HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Natural Resources Committee - 04/23/2014South Burlington Natural Resources Committee
575 Dorset Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
(802) 846-4106
www.sburl.com
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
5:30pm
South Burlington Municipal Offices, 575 Dorset Street
MEETING MINUTES for Regular Bi-Monthly Meeting
Present: Betty Milizia (NRC/OSC Vice Chair), Patrick Clemins (NRC/OSC Clerk), Russell Agne
(NRC/OSC Member), Jeff Dickson (NRC/OSC Member), Paul Conner (SB Director of Planning and
Zoning), Kevin Dorn (City Manager), Sarah Dopp (OSC Member - SB Land Trust), Jennifer
Kochman (OSC Member - Rec and Leisure Arts Cmte), Sharon Murray (OSC Consultant - Front
Porch Community Planning & Design)
OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE
Meeting called to order at 5:40pm.
Committee Structure: Dorn presented a few observations noted during initial discussions
within City Council and staff regarding a revised structure for City Committees:
The high level of community volunteerism with the establishment of the interim zoning
committees has been extremely positive and there is desirable for that level of
community involvement to continue;
The time resources of city staff has been stretched thin with the additional
responsibilities brought on by the interim zoning process;
There are a number of policy areas being neglected through underrepresentation in the
current committee structure; and
Silos of responsibility exist within the current committee structure and not enough
discussion is taking place across those silos.
In light of these observations, these discussions have resulted in the following proposed
recommendations to City Council:
Replace the current committee structure with three large umbrella committees of about
11 members each: Public Lands, Community Development, and Transportation. These
committees would meeting quarterly, with task forces under the direction of each
committee meeting more often.
o Planning Commission, DRB, Library Trustees, Pension Advisory Committee and
others, as defined by statute, would not be affected by this reorganization.
Public Lands: Would absorb the responsibilities of the Natural Resources Committee,
the Recreation and Leisure Arts Committee, the Sustainabile Agriculture Committee,
and part of the Energy Committee. Initial projects would include finishing the Wheeler
Park Management Plan and creating a similar plan for the Underwood property.
Community development: Would absorb the responsibilities of the Affordable Housing
Committee and parts of the Energy Committee: Responsibilities would include the
management of public buildings, economic development and community events.
Transportation: Would absorb the responsibilities of the Bicycle & Pedestrian
Committee as well as advise on the Complete Streets Initiative, Smart Lights, and traffic
management.
Some project-oriented, city-sponsored community organizations might take over some
of the former roles of city committees.
There is also an expanded role for resource-related organizations such as the Friends of
Library and potentially new organizations such as Friends of Wheeler, Friends of Red
Rocks, etc.
Some topics of discussion with the Committee included:
Fewer overall committee members might lead to less participation and project
ownership by the community unless task forces are well managed and fully utilized;
Concern about finding enough volunteers to participate in all of the task forces and the
dedication of the volunteers on those task forces;
Need for a community culture change around the transient nature of the task forces;
Large number of topics and current committees under the proposed committees, esp.
Public Lands, given the quarterly meetings which may not be often enough;
Loss of focus on some topic areas that the community deems as important including
natural resources and recreation;
Specifics on how this new structure will reduce staff work load; and
The amount of political influence by city committees vs. community organizations.
City Council is planning on making a decision on this new structure for this year’s round of
committee appointments.
Open Space Report Draft: Murray’s contract ends at the end of April, but she is willing to
participate in another meeting, including a public feedback session if necessary. Murray walked
through a few comments submitted by the committee on the report draft and asked for
clarification. Conner gave a summary of the current state of the discussion by the Planning
Commission and city staff on open space in the City Center. Murray distributed the new draft
chapter on Urban Open Space and walked the Committee through it, asking for comment.
Finally, there was a brief discussion on the Committee’s submitted comments on the draft
strategies.
Action Items for Committee:
Provide comments to Sharon (by Friday) on Scenic Resource Inventory Appendix.
Provide comments to Sharon (by Friday) on Urban Open Space Chapter.
Provide comments to Sharon (by Friday) on Goals and Objectives.
Next Meetings: The next few regular meetings of the Natural Resources Committee / Open
Space Committee will be:
Wednesday May 7th at 5:30pm – Vote on final draft of Open Space Report; Review of
Revised Form-Based Code Draft for City Center from Planning Commission (Red-lined
draft is available at http://goo.gl/U09uJ2 starting on page 12.)
May TBD – Public comment period on Open Space Report.
Meeting adjourned at 8:45pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Patrick Clemins