City Council

To be approved at 06/29/21 Barre City Council Meeting Special Meeting of the Barre City Council Held June 22, 2021 The Special Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order in person and via video platform by Mayor Lucas Herring at 6:03 PM at Barre City Hall. In attendance, participating in person or by video or phone, were: From Ward I, Councilor Emel Cambel; from Ward II, Councilors Michael Boutin and Teddy Waszazak; and from Ward III, Councilors Ericka Reil and Samn Stockwell. City staff members present were City Manager Steve Mackenzie, Planning Director Janet Shatney, and Clerk/Treasurer Carol Dawes. Others present included Stephanie Clarke from White & Burke Real Estate Advisors. Absent: From Ward I, Councilor Jake Hemmerick. Adjustments to the Agenda: NONE Visitors and Communications – NONE Executive Session – Mayor Herring said Council would go into executive session to discuss possible contracts associated with TIF district planning. Councilor Boutin made the motion to find that premature general knowledge of contracts 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 Stockwell. Motion carried. Council went into executive session at 6:04 PM to discuss contracts under the provisions of 1 VSA sec. 313 on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Reil. Motion carried. Ms. Clarke, Manager Mackenzie, Planning Director Shatney, and Clerk Dawes were invited into the executive session. Council came out of executive session at 7:01 PM on motion of Councilor Stockwell, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried. No action was taken. The Special Council meeting was adjourned at 7:02 PM on motion of Councilor Cambel, seconded by Councilor Reil. Motion carried. There is no audio recording of this meeting. Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council Held June 22, 2021 The Regular Meeting of the Barre City Council was called to order in person and via video platform by Mayor Lucas Herring at 7:04 PM at Barre City Hall. In attendance, participating in person or by video or phone, were: From Ward I, Councilor Emel Cambel; from Ward II, Councilors Michael Boutin and Teddy Waszazak; and from Ward III, Councilors Ericka Reil and Samn Stockwell. City staff members present via video or phone were City Manager Steve Mackenzie, Public Works Director Bill Ahearn, Planning Director Janet Shatney, and Clerk/Treasurer Carol Dawes. 1 To be approved at 06/29/21 Barre City Council Meeting Absent: From Ward I, Councilor Jake Hemmerick Adjustments to the Agenda: NONE Approval of Consent Agenda: Council approved the following consent agenda items on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Reil. Motion carried. A. Minutes of the following meetings: a. Special meeting of June 15, 2021 b. Regular meeting of June 15, 2021 B. City Warrants as presented: a. Approval of Week 2021-25, dated June 23, 2021: i. Accounts Payable: $298,737.96 ii. Payroll (gross): $147,195.45 C. 2021 Licenses & Permits: NONE D. Acceptance of Donation from the Hollow Inn. E. Authorize Purchase of City Hall Alertus Security Software/Hardware. F. Selection of Re-Appraisal Contractor. G. Ratify Manager’s Execution FY22 Fuel Oil and Propane Contracts. H. Authorization to Award Contract for City Hall Heat Pumps. The City Clerk/Treasurer Report – Clerk/Treasurer Dawes reported on the following:  Water/sewer bills are due by June 30th. Liquor Control – NONE City Manager’s Report - Manager Mackenzie noted his written weekly report included in the Council packet, and said the municipal pool ribbon cutting is June 27th. The Manager will be on vacation next week. Visitors and Communications – Resident Ellen Kaye said she attended yesterday’s National League of Cities training on equity, and she encouraged others to attend the remaining two trainings in the series. Councilor Waszazak said he is serving as the operator for the virtual platform portion of the Council meeting. Manager Mackenzie said the City will be purchasing more advanced equipment to facilitate hybrid meetings more effectively. Councilor Stockwell said the Council packets are getting larger, and it would be helpful to have a table of contents to assist in navigating the packets. Old Business – B) Review/Approved City Fee Schedule Changes. Clerk Dawes presented the list of proposed changes. Council approved the changes on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Waszazak. Motion carried. New Business – A) Council Approval of Property Tax Due Dates for FY22. Clerk Dawes presented the memo and recommended Council set the tax due dates as September 15, 2021, November 15, 2021, February 15, 2022, and May 16, 2022. Council approved the recommended dates on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Stockwell. Motion carried. 