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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 10/07/2019CITY COUNCIL 7 October 2019 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 7 October 2019, at 6:30 p.m., in the Conference Room, City Hall, 575 Dorset Street. Members Present: H. Riehle, Chair; M. Emery, T. Barritt, T. Chittenden, D. Kaufman Also Present: K. Dorn, City Manager; T. Hubbard, Deputy City Manager; A. Lafferty, City Attorney; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; I. Blanchard, Project Manager; C. Holm, HR; Col. D. Smith, C. Baker, CCRPC; J. Louisos, M. Mittag, A. Klugo, Planning Commission; M. Cota, F. Kochman, Development Review Board; D. Crawford, B. Milizia, J. Renton, A. Waring, L. Marriott, 1. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency: Mr. Dorn provided instructions on emergency evacuation of the building. 2. Agenda Review: Additions, deletions or changes in order of agenda items: Mr. Dorn advised that Agenda Item #7 has been postponed. Item #13 will be moved up into that spot on the Agenda. Mr. Dorn also asked to add a discussion of proposed dates for Steering Committee meetings to Other Business. 3. Comments and Questions from the public not related to the agenda: No issues were raised. 4. Announcements and City Manager’s Report: Council members reported on meetings and events they had attended in recent weeks. Mr. Dorn: SBBA will meet at 7 a.m. on the 8th at Double Tree. The city will close on the first parcel of 180 Market Street on Thursday (the road parcel). The hope is to get the road in before the asphalt plants close. Market Street will open on 15 November with a ribbon cutting/ground breaking for the new building on the 13th. There were excellent discussions regarding first responders/mental health issues at the VLCT Town Meeting. Mr. Dorn thanked Mr. Barritt for attending the Mary St. meeting regarding the opening of Mary St. after the first of the year. There is no real alternative. The city will look into safety measures for the neighborhood. The team has been asked to accelerate the Garden St. connection to take traffic pressure off Mary St. CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 2 Mr. Dorn recognized Ms. Holm, Ms. LaRose, Ms. Rees, Mr. Ladd, and others for their efforts on the recent all-committee symposium. The city has gotten 95% of what it wanted in the letter regarding the NCP program. It now goes to public hearing, to the Burlington City Council and then to the FAA. Approval by the FAA is expected in May. Ms. Riehle said she hopes the Council can see the final proposal before the Burlington City Council votes on it. Mr. Conner said he said the “bones” of the plan. The FAA representative spoke regarding their timeline for review and their hope to be done before May 1. Ms. Emery asked what the city did not get. Mr. Conner said they didn’t get wording regarding sound barriers. It was noted that if the noise increases, it would nullify the avigation easements. Ms. Riehle asked about noise monitoring. Mr. Conner said there was some discussion of that, and they seemed receptive but not as a top priority. Champlain Valley Partnership is hosting a “weed warrior” event on the Ewing property, 19 October, 9-11 a.m. Mr. Dorn recognized Ashley for her work on this. 5. Consent Agenda: A. Approve and Sign Disbursement Mr. Chittenden moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Update on the status of the Consensus App Pilot Project: Mr. Plett reviewed the history of the project. He noted that to date there have been 21 individual polls with 4942 individual votes cast. There are 1056 participants of whom 783 are verified users. The most popular question concerned the proposed indoor recreation facility. Mr. Plett then reviewed the current tools and noted they are close to where they want to be. They would like to keep going for a few more weeks. What isn’t there yet are computation and modeling. Mr. Plett showed a “future roadmap” including mobile and desk top applications, increased engagement, subscription-based Consensus platform in Vermont, and building additional data input systems. He also cited the need for better user screens. Ms. Riehle said that when everything is ready, there should be reminders to people to use the system CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 3 7. Council reports on committee assignments: Mr. Chittenden: Green Mountain Transit is looking at options to address this year’s shortfall. An electric bus will arrive early in November, but the charging station won’t arrive until later in the month. Ms. Emery: The Interim Zoning Open Space Committee has reduced the list of properties to conserve