City Council

To be approved at 11-20-18 Barre City Council Meeting Special Meeting of the Barre City Council Held November 14, 2018 The Special Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Mayor Lucas Herring at 6:45 PM at Montpelier City Hall. In attendance were: From Ward I, Councilor Sue Higby; from Ward II, Councilors Brandon Batham and Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilor John LePage. Also present were City Manager Steve Mackenzie, Police Chief Tim Bombardier, Fire Chief Doug Brent, and City Clerk/Treasurer Carol Dawes. Absent: From Ward I, Councilor Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; and from Ward III, Councilor Rich Morey. This was a joint meeting with the Montpelier City Council. Council members in attendance included: Mayor Anne Watson, Councilors Glen Hutcheson, Rosie Krueger Conor Casey, Jack McCullough, Dona Bate, and Ashley Hill. Also present were representatives from the Central Vermont Public Safety Authority, including executive director Paco Aumand, board chair Tom Golonka, and board members Martin Prevost, Kim Cheney, Dona Bate, and Sam Dworkin. Presentation of CVPSA Memo and Project Plan Mr. Golonka and Mr. Aumand gave a PowerPoint presentation on CVPSA’s proposed plans for consolidating dispatch services to a single location. Mr. Golonka said the board is looking for guidance from the Councils with regards to moving forward. There was discussion on budget projections, equipment upgrades, debt issuance, grant opportunities, impacts from possible changes in state police dispatching, setting benchmarks, labor management, impacts on municipal budgets, coving administrative functions currently being performed by dispatchers in Barre and Montpelier, and jail functions. Barre Police Chief Tim Bombardier, Barre Fire Chief Doug Brent, and Montpelier Police Chief Tony Facos spoke of the impacts of moving dispatchers out of the local police stations, and the additional costs associated with hiring additional staff to keep the stations open 24-7. The Chiefs spoke of the benefits provided by CVPSA to date, including training opportunities, building a bridge system between communities, purchasing equipment for Montpelier, creating an equitable sharing plan, and developing a governance model. A member of the public, Steven Whitaker, said he had concerns about the proposal and its lack of full failover capacity, need to maintain a local presence, and necessary telcom planning throughout the region. Councilors from both communities voiced their comments and positions on the CVPSA proposal. Both Councils will continue to discuss separately. Mayor Watson called a 5 minute recess. During the recess, Councilor Boutin left the meeting. Mayor Watson reconvened the meeting. Windham Compost Site Visit Discussion: Municipal Trash/Recycling/Compost Mayors Herring and Watson reviewed their recent tour of the trash, recycling and composting facilities in the Brattleboro area, run by the Windham County Solid Waste Management District. There was discussion on providing curbside pickup in Barre City and Montpelier, increasing composting options, reducing wear & tear on streets, and ordinance changes. Montpelier’s representative to the Central 1 To be approved at 11-20-18 Barre City Council Meeting Vermont Solid Waste Management District said CVSWMD was not interested in taking on curbside service, but would be available to help seeking grant funds for a feasibility study. Councilors from both municipalities expressed their thoughts and opinions. The Mayors will continue to research options. The Barre City portion of the joint council meeting adjourned at 9:20 PM on motion of Councilor Batham, seconded by Councilor Higby. Motion carried. There is no audio recording of this meeting. The meeting was video recorded and is available on the Montpelier City website. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 2