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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - 10/30/2023 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER023 The South Burlington City Council held a special meeting on Monday, 30 October 2023,at 6:30 p.m., in the Auditorium, 180 Market Street, and by Go to Meeting remote participation. MEMBERS PRESENT: H. Riehle, Chair; M. Emery, T. Barritt,T. Barnes, A. Chalnick ALSO PRESENT:J. Baker, City Manager; Chief S. Locke, Deputy City Manager; P. Conner, Director of Planning & Zoning; K. Peterson, Planner; M. Machar, Finance Officer; C. McNeil, City Attorney; L. Kupferman,J. Stoever, M. Murray, Judy HW, Kd, J. R. Hacky,J. Bossange, G. Silverstein, F. O'Neill, L. Darr, L. Anguin, D. Bugbee, K. Calcagni, C. Trombly, S. A. O'Brien, F. Von Turkevich, K. Griffen, A. Chalnick, M. Provost, L. Bailey, D. Campbell, M. Cota, P. Cooper, L. Smith, B. Sirvis,J. Moscatelli, B. Dunn, J. Leas, F. MacDonald, L. Marriott, S. Dopp, E. Krasnow, D. Anglund, L. Waters, D. Barton, M. Farrington 1. 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. 2. Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: No changes were made to the Agenda. 3. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda: Several members of the public spoke regarding the noise issue related to the Long Road development. A resident played a tape of the noise as it is heard in her home daily from 8 in the morning until 4 p.m. Residents from as far away as 2 miles said this has been going on for years and has precluded their ability to work from home and has exacerbated health issues for people with reduced noise tolerance. Residents said the hammering is the result of the project being allowed to have basements. They felt the remaining homes should be built on slab which would eliminate the need to chip away at ledge. Dr. Zigmund noted that blasting had not been allowed because of the tree protection which, she also noted, has been violated a number of times by the developer. Residents felt there does not seem to be coordination as to who has authority in this situation. Ms. Riehle said the Council will have to discuss this in an executive session. She noted that the situation is "trickier than it seems." SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 2 Mr. Leas cited the city's noise ordinance which, he said, gives the city power to address "unreasonable noise" that endangers health or peace of a person. He said there is evidence that this is the case, and that the noise ordinance is being violated. He felt there should be an immediate complaint filed and that the police should be authorized to act. Mr. Moscatelli, a member of the Development Review Board, noted that the new building permits do not contain a statement that tree and ledge regulations need to be followed. He agreed that basements are not necessary and said this should be considered ahead of time so that development can be done without torturing the neighbors. 4. Announcements and City Manager's Report: Council members reported on events and meetings they had attended. Ms. Baker: Staff is working to ensure that all students are safe as they walk or bike to school. A public letter was issued last week outlining the status of all the efforts. Adam Matth, the new Recreation & Parks Director started work today. Staff is working on budget development. A preliminary budget will be brought to the Council in early December. 5. Consent Agenda: a. Approve and Sign Disbursements Ms. Emery moved to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed 4-0. 6. Appointment of City Councilor: Ms. Baker reviewed the process the Council has used to replace Councilor Tyler Barnes who has accepted an employment position out of state. She said that the Council can discuss the appointment in executive session but will make the appointment in open session. Ms. Riehle said that the Council's consideration will include geographic distribution and familiarity with city issues. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 3 Ms. Farrington spoke in favor of Paul Engels, one of the candidates. Mr. Barritt then moved that the City Council meet in Executive Session under 1 V.S.A. Section 313(a)(3) for the purpose of discussion the appointment of a public officer, inviting into the session Ms. Baker, Chief Locke, and City Attorney McNeil. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed 4-0. The Council entered Executive Session at 7:51 and resumed open session at 8:16 p.m. Ms. Riehle announced that the Council has appointed Larry Kupferman to fill the Council seat vacated by Tyler Barnes. Mr. Barritt said the Council looked for someone who has served the city in the past and felt that Mr. Kupferman as a great choice. Ms. Riehle said this was a hard decision and thanked all the applicants for their interest. Mr. Kupferman will be sworn in by the City Clerk tomorrow. 7. Council Discussion of the 2024 City Plan: Ms. Baker explained that this is a Council work session. There will be the opportunity for public input at the first of 2 public hearings on 16 November. She recommended that the Council not take any votes at this meeting. Council input was then presented as follows: Mr. Barritt: Did not like the paragraph at the top of the document. He felt it was too emotional and too alarmist. Ms. Emery and Ms. Riehle shared that concern. Members agreed to remove that paragraph. Ms. Emery: Noted the elimination of"human focus"from the third Guiding Principle. She said the Council was told the Plan would focus on people's needs, and if that is eliminated, there is no reason for the Plan. She felt words such as "people oriented environment" and "focus on belonging" were important and should not be eliminated. She asked to substitute those words for "thoughtful sustainable environment." Mr. Chalnick said that "human focus" sounded arrogant to him. Ms. Emery responded that engineering plans need to take people into account. She felt "human focus" to be humane. Mr. Engels said the Planning Commission spent hours on the language and agreed on what is presented. It has been vetted in public SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 4 meetings. The Commission felt it was more precise