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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 09/07/2010CITY COUNCIL 7 SEPTEMBER 2010 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, 7 September 2010, at 7:00 p.m., at Orchard School. Members Present: M. Boucher, Chair; S. Dooley, M. Emery, J. Knapp, F. Murray Also Present: S. Miller, City Manager; S. Ladd, City Manager’s Office; Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; Rep. Helen Head, M. Young, J. Simson, M. Ambusk, R. Hubbard, M. Kupferman, R. Neuer, D. Adamson, L. Yankowski, W. Tegtmayer, T. Braun, R. Skiff 1. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to agenda items: Mr. Young asked whether the City had a “rainy day fund” and whether there is a timely for making the pension plan “whole” again. Mr. Boucher said those questions will be addressed in a later agenda item. 2. Announcements & City Manager’s Report: Ms. Dooley: Met with Paul Conner and neighbors regarding the dorm that UVM is planning to build in Burlington (150 units of apartment size). Housing will be for juniors, seniors and graduate students. Mr. Miller: Will attend the Vermont Town Managers’ Conference, 16­17 September. Introduced Kelly Murphy who has been hired for the Planning Department. There will be a presentation at City Hall on Thursday, 9 September regarding Exit 12B. The PACE Program clean energy initiative has requested the city’s participation. There is no local match. A meeting was held with officials of the State Treasurer’s office regarding the pension plan issues. They had a number of suggestions. There is a Regional Planning/MPO meeting tonight. Recommended Justin Rabidoux be appointed as alternate MPO representative. 3. Appointment of Justin Rabidoux to the MPO as Alternate: Mr. Murray moved to appoint Justin Rabidoux as alternate MPO representative. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Interview Applicants for Appointment to Boards, Commissions and Committees: A. the Council interviewed Rep. Helen Head for appointment to the Correctional Facility Liaison Committee: Rep. Head said she has had a long-time interest in correctional issues, and the Facility is located in the district she represents. She has worked hard to understand issues and how corrections are related to housing issues. Mr. Murray asked if there could be a potential conflict of interest. Rep. Head said she didn’t see one. She felt it could enhance her contributions in the Legislature. B. the Council interviewed William Tegtmeyer for appointment to the Correctional Facility Liaison Committee: Mr. Tegtmeyer said he has been a city resident for 4 years and previously had a law enforcement career. He is a Katrina “refugee.” He has always volunteered and wants to be involved in the community in an area where he has some expertise. C. the Council interviewed Marie Ambusk for appointment to the Natural Resources Committee: Ms. Ambusk said she has just finished her first term on the Committee. She is a certified Master Gardener and Tree Steward. She has started a “triage” system for the city’s trees and is working with the City Arborist in this area. She is also working on the Master Plan for the Dorset Street Natural Area. D. the Council interviewed John Simson for appointment to the Planning Commission: Mr. Simson said he is a 29-year resident of the city with a background in Planning. He previously served as State Planning Director and has recently been involved in affordable housing concerns. He would like to devote time to something he has a professional interest in. Ms. Dooley asked if Mr. Simson has a vision for the city regarding the balance of open space/growth and residential/commercial. Mr. Simson said you can’t escape the fact that South Burlington is a city with all but one of the state’s major roads going through it. He felt the city will continue to grow and will be faced with a lot of infilling. There are also affordable housing issues compounded by the Airport purchase of area houses. He felt that what is needed is “smart growth.” Ms. Emery asked what the city should be looking at regarding affordable housing. Mr. Simson said a major question is the ability of a developer to afford to build affordable housing. He noted that what has worked in some places involves the city or county acquiring some land and then asking for proposals for affordable housing. In more urbanized areas, density initiatives can work (e.g., in exchange for a playground, a developer might get some extra affordable units). E. the Council interviewed Rich Hubbard for appointment to the Rec Path Committee: Mr. Hubbard said he is a native Vermonter, now a retired lawyer. He has an interest in all things healthy. He felt he brings some organizational skills to the Committee. In the future, he would like to improve coordination with Public Works, City Council, etc, regarding planning and budgeting. In the long term, he would like to work on a rec. path near Potash Brook. He felt this could be the longest most “natural” path that would go through 7 of the city’s neighborhoods. Mr. Hubbard felt the Committee does a good job of previewing proposed development projects. He felt the biggest challenge is safety on the roads and noted that Vermont ranks very low in bicycle safety. F. the Council interviewed Roy Neuer for appointment to the Rec. Path Committee: Mr. Neuer is a retired engineer and recreational biker. He cited amenities for bikers that are provided in European countries. G. the Council interviewed Duncan Adamson for appointment to the Rec. Path Committee: Mr. Adamson said he is an everyday biker, biking to work. He bought his home because of its proximity to the Rec. Path. He is interested in connectivity with surrounding communities and with safety, especially for children. He is a marketing director with a background in writing grants. H. the Council interviewed Lisa Yankowski for appointment to the Red Rocks Park Committee: Ms. Yankowski maintains a key to the park gate in order to help find lost people. She believes in letting nature do its thing. She also feels people should have access to the park. The challenge is to keep them on the paths. A major concern is keeping dogs on leashes. She noted that a lot of people do “foolish things” in the park. Mr. Boucher noted there are still a few people left to interview, after which the Council will meet to discuss appointments. Appointments will be made in open session. 