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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 12/01/2008CITY COUNCIL 1 DECEMBER 2008 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on 1 December 2008, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, Audette Public Works Building, Patchen Rd. Members Present: C. Smith, Chair; M. Boucher, S. Magowan, S. Dooley, M. Emery Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; Rep. A. Audette; S. Stitzel, City Attorney; C. Cole, CCTA; N. Simson, T. Barritt, Community Library; M. Rivers, J. Zaetz, J. Porter, J. Testavis 1. Executive Session: Mr. Boucher moved that the Council meet in Executive Session to discuss property acquisition and personnel matters. 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: Ms. Emery: Advised that a new contract had been signed with Channel 17. Ms. Dooley: Met with Brad Worthen. The Airport will be returning to the City Council on 20 January 2009 at a meeting at Chamberlin School. Mr. Magowan: The Audit Committee of CCTA will meet next Tuesday. Mr. Hafter: Reviewed the budget calendar. Members agreed to hold the first budget work session on 15 January, prior to the regular Council meeting. Subsequent work sessions will be on 18 January and 22 January (if needed). Meetings will start at 6:30 p.m. The location of the meetings is to be determined. Proposals are being received for both temporary and permanent sites for a Police facility. Members agreed to review all the proposals together. Borings were done at City Hall today, and results should be available in a week. These will be presented to the Council on 15 December along with stormwater data. The Legislative Breakfasts are scheduled for: 12 January, 9 February and 16 March. The Regional Planning Commission is seeking a member from South Burlington to the All Hazards Mitigation Planning Committee. Craig Rounds has expressed a willingness to serve in this capacity. Mr. Magowan moved to appoint Craig Rounds as representative to the All Hazards Mitigation Planning Committee of the Regional Planning Commission. Mr. Boucher seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Discussion with Library Board of Trustees regarding request for Stakeholder Status in Future Library Plans: Ms. Simson said the Library Board feels they are in the best position to share the community's voice regarding Library issues and is seeking an active role in anything that affects the Library. As the City creates plans for buildings, the Board is willing to consider any and all plans for a Library as long as it is a separate facility from the High School Library. They would also like a say in the configuration of the Library space and the hours of operation. Ms. Simson reminded the Board that there is a $300,000 bequest that is to be used for a new Library facility. There is also the potential for additional fund- raising. Mr. Magowan agreed that the community is too big for a joint facility, especially at the High School. He felt the 2 uses are not compatible. He asked the status of the Governance Agreement. Mr. Hafter said he and Superintendent Everitt are working on that. Mr. Magowan said he felt that any action regarding a new Library facility is in the 2015 range, but he felt that is too far out. He suggested the possibility of working on the Library independent of the City's plans. Ms. Dooley suggested the possibility of a Library and City Hall in one building. Mr. Barritt of the Library Board said the Board wants to be involved in those discussions. Ms. Simson said they are trying to get more people involved in joining the "Friends of the Library." There will be a meeting on 11 December to get that effort underway. 5. Discussion of Proposed Charter Amendment on Form of Government: Mr. Stitzel said he had been forwarded a draft petition to establish a Mayoral form of government and had been asked to review it. He indicated he had reviewed the language for "technical corrections," compatibility with the numbering scheme in the Charter, anything illegal/unauthorized. He did not address the policy issues raised by the petition. Mr. Stitzel said he has a concern about the petition, specifically the inability to determine whether it will work within the existing City Charter. He explained that when a community goes to a "City Manager" form of government, State Statutes set up standards on how a City Manager relates to departments, etc. It is a "pre-packaged" form of government. In all but one case in the State of Vermont, where there is a Mayor, the Mayor is above the City Manager, and the City Manager is responsible for operating the city and reporting to a City Council. In general, the Mayor has day-to-day contact with the City Manager as the City Manager performs all the statutory duties of a City Manager. The Mayor may have a veto authority over the City Council or some other authorities. Mr. Hafter noted that in his previous job, he worked in that kind of system and the Mayor voted as a member of the City Council. Mr. Stitzel said that in the City of Burlington, the Mayor is a full paid position. The Mayor votes on some things with the City Council. Mr. Stitzel said that with regard to the petition he received, he can provide only certification as to technical correctness. He believes the petition inadequately addresses policy issues. He felt that if it is implemented as drafted, it would be necessary to implement other amendments to the Charter to resolve issues that are raised. He indicated that he did not have time to identify all the issues, unless the City Council wants to authorize a comprehensive review. He has already put in a few hours. He felt that several more hours would be required for a more comprehensive review. Ms. Emery said she felt it was not for the Council to charge the City Attorney with doing any more on this. She said it needs to go back to the citizens to be worked on and then resubmitted. Mr. Zaetz said the Secretary of State's office had expressed a willingness to help them out, and they will go back there. Rep. Audette said he received a number of calls from taxpayers who felt the City should not be paying for the City Attorney to do this work. 6. Discussion of the Use of "Options" on City Ballots: Mr. Stitzel said it is his belief that the City can have "non-binding advisory votes." He felt that there are times when this is appropriate: a. when the Legislative body has the authority to act independently but wants to assess public opinion (e.g., accepting a gift that might cause property to come off the tax roles in perpetuity) b. when the Legislative body doesn't have a strong consensus