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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 01/07/2013CITY COUNCIL 7 JANUARY 2013 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 7 January 2013, 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; Chief D. Brent, Fire Department; Chief T. Whipple, Police Department; J. Rabidoux, Public Works Director; T. Hubbard, Recreation Director; R. Smith, Auditor; S. Lyons, P. Nowak, B. Stuono, S. McClellan, M. Behr, C. Heindel, B. Bouchard, M. Hennessey, D. & B. Goldsborough, G. Sproul, A. Bouche, J. Flanagan, L. Levite, I. Ludlow, S. Meckler 1. Agenda Review: Mr. Miller asked to add an item regarding a legal settlement with the Heberts under Other Business. 2. Comments & Questions from the Audience, not related to Agenda items: Ms. Levite asked for a response from the Council to the DRB’s decision to deny the appeal of the Administrator’s decision regarding the proposed methadone clinic. Ms. Riehle said she would prefer to put this on a future agenda. She did not know what the Council could do. Ms. Dooley noted there is a 30-day appeal period of the DRB’s decision. Ms. Mackenzie said she would prefer to discuss this with legal counsel so that the City Council doesn’t do what the City Attorney has told them not to do. Mr. Miller said he would ask counsel the best way to proceed. Ms. Ludlow felt there are other possible locations in South Burlington for this facility and implored the Council to “speak for the people.” 3. Announcements & City Manager’s Report: Mr. Miller: Attended the GBIC meeting with Mr. Rustin, Ms. Kinville, Ms. Blanchard, and Ms. Murray and heard the Governor speak about his priorities. Noted that Mr. Engels forwarded him information re: “sunshine transparency.” The city’s rating of B­ seemed fair based on the criteria. After making some changes to the city’s website, the city received an A­ rating, the highest in the state. Ms. Dooley: The Affordable Housing subcommittee will meet on 8 January, 2:30 p.m. Mr. Engels: Form Based Codes subcommittee will meet on 10 January at Noon. At their 27 December meeting, there was a good presentation on streetscapes. Ms. Greco: The Sustainable Agriculture task force will meet on Thursday, 2 p.m. Attended both the DRB and Energy Committee meetings. The Energy Committee is interested in contributing to the work of interim zoning. Ms. Riehle: The Open Space committee is working on their vision and goals. They are seeking community members to work on the committee. 4. Consent Agenda: A. Minutes of 1 and 22 October; 19 and 20 November; 11 and 17 December B. Sign Disbursements The minutes of October 1 and 22, November 20, and December 3 and 17 were removed from the Consent Agenda. Ms. Mackenzie moved to approve the consent agenda minus the minutes indicated above. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Presentation of FY12 Audit: Mr. Smith reviewed where the city was on 30 June 2010, including unfunded deficits, non­compliant borrowing obligation, and 22 “not best” management practices. At that time, there was no corrective plan. Mr. Smith then reviewed where the city is now. He said if the city accepts the “write­off” plan, the following will result: 1. There will be a corrective plan 2. There will be fund balance 3. The city will be generating a positive cash flow 4. Management will have institutional knowledge 5. There will be 5 citations of “best practices” 6. There will be no material weaknesses 7. Pension obligations will be refinanced, saving the city money 8. The city will have implemented a “best practices” fiscal system. Mr. Smith then reviewed the “sacrifices” and “hits” to various departments to achieve these positive results and noted that the general fund did not take the brunt of the prior financial woes. Mr. Smith stressed that they do not recommend borrowing to meet the approximately $6,000,000 in obligations. They recommend writing them off. Mr. Engels said the alternative to the write­off was to do a forensic audit to find all the “due froms” and “due tos” and this would have cost more than the write­off. Council members thanked city staff and department heads for their hard work in bringing about this dramatic reversal and also thanked the community for supporting the bond for the Airport Parkway Plant upgrade so that bills could be paid. Ms. Greco asked Mr. Smith to confirm that no money was ever “taken” from the city. Mr. Smith confirmed this. Mr. Rusten then outlined specifics of the “write­off” plan and stressed that this has been a team effort. Mr. Rusten noted that some money owed to funds will be written off because those accounts no longer have a purpose. Those funds that have a benefit and use (e.g., impact fees, records preservation, open space special assessment, etc.) will be allocated funds and will no longer be carrying deficits. Mr. Rusten said they have tried to reduce or eliminate “special funds” and are now down to 23 of these. These funds are in separate bank accounts, and any money “borrowed” from any of these accounts is recorded. Mr. Miller noted that the amount money allocated to various funds is in addition to money that is already in these accounts. Ms. Dooley questioned the nature of the money owed to the city that is being written off. Mr. Rusten said it includes grants that could have been applied for but wasn’t, incorrect assumptions, activity to get money that never happened, etc. Mr. Miller noted there was some TIF money that should have been applied for but wasn’t even though the funds were expended in anticipation of receiving that money. Mr. Rusten said there was also overspending. Mr. Miller said some “required match” money was borrowed from other funds and not repaid. Mr. Miller stressed that it was their belief that this is the “least bad way” to solve the problems. Ms. Riehle than moved to accept the FY2012 audit as presented with no changes. