council. Following this report, Chairman Condos submitted for the record the Appraisal Summaries as identified as Exhibit D. The Council had no comments on the appraisals. Several inquiries of Andrew Rowe were made by residents as to when and to whom the offers were made. A. Rowe also reported a change made to the Treetop offer when it was discovered that there were two separate Treetop associations. The summary includes these revised offers. Stephanie O'Brien noted her appreciation for the additional work in utilizing a different methodology in appraising the property at the corner of Williston Road and Kennedy Drive. At 9:10 p.m., with no further questions from the City Council or its residents, the Council voted to close the public hearing and on motion duly made and seconded enter Executive Session for the purpose of deliberating on the evidence presented and to discuss an unrelated legal matter. (D. Benoit, B. Hoar, A. Rowe, Atty. J. Spinelli and Atty. T. Eustace were invited to stay for part of the session). At 9:40 the Council returned to open meeting. On motion made by C. Smith, seconded by D. O'Rourke, the Council authorized the project to go forward as proposed, and further authorize the Chairman to sign the Condemnation Order and Condemnation Report. On further motion by D. O'Rourke, seconded by T. Sheahan, the Council authorized the City Manager to accept the proposed settlement in the Case of Fundis v. City of South Burlington. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 9:50 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Denis P. Gravelin Assistant City Manager Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.