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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 10/02/2006CITY COUNCIL 2 OCTOBER 2006 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 2 October 2006, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: J. Condos, Chair; C. Smith, D. O'Rourke, M. Boucher Also Present: D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; J. B. Hinds, Director of Planning & Zoning; D. Young, Associate Superintendent of Schools; B. Hoar, Director of Public Works; Rep. A. Audette; R. Newar, S. Shannon, G. Moody, C. Cole, C. Ford, S. Wolf, D. Benoit 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Mr. Smith: He will be Co-Chair of a Chamber Committee discussing cost containment. Mr. Condos: He will attend an MPO Executive Committee meeting, Wednesday morning. Mr. Gravelin: The first public hearing on proposed Charter changes will take place on Friday, 6 October, 5 p.m. The second public hearing will be on 16 October, 7 p.m. Also on the 16 October agenda is the second public hearing on the Alarm Ordinance. The VLCT Town Fair will take place in Barre on Thursday. Police Facilities Meeting, Wednesday, October 11 at 7 pm. Town and City Managers will meet at Basin Harbor on Thursday, 19 October. 3. Public Hearing on Amendment to Land Development Regulations to Allow Lighting in Municipal Districts; second reading: Ms. Hinds said that if the amendment is passed, it would go into effect in 21 days. The application will be heard by the DRB tomorrow under an Interim Zoning provision. If there is an "interested person" present at that hearing, there would be a 30-day waiting period before the amendment would go into effect if it is passed by the DRB. Mr. Condos then read the proposed amendment. Mr. Newar asked if there would be other regulations to prevent use of lighting every night of the week. Mr. Condos said there is nothing to prevent that. Mr. Shannon said he was concerned there could be rock concert. Mr. Young said that at present, there is no seating, so that would not be an option. The lights are now just for Athletic use. Mr. Shannon asked how "light trespass" would be controlled. Ms. Hinds explained how photometric from the lighting must be zero at the school boundary. Also, if the DRB has any questions, they can require an independent review. Mr. Shannon then asked about noise. Ms. Hinds said that is not something readily enforced by zoning. Mr. Shannon said they could hear last Saturday's football game at his house because of the new sound system. Mr. Moody said sound is a real concern for him as well. He, too, could hear everything that was said at Saturday's game, and this would be even worse at night. The main concern is the amplified music, announcing, etc. It would be a problem for people who have to go to work early the next day. He noted there are 850-900 housing units within 3 football field lengths of the school. They would be impacted late in the evening. He added that if your neighbor were playing a stereo that loud, you'd have reason to call the police. He suggested starting games earlier. Mr. Young said the school is sympathetic to that and wants to be a good neighbor. He said they don't have big games planned at night, since they don't have adequate parking, seating, etc. He added that they would look at directional sound. Mr. Condos added that this amendment is not geared just for the high school but covers the entire Municipal District. Ms. Hinds noted that the School Board is the only body that can set parameters for the use of the fields/lights. Ms. Wolf was concerned with safety and security in the woods and noted people have found burning campfires with beer cans around. Mr. Boucher noted that when there is seating, the School District will have to address fencing around the area and other safety precautions. Mr. Newar said they already don't have confidence with the maintenance of the property. He cited old mattresses, piping, etc. lying around. Mr. Young said they are trying to get that cleaned up. Mr. Boucher then moved to close the public hearing. Mr. O'Rourke seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Boucher moved to approve the amendment to the Land Development Regulations as presented. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. O'Rourke reminded community members that it is important for them to voice their concerns to the Development Review Board as well. 4. Consideration of Approval of New Local Assessment Formula for CCTA Member Communities Amendment of Charter: Mr. Cole explained the process for arriving at the new formula, which included the hiring of a consultant to review such formulas in other states. He also noted that South Burlington will benefit from the new formula. Basically, new services will be calculated on the basis of hours, not miles. Debt services will remain unchanged. Mr. O'Rourke moved to approve the new local assessment formula for CCTA member communities, which replaces Section 7C of its Charter. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Presentation of Potash Brook Culvert Under VT 116 Alternatives Presentation: Ms. Ford said a request was received from various South Burlington residents regarding flooding/backup issues with the culvert under Rt. 116. A consultant was hired to look into this. Several alternatives were suggested for addressing the situation. Both the District and VTRANS would be involved in the project. Mr. Condos stressed that this should not be South Burlington's expense. Rep. Audette said there is an agreement that the State is the major polluter of the brook. The State will fix everything on Rt. 116 from Williston Road to Kennedy Drive. The road would become a Class 1 road, which is eligible for State aid. There would be no cost to South Burlington for the culvert. The MPO agreed to pay for scoping. Mr. Benoit, consultant, showed the location of the existing culvert and noted that traffic control would be an issue while work is being done. There is also some archeological sensitivity and private property involved (Manor Woods). Then showed alternatives of replacing the culvert in the same location of moving it slightly. Mr. Benoit said it would be impossible to have 2 lanes of traffic through there while work is being done. A single lane could be maintained or the road could be closed for a short period of time. There is also a question of how to maintain the flow of Potash Brook during the work. This would not be an issue if the pipe remained in the same location. Mr. Hoar noted that using the same alignment, and with a bypass during construction, they could only construct a culvert for a 2-year storm event. He did not feel this is Enough to address the problems. Mr. Carris, whose home is the most affected by the problem, explained that the situation was very bad this year because of the amount of rain. Ms. Hinds said that backyards are being lost and this could accelerate very quickly with another ice jam. Rep. Audette recommended not accepting anything in the old location, since the city would be responsible for taking it over. Mr. O'Rourke asked whether all the alternatives would be equal for South Burlington. Mr. Hoar said the real impact is the possible closing of the road. He preferred the new alignment so the old pipe could be left there while the work is being done and then could be closed off when the work is finished. Ms. Hinds said if the road is to be closed, there would have to be coordination with other projects. Rep. Audette said there won't be money for this for at least 2 years. Mr. Smith said there will be a major uproar if that road is closed, since it would have much more impact than the closing of Old Farm Rd. 6. Consideration of Capital Equipment Notes for Police Copier and Cruiser; refunding note for COPS MORE grant match: Mr. O'Rourke moved to approve the notes and accompanying documents. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Review Agenda for Development Review Board meeting of 3 October 2006: No issues were raised. 8. Review and Approve Minutes of 18 September 2006: Mr. O'Rourke moved to approve the Minutes of 18 September as written. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. Moving away from the agenda, Mr. Condos noted that he and Mr. Smith met with School Board Chair Kate Boucher. They feel there should be some kind of public forum regarding the proposed Charter changes, possibly 3 nights at the 3 different schools during the week before the election. Mr. Boucher suggested scheduling something on public access TV. Mr. Condos noted that hospitality industry people are concerned with the local option tax amendment as well. 10. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Smith moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Gravelin presented a liquor license renewal for the new owner of Shelburne Road Variety, 1855 Shelburne Rd. (formerly Jiffy Mart #13). Mr. Smith moved to approve the liquor license renewal for Shelburne Road Variety as presented. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. As there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.