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Minutes - City Council - 09/12/2011
CITY COUNCIL 12 SEPTEMBER 2011 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Monday, 12 September 2011, at 7:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Councilors Present: S. Dooley, Chair; M. Emery, J. Knapp, P. Engels, R. Greco Also Present: S. Miller, City Manager; R. Rusten, Assistant City Manager; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; J. Rabidoux, Public Works Director; C. LaRose, Assistant Administrative Officer; J. Condos, G. Farrell, J. Zaetz, Members of the Natural Resources Committee: B. Schuele, B. Thorpe, P. Jones, B. Melizia, M. Ambusk,; M. Young, S. Dopp, L. Williams 1. Executive Session: Mr. Knapp moved that the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel, contract negotiations and litigation. Ms. Greco seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Knapp moved to continue the executive session to a future date at which the Council will continue discussion of threatened litigation, and that between now and then, the Council will seek further information on whether to make a decision. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously Ms. Dooley advised that the Council would take no further testimony at this time. She further noted that Mr. Hafter’s letter and the city’s response regarding the withholding of his pension will be posted on the city’s website tomorrow. Regular Session: 1. Agenda Review: Mr. Miller advised that item #6 on the Agenda would not be considered at this meeting. A request from the Public Works Director to add an item for the City Council to sign a request for emergency relief from FEMA that could reduce any matching funds from 12.5% to 10% was added as a substitute for agenda item #6. 2. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda Items: Mr. Condos asked if there is a date certain for continued discussion of the Hafter situation. Mr. Miller said they can’t set a date certain as yet, but it will be posted within the legal requirement period. Mr. Farrell said he would like to make comments regarding the former City Manager. Ms. Dooley said these comments can be made in writing. 3. Announcements & City Manager’s Report: Ms. Emery: Attended Monday night’s celebration. Will attended a meeting on “complete streets” tomorrow. Ms. Greco: Attended the Firefighters 9/11 event last night. Mr. Miller thanked the Firefighters, especially Gary Rounds for that very moving 9/11 ceremony. He noted that because of 9/11, the Firefighters moved their open house to 18 September. Will attend the ICMA Conference next week. Mr. Rusten will be Acting City Manager during that time. 4. Council Discussion and Report of Deliberations Regarding the Eligibility for Retirement, Long Term Care Benefits and Home Equity Repayment regarding form City Manager: Ms. Dooley said this will be considered as part of the continued executive session. Mr. Zaetz urged the Council to stop dragging its feet on this. 5. Presentation of FY 11 Financials: Mr. Rusten stressed that this is the unaudited budget report. Mr. Rusten noted that in FY10 the auditor identified a deficit of $400,000.00 with an anticipated deficit of $1MM to $1.2 MM. Steps were taken to address problems, including “reserve funds” that did not exist, overprojected revenues, underprojected expenses, etc. The city also had to be rather aggressive regarding reimbursements the city was owed that had not been collected. Mr. Rusten estimated that FY11 will probably end up with a deficit of $71,000. The ambulance fund, however, has a surplus of $44,000, and if that is added to the General Fund, the overall deficit will be reduced to $27,000. The Sewer department has a deficit of $6,000. Stormwater has a surplus due to projects which have not yet been done. The Water Department shows a surplus of $89,000. Mr. Rusten cited the work of many people to reduce the deficit. He noted that this included the elimination of 10 full time positions Several specific line items were addressed including: Police Station: $410,000 which was inaccurately budgeted and didn’t have to be spent. Property Insurance: $714,000 budgeted and $838,000 spent. For FY12, $778,000 has been budgeted, and Mr. Rusten felt this was reasonable as Worker’s Comp claims are down this year. Ms. Dooley asked if payments from the Airport were included in the budget. Mr. Rusten said they were not as staff was unaware of these at the time. Mr. Miller added that no bill had been sent out in FY 10, so there was no paperwork to tell anyone to budget it. Ms. Dooley noted that this will be the last budget proposed by the previous administration. Regarding Water Pollution Control, Mr. Rusten noted they actually brought in $7000 less in revenue than was budgeted and expended $1000 less than budgeted, leaving the $6000 deficit. The $450,000 surplus in Stormwater includes expenditures that were not made which will have to be made. Mr. Miller noted there may be some money that should be in Stormwater that isn’t. It is hard to figure out what paid for what, i.e., did stormwater pay for other funds or vice versa. It may take a few years to figure that out, and even if it is figured out, there may not be money to put where it should be. Mr. Rusten said they may never completely know which funds loaned money to other funds. Grants and funds that were legally obligated to exist will be made whole. Mr. Rusten then explained the deficit regarding firefighters, noting