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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 09/16/2013CITY COUNCIL 16 SEPTEMBER 2013 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 16 September 2013, at 6:00 p.m., in the Conference Room, Albert "Sonny" Audette Public Works Building, Patchen Road. Members Present: P. Mackenzie, Chair; R. Greco, P. Nowak, C. Shaw Also Present: K. Dorn, Interim City Manager; T. Hubbard, Interim Deputy City Manager; J. Rabidoux, Public Works Director; T. Goodwin, Recreation Department; D. Deslauriers, K. Donahue, J. Simson, M. Emery, D. Leban, C. Chrisman, J. Lees, C. Hurt, M. Boulanger, Y. Aladis, L. Yankowski 1. Executive Session: Ms. Nowak moved the Council meet in executive session to discuss personnel issues relating to the hiring of a permanent City Manager and other personnel matters. Mr. Shaw seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Regular Session: 1. Tour of Department of Public Works Facility: Members of the Council and members of the public toured the Public Works Facility with Public Works Director Justin Rabidoux. 2. Agenda Review: No changes were made to the agenda. 3. Comments & Questions from the public not related to Agenda items: Mr. Deslauriers asked for the status of his request for lighting on Delaware Street. He noted that this past Saturday there was an incident of vandalism at the property next to his, and he is very concerned with safety in the neighborhood. He also noted that the people who responded from the Airport didn't know that the Airport owned that property. Mr. Deslauriers felt they did not secure the property well after the break-in. 4. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Mr. Dorn: A transcription of the meeting at Chamberlin School is being done. The October agenda will include discussion on the adoption of the CIP. He will meet with the Council and Paul Conner regarding a legal review of the ending of interim zoning. Members of the Council reported on meetings they had attended. 5. Consent Agenda: A. Sign Disbursements B. Approve Minutes of 19 August, 3 & 5 September 2013 C. Listing agreement for 19 Gregory Drive D. Resolution expanding Energy Committee to 10 members E. Approval of Municipal Planning Grant Application F. Final Loan Repayment Schedule for the Airport Parkway Wastewater Treatment Facility Upgrade Project G. Approve Palmer Court Legal Settlement H. Review July 2013 Financials I. Approve the following Entertainment Permits: A) Lavigne Wedding; B) Magic hat; C) Vt. Assoc. for the Blind Ms. Nowak moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Ms. Greco seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Review of current issues relating to the Department of Public Works: Mr. Rabidoux advised that the Department has 31 employees and 5 contract employees of CWD. Their FY14 budget is $11,120,000. Mr. Rabidoux also noted that the city has Vermont's first Stormwater Utility which oversees 200 outfalls, 3000 drains and 83 miles of pipes. All of this must be maintained and reported to the State of Vermont. The Stormwater Utility is funded entirely by storm water fees. The city has an MS-4 permit which requires compliance with federal mandates including: public education, public participation and involvement, illicit discharge detection, construction site and post-construction site runoff control, and pollution prevention. The MS-4 permit also requires improvements to 5 impaired watersheds, the estimated cost of which is $40,000,000. The city's wastewater treatment facilities are staffed by 6 certified operators. They maintain miles of sewer force mains and 30 pump stations. The wastewater treatment plants produce Class A sludge which can be used as fertilizer for non-consumables. The Public Works Department also oversees parks and highways, maintaining city-owned rights-of-way, recreation paths, parks, sidewalks, traffic signals, etc. Mr. Rabidoux then enumerated recent and upcoming major department projects, including: 1. Kennedy Drive reconstruction 2. Shelburne Road reconstruction 3. Dorset Street reconstruction 4. Airport Parkway Wastewater Treatment Facility 5. San Remo Drive reconstruction 6. 5-mile bike path paving 7. New water line on White Street 8. Upcoming Route 2 widening Mr. Rabidoux reviewed the history of funding levels of paving. The budget for this averages $250,000 per year, which, Mr. Rabidoux commented, "doesn't buy much." The city has to maintain 78 miles of roads which should be repaved every 15 years. He felt the city should be spending $1,200,000 per year to meet that goal. Mr. Rabidoux then reviewed the "pavement management system" which includes identifying and prioritizing maintenance, evaluating the impact of various programs, tracking pavement performance, and improved communications. The Department uses Micro Paver software which optimizes funds allocated for maintenance and rehabilitation. It does such things as inventory, reporting, modeling, conditional analysis, and project planning. Mr. Rabidoux then showed a prediction analysis for the current level of funding and for spending $1,200,000 per year. He felt the city needs to infuse some money for a few years and then level off. Members agreed that $1,200,000 is where they want to start. Mr. Rabidoux then explained the situation with White Street and said it will be paved along with Spear Street this season. Mr. Deslauriers felt more needs to be done with White Street because of increased bus and truck traffic. Mr. Rabidoux noted that according to state recording, people are driving less in Vermont and in Chittenden County. Ms. Greco asked about sewage capacity for City Center. Mr. Rabidoux said there are a lot of possible solutions to this. Mr. Donahue said he felt $1,200,000 wasn't enough and that there should be a bond for all the other work that needs to be done. Ms. Mackenzie asked Mr. Rabidoux to provide a projection of a bond for work that needs to be done. Mr. Lees asked whether streets can be made permeable. Mr. Rabidoux said in the northeast there are weather issues with roads, but there is some use in parking and lower use areas. 