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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 06/21/2010CITY COUNCIL 21 JUNE 2010 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 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: D. Gravelin, Acting City Manager; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; D. Brent, Fire Chief; P. Nowak, M. Young, R. Manganello, D. Watts, T Granis, L. Parker, A. Parker, J. Donahue 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience not related to Agenda items: Mr. Donahue, a recent graduate of RIT, said he has moved to Vermont to work full time. He indicated that he is concerned for energy and cost of wasted energy. He cited several things the city might do to conserve energy including eliminating the “no turn on red” signals, replacing left arrow only signals with left arrow greens changing to green circles, and putting all traffic lights onto blinkers at night, depending on traffic volumes. Mr. Boucher suggested Mr. Donahue meet with the Police Chief and Public Works Director to learn about regulations, etc. Mr. Gravelin added that many of the lights are State controlled, and the State has other rules. 1. Other Business & Announcements: Mr. Knapp: Everyone had a good time at the Police Station Open House on 12 June. Ms. Dooley: Has been appointed to the Quality of Life Committee for VLCT. The first meeting is 30 June. Mr. Gravelin: Will be placing ads in The Other Paper tomorrow for volunteer positions. All incumbents will be contacted as well. MPO Board Development meeting on Wednesday evening. VLCT Insurance Trust meeting on Friday. The new City Manager will begin work on 1 July. 3. Report on Airport Matters: Mr. Gravelin reported on a recent staff level meeting with Airport staff: A. There has been some delay in the paving repairing due to the federal grant approval. The worst case scenario is a mid-October finish. B. The city has asked that the sound consultants attend the next meeting with Burlington International Airport and City Staff. C. The noise agreement is still active. The important thing is to get measurements right. The Airport has agreed to continue to look at other noise abatement methods. D. Everything is moving ahead with the Dog Park. E. There was an indication of a new renter in a property bought by the Airport. It turns out this was a tenant of the prior owner who is occupying the house under an existing lease. The Airport has chosen not to go the eviction route at this time. F. Security of Airport-purchased property has improved. They have hired security people. G. There are some storm water issues on the vacant properties. The Airport is receptive to looking at this. H. There is a piece of land near Muddy Brook with invasive species. The Airport owns the adjacent property and has given the city permission to access and deal with the invasive species. 4. First Reading of Proposed Revisions of the City Fire Ordinance; schedule public hearing: Chief Brent indicated he had done the revisions requested by the Council. Ms. Dooley said she had heard concerns from 3 residents about allowing fires for other than cooking. They cited the dense populations. Ms. Emery said there was also a concern with time of day. Mr. Knapp asked if neighborhoods can be regulated differently and, if so, are there standards as to how to craft those regulations and how finely lines can be drawn. Mr. Boucher said he was concerned with creating an enforceability nightmare. He did not favor ordinances that can’t be enforced. A member of the audience said that in Burlington people know they can’t burn. He was concerned with the wording of the ordinance which seems to imply that someone can burn a neighbor’s house down and then be fined $25.00. Mr. Manganello noted his neighbors were having open fines and doing it very safely, but when he got home that night his room was full of smoke because windows are open this time of year. He was concerned this could cause people to become ill. Mr. Young asked about the possibility of an ordinance like the parking ban which would be in effect only certain times of the year. It was noted that the city owns fireplaces that anyone can use at Red Rocks and JC Parks. Chief Brent said if these fire devices are stopped completely, there should be signs placed in stores indicating they are illegal in South Burlington. He said he would solicit information from other towns. Mr. Conner said it would be challenging to do it on a “neighborhood by neighborhood” basis. He noted there are some very dense neighborhoods even in the Southeast Quadrant. The city will get information from the City Attorney about regulating different neighborhoods differently. 5. First Reading of Proposed Chicken Ordinance; schedule public hearing: Mr. Conner reviewed the history of the request to allow the keeping of chickens in the city. The request was initiated by neighbors in the East Terrace area and has been supported by residents of other areas. The Planning Commission felt it was worth bringing to the Council. Mr. Conner said this is a very challenging issue because of the State’s agriculture regulations. He said that any solution they come up with may not meet everyone’s legal test. The current proposal is to allow up to 6 chickens in a backyard. There would be setback requirements for the henhouse. No roosters would be allowed. In Queen City Park, up to 15 chickens would be allowed in an area owned by their Fire District. Mr. Boucher said he would have health concerns, bird flu, etc. Ms. Emery asked about dust and odors. Mr. Conner said that would come down to maintenance. Ms. Emery asked if it would be allowed in all homes. Mr. Conner said there would be 6 allowed for a single family home and 6 total for a multi-family structure. This would not supersede association rules, some of which prohibit the keeping of chickens. Mr. Conner said this would place an added burden on staff, but the question is whether city residents want this. There would be an annual license, but not necessarily a health certificate. The ordinance would deal with violations which could lead to removal of the chickens for certain conditions. Ms. Dooley noted that in other towns where this has been allowed it hasn’t been a problem. She supported going forward with it. A member of the audience said friends who have raised chickens have had no problems. Ms. Nowak asked how the city could control the number of chickens. And what would happen with a duplex where one resident wanted chickens and the other didn’t. Mr. Granis, who is spearheading the movement in Queen City Park, said they want a cooperative venture on Fire District land. He said a poll of residents there showed 65 in favor and 4 opposed. Ms. Watts said people are concerned with a healthy food source. She also noted that chickens can dig up grubs and eliminate the need for chemicals to do that. She said that chickens kept in an enclosed area don’t have access to other birds, so there isn’t much chance of spreading disease. She noted that chicken-keeping is allowed in New York City. Members agreed to reconsider this at the next meeting. Mr. Boucher said he was again concerned with enforceability and cost. He stressed that even these small things drive costs. Mr. Conner said he would check into what Burlington does, which, he felt, was pretty much laissez-faire. 6. Consideration for a new $300,000 Loan for White Street Water Line Reconstruction Project: Mr. Gravelin said the note is at the Merchants and is at 1.84%. Ms. Emery moved to approve the loan and accompanying documents as presented. Mr. Knapp seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Review Planning Commission Agenda for meeting of 22 June 2010: Mr. Conner noted that the section of the Comprehensive Plan the Commission will be looking at is now on the website. No issues were raised. Members agreed to a joint City Council/Planning Commission meeting on 27 July. 8. Review and Approve Minutes of 7 June 2010: Ms. Dooley noted that the Council did want to draft a letter to the Burlington City Council regarding the Airport. Mr. Boucher will do this. It was noted that on p. 5, last paragraph the words “ground power” should read “auxiliary power.” On p. 6, Ms. Emery clarified that on p. 5, information on affects of noise on school children was “federally documented.” Ms. Dooley moved to approve the Minutes of 7 June as amended. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 9. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement Orders were signed. 10. Executive Session: Mr. Knapp moved the Council meet in executive session to discuss an employment contract and litigation issue and to resume regular session only to make a possible decision on the litigation issue and/or adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Regular Session: Upon returning to regular session and on the motion made and seconded, the council voted to authorize the City Attorney to execute the stipulation between the City and Sener & Lee. Councilor Dooly suggested inquiring with attorney about a press release regarding this action. ________________________ Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.