City Council

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, August 26, 2025, 6:00pm IN PERSON LOCATION: Council Chambers, City Hall 6 N. Main St., Barre, VT Item 1. Call to Order; 6:01 PM Absent; Councilor Bergeron, Councilor Routhier Item 2. Adjustments to Agenda; Add; 4. H – Approve letter to support for the streets outreach team. 8. E – Discussion on increased criminal activities and quality of life issues with the City. Item 3. Visitors & Communications; Bern Rose-Thank you for the sidewalk addition on Allen St./Prospect St area. Brings safer pedestrian conditions and safer neighborhood. Alexander Pastor- In light of instructions from the post office to add a street side mailbox, she would like the DPW/City guidance to advise on location or placement ideas given the challenges of the street she resides on. Raylene Meunier – There is a schedule vigil in remembrance of those lives lost to overdose on Sunday, August 31st from 6pm-8pm. The Central Vermont Turning Point Center is the hosting organization. All are welcome. Sienna Rogers – REZ ME ENERGY LLC introduced herself, her product and ambitions for her caffeine energized beverage vending mobile unit. Item 4.Consent Agenda; A Approval of Minutes- 8/5/25 B. Licenses & Permits; REZ ME ENERGY LLC-beverage vending mobile unit at Harry & Lloyds – 28 Granite St. C. Approve 11/5 as alternate City Council meeting date D. Approve opioid settlement allocation to Turning Point – additional $20,000 E. Resolution #2025-16 Set FY26 water and sewer rates F. Ratify USW contract G. Authorize the Manager to execute contracts(s) Drainage and Access Improvements at the Public Safety Building, in the City of Barre- Contract Award The Department of Public Works recommends the selection of RJ Piche Excavating as the contractor for the Drainage and Access Improvement at the Public Safety Building Project. References were collected and determined to be satisfactory to the Department of Public Works. On Tuesday, August 26, 2025, the Barre City Council awarded the base bid contract to RJ Piche Excavating for their bid price of $45,274.00. These are FEMA funds. H. Approve a letter of support for the street outreach team. Motion to approve the Consent Agenda dated 8/26/2025 moved by Councilor Hilgartner, seconded by Councilor Deering, approved Item 4a. Approve City Warrants; i.Approve week 8/27/25 & ratify week 8/20/25 Motion to approve (2) City Warrants moved by Councilor Hilgartner, seconded by Councilor Deering, approved ii. Ratify week of 8/13/25 Motion to approve (1) City Warrant moved by Councilor Deering, seconded by Councilor Hilgartner, approved *Councilor Spaulding abstaining Item 5. City Clerk Report; The Clerk’s office closed the 1st quarter for property taxes on Friday, August 22nd. The delinquency rate was 5.99% in the amount of $297,466.96. The BCA met on August 18th for the purpose of conducting a biennial voter checklist challenge and purge, however, as the upcoming CVCC bond election scheduled for November 4th, came to light, the action will be delayed until early November after the election and before the March 2026 elections to come. Upcoming business; Annual renewal of permits and licenses notices will be sent out this week. The due date for these renewals will remain December 30. (entertainment, waste removal, vehicle for hire etc.) Local organizational funding applications for town funding will be sent out early September with a due date of January 2. Keeping the due dates consistent with past year, though the Annual meeting date has moved to May. Item 6.Liquor / Cannabis Control Boards; Forget-Me-Not Flowers - 2nd class liquor Foxy's - Outside Consumption Permit (CLOSING ANNOUNCED) Granite City Market (Capital Candy) - tobacco & tobacco sub. Motion to approve Liquor and cannabis application license renewals as listed, moved by Councilor Deering, Seconded by Councilor Spaulding, approved Item 7.City Managers Report; FEMA buyouts continue. Will be attending the Economic Progress meeting with TIF Administrator Carol Dawes in preparation for the upcoming bond vote. Fire hydrants update; 35 are currently out of order/ 6 are repairable / others will be replaced once the DPW staff finish paving preparation. Fire Chief Keith Cushman assures community members the fire department is aware of all outages and is prepared. USW contract has been approved. Welcome to the NEW Finance Director Christina Kimball. Item 