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Presentation of Proposed Community Survey from the Recreation & Leisure Arts Committee: Mr. Hubbard said the Recreation Department has worked with the Committee to create the survey which includes a needs assessment and areas to focus on in the future. The survey will be put on line from 21 January to 22 February and will be mailed to anyone without a computer who requests one. 7. Interim Zoning - Continued Public Hearings: A. Continued Public Hearing: Interim Zoning Application IZ-12-06, John Larkin, 40 unit PUD (Phase 1 of 71 unit project), 201 Allen Road: Mr. McClellan provided a state ranking of soils, noting that some are suitable for some agricultural use but are not “prime.” Mr. McClellan said they were willing to stipulate the number of 1-bedroom units that they discussed at the last hearing. Ms. Dooley moved to continue IZ-12-06 to 4 February, with possible deliberation in the interim. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. b. Continued Public Hearing: Interim Zoning Application IZ-12-13, Queen City LLC, amendment to PUD to add two new dwelling units, 428-434 Shelburne Road: Mr. Heindel said there are 2 ways to reduce parking. They are losing the tenant in the office building and will eliminate basement storage. That can eliminate 2 parking spaces because of the reduction of square footage being used. Two of the smallest residential units can have only 1 parking space per unit instead of 2. Mr. Heindel said they will ask for a waiver from the DRB. Ms. Dooley moved to close the public hearing. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. c. Continued Public Hearing: Interim Zoning Application IZ-12-14, Pizzagalli Properties, LLC: raze existing Liberty Inn & Suites and construct 32,000 sq. ft. general office building and parking, 462 Shelburne Road: Ms. Greco noted an e-mail received from Ms. Vignoe of Hadley Rd. expressed pleasure that Pizzagalli will be improving the neighborhood. Two other e-mails from L Peel and G. Rosenberg also supported the project. Mr. Bouchard said they are proposing a 3-story office building, 31,000 sq. ft. After meetings with the neighbors following the last hearing, some adjustments were made. They moved the building to the south side of the site with the narrow side facing the street. They went from 7 to 3 curb cuts. They created some open space in the rear for a pocket park (a path with benches). They “softened” the building. Parking will be screened by an ivy-covered brick wall. The building size was reduced by 1,000 sq. ft., which eliminated 2 parking spaces. Coverage is now below 70%. Mr. Bouchard said they now have consensus from the approximately 30 neighbors who attended the meeting. Neighbors did not want residential or retail on that site. Ms. Greco questioned whether this was compatible with residences on three sides, even with the brick wall. Mr. Bouchard said the wall will also be a sound buffer as well as a visual buffer for residents. He added that they are open to the possibility of solar on the roof as they are doing on some of their other buildings. They will also talk with Mr. Farrell about possibly connecting this park with the park area on the Farrell development. Ms. Mackenzie and Ms. Riehle liked the improvements. Ms. Greco was concerned with increasing the impervious surface. Mr. Bouchard said the increase is only 2%. Mr. Bouchard said they will look at the possibility of signalization at the intersection. That would be a state decision, but Pizzagalli would pay for it, if it is approved. Neighbors spoke in support of the changed plans. They felt a traffic light would be very helpful. All the neighbors who spoke felt this plan would be a huge improvement over the existing situation which has spawned continuing criminal activity. Mr. Bouchard said the state would determine the extent of the traffic study. Mr. Rabidoux said the state would contact both the city of South Burlington and the city of Burlington to ask what they want in the way of a traffic study. Ms. Riehle moved to continue IZ-12-14 to 4 February to get more information on solar, with a possible deliberation in the interim. Ms. Dooley seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Presentation of Overview of FY14 Proposed Budget: Mr. Rusten noted a reduction in revenue from FY13 and an increase in spending, which meat that they began the process about $1,300,000 in