Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/19/2012CITY COUNCIL 19 NOVEMBER 2012 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 19 November 2012, at 5:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset St. Members Present: R. Greco, Chair; S. Dooley, P. Engels, P. Mackenzie, H. Riehle Also Present: S. Miller, City Manager; R. Rusten, Deputy City Manager; D. Kinville, City Clerk; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; J. Rabidoux, Director of Public Works; Chief T. Whipple, Police Department; B. Goldberg, T. Barritt, B. Stuono, J. Knapp, S. McClellan, G. Maille, K. McEachern, E. O'Hara, B. Patraude, J. Heidcamp, D. Fancher, D. Shiman, M. Voegeli, B. Alshire, A. Linbur, P. Demers, L. Williams 1. Executive Session: Ms. Dooley moved the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel, contract negotiations, and litigation, and continue deliberative session on Interim Zoning applications. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Following the executive session, Ms. Dooley moved the Council exit executive session. Ms. Mackenzie seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: 1. Agenda Review: Ms. Greco asked to add to tomorrow's agenda a possible response to the GBIC petition. 2. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda items: No issues were raised. 3. Announcements & City Manager's Report: Mr. Miller: Rick Hubbard has resigned from the Rec Path Committee. Attended a Burlington City Council meeting on 13 November for the ECOS project and met with the Free Press editorial board. The Emergency Operations Center worked well during Superstorm Sandy. The city will be working with the state to simulate events in order to have an even better response. Spent 4 days at ICMA committee meetings in preparation for the annual conference. Ms. Riehle - Attended the affordable housing meeting last Thursday and the Natural Resources Committee meeting on Monday. Ms. Dooley - Chaired the affordable housing meeting. Attended the statewide biennial housing conference. 4 Council members were present, but they did not speak together. Mr. Miller said they will have to plan for occasions when this occurs. Mr. Engels - Attended both the affordable housing meeting and the form based codes meeting last week. The first public meeting for form based codes will be on 13 December, 7 p.m., at a location to be determined. Ms. Greco - Attended the Planning Commission meeting and chaired the sustainable agriculture task force. Their first public meeting will be on 10 December, 7 p.m. Also attended the airport strategic planning meeting which focused on the financial status of the airport. Spoke on the ethics of the F-35s at two meetings. 4. Consent Agenda: A. Approve Minutes for 1 and 22 October and 5 November (may not be ready for review/approval) B. Sign Disbursements C. Review October Financials Mr. Miller noted the Minutes were not ready for review. Ms. Riehle asked to remove the October financials from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Dooley moved to approve the Consent Agenda minus the minutes and October financials. Ms. Mackenzie seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Riehle asked about the Natural Resources budget which appears to be way over for education. Mr. Conner explained that is both for Natural Resources and the Energy Committee. It involves a program for which the city got federal funding and is 100% reimbursable. Ms. Mackenzie then moved to approve the October financials as presented. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Discuss Parking on Hadley and Meadow Roads: Ms. Greco noted receipt of a petition from neighborhood residents regarding a parking issue. Ms. Heidcamp said she is concerned with the loss of green space. She reviewed the history of the issue: There was an entrance to the Rice High School walking path, which neighbors felt was a valuable loop which Rice made available to the public. A while back, residents began to notice vehicles in the green space and also people camping there. This is city-owned land, and when neighbors questioned what was going on, they were told it was OK for people to park on city green space. At one point, someone spoke with the neighbor who said the property was theirs. That neighbor said they heard nothing from neighbors about their concerns, traditions, etc. They would be happy to have that discussion. She noted it was their guests who were sleeping in the tents. She also said they never claimed the land was theirs. Ms. Williams gave Council members photos of the area. She said the main issue is blocking access to the woods. They have long been welcomed to use the path, and now it isn't the same. It doesn't feel like "public property" anymore. A friend of the neighbors in question said nobody wants to make enemies. He said they understand about the path to the woods and