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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/07/2005CITY COUNCIL 7 NOVEMBER 2005 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 7 November 2005, at 7:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: J. Condos, Chair; C. Smith, M. Boucher, S. Magowan, D. O'Rourke Also Present: D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; B. Hoar, Director, Public Works Department; B. Searles, Airport Director; M. Flaherty, Airport Commission, B. McEwing, Airport; A. Parent, The Other Paper 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Magowan: · The Tax Committee of the Steering Committee will meet 8 and 15 December, 7 p.m. The first meeting will focus on how the tax system works and the impact of Act 68, and the second meeting will focus on reappraisal and its impact. Mr. Condos: · MPO meeting, 16 November. · On 17 November, there will be a presentation for the public on the City Center plans by the Planning Commission, 7 p.m. Mr. Gravelin: · The Legislature has given a $4000 grant for the Recreation Committee. The city has provided a match. · Barnes & Noble will be giving 15% of purchase price to the South Burlington Community Library to those with coupons, 29-30 November and 1 December. · Department heads will meet on 10 November to begin discussions on relocation of city offices. · The next City Council meeting will include Sign Ordinance amendments and the new Police Facility report. 3. Resignation from Community Library Board of Trustees: Mr. Smith moved to accept the resignation of Irving Ormsby Abrahams from the Library Board of Trustees and to have the City Manager send a letter of thanks for his service. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Update on the Burlington International Airport Activities: Mr. Condos introduced new Airport Director Brian Searles (former S. Burlington Police Chief), Mike Flaherty, South Burlington representative to the Airport Commission, and Bob McEwing, Airport Planner and Engineer. Mr. Flaherty reviewed Mr. Searles' background including his service as State Secretary of Transportation. Mr. Searles cited the steady increase in boardings in past years and felt that trend will continue, perhaps not as significantly due to fuel prices. He also noted that the industry itself is going through some changes, and there will probably be fewer airlines and fewer seats available in the future. To address these changes, the Burlington Airport is looking to our neighbors to the north in Quebec. It is becoming difficult to fly out of Dorval, and this may result in more activity in Burlington. Mr. Searles said the bottom line is that Burlington has a strong facility and there are a lot of people who want to use it. He felt this Airport can be of service to all who want to fly in and out of the area. There is an issue around the tower and reduced hours for tower personnel. Mr. Searles noted that the Master Agreement with the Airport expires in June. He added that he is learning more and more about the Burlington-South Burlington partnership. Mr. Condos noted that representatives from the Airport, Burlington, South Burlington and the MPO meet quarterly to go over Airport concerns and issues. Mr. McEwing then reviewed projects currently going on at the Airport: a. North End Readiness Center: This will house the Blackhawks and should be ready for occupancy by the end of next year. b. South End (rock quarry): An air cargo facility will be built here. This is a 20-year plan for expansion. As part of this project, the Airport received permission to fill a wetland, and to compensate for this provided a "mitigation site" in South Burlington. 50 acres will be developed into a useful wetland and will be a great natural reserve with walking trails, etc. Mr. Flaherty noted they will want to talk about turning this facility over to a public entity. c. Terminal Area: The goal is to have a set up so that people will not have to walk on the tarmac to get on a plane. d. Land Acquisition: There has been a plan to acquire properties affected by airport noise; residents come to the Airport when they wish to sell. Mr. McEwing stressed that the Airport does not seek these people out. The Airport is looking at homes across the street in this same way. A number are owned by absentee landlords. When the Airport buys these properties, they continue to act as landlords and rent out the houses. Mr. Flaherty noted that the Vermont Housing Trust handles the rentals. Most of the owners couldn't sell to anyone else. He stressed that there are no plans to remove these homes. Mr. Condos said he has heard that the Airport is now a 24-hour operation with the last arrival at midnight and the first department at 5:30 a.m. Mr. Searles acknowledged this and added that it is very common for the last planes to arrive late. This requires keeping people in the tower or turning over the operation to Boston Center. Boston Center can't do these landings in certain weather. There are also general aviation landings all through the night in addition to snow removal activities. Mr. Searles said the Airport is significantly busier than it was 5 years ago, and at that time they had full 24-hour tower coverage. Mr. O'Rourke expressed concern with the commercial hours moving closer and closer together. He said he has gotten calls from residents with that concern as well. Mr. Condos said this results in "quality of life" issues. Mr. Searles said if it is a regular occurrence, he wants to know about it. 5. Review Agenda for Planning Commission Meeting of 8 November: No issues were raised. 6. Minutes of 4 October 2005: Mr. Magowan moved to approve the Minutes of 4 October as written. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed 5-0 with Mr. Condos abstaining. 7. Minutes of 17 October 2005: Mr. Magowan moved to approve the Minutes of 17 October as written. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Messrs. Smith and O'Rourke abstaining. 8. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 9. Executive Session: Mr. Magowan moved the Council adjourn and reconvene in executive session to discuss litigation, real property acquisition, and a personnel matter, and to resume regular session only to adjourn. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. On motion duly made and seconded, the Council returned to open meeting, with no action taken. On motion by S. Magowan, seconded by, C. Smith the Council adjourned the meeting at 9:15 pm. Secretary Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.