and that the entire plan is "human focused." Ms. Riehle suggested "people focused" along with language regarding diversity and belonging. Mr. Chalnick: Would prefer chronic housing shortage" rather than "housing crisis." He would also delete the word "and nationally." Ms. Emery disagreed and felt that all the crises listed go together. People feel unsafe and feel they need a response from government. Ms. Riehle was OK with identifying 3 crises. Ms. Emery added that the Plan needs to say that government will respond to people in crisis Ms. Emery: On p. 8, paragraph 2, under "notable changes in the city," Ms. Emery felt that paragraph should go at the beginning. Mr. Barritt suggested beginning with the second sentence. The language would need to be integrated. Mr. Chalnick: On p. 16, goal #3, this should be limited to rental housing. Members agreed. He also questioned how the city can influence goal #8. Ms. Riehle suggested saying "reduce the percentage" and leaving out 50%. Mr. Conner noted the typical goal is to spend not more than 30% of ones income on housing. This language asked to reduce the number of people who are spending more than 50%on housing. Mr. Barritt: In goal #10, what does "electrify" mean. Mr. Conner said "electrify" is the word used in the city's Climate Action Plan. Members agreed to leave it in. Mr. Chalnick: One p. 18, he questioned the 18,000 jobs and asked to check that number. He also felt the second full paragraph needs tempering that speaks to the rest of the plan regarding the challenges of building more housing. He proposed alternative language. Ms. Emery felt there should be a link to the city's Open Space Plan and to include that plan on the list on p. 9- 10. She noted that the business community has made it clear that they cannot hire people because people can't find housing. Ms. Emery: On p. 19, paragraph 2, "challenges" is too vague a word. She suggested "these homes should be reinvested in, including insulation." Mr. Barritt suggested "have deficiencies" instead of "challenges." Members agreed. Ms. Emery: On p. 20, the plan specifically identifies "post-war neighbors" for small-scale infill. This has aroused a great deal of concern. She felt that the city should look beyond those neighborhoods for infill. Mr. Barritt noted that the post-war neighborhoods are already very SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 5 tight. Mr. Conner said the Commission was intending to describe single-family lot neighborhoods. Members agreed to make the change to "single-family lot neighborhoods." Mr. Chalnick: On p. 21, he felt the report being cited is "fatally flawed" and shouldn't be cited. Members agreed to strike that bullet point. Mr. Barritt: On. P. 24, the words "integrated housing" should be changed to "integrating housing." Members agreed. Mr. Chalnick asked to strike the last sentence as he didn't feel the facts support it. Mr. Barritt said he knows many people who commute from St. Albans, Swanton, Milton, etc., where housing is less expensive. Ms. Emery added that there are telecommuters who live in South Burlington. People who live outside South Burlington lose out because they can't afford the housing. Mr. Chalnick: On p. 25, suggested adding under the Airport: "work together to ensure that the Airport is working to reduce its greenhouse gasses, consistent with the Climate Action Plan." Members were OK with "collaborate." Mr. Barritt: On p. 27, paragraph 2, the reference to Green Mountain Power's low-carbon electric supply is inaccurate as it is not low-carbon. Mr. Chalnick 100%of the new supply to the grid is low-carbon. That is the basis for the Climate Action Plan. Members agreed to say "all new power will be carbon-free." Mr. Chalnick: On p. 35, he asked to change "protect" to "permanently conserve." Ms. Peterson said that paragraph includes both private and public conservation, and that makes it tricky because the city can't conserve all of that. Mr. Conner added that they can't say there is no ability to come back for more homes. Ms. Riehle said if it's a goal, the city could work with people to permanently conserve the land. Ms. Emery said she didn't want to scare people. Members agreed to leave it as it is. Mr. Chalnick: On p. 36, Action #43 needs clarification. He also felt there is a better way to say Action #40. Mr. Conner directed attention to maps 3 and 9. He said however the language is written, it has to be consistent with the future land use map so there is no conflict. Mr. Chalnick: On p. 55, he asked for statistics. SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL 30 OCTOBER 2023 PAGE 6 Ms. Emery: On p. 78, Action 127, she wanted to be sure that is going to happen because it did not happen on Market St. Ms. Peterson said there are things in the LDRs that bind this and allow for additional actions to make it happen. Mr. Chalnick: Expressed concern with solar numbers. Mr. Conner said there are 2 different sources, one is the State, which has to recognized in the plan. Due to the late hour and an executive session, Ms. Baker suggested holding further comments until after the public hearing. 8. Other Business: No other business was presented. 9. Consider entering executive session for the purpose of receiving professional legal services: Mr. Barritt moved that the City Council make a specific finding that premature general public knowledge of the City's discussion of confidential attorney-client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the Council would clearly place the public body at a substantial disadvantage. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed 4-0. Mr. Barritt then moved that the City Council enter Executive Session, under 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (a)(1)(F), for the purpose of discussing confidential client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the Council, and inviting into the session Ms. Baker, Chief Locke, Mr. Conner and Mr. McNeil. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The Council entered Executive Session at 9:58 p.m. Following the Executive Session, as there was no further business to come before the Council Mr. Barritt moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 10:51 p.m. Clerk