City Council

To be approved at 02-14-17 Barre City Council Meeting Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council Held February 7, 2017 The Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Mayor Thomas Lauzon at 7:00 PM at Barre City Hall. In attendance were: From Ward I, Councilor Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; from Ward II, Councilors Michael Boutin and Michael Smith; and from Ward III, Councilors Anita Chadderton and Lucas Herring. Also present were City Manager Steven Mackenzie and Clerk/Treasurer Carolyn Dawes. Absent: From Ward I, vacant. Adjustments to the Agenda: NONE 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 January 31, 2017  City Warrants as presented: o Approval of Week 2017-06:  Accounts Payable: $153,044.84  Payroll (gross): $117,398.71  Licenses & Permits - NONE The City Clerk/Treasurer Report – Clerk Dawes reported on the following:  Dog licenses are available through April 1st.  Third quarter taxes are due by February 15th.  Accepting requests for early absentee ballots. Approval of Building Permits – Council approved the following building permits on motion of Councilor Herring, seconded by Councilor Smith. Motion carried. Applicant Address Wall Street Investments 131 S Main Street Kevin & Donna Scott 41 Park Street 123 Hill Street LLC 123 Hill Street Liquor Control – NONE City Manager’s Report – Manager Mackenzie reported on the following:  Manager & Chief Bombardier met with representatives from the VT Department of Corrections and the Greater Barre Community Justice Center to discuss GBCJC’s relationship with the City. They are working to finalize the MOU between the City and GBCJC.  Started contract negotiations with the police, hoping to complete before the end of the fiscal year.  Street sweeper bid package released on January 23rd, and the vactor package is expected to be released later this week. Councilor Herring asked for updates on filling vacant positions and billing Barre Town. The Manager said he expects to bill Barre Town for its portion of the North Main Street Reconstruction Project by the end of next week, and will then begin working on billing for the wastewater projects. 1 To be approved at 02-14-17 Barre City Council Meeting Mayor Lauzon asked for an update on correspondence with the ladder truck vendor. Manager Mackenzie said the vendor responded to his recent letter regarding the late delivery of the truck, and Chief Bombardier is in discussions with the dealer with regards to possible cost adjustments. The Manager said he hopes to report a resolution at next week’s meeting. Visitors & Communications – Brandon Batham introduced himself and said he is a candidate for Ward 2 councilor. Mr. Batham said he is running to be a voice for the ward, and said the public is looking for reduced property taxes without gutting services, drug enforcement and working on what the City can be in the future. Old Business – NONE New Business – A) Barre City Promise Committee Project Proposals. Promise Committee planning committee members Pam Bailey from Green Mountain United Way and Josh Jerome from Barre Partnership said Barre City and Barre Town were selected jointly as a Promise Community, working to help children ages zero to six years to succeed. There is $200,000 in funding available, and the community identified the following priorities:  Increasing sense of safety  Access to and affordability of childcare  Indoor recreation opportunities for young children  Low/no cost activities The committee has received four proposals. A decision on which projects will be funded will be made at the committee’s February 14th meeting, and all funds must be spent by the end of the current calendar year. A link to the list of proposed projects and descriptions will be posted on the City website. There was discussion on seeing budgets for the different proposals and the process for scoring the proposals. Ellen Sivret from Friends of the Mathewson Playground advocated for their proposal to replace the safety mats under the swings at the playground. B) Barre Partnership Update. Mr. Jerome gave an update of recent and upcoming Partnership activities and events:  2017 summer concerts – they have added two this year for a total of 12, beginning May 31st .  Farmers market to be held in conjunction with the summer concerts. Seeking grant funds to brand Wednesday events in the City.  Closed out the USDA grant for the antiques center. Working with antiques center on community yard sale this summer.  Creating a business enhancement program to help with visual enhancement from public ways. A matching grant program.  Two new events this year: o Family focused BBQ event in May o Fall event focused on community heritage  Begun working on the Heritage Festival, which is scheduled for the last weekend of July. There was discussion on offering shuttle bus service for the Wednesday summer concerts and the Heritage Festival. E) Review of Ordinances on Entertainment Licenses and License Fees. Because Mr. Jerome was present, and this agenda item pertains to the Barre Partnership entertainment 2 To be approved at 02-14-17 Barre City Council Meeting license application discussed at last week’s meeting, Mayor Lauzon said he would move this item up on the agenda. The Mayor said there is no rush to finalize the Partnership’s license, and he would like additional time to review the ordinances. He requested that this be put on Council agenda for the February 21st meeting. C) Presentation of New Website to Council. Nick Landry, assistant to the City Manager, reviewed the new website, which went live in early January. He showed the sections on departments, boards and committees, the events calendar and search function. D) Warning: Second Public Hearing 7:15 PM. Proposed Charter Changes. Mayor Lauzon opened the public hearing at 8:22 PM and invited questions or comments. Councilor Herring said he wanted to reiterate that the local option tax language does not include sales taxes. Mayor Lauzon said he is visiting the Vermont Department of Taxes tomorrow, and will be getting additional tax collection data from them with regards to trends in rooms, meals and alcohol taxes throughout the state. The Mayor said the City will hold a number of events where the public will be welcome to ask questions about the three charter changes on the ballot. Mayor Lauzon asked if there were any additional questions or comments. Hearing none, he closed the public hearing at 8:27 PM. F) Acceptance of Tax Appeal Settlement – Downstreet Housing & Community Development Et Al. Mayor Lauzon said the appeal is scheduled for a hearing next week, and therefore it would be appropriate to hold discussion in executive session. Round Table – Councilor Herring said he participated in the penguin plunge over the weekend. He said 14 students also participated, and they raised over $4,000 to benefit BCEMS. Mayor Lauzon said he also participated in the plunge. Councilor Boutin offered congratulations to the New England Patriots for their Super Bowl win over the weekend. Councilor Tuper-Giles said there will be a murder mystery fundraiser at Hedding Methodist Church this weekend. Executive Session – Councilor Boutin made the motion to find that premature general public knowledge of the contracts, personnel, negotiations and tax appeal issues to be discussed would clearly place the City of Barre at a substantial disadvantage should the discussion be public. The motion was seconded by Councilor Chadderton. Motion carried. Council went into executive session at 8:36 PM to discuss contracts, personnel, negotiations and tax appeal issues under the provisions of 1 VSA sec. 313 on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Herring. Motion carried. Manager Mackenzie was invited into the executive session. City Assessor Joe LeVesque and Clerk Dawes were invited into the tax appeal portion of the executive session. Council came out of executive session at 9:44 PM on motion of Councilor Herring, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. 3 To be approved at 02-14-17 Barre City Council Meeting No action was taken. The Council meeting adjourned at 9:44 PM on motion of Councilor Smith, seconded by Councilor Herring. Motion carried. An audio recording of this meeting is available from the City Clerk. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 4