City Council

To be approved at 08-22-17 Barre City Council Meeting Special Meeting of the Barre City Council Held August 16, 2017 The Special 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, Councilors Sue Higby and Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; from Ward II, Councilors Brandon Batham and Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilor Lucas Herring. Also present were City Manager Steven Mackenzie and Clerk/Treasurer Carolyn Dawes. Absent: From Ward III, Councilor Anita Chadderton. Old Business – A) Council Priorities: Council reviewed the priorities list compiled by Councilor Herring from the lists generated by individual Councilors. The purpose was to set timelines and people interested in being involved in the various items on the list. Councilor Higby suggested adding a discussion on the Council’s schedule. 1. Parking Enforcement – will begin discussion at the September 26th Council meeting. 2. Zoning & Ordinance Changes – Zoning and ordinance changes are coming to Council from the Planning Commission and Planning Director Janet Shatney in October. Councilors Batham and Herring are reviewing City policies for potential revisions. 3. Barre Town Water and Sewer Agreement – will be reviewed and begin possible revisions by January 1, 2018. 4. Promoting Barre – this work is best headed up by the Barre Partnership and Barre Area Development Corporation. The BADC is currently working on promotional plans. Council would like to get regular updated from BADC executive director Joel Schwartz. Councilor Higby will put together a paper on arts districts by November. 5. Provide Manager Direction with Employee Programs – Manager Mackenzie will research ideas for efficiency programs, and discuss with department heads. Council will defer these items to the Manager. 6. Discussion on the creation of a Drug Task Force – Councilor Batham said he is interested in gathering together stakeholders working on drug addiction issues to create an ad hoc committee that would study ways to work together to combat drug-related issues in the City. He will develop a proposal for the ad hoc committee by early December. 7. Discussion on Department of Corrections Placements – Councilor Higby said she has a file of research and correspondence on this topic. She will review her documents and report back in February. Mayor Lauzon said he works regularly with DOC and other state agencies on this topic, and is currently working on housing issues, and relocating the justice center to a more centralized location. 8. Development of Budget – Mayor Lauzon said he would like the discussions to include review of the TIF. Manager Mackenzie said DPW director Bill Ahearn will present a 10 year capital equipment plan to the Council at the September 19th meeting. Council will devote time in October to prioritizing capital projects including the municipal pool, public works building, civic center complex, street reconstruction and sidewalk repairs. 9. Assist with Downtown Development Projects – There was discussion on the need to grow the grand list, and the possibility of forming a task force made up of development professionals. Council would like to hear from experts on real estate and development: what are people looking for in a new home community? There was discussion on expending tax stabilization opportunities to residential development, and on developing housing in the downtown. There was discussion on restoring aging housing stock and making improvements to rental housing. Councilors Boutin and Tuper-Giles will work with the local landlords association. 10. Discussion on March 2018 Ballot Items – There was discussion on placing a local option tax 1 To be approved at 08-22-17 Barre City Council Meeting charter change on the ballot again. The Clerk noted that any charter changes must begin the warning process in late December. It was noted that the Council is currently addressing the issue of creating a Community Fund in lieu of items on the ballot seeking voter-approved funding support for local organizations. 11. City Plan Updates – was not discussed. The Council meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM on motion of Councilor Herring, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. An audio recording of this meeting is available from the City Clerk. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 2