2 To be approved at 06/29/21 Barre City Council Meeting B) Award of Paving Bid. Public Works Director Bill Ahearn reviewed the bidding process and recommended the contract be awarded to low bidder Extreme Excavating. There was discussion on paving thickness. Council approved the contract award as recommended on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Stockwell. Motion carried. C) Appointment of: i. Alexander Raeburn to the Police Advisory Committee. Mr. Raeburn expressed his interest in serving on the committee. Council approved the appointment on motion of Councilor Waszazak, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried. ii. Heather Milne Ritchie to the Cemetery Committee. Ms. Ritchie expressed her interest in serving on the committee. Council approved the appointment on motion of Councilor Stockwell, seconded by Councilor Cambel. Motion carried. iii. Nancy Wolfe to the Recreation Committee. Ms. Wolfe expressed her interest in serving on the committee. Council approved the appointment on motion of Councilor Waszazak, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried. iv. Janelle Starr to the Recreation Committee. Ms. Starr expressed her interest in serving on the committee. Council approved the appointment on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Stockwell. Motion carried. Mayor Herring said there are two people interested in serving on the Development Review Board, and there is one available seat. v. Michael Hellein to the Development Review Board. Mr. Hellein expressed his interest in serving on the board, and noted he also serves on the Planning Commission. vi. Pete Fournier to the Development Review Board. Mr. Fournier was not present. Council approved appointing Mr. Hellein to the DRB on motion of Councilor Waszazak, seconded by Councilor Cambel. Motion carried. D) Public Art Committee. PAC committee member Alexander Raeburn gave an update on the committee activities to date. They are working on the mission and vision statements and expect to have them ready for presentation to the Council in November. The committee is working on fundraising and name recognition. Upcoming projects include an open mic night, a Chalk the Walk family sidewalk chalk event scheduled for August 21st, and a city-wide mural project in conjunction with a statewide mural project. E) Re-establishment of Organics Diversion Committee as Task Force. i. Appointment of Samn Stockwell to Task Force. Mayor Herring said the joint Barre City/Montpelier Organics Diversion Committee hasn’t been meeting, and his intention is to re-establish it as a Barre City-only task force. He asked Council to approve the re- establishment and name change. Council approved on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Waszazak. Motion carried. 3 To be approved at 06/29/21 Barre City Council Meeting Council approved appointing Councilor Stockwell to the task force on motion of Councilor Cambel, seconded by Councilor Boutin. Motion carried. F) Discuss Recommendation to Provide to the Planning Commission. Mayor Herring polled the Council on issues they’d like to see reviewed by the PC. Councilors listed the following:  Demolition of housing,  Signs on Main Street,  Reviewing the municipal plan and assigning responsible parties,  Neighborhood development areas. G) City of Barre FY22 Annual Appointments. Mayor Herring reviewed the annual appointments. Council approved the appointments on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Reil. Motion carried. Round Table – Councilor Stockwell said she hopes the meeting between Good Samaritan Haven and the Housing Conservation Board goes well, and leads to GSH’s ability to purchase the Twin City Motel in Berlin for additional housing for those who are experiencing homelessness. Councilor Waszazak said he’s grateful that Juneteenth has been approved as a new national holiday. He said photos of the municipal pool look great and he looks forward to the ribbon cutting this Sunday. Councilor Boutin said he’d like to hold a local dog show for the common dog. Mayor Herring said the donations received by the police and fire departments from the Hollow Inn will be used for the community picnic scheduled for August 25th. Executive Session – NONE The meeting adjourned at 8:59 PM on motion of Councilor Boutin, seconded by Councilor Stockwell. Motion carried. The meeting was recorded on the video meeting platform. Respectfully submitted, Carolyn S. Dawes, City Clerk 4