that this includes one Firefighter deployed overseas. Mr. Miller noted the savings that will be realized when the “Quint” is delivered (this will be a bit later than anticipated). He explained how overtime decisions are made on a case-by-case basis and stressed that all Department Heads are very responsible regarding budgeting. Ms. Greco questioned the $175,000 for street lights. Ms. Dooley noted a prior plan to shut off half the lights. Mr. Rabidoux said all lights are on. The city pays a monthly fee per fixture, whether lights are on or off. Green Mountain Power owns the poles the lights are on. Mr. Miller noted that there can be a savings by installing LED lighting, and this is being looked into. Mr. Miller then explained why staff feels the ambulance fund cannot be an enterprise fund as it will never be completely self-supporting. Mr. Young asked if the Airport has been sent a bill. Mr. Miller said they were billed in June for FY10 and FY11. It is expected that they will pay, and that money will go into the general fund. 6. Match Incentives re: FEMA: Mr. Rabidoux said that he and the Fire Chief attended a FEMA debriefing regarding damage from hurricane Irene. City expenses for Irene are in the neighborhood of $10,000. Approving this measure will allow the city to be reimbursed at 90% instead of 87%. Ms. Emery then moved to authorize the Chair to sign the form verifying that the city will meet the standards to qualify for the enhanced FEMA reimbursement. Mr. Knapp seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Presentation from Natural Resources Committee: Ms. Thorpe said the Committee has been working on a project involving the Wheeler Nature Park at Dorset and Swift Streets. They have made several trips there to determine what they would like to see happen there. They have noted important flora/fauna and also the presence of invasive species. Mr. Jones, Committee Chair, said the property is just over 100 acres which includes grasslands, wetlands, mature forest, 2 habitats and also a homestead leased by National Gardening Assn. There are historic features at the homestead and also educational programs and public gardens. The Wheeler Nature Park is located in the middle of the city and includes 2 miles of hiking trails. It holds a lot of water from runoff. Mr. Jones showed various areas on the plan including areas of invasive species and a tree nursery which provides a lot of the city’s trees. Ms. Melizia outlined challenges presented by the property including: health of the trails (overuse, dog walking, etc.), people avoiding wet trails by walking in vegetated areas, invasive species (e.g. buckthorn), the need for public education about appropriate behavior, resource to help maintain the park, etc. The committee is recommending an ad hoc volunteer committee to be “stewards” of the park. Ms. Ambusk then outlined the three goals of the park management plan: 1. To insure viability of 5 habitats, wildlife and the homestead 2. To provide a place for passive recreation 3. To improve the Potash Brook watershed. To achieve these goals, certain key areas must be focused on: trails (upkeep, remediation, etc.), invasive species, habitat (haying the fields, monitoring wildlife, etc.), outreach (signage, use of website for information, etc.). Ms. Ambusk gave members a checklist of what has been observed on site walks. She noted that cost estimates will be needed. She also noted that after Irene struck, the committee noted branches on the trails and removed them and also removed a damaged tree. Committee members felt this can be a prototype for other city owned properties. Ms. LaRose thanked the Committee for the plan and for considering the naming recommendations. She noted that grant money does become available for some of the work that needs doing. She also emphasized the need for community outreach and education. Ms. Dooley asked if it would help to have the Council adopt the plan. Ms. La Rose said that is the goal. Mr. Young asked what percentage of the Open Space Fund is used for upkeep/maintenance. Ms. LaRose said it is 5% for Open Space and Recreation. Mr. Conner said the voters approved up to 5% ($14,000). Ms. LaRose noted that none of that money has been spent on this property as of now. Ms. Williams suggested that for next year, some of that money could be appropriated for this use. 8. Sign Disbursement Orders, including disbursements made by CWD on behalf of the South Burlington: Disbursement orders were signed. 9. Other Business: The next City Council meeting will be on 19 September with future meetings on 3 and 17 October. The Steering Committee will meet on 21 September at the Middle School Library, 6 p.m. Ms. Dooley noted she cannot attend the next Regional Planning Commission meeting because of the Steering Committee meeting, and the alternate is also not able to attend. She suggested the possibility of a second and third alternate, possibly staff members. Members were OK with putting this on a future agenda. Ms. Greco expressed an interest in discussing pesticide use on a future agenda. Mr. Conner noted that the city explored banning pesticides a few years ago and the State said this was solely within their jurisdiction. 10. Executive Session: Mr. Knapp moved that the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel, contract negotiations, litigation and real estate acquisition and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Resume 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.