5. Presentation by Council on Pension Fund Issues: Mr. Boucher reviewed the history of the discovery of the underfunding of the pension plan including meetings with the former City Manager, auditors, etc. The underfunding was disclosed to the public on 4 August. A Health Insurance Committee has been created to look at pension issues. They met on the 30th of August and will meet again on 13 September to continue to look at option. The city’s contract with its accountants has been terminated. A meeting was held with the State Auditor to get his perspective. An RFP has been issued to secure a new city auditor. The city has initiated an employment “frost” (not “freeze”). City functions will continue. The Assistant City Manager has resigned and the city is looking to fill that position. The city is also looking to hire an actuarial firm to review the situation. Mr. Boucher then reviewed some of the ideas that the city has received to address the issues. These include: dropping pension plans, developing early retirement options, putting items on the ballot, using Open Space Fund money and Rooms and Meals Tax funds, conducting a survey to help the City Council prioritize for budgeting, eliminating staff positions, switching from a self-funded plan. Mr. Boucher then outlined future plans/activities, including: A. awaiting the next actuarial review. B. looking for costs regarding benefits promised to employees. C. looking at the issue of handling new employees. D. Considering switching to another plan. E. Dealing with retirees and those about to retire F. “long term” vs. “short term” cures G. How to pay for things: 1. Reserve funds 2. Layoffs 3. Service reductions 4. Benefit reductions (would have to be negotiated) Mr. Miller noted that negotiations with Firefighters have been reopened and the plan is to come to a tentative agreement with them. The Police contract is coming up and also the Public Works contract. Mr. Miller said his intent is to cost out any additional benefits before bringing anything to the City Council for their approval. He noted that in many cases, benefits were not costed out before being brought to the Council for approval. Mr. Boucher said the Council also needs a policy for dealing with auditors and actuaries. Mr. Young asked whether voters will be able to vote on “the plan” or if it will be mixed on with the budget. Mr. Knapp said that depends on the plan. He added that the use of certain funds requires public vote. Mr. Young said he would hate to see Open Space money used for this and would rather see it used to purchase property for affordable housing. A member of the audience suggested looking at employees who stay with the city as a career vs. those who stay just long enough to get vested and then leave. Mr. Skiff thanked with Council for bringing this to light, but he felt the actuaries clearly noted the problem over the years. He felt the city approved heavily investing in stocks which was risking principal. He stressed that people who risk their lives to protect the public should be protected, and this is the City Council’s responsibility. He called for the resignation of the City Council Chair, since this was, in his opinion, a City Council failure. He added that the city was told about this in 2003, and it is not OK to say “Chuck Hafter didn’t tell us.” Mr. Boucher responded that in October and November he had asked for reports from the former City Manager but didn’t get them. He said it was his fault for not asking again. He added that it would be easy to resign, but he felt it was his responsibility and that of other experts on the board for letting this happen, and it is their responsibility to fix it. Ms. Emery said there was a pattern that was developing that the Council is now seeing. She felt the Council should see it through. Ms. Dooley said this has been very painful. The lesson she has learned is to ask to see all documents. She said she thought they could rely on what they were told. Mr. Skiff noted that even in the annual report there is mention that the pension plan lost money. He asked whether the Council has considered that Fire and Police may take action against the Council. Mr. Miller responded that an agreement can’t be changed unless both parties agree to a change. So all benefits will continue until both parties agree to any changes. Mr. Young said he had been under the impression that in the last few budgets there was extra money put in to cover pension issues. Mr. Boucher said the Council was told there was a “slight deficiency” that would be solved in the short term. 6. Discussion about City Pension with Actuary Tracy Braun, Retirement Service Peoples United Bank: Ms. Braun said they were hired in 2003. There was a document in effect as of 2002. Ms Braun noted there were some public safety and non-public safety additions to the plan put in place. In 2003, it did not appear that there had been any analysis of what these additions would cost the city. It was noted that when the amendment was put in place, people were given credit for past service, when there were no payments being put in to cover those benefits. That could be one of the reasons for the discrepancy. Mr. Simson said the mistake was made in not costing out the benefit increases. This was compounded when the interest rates plummeted. Ms. Braun reviewed the status