Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes - City Council - 09/11/2024 - Special Meeting PAGE 1 DRAFT MINUTES SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 11 SEPTEMBER 2024 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, 11 September 2024, at 8:30 a.m., in Room 301, 180 Market Street, and by Go to Meeting remote participation. MEMBERS PRESENT: T. Barritt, Chair; A. Chalnick, E. Fitzgerald, M. Scanlan, L. Smith ALSO PRESENT: J. Baker, City Manager; Chief S. Locke, Deputy City Manager; C. McNeil, City Attorney; J. Pellerin, Deputy City Attorney; M. Machar, Finance Director, K. Peterson, Senior City Planner; I. Blanchard, Community Development Director; P. Taylor, B. Britt 1. 911 Recognition: Mr. Barritt recalled the events of 11 September 2000 and then asked for a moment of silence in memory of the victims. 2. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency and review of technology option: Ms. Baker provided instructions on emergency exit from the building and reviewed technology options. She also noted that Ms. Peterson was representing the Planning & Zoning Department. 3. Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: No changes were made to the Agenda. 4. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda: CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 2 There were no comments or questions from the public. 5. Hold a second City Council Retreat on the FY25 Priorities and Strategies shared workplan between the staff Leadership Team and the City Council: Ms. Baker asked members of the public if they had comments regarding Council priorities. Comments were received as follows: Mr. Taylor: Asked the Council to address Sextons’ rules as a priority. Mr. Britt: (representing the Bike/Ped Committee). At the 14 August meeting, he had asked for wording to support Goal #42 of the City Plan to continue making progress on the City’s paths, particularly the 5 or 6 connecting projects. He stressed that paths and crosswalks are vital to getting people out of their cars. Mr. Barritt noted that path maintenance is an equally important issue. Ms. Baker then noted the difference in function between the Council and City staff: the Council sets policy and provides the resources (e.g., budget) to achieve their goals while staff implements the policy using their professional expertise to accomplish the goals. Mr. Chalnick asked who suggests the policy. Ms. Baker said it could be the community, staff or the City Council. She added that it is her obligation to understand the community and Council and bring forth her professional expertise. Ms. Baker noted there is not yet a fully adopted set of priorities for the coming year, and the hope is to achieve that at this meeting. That will enable staff to know what the Council wants them to do in coming months and to integrate new work into their work plan. She stressed the need for the Council to stay at a high policy level and not at the operational level. She also stressed that the list of policies is long and not all will be accomplished. The hope is to make progress on all of them. Ms. Baker said 10 or more of the Council’s stated priorities involve ordinance changes, and these take a lot of staff and Council capacity. She asked members to set out what they are trying to achieve with an Ordinance change before Legal is asked to draft the language. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 3 Ms. Baker also noted that since the June retreat, the Council has indicated a number of new priorities: a. City Charter potential changes b. Datillio Drive c. Long View Project d. Scott/Ruggerio Transfer e. TDR purchase of Leduc f. Farrell Estate She asked the Council to determine what they want to prioritize over the next 9 months. She added that they can also maintain a “bike rack” of projects to look at in the future. Ms. Baker reminded Council members that they have to consider staff capacity and also their own meeting capacity. She asked them to focus on things that will make the greatest change to the community. Mr. Barritt asked if there is a list of things which staff feels it does not have enough direction from the Council. Ms. Baker said it is more a question of not knowing what the Council priorities are. There are long-term things that get interrupted by “reactionary” things from the Council. With regard to priorities, Ms. Baker outlined that staff had categorized ideas into 3 buckets: 1. 22 priorities that shouldn’t change as they involve grants, past community votes, or other potential loss of funding. 2. 14 that staff recommend the Council prioritize to move the City forward. 3. 