City Council

To be approved at 01-25-18 Barre City Council Meeting Special Meeting of the Barre City Council Held January 20, 2018 The Special Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Mayor Thomas Lauzon at 8:02 AM at Barre City Hall. Councilors in attendance were from Ward I, Councilor Sue Higby; from Ward II, Councilor Brandon Batham (arrived at 8:25 AM) and Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilor Lucas Herring. Also present were City Manager Steve Mackenzie, City Clerk Carolyn Dawes, Chief Tim Bombardier, Deputy Fire Chief Joe Aldsworth, and HR director Rikk Taft (arrived at 8:45 AM). Absent: Ward I, Councilor Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; and Ward III, Councilor John LePage. Councilor Batham arrived during the following discussions. Chief Bombardier and Deputy Chief Aldsworth reviewed ambulance runs, statistics and reasons for decreases. There was discussion on the following:  Lower number of transfer calls.  Staff shortages due to illness and injury.  Changes to federal and state protocols for cardiac arrest responses.  Positive effect of police department social workers.  Changes in critical care run criteria.  Impact of ambulance revenue tax.  Building the call force to take pressure off overtime expenses. Councilor Batham left at 9:08 AM. Human Resources director Rikk Taft gave a PowerPoint presentation related to workers compensation insurance costs. There was discussion on the following:  The City’s high modification rate due to past claim history.  Pool rates by job category.  Requesting an increased credit from insurance provider.  Preparing to shop for insurance coverage.  Overview of claims incurred.  Large jump in claims between FY16 and FY17 due to changes in reporting protocols.  Implementation of cost control initiatives and awareness. o Updating & adopting VOSHA policies. o Utilization of the Safety Committee. o Review of standard operating procedures. o Review of types of injuries. Mayor Lauzon asked Councilor Boutin to serve as liaison between Mr. Taft and the Council with regards to insurance-related information. The Mayor asked Mr. Taft to visit the Council on a monthly basis for updates, and to bring the Safety Committee with him on his first visit. Council reviewed the latest draft of the proposed FY19 budget, property tax projections, and capital projects list. Manager Mackenzie said he adjusted the anticipated grand list increase based on conversations with assessor Joe LeVesque. The Manager said he made some adjustments to the capital projects list, and recommended Council include a bond item on the ballot for a total of $1,150,000. Council also discussed adding a bond article for $720,000 for refurbishment of the municipal swimming pool. Clerk Dawes will get all necessary documentation from bond counsel Paul Giuliani in advance of Thursday’s Council meeting at which the Annual Town Meeting warning will be approved. 1 To be approved at 01-25-18 Barre City Council Meeting Clerk Dawes reviewed the draft warning, and noted the funding requests include all organizations that submitted complete applications. The Clerk said two organizations that received voter approval last March either did not submit a complete application, or did not submit any application at all. One of the two organizations plans on attending Thursday’s Council meeting to appeal to the Council for placement on the ballot. The Council meeting adjourned at 10:56 AM on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Herring. Motion carried. There is no audio or video recording of this meeting. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 2