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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/16/2009CITY COUNCIL 16 NOVEMBER 2009 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 16 November 2009, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: M. Boucher, Chair; S. Dooley, M. Emery, J. Knapp Also Present: C. Hafter, City Manager; D. Gravelin, Assistant City Manager; P. Plumeau, B. Worthen, S. Dopp, B. Stuono, M. Young, L. Menendez, M. Ambusk, J. Caron 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 2. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Ms. Emery: Channel 17 has passed its budget. Preparations are underway for the first neighborhood forum which will take place in January. Ms. Dooley: On 3 November, Mr. Hafter, Mr. Conner & Ms. Dooley met with UVM people. The major priority UVM has is the third lane in front of Staples Plaza. Funding is also being sought for an off bound lane from I-89 (southbound) into the UVM parking lot at the Sheraton. Mr. Hafter noted that financing has not yet been discussed. Received a call from Jared Wood of Burlington who feels maintenance work needs to be done at Red Rocks Park. He also sent her an article regarding opportunities for funding for rec paths. Mr. Hafter: Distributed the proposed 2010-2011 city budget. The first work session will be on 23 November at 6:30 p.m., followed by a second session on 3 December, also at 6:30 p.m. There is no proposed tax increase except for the debt service for the new Police Station approved by the voters. Mr. Hafter is recommending using money from the local option sales tax reserve to address the $405,414 deficit. The total tax increase for an average home in South Burlington would be $10.00. The City Charter Committee will meet on 17 November, 5 p.m. to discuss 2 potential charter amendments. The Air Guard will meet tomorrow at the High School regarding relocation of Air Guard Road in order to get it away from all fuel tanks. The Steering Committee will meet on Thursday, 6 p.m., in the Middle School Library. VLCT will discuss its legislative priorities on 1 December, 9 a.m., at South Burlington City Hall. Mr. Boucher: The committee for hiring a new Public Works Superintendent met today. There are 6 or 8 viable candidates. Interview will be set up. The Purchase & Sales agreement for 19 Gregory Drive was signed last week. 3. Presentation of Dorset Park Natural Area (Calkins) Resource Inventory & Management Recommendations: Ms. Menendez reviewed the history of the LANDS Stewardship Program which involves projects using college students with experience in natural resource inventorying, mapping, etc. Ms. Menendez then showed a 1937 aerial photo of the Calkins area, showing the land which was then primarily used for farming. A 2004 aerial photo was very similar, but forest land has now expanded. To begin the project, the property was divided into 5 "management areas": 1. Core forest area (mostly sugar maples) with rich plant life 2. Peripheral forest area, more dense, scrubbier (cedars and buckthorn) 3. Shrub land - with lots of species 4. Grassland - prime visiting area for people 5. Wetlands - important for the filtering of storm water runoff One group focused on hydrology. Their recommendations include: careful monitoring and restriction on ATV use, monitoring phosphorus pollution levels, looking at areas of erosion and doing restorative work, if needed. Non-native species, mainly Hitchcock sedge, were identified. Recommendations for dealing with these species include creating a management plan and involving the community. Ms. Menendez indicated some high priority control areas where buckthorn is staring to encroach into sugar maple stands. Recommendations regarding wildlife (e.g., birds, bees, etc.) include mowing and brush-hogging for grassland birds. Ms. Menendez said trails are a great way to navigate the property. The group suggests upgrading the trails map and providing educational signs. They also recommend removing hazards such as snags and not allowing trails through the wetlands. There are indications where people have forged their own trails. These don't seem to have had a negative impact. Other recommendations include an entrance/welcome sign, signs requesting people to stay on the trails, and a "carry-in/carry-out" policy for trash. They also feel there should be no bicycles on the property, but bikes should be allowed to go around the property. Mr. Conner said this was an amazing partnership. The City is looking at ways to implement many of the recommendations. He noted that one of the interns involved in the project grew up in South Burlington and now attends Mt. Holyoke. She was very excited to be studying property here. Ms. Ambusk also thanked the group for their work. She noted the area has gotten a lot of focus in recent years and the hope is to come up with a plan that will work for everyone. Mr. Hafter thanked the South Burlington Land Trust which helped to pay to make this a complete project. 