City Council

To be approved at 01-08-19 Barre City Council Meeting Special Meeting of the Barre City Council Held January 2, 2019 The Special Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order by Mayor Lucas Herring at 7:00 PM at the Barre Town offices, Websterville, Vermont. In attendance were: From Ward I, Councilors Sue Higby and Jeffrey Tuper-Giles; from Ward II, Councilor Michael Boutin; and from Ward III, Councilors John LePage and Rich Morey. Also present were City Manager Steve Mackenzie and City Clerk/Treasurer Carol Dawes. Absent: From Ward II, Councilor Brandon Batham. Also present was the Barre Town Selectboard: Thomas White (chair), Jack Mitchell, Paul White, Bob Nelson, and Norma Malone. Others present: Barre Town Manager Carl Rogers, Barre Town Assistant Manager Elaine Wang, Barre Town Clerk Donna Kelty. Adjustments to the Agenda: NONE New Business – (A) Joint Meeting with Barre Town Selectboard: BADC, Barre Partnership, Aldrich Library. Barre Area Development Corporation: Barre Area Development Corporation executive director Joel Schwartz gave an update on tenants in the Wilson Industrial Park, and a Powerpoint presentation on the developing marketing plan for the Barre area. The plan includes a website with sections on assets, opportunities, brand overview, links to active & interesting websites, and approximately 16 videos. The formal unveiling will likely happen in March. There was discussion on developing the media strategy; startup budgeting and fundraising for ongoing implementation; possible increases in municipal funding to assist with marketing costs; establishing a timeline for rolling out the marketing plan; including existing dining and retail; establishing metrics to gauge success; and ongoing maintenance of the website and marketing projects. BADC board members Rusty Valsangiacomo and Sarah Field said the board fully supports the project as evidenced by their willingness to invest BADC funds in development of the marketing plan. They said they are looking for support beyond funding. Barre Partnership: Councilor Tuper-Giles said he is the current Barre Partnership board chair, and will therefore recuse himself from any of the following discussion. Barre Partnership board members Dave Gold and Caitlin Corkins reviewed the mission statement, 2018 highlights and challenges, and the ongoing search for a new executive director. The BP is looking to increase collaboration with organizations and businesses in the region through their new executive director. There was discussion on tracking success of events; funds received in support of local projects because of the Partnership’s downtown designation; 2019 priorities; possible merger or consolidation with BADC; and funding for the coming year. Mr. Gold and Ms. Corkins said the current levels of support received from Barre City and Barre Town will not support the hiring of the executive director they are looking at, who would bring the Partnership to the next level. They are looking for an increase in funding of $40,000 for the next fiscal year, and hope the new 1 To be approved at 01-08-19 Barre City Council Meeting executive director would be able to cover that amount through additional fundraising in the future years. They said they are looking for conceptual buy-in from the Council and Selectboard in the very near future. There was additional discussion on salary levels, possible additional staff, soliciting private donors for gifts or loans, and funding from other sources. Barre Town selectboard members said they haven’t begun their FY20 budgeting, and wouldn’t likely be able to give the Partnership an answer to their request until sometime in March. Aldrich Library: Aldrich Library board president Nancy Pope introduced new library director Loren Polk. Ms. Polk gave a Powerpoint presentation on the library’s use as a community center; the recently completed renovations to the childrens’ room; 2019 goals, current and future funding. There was discussion on the various ways people use the library, online ebook access, and improvements to their bookkeeping software and library statistics tracking. Ms. Polk said she will be presenting itemized budgets to both governing bodies in the near future. Those in attendance thanked Barre Town for hosting this joint meeting, and said it would be a good idea to hold similar forums in the future. Executive Session: NONE The Council meeting adjourned at 9:24 PM on motion of Councilor Tuper-Giles, seconded by Councilor Morey. Motion carried. There is no audio recording of this meeting. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 2