on a matter of public concern In both situations, the voters are presented with a clear choice: yes or no. They are not presented with "options." Mr. Boucher noted that the public had asked for "options" on a Police facility. Mr. Stitzel said that in a democracy, you present one option at a time. Ms. Emery asked what if there were "options" but the vote wasn't binding. Mr. Stitzel said that is more like a public opinion poll, and you can send that out in the mail. 7. Presentation from Jim Porter, Department of Public Service, on Gorge Area Project: Mr. Porter said this is Part 2 of the East Avenue Loop and involves the Lime Kiln new substation. The project will also remove the lines from the McNeil plant to Queen City. Mr. Hafter noted this has been reviewed by the Planning Commission. Mr. Porter said this is a "248 Proceeding," the regulatory version of Act 250. The Board looks at the petition, reviews necessity, aesthetics, etc. He noted that no towns involved have intervened in the proceedings. Ms. Emery asked if lines are ever put underground. Mr. Porter said that is extraordinarily expensive. There are also reliability issues. It is seldom done. Mr. Hafter said you also can't put the cost of undergrounding into the general rate base. He then asked why the lines along the Lakefront in Burlington are being put underground and it is part of the rate base. Mr. Testavis said Burlington Electric has its own project, it is not a "248" project. 8. First Reading of Ordinance Changing Speed Limit on National Guard Road from 25 mph to 25 mph; schedule public hearing for same: Mr. Hafter said the recommendation follows a study done on existing speeds on that road. He added that the Country Club Estates Board approves the change as does the Public Works Department. Ms. Emery moved to approve the first reading and schedule a public hearing for 5 January 2009. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Consideration of Proposed CCTA Assessment for FY 2010: Mr. Cole gave members information on SSTA (paratransit), as well as information on local assessments. He said CCTA is looking at a 3% across the board increase, except for Colchester and Milton which have no service. Rep. Audette asked about a Hinesburg Rd. route. Mr. Cole said they are trying to get funding from VTrans to extend the UMall route. If they can get that, they will plan for 3 routes: Burlington to UMall, Route 2 to Hinesburg, and a South Burlington City Loop to connect to the above routes. They would bring Tilley Drive into that to help serve the Fletcher Allen facilities there. Mr. Magowan noted that all heart patients are seen there, and there is no public transit for them. Rep. Audette said it would be about 3/10 of a mile. Mr. Hafter said it would cost $169,000 a year more to serve Tilley Drive. Mr. Cole noted that South Burlington's big increase is in paratransit, which is up 27.83%, and increase of 650 rides. He noted that this is an entitlement program and added that they are trying to get the state to pick up some of this cost. Mr. Hafter said they have to continue to look into taxi service. Mr. Cole said he would look at the budgeted number to see it can be reduced a little. He asked the Council to support the assessment. 10. Consideration of Capital Equipment Refunding Notes for Department of Public Works: Mr. Hafter said this is the second of 5 years at 2.9%. Money is in the budget. Mr. Boucher moved to approve the Capital Equipment Refunding Notes and accompanying documents as presented. Mr. Magowan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Comments from Rep. Audette: Rep. Audette expressed concern with a recent decision by the Council not to pursue condemnation of property related to the proposed Exit 12B interchange. He said he had spent 2 years in Montpelier working on this project, and he was never brought into the discussion before it was abandoned by the City. Mr. Magowan apologized for not including Rep. Audette in the information loop. He noted that the Council's decision was whether to pursue condemnation of the property. The Council felt the asking price was too high in view of current financial situations. The Council also felt the city would be spending money on something the federal Government should be paying for. They also felt it would be a challenge to get public support for a $1,500,000 bond. Rep. Audette said it was not easy to get that project onto the State plan. Now he's hearing "forget abut anything for South Burlington." Mr. Boucher said the Council felt they would be giving out a free loan until the Federal Government decided to go ahead. Rep. Audette noted that City Center is contingent upon 12B. He asked what the Council will do about that. Mr. Smith said the Council had to make a tactical decision and there was no assurance that the project would be built in the foreseeable future. Rep. Audette said 3 developers were willing to kick in money for that, but they won't do anything now. He felt the City should forget about trying to get anything from VTrans. Mr. Magowan said he felt there won't be a spade of dirt moved on that property for 5 years. He also noted that the MPO said any action on 12B was at least a "decade away, if at all." He added that the City can't spend money without voter approval, and there is a significant group of people opposing the project. Rep. Audette asked what will happen to City Center now. Mr. Magowan said he didn't know. Rep. Audette said it is dead if it doesn't get approval. 12. Review Development Review Board Agenda for 2 December 2008: Ms. Dooley questioned the "after the fact" approval in Item #5. Mr. Hafter said this is frustrating for the DRB as well. He added that in the past, the DRB has required changes to something that was built without approval. 13. Review & Approve Minutes of 10 November 2008: Ms. Dooley noted a correction to an officer identified as Officer Chaulk. Mr. Boucher moved to approve the Minutes of 10 November 2008 as amended. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed 4-0 with Mr. Magowan abstaining. 14. Liquor Control Board: Mr. Magowan moved the Council adjourn and reconvene as Liquor Control Board. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Hafter presented a Liquor License request from Eagles, Champlain Aerie and #793 1233B Shelburne Road. He said everything is in order. Mr. Magowan moved to approve the Liquor License request for Eagles, Champlain Aerie and #793 as presented. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. As there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned at 9:35 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.