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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/06/2006CITY COUNCIL 6 JUNE 2006 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 6 June 2006, at 6:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: C. Smith, Acting Chair; M. Boucher, S. Magowan, D. O'Rourke Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Rep. A. Audette; J. B. Hinds, Director of Planning & Zoning; Chief L. Graham, Police Dept.; T. LeBlanc, Assessor; M. Beaudin, T. Duff, Planning Commission; 1. Executive Session: Mr. Boucher moved the Board meet in Executive Session to discuss real property acquisition. Mr. Magowan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: 2. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda Items: No issues were raised. 3. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Hafter asked Mr. LeBlanc to update the Council on the reappraisal process. Mr. LeBlanc said they are now doing informal appeals, which should be finished this week. During this process, there have been 1200 informal appeals (16.6%) which is about as high as was anticipated. When this process is done, formal appraisal letters will be sent out after which the formal appeal process will begin. Mr. LeBlanc said they are anticipating about 100-150 appeals at the most. Mr. Magowan said he has been hearing complaints from residents that the cards they were asked to send back with any questions they might have appear to have been ignored. There are also complaints about properties on Spear Street that seem to be grossly undervalued, and the public will view this as an unfair process. Mr. Smith said he has heard similar complaints. Mr. LeBlanc said they recognize there will be problems. The city has until December 31 to make changes. Mr. Hafter said there are under- and over- evaluations that Mr. LeBlanc has been asked to look at. Mr. LeBlanc said he needs to hear these concerns about specific properties. Mr. Smith said people have complained to him that nobody went into their homes. Mr. LeBlanc said they got into about 65% of homes. Mr. Hafter said he recommends waiting until 5 or 6 July before coming up with a tax rate number. Formal appeals will be completed by then. Members agreed to meet at 7:30 a.m. on 6 July to set a tax rate. Mr. Hafter then continued his report as follows: There will be a citywide reception for Mary-Barbara Maher who will be retiring after many years of service to the city. This will take place on 27 June, from 4-6 p.m. in the City Hall Conference Room. There will also be a retirement dinner for Police Chief Lee Graham on 23 June, 6 p.m. The annual GBIC meeting will take place on 20 June at Noon. The next City Council Agenda will include zoning amendments, a public hearing on the proposed Capital Plan, and a presentation by Lake Champlain Housing. 4. Discussion of Process for Development of Amended Police Station Project: Mr. Hafter advised that following the defeat of the Police Station bond vote, the Police Building Committee met to discuss what to do. The recommendation is to reformulate the committee to include 5 citizens and 5 members of the original committee, the City Manager and a City Council member. The new committee would look at everything (site, possible renovation of existing building, design etc.). They would conduct public meetings and solicit public input. Mr. Hafter felt that a second vote should not occur before May 2007. Mr. Hafter noted that voters have said they didn't understand the "other pieces" of the picture, including a new City Hall and other infrastructure needs. Mr. O'Rourke said the Committee needs this input from the City Council. He agreed that people have to know what the future will entail. Mr. Magowan asked if it is possible to outline what a new City Hall in the City Center will cost. Ms. Hinds said it is. She felt that they would be close by August. She also noted that there is another piece the public needs to have, and that is the option for Central School/a possible new school in the Southeast Quadrant. Ms. Hinds also felt there needs to be Planning Commission representation on the new committee. Mr. Magowan questioned whether the "tide has turned" in South Burlington and whether a demographics change has resulted in people no longer being supportive of the city. Mr. Smith said he heard that people were supportive of the Police Station but did not know the "unknown" pieces such as a new City Hall. Mr. O'Rourke said the demographics piece may be true, but that makes the need for an education process even more important. Rep. Audette also agreed that people need to know the full price. He said that he personally had a problem with the $10,000,000 cost and noted that the Public Works building was build for far less than that. He felt the cost figures weren't explained which resulted in people responding to "rumors." Members of the Police Dept. agreed that they need to be more aggressive in