the hole. The proposed general fund budget is $21,569,305. Non-tax revenues amount to $9,693,586, leaving $11,975,719 to be raised from taxes. The tax rate increase to support this budget is 1.99. Mr. Rusten showed a pie chart of where money comes from and where it is expended. He also noted that the city is making an effort to increase non-property tax revenue and cited revenue sources such as building and sign permits, recreation fees, local option taxes, a proposed police impact fee, fire impact fee, and grants for Hinesburg Road and from the Reparative Board. These total $444,197. Mr. Rabidoux then reviewed rates for storm water, water and sewer as follows: Water: rate increase due to higher operating costs for CWD to manage the city’s water system; also beginning a 7­year meter replacement program Stormwater: initiating the budget process for future MS4 permit expenses which are anticipated to cost over $40,000,000. There is also a one-time expense to create plans for endangered watersheds with work to be completed by 2033. They propose to gradually raise the money to implement the FRPs and project an annual 2.5 ERU increase. Mr. Miller noted that as new projects come on line, they will be required to mitigate so that they don’t contribute to the situation. About ¼ of the total impact is from private property and will be borne by that sector. Mr. Rabidoux noted that because South Burlington is far ahead of other communities, it will take the city about a year to do what it will take others 3 years to do. Sewer: an annual 2% increase in rates will result in necessary cash reserves to help pay for projected 2022 upgrades/improvements to the Bartlett Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. The budget also includes the first of 20 repayments ($1,270,000) to the state revolving loan fund for the Airport Parkway project (Colchester will be contributing $742,000 of this). There is an increase of $109,532 in the annual charge to South Burlington for discharges to the Burlington sewer system. Given this increase, the proposed budget includes $15,000 to scope the feasibility and cost of an expansion of the South Burlington sewer system to serve and treat sewage from the Proctor/Hadley Road neighborhood. Mr. Miller noted the cost from Burlington is doubling what the city had been paying. Mr. Miller said the impact of the proposed budget will result in a total annual increase (including water, storm water and sewer increases) of $63.00 to the average condo owner and $82.50 to the average single family home owner. Mr. Miller then outlined the goals of the FY14 budget: 1. Council priorities 2. TIF and City Center 3. Interim Zoning 4. “Path to Sustainability” 5. Improved workers compensation rating 6. Facility issues 7. Intergovernmental cooperation Mr. Miller noted there will be a budget review session on Saturday, 12 January, from 9-approximately 5 p.m. This is completely open to the public. 9. Consider Approval of the Clean Air Cities Resolution: Ms. Riehle moved to approve the resolution with a correction noted by the Chair. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Other Business: A. Hebert Settlement: Ms. Mackenzie moved to authorize the City Manager to enter into a settlement with the Heberts in the amount of $518.92. Mr. Engels seconded. Motion passed unanimously. b. Minutes: It was noted that in the Minutes of 3 December, there was an indication that minutes to be approved included those of 1 and 22 October and 19 November, which were not presented. With regard to Ms. Kinville’s request to be able to perform marriages, the Council asked that the BCA weigh in on this. On p. 7, the correct designation is NBT bank. In the minutes of 17 December, p. 1, the correct designation is VEPC. On p. 7, last paragraph, the word “not” was inserted between “may” and “turn.” In the minutes of 1 October, Ms. Greco said there was a section regarding the financial analysis and economic study that was missing. Ms. Dooley then moved to approve the Minutes of 19 and 20 November and 3 and 11 December as written and/or amended. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Dooley asked whether the city could ask the manager of the upcoming gun show not to sell automatic weapons on a voluntary basis. Mr. Miller noted that Chief Whipple had told a citizen who inquired about this that there have been no problems with the show in the past and that the city was not making any requests of the show. Ms. Mackenzie thought it was much more than a one-show issue, and she would like a fuller, more thoughtful discussion. Ms. Riehle agreed. No action was taken at this time as only Ms. Dooley and Ms. Greco favored doing so. 10. Executive Session: Ms. Dooley moved the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel issues and to resume regular session only for the purpose of adjournment. Ms. Riehle seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Regular Session: As there was no further business to come before the Council, Ms. Riehle moved to adjourn. Ms. Mackenzie seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned. ________________ Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.