City Council

REGULAR COUNCIL MEETING Tuesday, September 9th, 2025, 6:00pm IN PERSON LOCATION: Council Chambers, City Hall 6 N. Main St., Barre, VT Item 1. Call to Order; 6:00 PM Item 2. Adjustments to Agenda; Add; Move Item 8A to consent agenda (4D) Add vote from council in support of Chief Vail position as the new 8C Item 3. Visitors & Communications; Sarah Helman – Discussion of letter sent to property owner that live on “private roads” in regard to the City’s intent to no longer plowing these streets. Why now, after all these years? As taxpayers we should have all the amenities other taxpayers are given. How can we resolve this issue? The Manager responded with data gathered from surrounding communities which led to the decision. However, the property owners and City may come to an agreement via a possible addendum or as Councilor Gustin suggested, looking at whether there are grants that may assist these private drives/streets to make changes to bring them into compliance with City requirements. Item 4.Consent Agenda; A Approval of Minutes- 8/26/25 B. Licenses & Permits; Food Vending – I HEART COOKIES-One day only Thursday, September 11th - 2pm to 7pm at the Barre Auditorium parking lot. Event - Moonlight Caper Morris - dance group Saturday, September 20th - 3pm to 6pm at City Hall Park C. Ratify 8/26/25 approval of letter of support for Good Sam outreach team (notating signature errors to be corrected) D. Accept resignation of Haley Pero from the Parks & Rec Committee effective 9/30/25 E. Authorize the Manager to execute contract(s) F. Approve idling policy Motion to authorize the approval of the Consent Agenda dated 9/9/2025 moved by Councilor Deering -- Seconded by Councilor Hilgartner, approved by all. Item 4a. Approve City Warrants; Approve City Warrants; i. Approve week 9/10/25 ii. Ratify week of 9/3/25 Motion to approve City Warrants moved by Councilor Bergeron, seconded by Councilor Hilgartner, approved by all. Item 5. City Clerk Report; The Clerks office will begin posting a bi-weekly newsletter on all the City’s social media platforms, to keep the community up to date on timelines for upcoming licensure renewals, payments due etc. Item 6.Liquor / Cannabis Control Boards; Aranda Mexican Cuisine -377 N. Main St– 2nd Class Liquor and Tobacco Barre Social Club- limited OSC license for Sept 19th, 2025. Motion to approve Liquor/Cannabis licensures moved by Councilor Spaulding, seconded by Councilor Gustin, approved by all. Item 7.City Managers Report; TIF project “Stevens Branch Apartments” on Seminary St has the momentum to be brought to the voters for bond funding. Paving of Allen St., Berlin St., Prospect St. and Quarry St. will be wrapping up late September. Council meeting scheduled for Tuesday, September 23 will be moved to Wednesday, September 24th to coincide with the CDBG-DR hearing, meeting the statutory timelines. Continued vandalism, and parking issues in and around City Hall Park will be discussed with area churches and the Peoples Health & Wellness Clinic in hopes for resolutions. Item 8.New Business; A. Flood Resiliency Plan update (Gustin) Members of the River Access Task Force, Kathy Jameson, Peter Anthony and Hannah Towne shared some upcoming events; Saturday, September 13th -4th Annual River Clean-Up – reach out at barrerivers@gmail.com for more details. All are welcome! Friends of the Winooski River hope to gather Wednesday, September 24th to share information on possible grants to create river access points with Barre City and an access trail to the Rotary Park falls. Expressed interest in the buyout properties, noting river access points may be an option. Would like to partner with Vermont State Parks and/or Fish & Game, to bring the vitality of fishing back to the rivers. For more information on any of these topics; barrerivers@gmail.com B. CDBG_DR application updates The Manager reviewed the application process, due dates and included what the City would use the funding for throughout the City of Barre, with a focus on housing, infrastructure and planning. Focusing on housing, the city intends to reconnect with residents of the North End to confirm their interest in the buyout or elevations and to possibly, add a few residents who may have just decided to be included in the North End redevelopment. Throughout the process things have been adjusted to meet the requests of those North End residents. C. Approval vote of Council in support of Chief Vails request. Following the public statements made by Barre City’s police Chief, the Mayor asked the Council to consider a vote, recognizing the need for more problematic citizens to held accountable for repetitive poor behavior. These behaviors are injuring the City’s officers, lowering the quality of life for community members, and destroying or desecrating property. Without publicizing details and names, recent incidents have brought this to a head for the Chief, Manager and Mayor. With discussion at a standstill, the Council continues to try to find a balance between finding root causes, while also holding those people accountable. This led to the Mayor asking for; A motion to “Agree, it is time (past time) for the criminal justice system to hold offenders more accountable for their offenses” was moved by Councilor Deering, seconded by Councilor Bergeron, approved by all. Item 9. Upcoming Business; Mayor Lauzon;  CDBG_DR application updates Public safety updates and actions Councilor Gustin; Data on housing vacancies Adopt a Storm drain initiative Councilor Spaulding; Neighborly Barre initiative Data on housing vacancies Item 10. Round Table; Mayor Lauzon; Appreciation for First Responders Visited counterparts in Quebec, CA to discuss similar struggles and strategies. Across the border, we share hardships and hope to work collaboratively to improve conditions. Councilor Deering; Attended the Turning Point Vigil. The evening was in remembrance of those we lost to overdose. Encouraging to see the community support. Councilor Hilgartner; Benefit concert-Sat. 20th at 3pm-Good Shepard Church John Mark Harrison – call Water, Love, Loss All proceed will benefit the warming center at the Church. Councilor Gustin; Has been enjoying getting outside, particularly in the Cow Pasture it is a “Gem”. It has some new trails and new signs. Councilor Spaulding; Labor Day Hope Cemetery Tour – led by Joelen Mulvaney – was educational and enjoyable. The JEDIB committee is hosting a book club at the Aldrich Library, September 25th @ 530pm. Councilor Routhier Sorry he could not be at the meeting in person and hopes to be at the next meeting. Item 11 Executive Session – n/a Item 12 Adjournment; Motion to adjourn moved by Councilor Hilgartner, seconded by Councilor Deering, approved Adjourned; 7:50 pm Next regular meeting is scheduled for September 24th, 2025, at 6pm. The open portions of the meeting were recorded on the video platform. Respectfully submitted, Cheryl A. Metivier, City Clerk