explaining why this kind of space is more expensive (security, communications, etc.). Ms. Hinds noted that the Council did a fabulous job of marketing the new stormwater utility. She specifically cited the number of meetings with citizen groups and felt that people understood the value of the project. She said there is not reason the same thing couldn't be done with the Police Station. Mr. Duff noted that both Barre and Williston have passed public safety buildings. He felt the city needs to explain the higher standard needed for a Police building. Mr. Magowan agreed the Council "dropped the ball" on public education. He supported having both the public and the Planning Department represented on the new committee. Mr. O'Rourke agreed. Rep. Audette noted that Act 68 will be redone this year, and it may no longer be funded through the property tax. He also stressed the need to have senior citizens on the new committee. Mr. Hafter noted that the public was invited to all the committee meetings, but he said he has learned that it is not enough just to invite people to come; there must be an effort to go out to the public. 5. Discussion of Public Hearing of 2006 Chittenden Regional Plan Ms. Hinds noted that the public hearing draft of the Regional Plan is now out. There is a big improvement in the writing of the document, so the focus can now be on policy issues. Ms. Hinds cited a continuing issue with a table that says that development of a certain size automatically constitutes a regional impact. There are also issues with statement regarding impacts on ground water. Ms. Hinds cited a compelling section on childcare needs and how many households have all adults in the house working. She felt this is what a good regional plan can do, namely provide useful information. Ms. Hinds will provide a written review of the document. 6. Presentation of Chittenden Solid Waste District Annual Budget, FY 07; Consideration of Approval: Mr. Moreau asked the Council for approval of the FY07 budget. He noted there is a $202,000 (2.9%) increase in the operating budget. Revenues are up only 1.1%, but they still exceed expenses. Mr. Moreau noted that half of the budget is based on a Supreme Court ruling that requires purchase of the land for a landfill. He said the hope is for the District to be operating a landfill at this time next year. Mr. Hafter asked if there is an assessment for this. Mr. Moreau said there is not. There will be an increase in drop-off fees for such things as air conditioners and refrigerators. Mr. Moreau noted this is the 10th year without a general rate increase. Recycling markets are up very high, and they are now trying to renegotiate these contracts. Recycling is now cheaper than trash. Mr. Boucher questioned the 13% salary increases. Mr. Moreau said that 2 years ago, the Board was concerned about salaries and hired a consultant. The report indicated that managers were being paid 12% under the market. Mr. Stabler noted they had trouble hiring a project engineer because of this. Mr. Boucher felt that this increase plus a cost of living increase plus merit increases seemed very "rich." Mr. Moreau said the highest percentages go to lower echelon employees, not managers. Mr. Hafter stressed how well run the District is. He said he had only one citizen complaint this year, which was addressed immediately. Rep. Audette asked the status of the Hinesburg situation. Mr. Moreau said it is with the court, and they are waiting for a decision on the landowner's appeal. Mr. Magowan then moved to approve the FY07 Solid Waste District budget as presented. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Appointments to Boards and Commissions that Represent the City Council on Regional Agencies: The appointments that fall into this category are: MPO Technical Advisory Committee (Sonny Audette incumbent willing to serve again) Airport Commission (Mike Flaherty incumbent willing to serve another term) CCTA Board (incumbents Bill Wessell and Chuck Hafter willing to serve again) Mr. Magowan moved to approve the reappointment of representatives as presented above. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Consideration of Capital Equipment Note for Public Works Department-Stormwater Utility: Mr. Hafter presented a note in the amount of $79,764 for the purchase of a street sweeper/catch basin cleaner. He noted that a grant would fund $97,489 of the total $177,253.12 purchase price. This is a 5-year note for the city's share and is at a rate of 4.05%. Mr. Boucher moved to approve the capital equipment note and related documents as presented. Mr. Magowan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Review Agenda for Development Review Board meeting of 6 June 2006: No issues were raised. 10. Review Minutes of 15 May, and 22 May 2006: The Minutes could not be acted upon, as there was not a quorum of those present at that meeting. 11. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.