Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 01/09/2006CITY COUNCIL 9 JANUARY 2006 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 9 January 2006, at 6:45 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: J. Condos, Chair; S. Magowan, C. Smith, D. O'Rourke, M. Boucher Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; J. B. Hinds, Director of Planning & Zoning; J. Wilson, CCTV; A. Parent, The Other Paper 1. Consider entering Executive Session to discuss personnel matters: Mr. Smith moved that the Board enter executive session to discuss personnel matters. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: 2. Comments & Questions from the public not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 3. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Condos: Reminded members of the City Council retreat on Thursday, 6 p.m. The next City Council meeting will be on 17 January, 6:45 p.m. Mr. Hafter: Police Dept. Facility Meeting, Wednesday, 1:30 p.m., Public Works Building Will attend an all-day meeting on "bird flu," 12 January. Skye Barch is the new Free Press reporter for South Burlington. The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors will meet Thursday, noon. The Champlain Initiative will meet 19 January, 8 a.m. The new UVM Master Plan will be presented on 19 January, 7 p.m. Neighbors are invited to attend this presentation. The County tax meeting will be held on 24 January, 5 p.m. Mr. Gravelin will attend on behalf of South Burlington. 4. Channel 17 Activities Update: Mr. Gravelin presented financial information. There is a fund balance of $560,000. New cash management practices have been instituted. Some funds have been invested, and recent earnings total $12,000. A budget of $430,000 has been approved for the coming year for both operating and capital expenses. Ms. Wilson then reviewed activities of the station. She noted that Channel 17 is operated by a trust comprised of municipal officials from various towns. One of the major continuing efforts is outreach to communities, including Free Press and local newspaper advertising. In answer to viewer requests, there is now legislative coverage once a week ("Under the Dome"). Ms. Wilson noted there have been complaints from the public regarding sound difficulties in televised South Burlington meetings. South Burlington has 5 meetings televised per month (a total of 123 hours in 2005). There are over 5000 Adelphia subscribers in the city. Channel 17 transitioned to digital this year, and this has resulted in enhanced quality. Ms. Wilson felt the Public Service Board let them down with the recent Comcast situation. Comcast has been told they must provide everything Adelphia is provided in the way of public access. They have also been told to do more line extensions. Burlington Telecom will be doing "meetings on demand. Ms. Wilson thought the Telecom model was a good one for this area. On Wednesday, 10 January, 5:45 p.m., there will be a telecast of a program featuring Tuttle Middle School students. 5. First Reading of Amendment to Land Development Regulations, Southeast Quadrant Chapter, related amendments to South Burlington Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Regulations; scheduling of 2 public hearings: Ms. Hinds reviewed this history leading to these documents. She noted that in the 2001 Comprehensive Plan the #1 priority was to review Southeast Quadrant (SEQ) planning to be sure goals are being met. This has been the Planning Commission's most important goal for the last 5 years. Ms. Hinds also reviewed the background studies that have resulted in these documents. Mr. Condos noted that the effort also began with the one cent tax voters approved for open space acquisition. Ms. Hinds said that the aim of the present documents is to avoid impacting the most environmentally significantly areas. The City Council is required to hold a minimum of 2 warned public hearings on the Comprehensive Plan document. Ms. Hinds asked what kind of presentation/information the Council would want and how much public outreach there should be. Mr. Hafter felt that at least one public hearing should be a special meeting. He suggested a joint meeting with the Planning Commission. It was agreed that the first reading of the Comprehensive Plan Chapter should be an overview with a presentation from consultant Bob White. This will be on 17 January. They also agreed to hold the first public hearing on the Comprehensive Plan on 21 February and the second public hearing and second reading on 9 March. At that time the Council will decide when to warn the public hearing on the zoning changes. Ms. Hinds then briefly reviewed the elements of the comprehensive plan chapter including sections on affordable housing, the Industrial-Open Space District, neighborhood commercial uses, recreation facilities, recreation path, water/wastewater (Ms. Hinds noted there is a recommendation to "demap" an area of the SEQ for extension of utilities), transportation network, etc. In the zoning regulations, the base density for the SEQ would remain at 1.2 per acre. Basic front, rear and side setbacks would also remain the same. There would be 4 new "sub-districts" created to define where there would and would not be development. There are Village Residential, Neighborhood Residential, Village Commercial, and Natural Resources Protection. Two small pieces of land would also be added to the SEQ. Council members cited the need to put signs at the ends of cul de sacs to alert residents to what may be coming there. They were also concerned with preventing "raceway" streets. Members and the public were encouraged to contact Ms. Hinds with any thoughts about the documents. 6. Consideration for capital equipment note for Highway Department: Mr. Hafter presented a 2-year note for a jeep for the Public Works Director to replace the vehicle that was totaled last year. The loan is at 3.65%. Mr. O'Rourke moved to approve the note and accompanying resolution as presented. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Review Planning Commission Agenda for Meeting of 10 January 2006: No issues were raised. 8. Review and Approve City Council Minutes of 19 December 2005: Mr. Smith moved to approve the Minutes of 19 December as written. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.