City Council

To be approved at 11-22-16 Barre City Council Meeting Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council Held November 15, 2016 The Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Acting Mayor Michael Smith at 7:00 PM at Barre City Hall. In attendance were: From Ward I, Councilor Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; from Ward II, Councilor Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilors Anita Chadderton and Lucas Herring. Also present were City Manager Steven Mackenzie and Clerk/Treasurer Carolyn Dawes. Absent: Mayor Thomas Lauzon; and from Ward I, Councilor Paul Poirier. Adjustments to the Agenda: Acting Mayor Smith noted two of the items on the agenda will be deferred to next week’s meeting. Approval of Consent Agenda: Council approved the following consent agenda items on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Herring. Motion carried.  Minutes of the following meetings: o Regular meeting on November 1, 2016  City Warrants as presented: o Ratification of Week 2016-45: (warrants signed 11/07/16 by Michael Smith)  Accounts Payable: $279,531.54  Payroll (gross): $107,234.66 o Approval of Week 2016-46:  Accounts Payable: $113,674.82  Payroll (gross): $124,974.00  Licenses & Permits: NONE The City Clerk/Treasurer Report – Clerk Dawes reported on the following:  Results from last week’s elections were emailed around last week, and are posted on the City website. There were 3,290 voters who participated, representing 65% of the total checklist.  Today was the deadline for 2nd quarter property taxes. The delinquency rate currently stands at 11.5%, with additional timely payments due to arrive via mail through the rest of the week.  New assistant clerk Cheryl Metivier started yesterday. Approval of Building Permits – Council approved the following building permits on motion of Councilor Chadderton, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. Applicant Address Tender Loving Housecare LLC 15 Ayers Street David Smedy 7 Palmisano Plaza Robert Rathbone & David Hough 75 Warren Street Liquor Control – NONE City Manager’s Report – Manager Mackenzie reported on the following:  The voluntary water conservation order has been lifted.  Met with state to discuss funding options for the re-development of Merchant’s Row.  Energy Committee begins a series of conservation meetings tomorrow evening at the library.  The Traffic Advisory Committee is scheduled to next meet on December 1st.  Completed construction of the primary trash rack on Gunner’s Brook.  Booth property solar project is complete and on-line. Projected annual savings are $25,000. 1 To be approved at 11-22-16 Barre City Council Meeting Visitors & Communications – NONE Old Business – A) Greater Barre Community Justice Board Member Appointments. This item is deferred to next week. New Business - A) SHS History Project Presentations. SHS history teacher Lauren Buck and SHS seniors Cameron Ferry and Julia Keene presented three of the recent history project videos completed by SHS students. The videos feature Hope Cemetery, the Barre Opera House and the Robert Burns and Youth Triumphant statues. Ms. Ferry and Ms. Keene said they worked on the Opera House project, and described the process of collecting data and creating the video. Council thanked the students for their work and authorized linking the videos on the City website. B) Barre Partnership Update. Partnership executive director Josh Jerome gave an update on current and upcoming projects:  Initiated fall membership campaign.  Holiday lights going up later this week.  Requesting Council authorization for the holiday parade scheduled for Saturday, November 26th, beginning at 5:15 PM. Also requesting Council authorization for free parking from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Day.  Encouraging people to shop in the downtown on Small Business Saturday, November 26th.  Downtown merchants will have an open house and entertainment on Saturday, December 3rd.  Thanked the sponsors for the November 12th 5K race.  Beginning a new business enhancement program to assist with signage, window displays and design services.  Looking to develop incentive packages to recruit businesses to the downtown.  Beginning a networking series on December 6th to feed into next year’s road pitch event.  Planning for next year’s Heritage Festival begins at library on November 30th. Councilor Herring said the Partnership will be coming back to Council with a request to ban smoking throughout the Heritage Festival areas during the festival. Council approved the holiday parade request and the free downtown parking on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Chadderton. Motion carried. C) Request to Cede to the CVPSA Communications & Dispatch Functions. Central Vermont Public Safety Authority board chair Tom Golonka, executive director Paco Aumand, and all members of the CVPSA board were in attendance. Acting Mayor Smith noted for the record that he serves on the CVPSA board. Mr. Golonka reviewed the request to cede, which has been reviewed by labor attorney Scott Cameron, who serves both member communities. The objective is to provide high quality dispatch services to both member communities, and any other contracted communities, and to enhance opportunities for grants and funding. There was discussion about withdrawal options in the charter, negotiating with the unions, building the budget, potential savings through overtime costs, and consolidation of phone systems. Manager Mackenzie said he supports ceding authority to the CVPSA, however he would like two weeks 2 To be approved at 11-22-16 Barre City Council Meeting to review the budget numbers with Mr. Aumand. There was further discussion on budgeting and moving forward. Council authorized ceding communications and dispatch functions to the CVPA on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Chadderton. Motion carried with Acting Mayor Smith abstaining due to his position on the CVPSA board. D) Review of Ambulance Medicare (sic) Reimbursements. Chief Tim Bombardier reviewed his memo on Medicaid reimbursements, and noted most of the increased revenue from the changes in Medicaid reimbursement rates is offset by the new 3.3% tax on all ambulance revenues. The Chief said he anticipates the net revenue increase to be approximately $12,000 for the current year. E) Water Bill Appeal Policy Recommendation/Approval. This item is deferred to next week. F) Discussion re: Policy Development on Prohibition of Use of City Land/Rights-of-Way. Manager Mackenzie said he would like to create a policy to prohibit private use of City-owned land or rights-of-way. The Manager said his office is frequently called upon to adjudicate issues between neighbors where one neighbor is using public lands and the other is complaining about it. The Manager said he would like to have authority through a policy that would allow him to issue cease and desist orders in such instances. There was discussion on whether an ordinance would be a better vehicle that a policy, enforcement options, and asking the Planning Commission to weigh in on possible zoning bylaw changes. Council voiced support, and asked the Manager to come back with a draft in a few weeks. G) Authorize FY17 Propane Fuel Contract with Irving Entergy. Manager Mackenzie reviewed the proposal from Irving to provide propane through the end of February 2017, and the City would go back on the market after that point. He said the proposal was run by the energy consultant, who approved. Council authorized the Manager to sign and execute the contract on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Chadderton. Motion carried. Round Table – Councilor Boutin thanked the voters for participating in last week’s elections, and said it was a great Election Day. Councilor Herring gave the following reports:  Thanked the voters  Thanked those who participated in and sponsored the November 12th 5K race.  Asked for updates on billing Barre Town for its portion of the Big Dig, and filling the engineer position. Manager Mackenzie said he is working on both.  Asked for impact of the changes to the animal ordinance. Clerk Dawes said there’s been no noticeable impact, however, the Animal Control Officer has been tracking down unlicensed dogs.  Requested Council review the water agreement with Barre Town.  Requested discussion on budget and Town Meeting ballot items. Manager Mackenzie said the Budget Committee is scheduled to come to next week’s meeting. Clerk Dawes thanked the Councilors and Board of Civil Authority members who worked at the polls. 3 To be approved at 11-22-16 Barre City Council Meeting Executive Session – NONE The Council meeting adjourned at 8:53 PM on motion of Councilor Chadderton, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried. An audio recording of this meeting is available from the City Clerk. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 4