City Council

To be approved at 05-22-18 Barre City Council Meeting Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council Held May 15, 2018 The Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Mayor Lucas Herring 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 (arrived 7:03 PM) and Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilors John LePage (arrived 7:10 PM) and Richard Morey. Also present were City Manager Steven Mackenzie and City Clerk/Treasurer Carol Dawes. Absent: NONE Adjustments to the Agenda: Mayor Herring said the Promise Grant agenda item will be taken up right after the mayoral proclamation. Approval of Consent Agenda: Council approved the following consent agenda items on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried.  Minutes of the following meetings: o Regular meeting of May 8, 2018  City Warrants as presented: o Approval of Week 2018-20:  Accounts Payable: $147,504.68  Payroll (gross): $123,726.09  2018 Licenses & Permits – o Food Vending License:  Southern Hospitality, George Laramore, hot dog cart The City Clerk/Treasurer Report – Clerk Dawes reported on the following:  Fourth quarter property taxes were due by May 15th.  The Clerk will be away on vacation next week. Approval of Building Permits – Council approved the following building permits on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Morey. Motion carried with Councilor Tuper-Giles abstaining. Applicant Address Frederic & Marilyn Ford 195 S. Main Street Joseph & Marie Ritzo 142 Elm Street Liquor Control – NONE City Manager’s Report – Manager Mackenzie reported on the following:  The police and fire departments are holding a “Battle of the Badges” blood drawing on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Hall.  The set-up work for VT Alerts is nearing completion. People can sign up on the VT Alerts website to receive different types of alerts.  The yard waste drop off continues through this Saturday. Pick up will be by ward next Tuesday through Friday. The schedule is posted on the City website.  The Manager will be out of the office this Thursday and Friday, attending the Vermont Town & City Managers conference. The Manager serves as president of that organization. 1 To be approved at 05-22-18 Barre City Council Meeting Visitors and Communications – Tyler Chaffee and Megan MacIver from the Spaulding High School Key Club gave a presentation on their upcoming Powerpuff football game, which will be a fundraiser for the restoration of Cornerstone Field. The game will be held on July 8th, and will feature boys from the four SHS classes competing in flag football. Girls will serve as coaches and referees. The Key Club has 30 members, and is the oldest such club at Spaulding. They are sponsored by the Barre Kiwanis Club, and participate in a number of fundraising and special projects throughout the year. They encourage everybody to attend the game and root for a team. Old Business – A) Review and/or Approval of Proposed Fee Changes. Clerk Dawes reviewed the draft fees. Council approved the fee changes as presented on motion of councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. New Business – A) Mayor Proclamation for Kids to Parks. Clerk Dawes read the proclamation, and Mayor Herring presented it to Buildings and Community Services assistant director Stephanie Quaranta and Stacey Lynds from Capstone - Head Start. Ms. Quaranta and Ms. Lyons said they are partners in the Promise Grant programs. They are working together to create the Great Playground Chase that will encourage people to visit all twelve of the playgrounds in Barre City and Barre Town. I) Promise Grant Funding Allocation from Brusa Trust. Clerk Dawes said there continue to be problems getting the Promise Grant funding re-secured from the state. Ms. Quaranta has several camps and other programs in place for the summer, some of which have already started. There is concern that the state will not allow use of the grant funds for programs that are underway. Clerk Dawes and Ms. Quaranta continue to urge the state to expedite their processing. There was discussion about using Brusa Trusts in the interim. It was decided to continue to work towards resolution with the state before dedicating any local funds. Ms. Quaranta was authorized to move forward with her programs. Councilor Higby suggested staff track their time dealing with these issues, and report the additional administrative time to the state. B) Cow Pasture Update. Cow Pasture Committee chair Chris Russo-Fraysier and committee member Alex Pastor said the committee continues to work its way through the management plan. They have been addressing some unauthorized and illegal use of the area, mostly be motorized vehicles that cause ruts and damage trails. They are looking at ways to beautify the Maplewood Avenue entrance, the possibility of adding additional property to the cow pasture, and use of the nearby paper streets as pathways to the pasture. C) Park Street Center Update. Former Mayor Thom Lauzon gave a presentation on the proposed Park Center project that would create a hotel/conference center/grocery store/market-rate housing complex in downtown Barre between North Main and Summer Streets. Mr. Lauzon talked about walking radius to amenities, creating housing for those aging in place, “vertical main streets”, and structured parking. He said the project includes a 60 space parking garage with an estimated cost of $5.5M, and that the City should control parking The TIF district could be used to finance most of the proposed garage, with new market tax credits filling the gap. New market tax credits must be applied for before November 2018, as the current NMTC area is shifting to the other side of North Main Street as of that date. There was discussion on embracing demographic changes, what role the City might play in the proposed project, creating a development team, involvement of Barre Area Development Corporation, involvement of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development, and applying for sales tax allocations. 