to 21. They are hoping to do more about the Great Swamp (e.g., signage, public education). It is incrementally being encroached on. 8. Update from Col. David Smith, Vermont Air National Guard, related to arrival of the F35s: Col. Smith said the Guard has been a long-standing neighbor in South Burlington and is committed to working with the city. He hoped he could allay any concerns that have arisen in the community. The Vermont Air National Guard is the first Air Guard to receive the F35s, and the Airmen have been working hard to prepare for this. They are fully prepared for this mission. They will receive a total of 20 planes. About a dozen construction projects have been required to handle the new planes. Four of these are now completed, and the others will by ongoing until 2022. The subcontractors were all local. The fighter wing is 1000 strong, more than half being part time Guardsmen. There are 400 full time positions, 50 of whom have received F35 experience. 85 members are trained on the F35, and instruction is continuing. There are 8 fully trained pilots and 6 more are in training now. There will eventually be about 30 trained pilots. The first 2 planes arrived about 2 weeks ago, and there will be 2 per month for the next 9 months until the total of 20 is reached. The flying schedule will be similar to the F16s, 8 planes in the morning and 6 in the afternoon. They will take off 15-20 seconds apart. Flights will be mainly on Tuesday-Friday and training weekends (usually only Saturdays), no earlier than 8 a.m. on Saturday and noon on Sunday. Any night flying is usually from November to February, and they do put out a media advisory for that as well as for anything unusual. Col. Smith stressed that they have no plan to have a nuclear mission for the F35s. They also do not plan to use afterburners except on an odd occasion. The use “military power,” and there is no training requirement for using afterburners. Mr. Chittenden asked about possible sound deadening on the ground. Col. Smith said there is not a lot of information regarding the effectiveness of sound walls (e.g., where to put them). CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 4 There also could be an issue when larger planes are coming in. The Colonel said he has never seen sound walls at a military base, but he has seen jet blast deflectors. Ms. Emery asked if the plan is to serve the national defense or offense. Col. Smith said the plan is for both, the same as the F16s. They do not have a nuclear mission and train only for their given mission. Defense of the homeland is a top mission. Regarding the EIS, Col. Smith said there is no requirement to do a supplemental EIS. They continue to work with the Airport on noise compatibility and will do another noise study when the full complement of planes has arrived. Ms. Emery read from some emails about “gaming the system” and that afterburners would be required because of the length of the runway. Col. Smith stressed that afterburners would not be used. He said “gaming the system” is not true. He added that you can’t compare this location to any other bases. Training here does not require afterburners. Ms. Riehle asked about working with Chamberlin School on the flying schedule so that children aren’t outside when planes take off. The Colonel said it is hard to fit in 2 flying schedules a day. They try not to fly when people are sleeping. He said they would see what they could do about the school. Mr. Chittenden asked if there are “tours” that the children might have. The Colonel said absolutely. Ms. Emery asked if all repairs and maintenance will be done by local mechanics. Col. Smith said the majority of work will be done locally, just as with the F16s. Some inspections and maintenance will be done elsewhere, similar to the F16s. The maintenance crew remains about the same size. Ms. Park asked why Hill Air Force Base uses afterburners. Col. Smith said possibly because of its density altitude. Ms. Marriott asked for suggestions for mitigating ground noise and noted that there is a 20-30 minute warm-up period for the planes. Col. Smith said he didn’t know how effective a sound wall would be. One thing that will help is that these planes don’t do as much taxiing to the end of the runway near homes. CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 5 Ms. Waring asked why people were told there would be fewer sorties and now there are more. Col. Smith said the number of operations goes down from the F16s because they can’t do “approaches” here. Ms. Renton asked if the Air Guard does “real time noise monitoring.” Col. Smith said they don’t, and the Airport doesn’t either. Chamberlin School did do it, and it was very reflective of the EIS. Ms. Rankin asked what would happen if an F35 crashedand if emergency first responders at the base and in the local communities are adequately protected against the toxic fumes. Col. Smith said there are mutual aid agreements in the community and they have on- going training for both local and military responders and that the Guard’s Fire Department is fully qualified. He also said that commercial airplanes and the F35 both contain composite materials. The Colonel said he would be happy to come back later with any updates. 