City Council

CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 The South Burlington City Council held a regular meeting on Monday, 16 June 2025, at 6:30 p.m., in the Auditorium, 180 Market Street, and by Zoom. MEMBERS PRESENT: T. Barritt, Chair; E. Fitzgerald, L. Smith, A. Chalnick, M. Scanlan ALSO PRESENT: J. Baker, City Manager; Chief S. Locke, Deputy City Manager; K. Donahue 1. Pledge of Allegiance: The Pledge of Allegiance was recited. 2. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency and review of technology option: Ms. Baker provided instructions on emergency exit from the building and reviewed technology options. 3. Additions, deletions or changes in the order of Agenda items: No changes were made to the Agenda. 4. Comments and questions from the public not related to the agenda: Mr. Donahue expressed concern that the City would not do anything to reimburse his daughter for costs she incurred due to an error made by a City employee. Mr. Donahue was also concerned that some intersections have “No turn on red” signs for no apparent reasons and this wastes gas from idling. 5. Councilors’ Announcements and Reports on Committee assignments and City Manager’s Report: PAGE 1 Council members reported on recent meetings and events they had attended. Ms. Baker: The City Clerk’s office will be closed on 19 June for training and vault cleanout. The 89 bridge project is in the bid phase. Supply chain issues are resulting in an extended completion date. Rich Donahay, Deputy Finance Director, began work this week. He will be introduced to the Council at its next meeting. The recruitment process for a new Librarian has started. 500 people attended the “Touch a Truck” event last week. 6. Consent Agenda: a. Consider and Sign Disbursements b. Approve Updates to the Employee Handbook and adopt as presented c. Approve award of final engineering contract for Bartlett Bay Road culvert replacement to Stantec d. Approve a multi-year Contract for Drinking Water System Management Services between Champlain Water District and City of South Burlington e. Award the construction contract for the Garden Street West Shared Use Path and Utility Improvements to Engineer’s Construction, Inc., and the inspection contract to Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., and authorize the Director of Public Works to negotiate, execute and amend the contracts consistent with the supporting documents f. Approve the grant application request to submit a SAFER grant for funding toward 3 additional firefighter positions Ms. Fitzgerald asked to pull #f from the Consent Agenda. Mr. Smith then moved to approve Consent Agenda items “a” through “e.” Mr. Chalnick seconded. Motion passed unanimously. Ms. Fitzgerald asked whether there was ever a master plan regarding people and equipment needs. Chief Locke said they have been included in the City budget and Capital Plan and have been consistent with the need for Shift Commanders. Ms. Fitzgerald asked about making a commitment via a grant and not considering what will happen down the road. Ms. Baker said the City has used SAFER in the past. It is CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 PAGE 2 a very competitive process. If the City is awarded the grant, it will have to commit to accepting the grant money. Mr. Scanlan said this is aligned with growth in the TIF area, and TIF does bring in added revenue. Chief Locke said the need is not so much because of growth; it’s increased calls, more than 5,000 a year. People use services more now than years ago. Mr. Smith then moved to approve Consent Agenda item “f” as presented. Mr. Chalnick seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 7. Approve Resolution #2025-10 honoring the service of Mark Behr: Mr. Chalnick read the resolution. Mr. Chalnick then moved to approve the Resolution. Mr. Scanlan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 8. Welcome public comment on the FY26 Policy Priorities & Strategies – the shared workplan between the Council, Leadership Team and Committees: Mr. Barritt asked for public comment. Mr. Smith noted he had received a comment suggesting a change from the designation of “retreat.” The resident felt it was more of a “working meeting.” Ms. Baker noted the Leadership Team met last week. This will be a different kind of meeting than before. There are many things the City is “midstream” on, and it would be hard to make changes. It will be warned on Friday instead of on Thursday. 