4. Update on Airport Activities & Issues: Mr. Plumeau reported on Airport news including: 1. About a 10% decrease in the number of flights and enplanements from the previous year 2. A potential for additional flights to Florida, New York City and Washington, D.C. in the near term. There is also an effort to get flights back to Boston 3. Canadians comprise 30-40% of Airport customers The approximate location of the Living Wall was showed on an overhead photo. A potential Greyhound bus station and cell phone waiting area were also indicated. The design for the Living Wall has been finalized and the Act 250 permit was recently received. It has not yet gone out to bid and probably won't be built until next year. The Airport has FAA approval for 20 purchases of homes in this fiscal year. Four offers have been extended so far this year. They are awaiting FAA approval of FY 2011 funding. Regarding potential intercity Greyhound bus service, it was noted that there is a desire to provide express bus service to and from Montreal. Recent discussions with Greyhound have provided the opportunity to build on existing intercity bus service for expanded Montreal/Airport routes. Greyhound would move from its Pine St. location to the Airport. Mr. Boucher expressed concern about the "fit" of a bus station at the Airport from the point of view of traffic. Mr. Worthen felt this could mean less traffic into the Airport. He noted that the Airport did a survey of 400-500 Canadians at the Airport. 80% said they would be very interested in using the bus if it were competitive price-wise, had good scheduling, and got them right to the door. Ms. Dooley said she had no problem with Montreal service. She did have an issue with moving the bus station to the Airport. She noted that Greyhound has discontinued service to New York. Mr. Worthen felt it might mean fewer trip ends to the Airport. Mr. Boucher disagreed. Mr. Plumeau noted that the 4 other Airport Commissioners would like to move forward with this. It has not been discussed with the Burlington City Council as yet. Mr. Worthen noted that the Greyhound lease on Pine St. expires in April, and Greyhound will not be renewing it. Mr. Hafter noted that a bus terminal would not be permitted in the Airport under South Burlington zoning. Mr. Conner said it would be allowed in other districts. Mr. Plumeau reviewed plans for the expansion of the Airport parking garage. The project will add two levels to accommodate existing demand and forecasted growth. A financing strategy is being worked on. The project is awaiting updated parking demand information. The next DRB hearing is scheduled for 1 December. Phased construction is being considered. Mr. Young noted that the proposed height of the garage is 70 feet which he felt was very out of character with the neighborhood. Mr. Conner suggested Mr. Young bring that concern to the DRB. Mr. Plumeau said several sites are being considered for the cell phone waiting area. This would allow people to wait in their cars for passengers flying into the Airport instead of having to continuously circle around. Mr. Plumeau also noted that stimulus money is being used to upgrade taxiways. Ms. Caron, a new South Burlington resident of Mayfair Park, said she is disappointed at the amount of Airport noise, especially late at night. She said the noise seems to be from propeller plans. Ms. Emery said there is a lot of engine testing at that time, and it needs to be reported to the Airport. Mr. Plumeau said there are almost no commercial operations from midnight to 5 a.m. The Air Guard is the only one who operates during night hours. Mr. Hafter added there are agreements that engines will not be run at 2 or 3 a.m. Mr. Worthen advised that Airport Management met with Tom Hubbard and the Dog Park Committee and have identified 2 potential areas for a dog park. 5. Consideration of Approval of Recommendation from the City Services Funding Committee on Allocation of Social Services Funding for FY2010: Ms. Dooley reported that last year's allocations were reduced by 15%. She noted that information was received from all who were funded in FY2009 as well as the "special needs" fund administered by the City Manager. Ms. Emery asked to restore the full amount to Women Helping Battered Women as more incidents occur during hard economic times. Ms. Dooley said funding was based on the amount of services in South Burlington. Mr. Young felt it was terrible to reduce any funding to the Food Shelf. Ms. Dooley then moved to approve the unanimous recommendation of the Social Services Funding Committee for FY2010. Mr. Knapp seconded. Motion passed 3-0 with Mr. Boucher abstaining. 6. Continued discussion on City Manager Selection Process: Mr. Hafter distributed information from VLCT including a search timeline and proposed advertisement. He also gave members an enumeration of the City Manager's powers and duties as outlined in the City Charter. Members briefly discussed the make-up of the committee. 7. Review Development Review Board Agenda for meeting of 17 November 2009: No issues were raised. 8. Review and Approve Minutes of 2 November 2009: It was noted that on p. 2, the resolution was presented to Mme. Louchart. On p. 6, paragraph 2, the first sentence should end with the words "regarding traffic among other things" Ms. Emery moved to approve the Minutes of 2 November as amended. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. As there was no further business to come the Council, the meeting was adjourned at 9:25 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.