9. Council deliberations and possible approval of draft decision on Interim Zoning application #IZ-19-03 of Tom and Kim Phillips to subdivide a 2.2 acre lot currently developed with a single family home into two parcels of approximately 1.1 acres each for the purposes of constructing a single family home on the newly established lot, 1430 Spear Street: and 10. Council deliberations and possible approval of draft decision on Interim Zoning application #IZ-19-04 of Scott McAllister to subdivide a 1.23 acre lot currently developed with a single family home into three lots of 27,580 sq. ft. (existing house), 12,000 sq. ft., and 12,000 sq. ft., and to construct a single family home on each of the two new lots, 1430 Hinesburg Road: Mr. Dorn noted that a deliberative session is required for item #9. Mr. Barritt moved that the Council meet in deliberative session to discuss IZ-19-03. Mr. Kaufman seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Following the deliberative session, Ms. Riehle advised that the Council agreed to approve both IZ-19-03 and IZ-19-04. Regarding IZ-19-03, the Council received a letter from an abutter, but as the hearing had been closed that information could not be used in their deliberations. Those issues can be brought to the DRB hearing. CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 6 11. Continued Review and possible action to adopt amendment to the Land Development Regulations: a. LDR-19-01: Eliminate minimum parking requirements for all uses citywide except multi-family housing and accessory dwelling units, for which parking requirements are to be reduced: Mr. Conner reviewed the history and noted the Council’s choices are to adopt the amendment, have further discussion, or make changes (which would trigger another public hearing). Mr. Barritt noted that there was an attempt to compromise by increasing waivers. The DRB was OK with it but the Planning Commission was not. He said he would be comfortable giving the DRB more waivers; he did not favor totally eliminating the standard. Ms. Emery noted the current LDRs in Village Commercial zones are designed to create a buffer between residential and commercial development. This has nothing to do with minimum parking requirements. There are parking requirements in City Center, and spaced can be rented to meet those requirements. Ms. Emery noted that the new city building will be leasing parking across the street. Ms. Emery said she didn’t see developers as “bad guys” and felt they would build the parking they needed. She felt the planning document is looking to the future and to using land development regulations more creatively. She said that waivers were her “pet peeve,” and she was not comfortable giving the DRB more waiver options. Mr. Chittenden said he would support a reduction in the parking requirement but not the elimination. He cited an issue with the new building near Brookwood where people are parking all over the neighborhood streets. Mr. Cota, Chair of the DRB, said they have some language which they feel would be a compromise. Mr. Kochman noted that a developer could make a mistake in calculating parking needs and the DRB would have no power to address this. Mr. Barritt agreed that sometimes bad choices are made. He was particularly concerned with future development on both Shelburne and Williston Roads. CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 7 Mr. Kochman then read proposed language for a waiver option with very specific criteria including limiting impervious surfaces, adequacy of public transportation (existing or planned), the impact on adjoining parking and adjoining residences. Ms. Louisos, Chair of the Planning Commission, said the Commission did not review Mr. Kochman’s proposal. She also noted that the new regulations don’t apply to multi-family housing (parking has been reduced there, not eliminated). Ms. Louisos also noted that Goal #2 of the Comprehensive Plan is “walkability,” and noted that if you focus on cars, you won’t get walkability. The Commission felt the market will decide on parking and “won’t shoot themselves in the foot.” She felt that the proposed language