32 that staff are committed to working on but the Council could reprioritize or eliminate. Mr. Chalnick asked if staff has capacity to do “1” and “2.” Ms. Baker said staff can move all of them along. They can also do some of “3” as well. Mr. Chalnick said he is surprised that the Climate Director is a #3. Ms. Baker said there is staff capacity to implement the Government Operations portions of the Climate Action CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 4 Plan. The next thing to do is to get out into the community. In this year of austerity, the question is whether to do community tasks. Ms. Baker drew attention to the list of things the Council said they wanted on the “bike rack” to be discussed later in the year. She also noted another chart of things related to growth. There was interest in having a community discussion regarding growth, and that would take a significant amount of time. Mr. Scanlan asked if they should also be talking about staff requirements and multi-year staffing needs. Ms. Baker said almost all the priorities are multi-year things. Future staff capacity does need to be taken into consideration and is outlined in the materials. Mr. Smith said that what is missing from the “3” is the level of effort. Ms. Baker said she hoped that would be part of today’s discussion. Ms. Baker noted that for the #1 and #2 priorities, there is funding for FY25. What is not included is that many of those items have future financial implications (e.g., maintenance). Ms. Fitzgerald suggested that each Council members state what he or she wants to accomplish in the coming 9 months. Council members responded as follows: Ms. Fitzgerald: a. Budget implications, striking a balance between aspiration and budget reality b. City Center: delivering what the community expects including known projects and unanticipated things c. Climate: having staff available to fulfil the goals d. Community work: providing direction e. Growth and planned growth, where the city will hit bottlenecks and how to manager them f. City-School collaboration specifically with regard to City Center. Mr. Chalnick: CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 5 a. Climate – acknowledging that it is hard and expensive and that nothing South Burlington can do will make a difference in the world, but if we de-prioritize it, there is no future for our children b. He agreed with Ms. Fitzgerald on other priorities Mr. Smith: a. Keeping focused on budgets/tax implications (“Staff does that in spades!”) b. Climate: individually, we have little impact, but if every municipality says that, there is no control. North America is largely responsible for where we are now, the life style. China’s emissions are serving our consumption, and that is making more people’s lives worse. c. Making sure it isn’t growth for growth’s sake. Mr. Barritt: a. Education costs, acknowledging there will be no help from the State b. Health care costs (double digit increases) c. Climate change (flooding, etc.) d. Personnel shortages/training young people e. Homelessness and addiction problems f. Mental health issues g. Affordability (property taxes) – doing the work without straining people’s budgets h. Quality of life Mr. Scanlan: a. Attracting companies like Beta what do more than the City can do and grow the tax base; making the City an attractive destination for people and businesses b. City Center as a place to change behaviors, where City Plan goals can work (e.g., transportation, biking, etc.) c. Incentivizing rather than regulating d. Partnerships with other municipalities/the Airport/agencies, etc. Mr. Barritt noted there is no retail anchor for Market Street. The amount of housing wasn’t estimated, and some residential buildings don’t have retail space. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 6 City Center is bounded by a lot of commercial. He didn’t know where people got the idea there would be a lot of retail in City Center as in downtown Burlington. He did not favor a City Center “green” and felt it would not be money well spent. City Center is what it is today, not what people thought it would be. Mr. Smith said City Center is a work in progress. He felt the retail phase hasn’t happened yet. He felt a Village Green could have a huge impact in transforming people’s view of City Center. Mr. Chalnick agreed and said a Village Green would make the area more vibrant and change the character of the neighborhood. He thought the community would respond to “creative ways” to support it. Mr. Scanlan agreed and noted the city is spread out and needs a common shared area. Ms. Baker agreed City Center is a process. Staff’s hope is that City Center is a bigger, more connected grid of walkable streets, commercial spaces, offices, and homes. Mr. Barritt asked how much parking is needed for City Hall people. Ms. Baker said a parking structure would cost millions, and