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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 11/20/2012CITY COUNCIL 20 NOVEMBER 2012 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Tuesday, 20 November 2012, at 4:30 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, Public Works Director; Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; T. Hubbard, Recreation Director; K. Murray, Project Manager; J. Ladd, City Manager's Staff; B. Stuono 1. Agenda Review: Ms. Greco asked to add a discussion of a possible response to the F-35 petitions. 2. Discuss and Possible Update of City Council 2012 Priority Tasks that were Set in April: A. Interim Zoning/Comprehensive Plan: 1. Hire Consultants Three of the 4 consultants have been hired. An Open Space consultant has not. Ms. Riehle said that the Open Space committee will want a consultant to help with research and developing some LDRs. She understood there was $30,000 in the budget for this. She hoped they could look at a consultant already hired to see if they could add this to their current work, for additional money, because some issues are interwoven. They were hoping not to have to go to an RFP. Mr. Miller said staff is still working on contracts for 2 consultants - Sustainable Agriculture and Form Based Codes. He said this could be included in the scope of work, but that would have to be defined and funding identified. 2. Augment Staff Mr. Miller noted there is discussion about hiring someone for community facilitation and a possible price tag. Mr. Conner added they are looking for someone to help over the next few months, specifically for the public meetings. This would take pressure off staff. Mr. Conner noted the Orton Family Foundation is looking to fund innovative projects directed toward better land planning and is selecting communities for a day-long event. Members of the Form Based Codes Committee are involved in this. A letter of interest has been submitted. There would be no cost to do it, but it would involve staff resources. They will meet this week on the first "hurdle." If the city passes that, there will be several weeks to submit more information. Mr. Conner said he was hopeful, but he didn't know the competition. 3. Seek Grant Funding The city received and ECOS grant of $50,000. There is an application in for a state grant of $15,000, and the Orton Foundation grant application. The ECOS work has to be completed by the end of 2013. Ms. Mackenzie raised the issue of the economic studies which have not been done and which were discussed at last night's meeting. Ms. Riehle felt there was some interest in doing this, but the timing is unclear as well as the cost. Mr. Engels felt they should be done. Ms. Dooley felt it depends on the cost and the timing. She didn't feel this should be done in the next 6 months. Mr. Miller said there is no additional funding in the current (2013) budget unless something else is cut. They could look at the 2014 budget. Mr. Miller noted the Council is inclined to do the budget work on a Saturday instead of the usual way. He added that there would have to be RFPs that could work, which may be something a little different from what is in the Interim Zoning amendment. Ms. Greco asked if that would mean amending the IZ amendment. Mr. Miller said it depends on how the scope of work is crafted. It would be the Council's judgment as to whether it meets their objectives. Ms. Mackenzie noted that at the August meeting, the process was to be that Mr. Miller, Mr. Rusten and Ms. Murray looked at what was received from the first RFPs. Mr. Miller said to do that now would not be a good use of time because there is no money to do the work. Ms. Mackenzie moved to delay the economic analysis component of Interim Zoning with a process to be started in the first quarter of FY2014. Ms. Dooley said she wasn't ready to commit to this without funding. She was OK with revisiting it as part of the budget process. Ms. Mackenzie then moved to review the economic analysis component of Interim Zoning as part of the FY 14 budget process. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Riehle asked if Interim Zoning is still the #1 priority. Mr. Miller suggested going through all priorities first. Ms. Dooley said she didn't want there to be "four silos." She noted there are potential conflicts with regulations, and she didn't want people to be working at cross purposes. B. Adopt TIF Plan: 1. Concept Plan for Market Street Mr. Miller said consultants have just been authorized to proceed with a final design. Market Street is part of the TIF and is also separate. It has been identified as a legislative priority and will be discussed at the January meeting with Legislators. It will involve a change in legislation. Mr. Miller stressed that South Burlington wants to get what Milton got. He indicated that wording regarding legislation will be submitted at a later date. Mr. Engels noted that nowhere on the priority list is City Center mentioned. Mr. Miller suggested calling this TIF/City Center. C. Comprehensive Plan: It was suggested that this be called Land Use Policy Documents and include the Comprehensive Plan, the Old Map and the Land Development Regulations. Nothing has yet been done on these by the City Council. The Planning Commission is discussing some recommendations made by the Council. II - Comprehensive Communications Improvements: A. Internal Communications: 1. Analyze IT Equipment This has been done on an "if it breaks, get it fixed" basis. Mr. Miller noted there is no one on staff whose sole function is IT. A rule of thumb is that there should be one such person for every 40 employees. There has been discussion of how best to analyze needed software, and there may need to be a consultant to do this. Mr. Rusten said there are multi layers of issues. This year they are starting to upgrade desktops, etc. Outside people have been used to help with this. Ms. Mackenzie said the situation won't improve until it becomes a priority. She suggested reaching out to someone who has done this for other communities. Mr. Miller said there are no resources for this in FY2013. There could be in FY2014, but the Council would have to make that decision. Mr. Miller noted that Montpelier has a 2-person IT Department with a smaller staff than South Burlington has. VLCT has 3 IT people. Ms. Mackenzie said that if you add up the hours you spend being frustrated, it pays for itself. Mr. Miller noted some of the