for 2005-6. She noted there was some costing in 2006, but what was ultimately approved was somewhat more than what was costed out. It was at this time that the retirement age was reduced from 55 to 50 for public safety employees. There was also an increase in the employees’ contribution to the plan. There were no changes to the plan in 2006-7. Amortization was reduced from 30 to 20 years. There were also no changes to the plan in 2007-8. At that time, the city funded the recommended contribution for that year. In 2008-9, there were no changes to the plan; however, there was a negative 9% return on investments. In 2009-10, there was a 25% increase in overtime for public safety employees. There was also a negative 16% return on investments. Ms. Braun said they are in the process of doing the current year evaluation which will be ready in October. Mr. Murray said he has 2 concerns. The first is how to proceed in the future with these actuaries. He asked whether there have been communication problems with other clients. Ms. Braun said they “present where they are asked to present.” Mr. Murray asked if there is a rough estimate of the predicament, how much resulted from the downturn in the economy and how much was from increased benefits. Ms. Braun said they can generate that information. Mr. Murray said his second concern is how long it will take to catch up and what this will cost. He also asked what would be a “responsible” contribution for this year. The actuaries said they did not have an answer to that as yet. Mr. Miller said he has asked them to provide some estimate for the next budget cycle. Mr. Skiff said liabilities will not grow linearly, they will grow exponentially, and that is enormous. He felt that in 15-20 years, this could leave the city in a very bad place. 7. Appointment of a Firm to Review Previous Years Audits and Related Documents: Mr. Miller said it would cost $46,000.00 to go back 5 years. He would prefer to have the audit go back to the point of origin. This will cost more. Mr. Murray moved to have Kittell, Branagan & Sargent review previous audits and related documents to the point of origin. Mr. Knapp seconded. Motion passed unanimously 8. Public Hearing on proposed Amendments to the City Fire Ordinance to clarify types of outdoor fire requiring; second reading of same: Mr. Murray moved to open the public hearing. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Dooley moved to waive the second reading. Mr. Murray seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Chief Brent said he has road around at night and has had to stop only once regarding the size of a fire in a yard. He felt people are abiding by the rules. He added that what issues exist may be between neighbors. Ms. Dooley said she did some environmental health research and suggested that no leaves, grass or hay be allowed to be burned. A member of the audience supported the ordinance as written because it may be more of a hazard if brush and grass pile up. Mr. Miller said to change the ordinance in this way would be a substantial change and require a new public hearing. Mr. Boucher suggested approving the ordinance as presented and asking the Chief to come back with best practices regarding leaves, grass and hay. Mr. Murray moved to close the public hearing. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Murray moved to amend the City Fire Ordinance as presented. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The Chief gave members information on the 911 Remembrance at Overlook Park and on the Fire Department Open House. 9. Authorize the Street Acceptance of Hayes Avenue as a Public Street: Mr. Murray moved to approve Hayes Avenue as a public street. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Approval of Vermont Municipal Bond Bank Refunding for 2010 Series to the Police Station: Mr. Miller said this will save the city approximately $130,000 for the years 2016-2010 on Police Station borrowing. Mr. Knapp moved to approve the Vermont Municipal Bond Bank Refunding as presented. Mr. Murray seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Consider approval of Special Entertainment Permit for ALS to be held 26 September at Dorset Park: Mr. Miller said this has been approved by all Department Heads. Mr. Murray moved to approve the Special Entertainment Permit for ALS as presented. Mr. Knapp seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Accept Resignation of Steven Dates from Natural Resources Committee, effective immediately: Mr. Murray moved to approve the resignation of Steven Dates from the Natural Resources Committee as presented. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 13. Review Development Review Board Agenda for 7 September 2010: No issues were raised. 14. Review Minutes of 17 August 2010: It was noted that on p. 1, paragraph 3 under “Comments…”, it should read “Mr. Stuart noted…” On p. 3, Ms. Dooley noted that she should have said 400 “students” not 400 “units.” On p. 9, paragraph 2, the end of the first sentence should read 1.2 per acre. On p. 11, Ms. Dooley noted that someone in the audience mentioned that Mr. Gilbert has proposed changes to the regulations. Mr. Murray moved to approve the Minutes of 17 August 2010 as amended. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 15. Sign Disbursement Orders: Disbursement orders were signed. 16. Executive Session: Ms. Dooley moved that the Council meet in executive session to discuss appointments, personnel and contracts and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Mr. Murray seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 17. Regular Session: Council returned to regular session. As there was no further business Mr. Knapp moved for Council adjournment. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Council adjourned. _________________________ Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.