the cost for Village Green land is unknown at this time. She asked if making that decision is a goal for the Council this year. Ms. Blanchard said it will be a long conversation. Mr. Smith said if the opportunity is lost, the City will never have the “green.” Mr. Smith asked how they focus on waste and new revenue. Ms. Barritt said there is dollar waste and there is time waste. Ms. Baker said she didn’t believe there is a lot of waste in the system. Staff works hard to identify where things may not be efficient. She also noted that most expenses are the people. The City is a service providing organization. Mr. Chalnick said incentives are not sufficient in dealing with climate. He felt a Climate Director was needed to make buildings more efficient and to get people to make changes. Mr. McNeil stressed that there is a question of the city’s authority to regulate home heating systems. Mr. Barritt asked if the person would be required to drive a hybrid/electric vehicle. Ms. Baker said with a city vehicle, yes, but they cannot require this in a personal car. Ms. Baker reminded members that the other new position is the Data Management person. Mr. Chalnick said he would guarantee that the data person will find they have not met the climate goals of 2 years ago. Mr. Barritt said those CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 7 goals were not realistic. Mr. Smith said reducing vehicle miles traveled will do more than switching everyone to electric heat systems. Ms. Baker said if the aim is to focus this year on City operations, City staff can do that. If community development work is the priority, the Climate Director is needed. Ms. Fitzgerald said that HOA approval is needed for conversions. Mr. Chalnick said he felt landlords should be required to make the conversion. That would eliminate the tension between landlords and tenants. He suggested the Energy Committee could look at this. Mr. Smith said they need to get landlords to do an energy audit, but they don’t want to spend the money. Mr. McNeil said the city does not have the authority to regulate rental units for this. Mr. Chalnick said Burlington does it. Mr. McNeil said the City of Burlington has a different City Charter. Mr. Pellerin said that for Mr. McNeil to look at this as a priority, they have to agree that other things will not be done. Members asked to move the Climate Director to the #2 level. Mr. Scanlan cited the importance of growing the commercial sector to increase revenues. Ms. Baker said that to understand how the city can grow in the future, they need to dedicate time and process to look back and see how it has grown and how to get the most value from acreage. The question is how to grow to maximize revenue and not burden taxpayers. She asked members if that is a priority for them. Mr. Smith asked if staff has the capacity to do that work. Ms. Baker said that with the Data Manager they will have the capacity. Ms. Peterson noted that the City Plan plans for a 1.5% population growth. Amendments address growth shifting including reinvestment in existing development. Ms. Baker said if that is a priority, it will require a process. She thought that discussion would benefit from a larger community conversation. Mr. Scanlan said he thought the GMT situation is critical and touches all the other goals. It is an opportunity to change behaviors. It can determine what happens in City Center. And it can help bring the city together. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 8 Members then engaged in placing “preference dots” on the charts of potential policies and priorities. When the dots were reviewed, it was noted that 3 green dots had been placed by “growth.” There were 2 red dots beside “the naming of things.” Members discussed the red dot at “review governance/operations of city cemeteries.” Ms. Fitzgerald said this could fall under the Parks/Recreation Master Plan. Mr. Scanlan asked about the liability issue. Ms. Baker said the city is liable. Mr. Taylor said the Sexton Committee wants to plot the remaining land so they can know what can be sold. This will take money. They also want rules and regulations as to how to sell a plot. Ms. Baker noted there is no staff person for this and no budget. If it is not prioritized, there should be a moratorium on it. Mr. Pellerin reminded the Council that without a Cemetery Commission, the burden falls on the City Council. There were both red and green dots on the potential expansion of the City Council. Mr. Smith said the Council has a lot of work, and with only 5 members meetings are already going very late. This was not a priority for him. Ms. Fitzgerald reminded members that there is a unanimous committee recommendation for this, which is what the City Charter Committee