2 To be approved at 05-22-18 Barre City Council Meeting BADC executive director Joel Schwartz said he would talk with Mr. Lauzon and Mayor Herring about options for moving forward with the project. Mr. Schwartz said a plan would need to be in place by mid- July, with closings on property acquisitions by the end of October. There was discussion on elimination of blighted properties, restrictions on use of NMTC, hazardous waste mitigation on-site, and timelines for TIF votes. F) Authorization to approve Five County Home Ownership Service Program (Downstreet Consortium Grant) Resolution to designate the Windham Windsor Housing Trust as the NCDO (Nonprofit Community Development Organization). Planning Director Janet Shatney said this is the last approval necessary for the program to begin receiving funding. Council approved resolution #2018-17 on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. D) Briefing on Proposed Staff Volunteer Recruitment Initiative. The Manager’s executive assistant Nick Landry reviewed the recruitment initiative and asked the Council to develop a City mission statement. The statement will be shared with committees and boards, who will then write their own mission statements. Mr. Landry also asked the Council to suggest criteria for thanking specific volunteers on a monthly basis. The mission statement and suggested criteria will be on the May 29th Council agenda for discussion. E) Council Approval to Accept the Governor’s Highway Safety OP and DUI Grants. Clerk Dawes said there have been issues in the past with receipt of funds from the Governor’s Highway Safety program, and she would like to hear more about how the program will operate. The item is deferred until next week. G) Authorize Agreement with Stone Environmental, Inc. for a Supplemental Phase II ESA for Keith Ave Parking Lot. There was discussion on hazardous materials identification and mitigation efforts to date, costs to date, remediation of the identified hot spot, and possible needs for vapor mitigation. Council authorized the agreement with Stone Environmental on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Batham. Motion carried. H) Approval of Pouliot Ave SW Engineering Services Agrmt w/ Watershed Consulting. This item is deferred. J) Approval of Assessment of Local Options Taxes. Clerk Dawes said the charter changes approved by the voters in March have been approved by the legislature. The Local Options Tax charter change requires Council to assess the LOT before the Clerk can send notification to the VT Department of Taxes. The Department requires a 90 day waiting period, with the taxes going into effect at the beginning of the following quarter; likely October 1, 2018. Payments will begin to be received in February 2019. Council approved assessment of the 1% local options tax on rooms, meals and alcohol on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Tuper-Giles. Motion carried. Round Table – Councilor Batham said he will be out of town for the May 29th meeting. He met with Mayor Herring and Councilor Higby to work on the draft naming policy, which will be coming to the Council for review at next week’s meeting. 3 To be approved at 05-22-18 Barre City Council Meeting Councilor LePage encouraged everyone to attend an education rally on the Statehouse lawn this Saturday. Councilor Morey said he visited the fire department over the weekend to get a burn permit. Burn permits are required for any outdoor burning, including backyard fire pits. Councilor Higby said there are 50 kids’ fishing activities this summer, and encouraged people to go fishing, and take their kids with them. Mayor Herring said he attended last week’s neighborhood watch informational meeting. There are three neighborhood-specific follow-up meeting scheduled. He reminded people of the blood drive this Thursday being sponsored by the police and fire departments, and he thanked the Barre Area Veterans’ Council and Barre City Department of Public Works for getting the flags up along North Main Street. Executive Session – Councilor Batham made the motion to find that premature general public knowledge of personnel and negotiation 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 9:40 PM to discuss personnel and negotiation issues under the provisions of 1 VSA sec. 313 on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Batham. Motion carried. Manager Mackenzie was invited into the executive session. Council came out of executive session at 9:58 PM on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Morey. Motion carried. No action was taken. The Council meeting adjourned at 9:58 PM on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Morey. Motion carried. An audio recording of this meeting is available from the City Clerk. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 4