7. Continued Public Comment: Use of vacant properties owned by the City of Burlington for first responder training and developing an application process and regulations for that use: Ms. Emery: Hoped the Fire Department would use those homes immediately. Would also like a way for South Burlington's Police officers to use them as well. This should be under South Burlington's jurisdiction. Mr. Lees: There should be no such use in a residential neighborhood. Ms. Christman: Supports the training. Mr. Hurt: Suggested moving some of the buildings away from the neighborhood to be used for training purposes. Ms. Greco: Noted that George Maille said any plan would have to be approved by the City of Burlington. Ms. Mackenzie suggested the Fire and Police Chief work with the City Manager on how to move forward. Ms. Greco did not agree and felt people are not comfortable with this. Ms. Nowak felt if there can be a compromise (e.g., no masks, no large weapons, good notification, etc.), it should be considered. Mr. Dorn noted South Burlington can't do anything with those properties without the approval of the City of Burlington. He agreed to contact Mayor Weinberger to see where Burlington stands. 8. Report of Housing Subcommittee of Planning Commission regarding Establishing a South Burlington Housing Trust Fund: Mr. Simson noted the concept of a Housing Trust Fund was a recommendation of the original Affordable Housing Committee. The concept of the current committee is to have an organization created by the City Council and the voters. It would be dedicated to supporting affordable housing in the city and would offer a flexible source of funding for such housing. It could be funded by property tax (similar to the Open Space Fund), grants, and/or revenues (I.e., developer fees, fees for demolishing affordable housing, etc.). Funds could be used for affordable housing development, financing such development, rental housing, home buyer assistance, purchase of land for affordable housing, purchase and/or rehabilitation of affordable housing. Members of the Council felt the idea deserved investigation, including a business plan, public input, etc. 9. Rec Path Committee Report: Mr. Boulanger reported that the Committee has been "trying to fill in gaps" and is making recommendations for City Center and the Shelburne Road corridor. They tested and helped implement the "complete streets" on Williston Road and continue to monitor that. They have been observing the new pedestrian crossing technology and feel it increases the comfort level of pedestrians. Mr. Shaw asked about having a pedestrian crossing at Hinesburg Road and Hayes Avenue. Mr. Rabidoux said they were denied this by the state because there is not enough sight distance. Mr. Boulanger said the Committee is working on a League of American Bicyclists application. Regarding "gaps" in the rec path, Mr. Boulanger said they are identifying these and looking to see where it is prudent for the city to address these or whether there is potential development in the area that could include completing the paths. Mr. Boulanger noted there are concerns with the "complete streets" ending at Williston Road/Kennedy Drive, especially for inexperienced cyclists. 10. Consider Rec Path Committee Change of Name to Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee: Mr. Shaw moved to approve the name change of the Rec Path Committee to Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee. Ms. Nowak seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 11. Report on Red Rocks Park: from Management Study to Master Plan forming the Red Rocks Master Plan Sub-Committee: Ms. Aladis said there needs to be a vision as to how to care for this extraordinary property in the future. The park is seeing increased usage and increased issues including: erosion, break-ins in the parking lot, trash, illegal camping, invasive species, cliff jumping, etc. Ms. Aladis cited problems with the new management of the Park by Public Works. There have been issues of clearing trees, chipping them up and leaving piles of chips where sensitive plants are located. Nobody is in charge of parking, and there is no enforcement. Ms. Aladis asked for a Master Planning Committee and $2900 to hire a staff person to help draw up a plan. She suggested that the woman who did the Management Study would be a good person to do this. Mr. Goodwin said Mr. Conner felt using Open Space Fund money would be appropriate for this purpose. Mr. Shaw moved to authorize the spending of $2,900.00 from the Open Space Fund for the purpose of hiring a coordinator for the Master Plan Sub-Committee of the Red Rocks Park Committee to create a Master Plan. Ms. Nowak seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Schedule of Providing Financial Narratives to the City Council: Mr. Hubbard suggested changing the frequency of narratives from monthly to quarterly. There would still be monthly budget analyses. Members were OK with this. 13. Other Business: A. Items held from Consent Agenda: There were no such items. B. Bike Rack: 1. Traffic Lights and sequencing 2. City Street Lights (adequacy/number) 3. Advertising logos or names on city property 4. Taser Policy 5. East Terrace ordinance 6. Policy regarding landscaping City-owned land and request from Hadley Road 7. Council-approved Minutes Resolution 8. Closure of Market Street No action was taken on bike rack items. C. Other It was noted that the next City Council meeting will be held at Orchard School on 7 October. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Mr. Shaw moved to adjourn. Ms. Nowak seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 11:00 p.m. Clerk Published by ClerkBase ©2019 by Clerkbase. No Claim to Original Government Works.