was charged to do. Ms. Baker said to put it on the March ballot would require 20-24 hours of staff time plus public hearings and a public vote. Mr. Pellerin said the other option would be a petition by 5% of the city’s voters to put it on the ballot. Ms. Baker suggested this conversation could be picked up again when the City Charter Committee considers all-resident voting. Members agreed to put it on the FY26 “parking lot.” There were green dots at the Economic Development person, Climate Director, and other climate-related things. The Tree Ordinance discussion received red dots. Ms. Peterson noted the Planning Commission was interested in the Ordinance by still had other work ahead of it. They will not take it up until after amendments move forward if the Council makes it a priority. Members agreed to add it to the FY26 “parking lot.” Fire Safety Ordinances received green dots. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 9 Changes regarding Act 250 requirements received green dots. Ms. Baker cited the need of the city to participate in that discussion. Ms. Peterson said it involves “tier system” things, setting housing targets for different communities. Mental Health Services received green dots. It was noted that if they city doesn’t do better, the situation will get worse. Cultural strategic planning got a red dot. Ms. Baker said it will be taken out of ARPA and will use 2024 surplus funds, so it will happen. Airport green space received a green dot. Ms. Peterson said the Airport is using its landscaping requirement in that area. This dot is for further collaboration. The City has money that has to be used for the benefit of the traveling public. The creation of micro-grants got one red dot. Ms. Fitzgerald thought there were more important City Center activities. Regarding crossing guards, Ms. Fitzgerald said this has been an existing operational issue that she hoped could be dealt with. She noted it has been a good start to the school year to have Police officers there. Mr. Smith said he heard a lot about the Market St./Hinesburg Rd. intersection at “Coffee with a Councilor. It is a safety issue. Mr. DiPietro said the traffic light is coming. Everyone in the neighborhood is “on board,” and the light should be there within the year. Assuming prices come in where the money was allocated, it should be there by spring. Ms. Baker added there is surplus money to help with a discrepancy. Mr. DiPietro said he will let the Council know when it goes to bid. The revision of the Sewer Ordinance got one red dot. Members agreed this can wait a year. Mr. DiPietro said the next plan is to reach out to those who don’t have meters. This is still a “grey area,” but they can now do things via the Ordinance. Mr. Barritt supported continuing the water/wastewater discussion. He wanted to be sure large apartment buildings are paying their fair share. Mr. Chalnick said he red-dotted this. Mr. Barritt said they cannot determine the payment per unit as the HOA pays the entire bill. It is a fairness issue. He wanted to see if the per-unit cost is more or less than the minimum usage. Mr. Pellerin said it is a complicated issue which could balloon into something bigger. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 10 The City Center green got one red dot. Mr. Scanlan said he has heard this is a public priority. Four members supported “green-dotting” it. A noise ordinance got 2 red dots. Mr. Chalnick said he has heard serious quality of life issues. Mr. Barritt said they can get rid of leaf blowers, etc., under the Climate Action Plan. Mr. Chalnick said the city’s rules are confusing, and the key is to write a rule so there is no more chipping. Ms. Fitzgerald said they need to know where there is development where there could be chipping. Ms. Baker said developers don’t always know where there is ledge. Mr. Barritt reminded members they had already set regulations for the allowable number of chipping days. Ms. Baker recommended changing the designation to a “Chipping Limit Ordinance.” Chief Locke said there is also a Noise Ordinance. Three Council members agreed with a Chipping Ordinance and to have the Climate Action Plan deal with edgers, etc. Regarding cemeteries, members agreed to put it on the “parking lot” along with the moratorium. Mr. Taylor noted there is a woman who has suggested a “large donation” related to cemeteries. She may come and talk with the Council. Regarding Mr. Britt’s concerns, Mr. Smith said this needs to be articulated because it isn’t happening now. Mr. DiPietro noted that Spear Street is happening slowly, Allen Road is going well, and Hubbard Park just got DRB approval. Mr. Britt noted that work is beginning on 2 crosswalks. He stressed that the Bike/Ped Committee doesn’t want