9. Approve Resolution #2025-11 Adjusting the composition of the Energy Committee to 9: Mr. Smith moved to approve Resolution #2025-11 as presented. Mr. Chalnick seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 10. Appoint members to the City’s Policy and Statutory Committees and Boards: Ms. Baker reviewed the process. She drew 2 things to the attention of the Council: a. The Planning Commission appointment should be a 4-year and a 3- year term, not the 3-year and 2-year terms as previously noted. CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 PAGE 3  b. All appointments on the Economic Development Committee are for 3 years though Mr. Carrigan had wanted only a 2-year appointment. Mr. Scanlan moved to approve the list of appointees to the City’s Policy and Statutory Committees and Boards as presented with the expectation of the Planning Commission terms mentioned above. He indicated that they were the most qualified by content area and representing a diverse set of perspectives, effective 1 July 2025. Mr. Chalnick seconded. Motion passed unanimously. NOTE: The list of appointees is included herein for information purposes though it was not read into the record during the meeting: Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee (all 3-year terms): Stephen Znamierowski, Timur Tsutsuk, Donna Leban City Charter Committee: Peter Plumeau (3-year term), Linda Bailey (2-year term), Donna Kinville (3-year term) Development Review Board: Theodore Lenski (3-year term), Mark C. Behr (4-year term) Economic Development Committee (both 3-year terms): Christopher M. Carrigan, Bradley Krompf Energy Committee (all 3-year terms): Keith Epstein, Carrie Mclaughlin, Ethan Goldman Housing Committee (both 3-year terms): Lydia Diamond, Sandra Dooley Library Board of Trustees: Stacey Pape (1-year term), Holly Painter (3-year term), Marty Reid (3-year term), Ashley Haefele (3-year term), Brenda Ellwood Withey (3- year term) Natural Resources Committee (all 3-year terms): Jessica Balerna, Lisa Yankowski, Miles Chalnick Pension Advisory Committee: W. Spencer Baker (1-year term) Planning Commission: Donna Leban (4-year term), John Moscatelli (3-year term) Public Art Committee: Sophie Babbitt (3-year term), Isaac Cates (3-year term), Karen Marie Liamos (2-year term), Mark C. Behr (2-year term) CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 PAGE 4 Recreation & Parks Committee (all 3-year terms): Cyndi Freeman, Elisabeth Wells, Derek Eddy 11. Appoint City Council Liaisons to the City’s Policy Committees and Planning Commission: Ms. Baker reminded the Council that the Council Chair must be the liaison to the Planning Commission. Mr. Chalnick said he would like to do the Bike/Ped Committee; he has a conflict with the time of the Energy Committee which he had been doing. Mr. Smith suggested revisiting this item when there is a full City Council. Mr. Smith then moved to appoint Mr. Chalnick as liaison to the Bike/Ped Committee and remove him as liaison to the Energy Committee. Mr. Scanlan seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 12. Appoint a Commissioner and Alternate to the Green Mountain Transit Board: Ms. Baker reviewed the history. She said she is interested in keeping a “staff-to-staff line of communication,” and noted that Paul Conner and Ilona Blanchard are willing to serve in this capacity. Mr. Scanlan said making the “staff to staff” format permanent would be to the benefit of both GMT and South Burlington. Ms. Baker felt it was a good use of Mr. Conner’s and Ms. Blanchard’s time. Mr. Smith cited the remarkable effort Mr. Scanlan had put into his time as liaison. He also liked it becoming a staff responsibility. Mr. Barritt also supported this but asked to revisit it. Mr. Chalnick moved to appoint Paul Conner and Ilona Blanchard as Commissioner and Alternate to the Green Mountain Transit Board. Mr. Smith seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 13. Review the significant agenda topics for the Council’s 7 July 2025 Council Meeting: Ms. Baker enumerated the following agenda topics for the 7 July Council meeting: a. Second Reading and Public Hearing on a Fire Prevention and Protection Ordinance CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 PAGE 5  b. Possible action to adopt a Fire Prevention and Protection Ordinance c. Second reading and Public Hearing on an Electrical Installations Ordinance d. Possible action to adopt an Electrical Installations Ordinance e. Resolution to set fees for Fire Inspection services f. Resolution to set fees for the Electrical Installations Ordinance g. Transportation Impact Fee Ordinance h. Interview and appoint candidates for City Council Mr. Smith questioned whether it would be appropriate for him to meet personally with some applicants for the City Council. Ms. Fitzgerald suggested holding that question until Wednesday’s meeting. 14. Other Business: Ms. Fitzgerald raised the possibility of some compensation for some committee members when there is a hardship. As there was no further business to come before the Council Mr. Smith moved to adjourn. Ms. Fitzgerald seconded. Motion passed unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m. _________________________________ Clerk CITY COUNCIL 16 JUNE 2025 PAGE 6