8.New Business; A. Flood Resiliency Plan Update (Gustin) Angie Harbin from Downstreet Housing updated attendees on the Revolving Loan fund progress and community member options of use. Inquiry about how or if the City would like to partner with Downstreet in some manner to get the information out to the public for the best possible outcome and use possibly placing inserts in Water and Sewer bills. B. Regional future land use map discussion (CVRPC) – Brian Voight & Nicki Sabido The team presented a tier system which will be implemented upon map reveal. The City’s planned growth will then use that tier to move forward in decision making. There are three categories of high density, moderate density and rural. C. City Funds update; (Treasure – Carol Dawes) A detail of all investment funds, the guidelines for use and the revenue earned was presented to the Council and attendees. The information on past expenditures and projects funded helped clarify restrictions some of the funds have in place based on the Bequestors instructions. Council members then offered suggestions for consolidating some accounts, finding uses for some funds and how to make the best use of future funds. The funds discussed total more than $6,000,000 dollars. D. CDBG-DR. (Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery) application updates; Manager Storellicastro outlined timelines, completed preapplications and the funding amounts asked for, including the projects the funds would be applied toward. The funds are available to municipalities impacted by the July 2023 floods only. Projects include, development of 143 N. Main St., Prospect St Heights, the North End housing and improvement projects, stormwater infrastructure, the Potash Brook flood mitigation, Willey Street bridge improvement and Harrington Avenue debris catch. The whole effort has been team lead project with lots of thought and consideration. E. Discuss upticks in criminal activities and quality of life issues; Mayor Lauzon opened the discussion with sharing information about a drug related incident which he was notified of, occurring in one of the low-income housing units. This type of criminal activity is increasingly putting other community members in harm's way, many of these individuals are armed with guns. Drug related activity is becoming more openly used in parks, streets and parking lots. Knowing the police department is stretched thin, and the justice system has been lacking consequences, the Mayor asked the Council and community members for ideas on how to deal with unwelcomed behaviors. Some suggestions included more resources for the unhoused, better outreach offerings and more inclusiveness in community to those suffering from addiction. However, on the other side of the coin, some voice they want more accountability for those who commit crimes, stiffer penalties for those who are service resistant and repeat offenders, and more staffing in the public safety sector to assist the current hard-working officers. Knowing not all people addicted to drugs are involved in criminal behaviors, those who are, need to be stopped. This isn’t just limited to Barre members, but those who travel into Barre to sell and traffic the drugs. More discussion will be placed on the agenda to include local law officials and legal officials. Item 9. Upcoming Business; Mayor Lauzon; Quality of life discussion Water & Sewer rates compared to Barre Town CDBG-DR. (Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery) Grant updates Item 10. Round Table; Mayor Lauzon; n/a Councilor Deering; School will begin again on Wednesday, August 27, 2025. Be cautious of buses and children at bus stops. Councilor Hilgartner; pass Councilor Gustin; pass Councilor Bergeron; n/a Councilor Spaulding; As the Council liaison for the Unhoused Committee, she attended a lunch summit was a great experience. JEDIB committee hosting a book club at the Aldrich Library September 25th - book-Evicted New member of the Board for the Granite Museum – the festival is Sat. September 20th please join. Councilor Routhier; n/a Item 11 Executive Session – n/a Item 12 Adjournment; Motion to adjourn moved by Councilor Deering, seconded by Councilor Hilgartner, approved Adjourned; 8:43 pm Next regular meeting is scheduled for September 9th, 2025, at 6pm. The open portions of the meeting were recorded on the video platform. Respectfully submitted, Cheryl A. Metivier, City Clerk