to take resources away from DPW to do other things. He added it would make the Committee happy to know they will continue to have Erica Quallen’s time. Mr. DiPietro reminded the Council they can only do a certain number of projects a year. He noted the sidewalk assessment will be done in October, and they are lining up all the work go get done to improve rec paths, etc., but they will have to pick priorities with all that needs to be done. Ms. Fitzgerald raised the question of the Affordable Housing Committee which now does not have a reason to move forward because it is not on the Council’s list of priorities. Ms. Peterson said there is work for them to do such as streamlining permitting for ADUs and adding additional units on existing lots, and making housing more affordable for the community, emphasizing ownership rather than rentals, tweaking impact fees, things to reduce engineering costs, etc. They could also combine with the Housing Trust Committee. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 11 Ms. Baker said staff will bring the Council a recommendation on a realigned Housing Committee and will post a solicitation for members. Mr. Barritt said they can also thing about working with the Energy Committee and the Rental Registry regarding the status of units. Mr. Chalnick said he didn’t want them continuing to debate regarding conservation vs. development as their main interest. Mr. Scanlan asked about the Common Area for Dogs Committee. Ms. Baker said they have requested a one-year hiatus. Mr. Scanlan noted that 500 people responding to the survey favored more dog parks in the city. Discussion of Council Process: Members were invited to suggest minor process changes and responded as follows: Ms. Fitzgerald: a. Agenda Planning: include an agenda item referencing major items on the next agenda so members have more time to plan for those. Ms. Baker agreed with a caveat that things can change. b. Preparation materials in advance of the meeting. Mr. Scanlan cited the huge learning curve and the need to be as informed as possible. Mr. Chalnick said if a big document is ready to go, it could be put on the website. Ms. Baker will try to provide documents as they are ready. c. On warned action items, possibly some recommendation from staff. Chief Locke noted there is usually a draft motion with action items. He also noted the problem of not being able to respond to questions because they have no information on the issue. Ms. Baker asked that if members get documents, etc., from the public, those should be gotten to staff. Mr. Smith: a. Revisit Committee/Council Liaisons: He questioned the role of the Council liaison. Ms. Baker said each policy committee should have a work plan. The liaison does not vote as part of the committee but works with the committee chair regarding the work of the committee. The liaison also speaks on behalf of the Council. Mr. Scanlan said he CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 12 thought committees were to be assigned a task and come back to the Council with a report/recommendation, etc. Ms. Baker added that the liaison can provide guidance. Mr. Smith suggested that the liaison and staff support person work more together. Mr. Britt asked if the Bike/Ped Committee comes up with a list of 10 safety items, should they present those to the liaison or go directly to the City Council. Mr. Chalnick said the committee should be on the agenda as much as possible. Ms. Baker said policy recommendations should get on an agenda. Chief Locke added that budget items should come to the Council at budget time. Mr. Chalnick: a. Would like to have Council work sessions with freer discussions to work things out. Mr. Scanlan suggested quarterly. Mr. Barritt suggested “as needed.” Mr. Chalnick suggested a half-hour on an agenda for “discussion.” Members said agendas are already so full. Ms. Baker suggested a 2-hour dinner meeting every few months. She added that it would have to be warned and recorded. Mr. Chalnick thought food was “distracting.” Chief Locke stated that the Council would meet for “Budget Day,” when Department Heads present their budgets. 6. Other Business: Members and staff presented their final thoughts and appreciations: Mr. Barritt thanked Ms. Leo for the food preparation. Ms. Fitzgerald thanked members of the public who attended. Mr. Scanlan appreciated the open, frank discussion. Mr. Chalnick noted the heartfelt commitment of everyone and noted this does not happen everywhere. Mr. Smith cited the heart and soul that everyone in the room brings. CITY COUNCIL 11 September 2024 PAGE 13 As there was no further business to come before the Council, the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 3:00 P.M. _________________________________ Clerk