recent improvements including: "Outlook" for everyone, upgraded laptops, standardized operating software, consistent licensed software, remote access for everyone, upgraded servers, 4 exchange servers and a backup server, etc. He noted that Chief Brent has made a request to upgrade software for scheduling, payroll and overtime. B. External Communications: 1. Improve Customer Relations Mr. Miller noted the city's "customers" are residents and businesses, possibly some outside of the city. He said they try to respond to all inquiries within 24-48 hours. This is standard in all departments. Ms. Riehle said she felt the e-mails she had seen are very thorough and professional from all the staff. She noted there are some people you just can't make happy. Ms. Greco said she would like to see listing in the Community Calendar I the Free Press. Ms. Ladd said the Free Press likes things 2 days in advance, but there is no guarantee something will be printed. Mr. Engels said that things that are sent as "news" may not get into the calendar. Ms. Greco noted that at last night's meeting Mr. Engels suggested a City Council piece in The Other Paper each month. Mr. Engels said there shouldn't be a disconnect between what the Council is doing and what people think they are doing. He felt that now that isn't the case. Ms. Greco disagreed. She felt The Other Paper captures most of what is going on in the city. Mr. Engels said this doesn't equal what they need to communicate to people. He agreed to be the first to do an article and suggested he respond to what was in The Other Paper as ads and letters to the editor. He stressed that meetings on CCTV, Minutes, and The Other Paper don't equal "public relations." Ms. Mackenzie felt there should be something written on engaging with the public in the new budget process. She was willing to do that. Mr. Engels felt there should be an agenda item for the Council to respond to the things in The Other Paper. Ms. Dooley felt that item should not be discussed before 7 p.m. Ms. Mackenzie agreed to do a December column on the budget process; Ms. Dooley will do something in January on Affordable Housing, and Ms. Greco will do something in February on the proposed budget. 2. Website Mr. Miller said there will be an internal discussion on addressing that. Ms. Dooley cited the need to continue to update. 3. Social Networking Mr. Engels felt the Facebook page is really good. Mr. Miller reviewed the social networking of various city departments. Ms. Blanchard has been organizing a Facebook presence for the city. It is very informative and was used to alert people to the coming of Superstorm Sandy. 4. CCTV Ms. Greco felt the city is getting what it is paying for. Ms. Mackenzie suggested working with CCTV to upgrade City Hall facilities with possible live streaming. That should be part of the budget discussion. Ms. Greco said the City makes use of all of the meeting times for which it pays CCTV. Mr. Miller noted that the Council authorized having the Affordable Housing and Sustainable Agriculture community meetings done by CCTV even if there was additional cost. He noted there was no additional cost for the Affordable Housing meeting. Staff will contact CCTV to see what remaining availability the city has. 5. Response to Residents' Concerns Ms. Greco felt "the Bike Rack" was a step in the right direction. She also felt that the City responded to emails in a timely manner. 6. Inquiries from the Public and the Media Mr. Miller said staff responds as best they can, within 24-48 hours. Sometimes they can't respond to the deadlines of others. Mr. Rusten said there is a question of the appropriateness of answering policy questions, especially future policy. He cited a particular case. III - Airport and Related Issues: A. Noise Issues Mr. Miller noted the Airport is applying for funds to do a Part 150 update. Mr. Maille noted that on the Burlington website, the Burlington City Council has approved funding for a new NCP study. Mr. Miller noted that work hasn't begun. Ms. Greco asked if South Burlington will have a role in the process. Mr. Miller said not in the testing. Mr. Maille said when the results are known, South Burlington can comment. B. Airport Strategic Planning Committee Mr. Miller said he will be reporting to the City Council at the 5 December meeting. He has attended all but one of the Strategic Planning Committee meetings. There is discussion regarding privatization with an aim toward a vote on this in early December. Ms. Greco reported what was said at the airport meeting-that being whether someone would want to buy the Airport in its present condition. And that the consultants who briefed at the airport strategic planning meeting said that privatization wouldn't solve the problems, just shift them to someone else. Mr. Miller said privatization is a rarely used option in the U.S., and it has had very mixed reviews when it has occurred. C. Acquisition and Demolition Program Ms. Greco said she didn't know what role the city has in this. Mr. Miller said they have asked for information and have told Burlington Mayor Weinberger that the information South Burlington has doesn't "fit together." There is discussion about a presentation to the City Council, but until there is data that makes sense, that wouldn't do any good. Ms. Greco said the public wants to know where the Airport is on this. She noted that Bob McEwing has said they would not be purchasing any more homes, and some residents are questioning whether they can be bought out. She asked how the city can respond to them. Mr. Miller said the Airport Commission can ask. The City Council has asked. He has asked about the data. All are waiting for information. Ms. Dooley said she understands there are several homes with commitments to purchase that are being lived in. She wanted to know how many of these there are and where they are. She felt the Airport may not have the money to do everything they have committed to do. She added there has been very little transparency, and it may be hard to change that pattern. Members agreed to schedule a meeting on 11 December 2012, 5-8 p.m., to finish this agenda. Mr. Engels said he had just viewed an e-mail which indicates that South Burlington has not been selected as an Orton site. Ms. Mackenzie moved to continue the meeting until 11 December 2012. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The session ended at 6:40 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.