hope people on all sides can come together. He added they don't want to put "fear in your hearts." Ms. McEachern said she would like to see it return to the way it used to be. She would like the vehicles removed, so it doesn't feel like she's "trespassing." She also noted that 2 split fences at the end of Hadley Rd. have been removed. Mr. Shiman said he walks through there twice a day and never has been harassed or made to feel unsafe. He felt that insuring there is a place to walk through is paramount, and he hoped everyone feels they are treated respectfully. Mr. Demers felt this is about public land "being grabbed by someone." Mr. Linbur, the neighbor, said he moved in 2 years ago and was told where the property lines are and that the path was used by local residents. He wanted to encourage people to use the path. He added that if it is "green space," it needs to be defined, and stressed that the Police told him it was OK to park vehicles there. Mr. O'Hara said he felt badly if people felt uncomfortable there and would like it to be a space where everyone feels comfortable. Mr. Alshire said they will be moving the bus that has been parked there soon. He felt that in Vermont you need to meet the people you share space with. Ms. Heidcamp said that at one time you could approach the woods through a grassy area; now you have to weave among people's vehicles. Another resident said it's not about love and acceptance; it's a question of recognizing boundaries and what is public and what is private. Ms. Dooley asked if there was any direct communication and a request to move the vehicles. Mr. Linbur said he saw a person taking pictures and asked why. They said they weren't happy with the vehicles being there, and he told them the Police said it was OK. Ms. Greco said she felt the best thing was for them to get to know each other and solve this among themselves. Ms. Riehle asked about the split rail fence. A resident said the former owner put it up. Mr. Linbur said it was falling down. He tried to fix it, but finally removed it. Ms. Dooley said if she lived there, she wouldn't feel she had a right to park a car there. It doesn't seem equitable if everyone can't park there. Mr. Engels, who lives in the neighbors, noted that neighbors had rejected mediation. He felt they should take advantage of it. Ms. Greco asked if it really OK to park on public land. Mr. Rabidoux said there is nothing he knows of to prohibit that use. There are not many places in the city where this could happen, and unless it interferes with public health and safety, the city doesn't interfere. He added that it was his expectation that in the winter when a place for snow storage is needed, they could take some action. Chief Whipple said the only thing in the traffic ordinance is winter parking unless public access is physically blocked. The winter parking ban is 1 December to 1 April, from Midnight to 8 a.m. Mr. Miller noted the city has a staff mediator whose services were offered to the neighbors and rejected. Ms. Greco noted that the Council will be discussing its priorities tomorrow night, one of which is ordinances. She said people still have to live with each other and recommended they take advantage of mediation. Mr. Engels noted that he and his dog have been set on by the neighbor's dog. The neighbor acknowledged that it is a young, aggressive rescue dog and they are considering muzzle training. Mr. Miller said to let him know if mediation is wanted. 6. Interim Zoning: Continued Public Hearing: A. Interim Zoning #IZ-12-06, John Larkin, 40 unit PUD (phase 1 of 71 unit project), 201 Allen Road: Mr. McClellan presented 2 new drawings which clarify the project. They added 6 single family homes and clarified where the agricultural and open space are. Ms. Dooley asked to clarify if 50% or more of the units would be "affordable." Mr. McClellan said they would be. Ms. Dooley said she would like to see 4 of the 6 single family homes to be 3-bedroom units. Mr. McClellan said he was pretty sure that would be OK. Ms. Dooley noted almost no 3 bedroom homes have been built in the city in recent years. Mr. McClellan said there would be only a couple of one bedroom units (10%), only 2 that could be 4 bedrooms, and the rest would be 2 and 3 bedrooms. He felt there could be 15 of each. Ms. Dooley said that would be fabulous. Ms. Riehle then moved to close the hearing. That motion was later withdrawn, and Ms. Riehle moved to continue the hearing to 17 December, with deliberation to occur in between. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Discuss possible responses to recent letters to the editor and advertisements in The Other Paper: Ms. Dooley said it seems the Council is doing a lot of work. She asked if any member was interested in organizing how the Council might respond. Ms. Greco said she got no calls reinforcing the letters but got calls in support of the Council. Mr. Engels said the Council keeps talking about communication but they don't seem to be communicating. He felt there should be something from the Council in The Other Paper every month. Ms. Mackenzie said she felt the letters were thoughtful and represented a significant part of the community. She said she didn't disagree with the letters or the full page ad. She felt that all the deliberative sessions regarding Interim Zoning should be done in public and that there have been comments made in executive session that have made her not proud to be a member of this Council. She specifically noted a comment from one member: "I wish there were a way to say 'no' to this proposal." Ms. Dooley said Ms. Mackenzie should raise her concern at the time something is happening. She added she would be interested in having an open session at which Ms. Mackenzie would raise these concerns. She also liked Mr. Engels idea of being proactive. Mr. Knapp noted the Council will be discussing its priorities at 4:30 tomorrow, a time when just about everyone who signed the letter that appeared in The Other Paper, and most other residents, are at work, so there can be no public input. He noted there were more than 100 people who contacted the signers of the letter voicing their support of it. Ms. Greco said the Council is trying to mesh schedules of people on committees, and there are only so many hours in the day. She felt the Council could never accommodate all 12,000 adults who live in South Burlington. Ms. Goldberg said she endorsed the letter and agreed with its content. She hoped the Council would take it as constructive criticism as there are real concerns with the direction the City Council is taking the city. 8. Discuss possible repeal of the Economic Studies Amendment to the Interim Zoning Bylaw: Mr. Engels thought having a public hearing to amend the bylaw is a terrible idea and that re-opening the bylaw would be a disaster. He noted the amendment was his, and he didn't think they needed to anything about it. He noted the attorneys felt they could ignore it. Ms. Richie felt that opening that discussion would get them "off task." She was inclined to ignore it. She felt the timing on the amendment was silly. Ms. Dooley agreed. She noted that staff did try to carry this out but didn't get anything workable. Ms. Mackenzie said her concern is that they don't have to money to do these studies. She noted developers saying how much their costs have increased because they have had to have meetings with the Council. Mr. Knapp asked how the Council will know the potential impacts on the Grand list, tax income, etc., if they don't do the studies. He also noted the impact of pushing growth out of the city and having people drive through the city. He stressed that the enabling statute requires that these things be taken into consideration. Ms. Goldberg said this discussion is part of what The Other Paper letter is about. It is part of the Interim Zoning bylaw that has not been fulfilled. She noted that Interim Zoning was adopted before its impact was known. Mr. Miller noted that the responses to the RFP to do these studies did not fulfill what staff felt the work should be. Ms. Riehle said she is comfortable going forward with getting information around the 4 goals of interim zoning. She hoped they would lead to significant changes. Ms. Greco said she would like to see the economic studies done, but there were no good responses to the RFPs. 9. Other Business: Ms. Dooley asked if there is a workload attached to putting signage at the Police Department on an agenda. Ms. Greco questioned if it is a high enough priority. Mr. Miller said it would not require a lot of time, half an hour or less for some staff people. A majority of the Council asked to put it on an agenda. Mr. Miller said they would get to it by the end of the year. Ms. Greco questioned the room's sound system. Mr. Miller said it is not the sound system; it is the acoustics in the room. Mr. Maille recommended getting an "attenuator." Ms. Greco noted that on Saturday there were 20 cars lined up at the new stop sign at Kimball Ave. and Gregory Drive and no cars entering from the side street. She felt it was fine for Monday-Friday rush hours. Mr. Knapp suggested a "Yield" sign on Kimball or a "please take turns" sign. Mr. Miller suggested bringing in Mr. Rabidoux for that discussion. Mr. Engels asked about City Hall renovations. Mr. Miller said things will be starting soon. They have worked with the company to finalize the HVAC system design. Other work should start soon. Ms. Dooley asked about the results of Professor Bolduc's poll. Ms. Greco said they came in today. Mr. Knapp said the stop signs with the flashing lights are great. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Ms. Mackenzie moved to adjourn. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.