City Council

To be approved at 09-26-17 Barre City Council Meeting Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council Held September 12, 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, 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, one seat vacant. Adjustments to the Agenda: Mayor Lauzon said he would be adjusting the order of agenda items to accommodate those in attendance. 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 August 29, 2017  City Warrants as presented: o Affirmation of Week 2017-36:  Accounts Payable: $370,823.82  Payroll (gross): $121,064.90 o Approval of Week 2017-37:  Accounts Payable: $132,900.13  Payroll (gross): $119,274.37  2017 Licenses & Permits – o Animal License:  Dan Smith, 23 Spring Street, 6 chickens The City Clerk/Treasurer Report – Clerk Dawes reported on the following:  Water/sewer bills are due by October 2nd.  Two properties were sold at tax sale on September 7th. Due to several Councilors being absent next week, Mayor Lauzon canceled next week’s meeting. Approval of Building Permits – Council approved the following building permits on motion of Councilor Herring, seconded by Councilor Batham. Motion carried. Applicant Address Kimberly Joslin 23 Boyce Street Ben Barnum 15 Delmont Avenue John & Joyce LaRose 114 S. Main Street Lori Shepard 4 Westwood Parkway Liquor Control – Council approved a short-term outside consumption permit application from Mulligan’s on Maple Avenue for their Octoberfest celebration on Saturday, September 29th from 4-11 PM on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried with Councilor Boutin abstaining. 1 To be approved at 09-26-17 Barre City Council Meeting City Manager’s Report –  Received 2018 increase information for health insurance rates, which range from 9.49% to 9.8%. The budget includes 7%. Have been waiting for this information before resuming police union negotiations, which are scheduled to begin again next week.  Smith Street bike path is on target for mid-October completion.  Gunner’s Brook project is on target for early to mid-October completion.  Enterprise Aly O&M subsurface remediation may be progressing more quickly than original planned. Additional testing is being done.  Yard waste drop off schedule is being developed for October, to be followed by the yard waste pick up.  State Municipal Day is this Friday. Manager to give a presentation on flood mitigation projects. New Business – B) Veteran’s Stand Down Event. Chuck Barney reported on progress for the September 30th stand down event, which will be held at the auditorium. They have received large donations of clothing, and are working on providing transportation opportunities from all over the state. Veterans will have an opportunity to shower and get clean clothes, and meet with representatives from the VA and social service agencies. Mayor Lauzon said the City and Council will support the event in whatever ways they can. E) Authorization to Execute Commons Energy City Hall Energy Audit Proposal. Manager Mackenzie reviewed his memo outlining the proposal. Phase I calls for an energy audit of City Hall, along with a structural review of the roof. The costs for the audit and structural analysis are approximately $6,000 and $7,500, respectively. Should the audit find sufficient opportunities for energy savings, the project would move into phase II for implementation. If the project is implemented, the cost for the audit would be included in long term financing. The expectation is that energy savings would cover the implementation costs. Brian Pine from Commons Energy said they would work with the City and municipal leasing consultants to arrange financing. Tim Perrin from Efficiency Vermont said they have pledged $3,000 to cover ½ the cost of the audit. Mayor Lauzon invited Commons Energy and Efficiency Vermont to consider the compressors at the BOR for a future energy project. Council authorized Manager Mackenzie to execute the audit paperwork on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. Visitors & Communications – NONE Steve Finner, vice president of the Barre Area Senior Center, said the center enjoyed hosting Project Independence recently, when PI was forced out of their building due to storm damage. Mr. Finner said PI has bus transportation services available for their clients, and he would like to see such service offered to the Senior Center on a regular basis. Mr. Finner said he has reached out to GMTA, but has been unsuccessful in getting bus service for the center. Mayor Lauzon said he and other Councilors will get in touch with GMTA to talk about adding this service to those already provided to the City. Jacqueline Rogers introduced herself and said she is interested in running for the Ward III Council seat most recently held by Anita Chadderton. The seat will be filled at a ward caucus in October. New Business, continued – Warn: Ward Three Caucus. Council approved the warning for the ward caucus for Thursday, October 19th at 7:00 PM in the Alumni Hall 2nd floor meeting room on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. 2 To be approved at 09-26-17 Barre City Council Meeting Old Business – A) Municipal Pool Leak Investigation Report/Update. Department of Public Works director Bill Ahearn said in spite of recent repairs, the pool is still losing 8,000 – 9,000 gallons of water per day. They have analyzed how much the cracks in the pool are contributing to the water loss, and all leaks appear to be contained by the perimeter drain system. There was discussion on the structural integrity of the current pool. Manager Mackenzie said he and Mr. Ahearn will come back in three weeks with further assessments and options for going forward. B) Review/Discussion Annual Meeting Funding Requests: Application & Policy. Clerk Dawes reviewed the draft fund request application and policy revisions. There was discussion on inclusion of financial reports and 990’s to be submitted with the applications. The Clerk will incorporate the changes and bring it back for consideration and possible approval at the September 26th meeting. New Business, continued – C) Authorization to Award Granite/North Main Street Storm Sewer Bids. Manager Mackenzie said the City should accept the low bid from R J Piche Excavating Co. of Essex Jct. to protect the bid amount, which is only good for 60 days unless accepted. The Manager said accepting the bid does not obligate the City to complete the project. He is working with the state to explore other funding opportunities, as the grants already approved will not cover the total project costs. Council authorized awarding the bid to low bidder RJ Piche Excavating Co. on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Herring. Motion carried. D) Discussion re: Police Department CALEA Certification Enrollment. This item has been deferred until the September 26th meeting. Round Table – Councilor Higby announced the Rock Solid 17 show opening September 19th at Studio Place Arts. Councilor Herring said he participated in Northfield’s Labor Day parade, and he thanked labor unions for all they do on behalf of their members. He said the Granite Festival was this past weekend, and the Heritage Festival was voted the Best of the Best Musical Festival by Times Argus readers. Councilor Boutin asked that the executive session include a discussion on real estate. Mayor Lauzon said he does not support the President’s decision on DACA, and he will be drafting a resolution to that effect. Executive Session – Councilor Boutin made the motion to find that premature general public knowledge of personnel, litigation and real estate 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 Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. Council went into executive session at 8:44 PM to discuss personnel, litigation and real estate issues under the provisions of 1 VSA sec. 313 on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Tuper- Giles. Motion carried. Manger Mackenzie was invited into the executive session. 3 To be approved at 09-26-17 Barre City Council Meeting Council came out of executive session at 9:22 PM on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. No action was taken. The Council meeting adjourned at 9:23 PM on motion of Councilor Batham, 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 4