in Mr. Kochman’s waiver option assumes there is a “right number,” but you have to pick and choose that number. Mr. Klugo added there were 2 years of research before the current proposal was agreed on by the Planning Commission. He felt that going with Mr. Kochman’s proposal would be “providing waivers by a body that has no expertise.” Mr. Chittenden asked for more time before making this decision so that the Planning Commission can review what the DRB is proposing. Ms. Riehle said the Commission spent 2 years on this, and they have more important things to address, such as Interim Zoning. Ms. Emery then moved to adopt IZ-19-01. Ms. Riehle seconded. Mr. Crawford felt the amendment was a good goal but not at the right time. He said he is too old to ride his bike to City Hall meetings. He felt the DRB proposal should be given a chance. In the vote that followed, the motion passed 3-2 with Messrs. Barritt and Chittenden voting against. 12. Annual Report to the Council from the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC): Mr. Baker cited the fine work of the City’s representative to CCRPC, Chris Shaw. He then reviewed the list of projects that the CCRPC is doing with municipalities including bike and pedestrian paths, traffic overlay, Interim Zoning, etc. Project requests for 2021 are due in January. CCRPC is looking at maintenance issues for the Interstate and noted that replacing a bridge may be an opportunity to get a bike path. Ms. Emery asked if there are plans for the one-way CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 8 bridge. Mr. Baker said there are not. It is owned by 2 cities. Some improvements that are being done will help. Mr. Dorn noted that Mr. Baker hosts a monthly meeting with city managers. 13. Authorization to City Manager to execute a contract amendment for a guaranteed maximum price for 180 Market Street with Engelberth Construction: Ms. Blanchard said the project is lined up for construction to begin at the end of the month. The city would pay anything above the guaranteed amount for anything it initiates; otherwise the contractor will. Mr. Chittenden said he would abstain from the vote as he does not favor the City Hall being part of the plan. Mr. Kaufman moved to approve the contract amendment as presented. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed 3-1 with Mr. Barritt opposing and Mr. Chittenden abstaining. 14. Authorization to expend funds for geothermal drilling: Ms. Blanchard reviewed the history. She also noted it is important to do this at the same time Market Street is being done. The cost is about $250,000. Mr. Kaufman moved to approve the expending of funds for geothermal drilling. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed 4-1 with Mr. Barritt opposing. 15. Discussion and possible action to warn a public hearing on 4 November 2019, 7 p.m., to consider extending the time period during which the Interim Bylaws are in effect: Ms. Riehle noted the Planning Commission would not be ready until January at the earliest. This would be the second extension of Interim Zoning. Mr. Barritt said he would not support any more than this. Ms. Lafferty reviewed the history and noted this proposal would extend Interim Zoning until 13 February 2020. CITY COUNCIL 7 OCTOBER 2019 PAGE 9 Mr. Barritt moved to warn a public hearing for 4 November 2019, 7 p.m. to consider extending the Interim Zoning period. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 16. Financials: July and August: Mr. Hubbard said September financials should be available at the next meeting along with department narratives. He noted that expenses include contributions to CCRPC, CCTV, Green Mountain Transit, etc., paving, insurance payments, and vehicles for Police and Public Works. The city has received about 12% of local option taxes, and the amount is ahead of expectations. 25% of anticipated Planning and Zoning fees have been received. SoBu Night Out earned $4000 to date. This revenue will be used for additional events. Enterprise funds are doing well. 17. Council Appointment to the Board of Directors of the Champlain Housing Trust: Mr. Dorn noted that Champlain Housing has nominated Helen Head. Mr. Kaufman moved to appoint Helen Head to the Board of Directors of Champlain Housing Trust. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 18. Other Business: Members considered proposed dates for a Steering Committee meeting and suggested 28 October or 29 October. They also were OK with a 5 November meeting with the School Board and Legislators. As there was no further business to come before the Council, Mr. Chittenden moved to adjourn. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:10 p.m.