City Council

27 WEST ALLEN STREET WINOOSKI, VERMONT 05404 (802) 655-6410 CITY OF WINOOSKI (802) 655-6414 (fax) RAYMOND S. COFFEY INTERIM CITY MANAGER MAYOR SETH LEONARD DEPUTY MAYOR BRIAN CORRIGAN mayor@winooskivt.org CITY COUNCIL COUNCILOR NICOLE MACE COUNCILOR ROBERT MILLAR COUNCILOR BRIAN SWEENEY Agenda Monday, August 15, 2016 6:00 p.m. Claire Burke Council Chambers I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Public Comment IV. Consent Agenda a. Approval: Nominating Committee Minutes and City Council Minutes of 8/1/16 b. Approval: Payroll Warrant 7/17-7/30, Accounts Payable Warrant as of 8/11/16 V. City Update VI. Agenda Review VII. Regular Items: a. Discussion/Approval: F-35 Suit Updates and Next Steps – S. Leonard b. Approval: Resolution Extending Appointments from 5/17/16-7/19/16 – R. Coffey c. Approval: Appointment of Health Officer – R. Coffey d. Approval: Appointment of Building Inspector – R. Coffey e. Discussion: Introduction of Heather Carrington (Community and Economic Development Officer) – R. Coffey f. Discussion: Review Draft of MOU with Winooski School District – R. Coffey g. Approval: Request to Correct Manifest Errors in Grand List – R. Coffey VIII. Adjourn MINUTES The meeting was called to order by the Mayor at 6:01pm. The meeting began with the pledge of allegiance led by Deputy Mayor Corrigan. Members Present: Mayor Seth Leonard Councilors: Brian Corrigan, Brian Sweeney, Nicole Mace, Robert Millar Minutes of August 15, 2016 Winooski City Council Page 1 of 5 www.winooskivt.org Officers Present: Ray Coffey, Interim City Manager; Angela Aldieri, Assistant City Clerk; John Audy, Code Enforcement Director; Heather Carrington, Community and Economic Development Officer; Kirstie Paschall, Interim Community Services Director; Others Present: Jim Dumont; David Dube; Eileen Andreoli; Michael Mahoney; Michael O’Brien; Faisal Gill; James Leas; Robert Dipalma, Paul Frank and Collins; III. Public Comment No public comment was made. IV. Consent Agenda Minutes and warrants were considered separately due to Deputy Mayor Corrigan’s absence at the meetings where minutes are under consideration. MOTION by Councilor Mace, seconded by Deputy Mayor Corrigan to approve the minutes as presented. Friendly amendment by Councilor Millar to correct spelling error of his name on page seven. Amendment accepted by Councilor Mace and Deputy Mayor Corrigan. Voted and passed 3-0-1 with Deputy Mayor Corrigan abstaining. MOTION by Councilor Mace, seconded by Councilor Sweeney to approve the warrants as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. V. City Update Mr. Coffey stated that there has been a lot of behind the scenes work going on in the City. Our THRIVE childcare program has received a two star ranking from the STARS quality assurance program run by the state. This ranking comes with financial incentive of bonus funding from state subsidized childcare. In addition the program received a licensing inspection during the summer which was aced. The planning and zoning contract has been awarded to Paul Dreher of Dreher Designs. This contract will be for the next twelve months. He comes to us with tons of experience with form based code in particular and was an instrumental part of the code rewrite. Mr. Coffey announced that the City will be renewing the leases on the electric vehicles. They do not meet the threshold for Council renewal. Our new contract will be a slightly reduce monthly rate. Staff feels that these have been useful vehicles. Mr. Coffey went on to state that he has made the following appointments: Police Chief – Richard Hebert; Emergency Management Coordinator – Michael Cram; Fire Chief – John Spittle; Clerk – Carol Barrett; Assistant Clerks – Angela Aldieri, Janet Brouard and Jessica Groeling with new employee Meredith Grasso to be added in the future; Assessors – Vermont Appraisal Co has been given a short term extension and this appointment will be up for discussion in the future; and Grand Juror – Michael Rosenberg. Mr. Coffey stated that an organizational chart will be Minutes of August 15, 2016 Winooski City Council Page 2 of 5 www.winooskivt.org presented for the City as a whole so it can be demonstrated the role each person plays with the City. VI. Agenda Review There were no changes to the agenda. VII. Regular Items: a. Discussion/Approval: F-35 Suit Updates and Next Steps – S. Leonard Mayor Leonard stated that the City has received a judgement from Judge Crawford regarding the F-35 lawsuit. Mr. Dipalma, our legal representative, is in attendance to update the public and council. It was noted that Council may go into executive session for legal strategic discussions but that all decisions would be made in open session. Mr. Dipalma summarized the basis for the lawsuit and the judgement issued by the court. Judge Crawford has issued a conclusion that the Air Force did satisfy the requirements and has complied with law. Mr. Dipalma stated that Council has the option to appeal this decision to the second circuit court of appeal. If this course of action is desired the motion must be filed by October 10th. Other plaintiffs in this lawsuit do intend to file a notice of appeal. The appeal would consist of a fresh look on the case. Discussion regarding funds spent and other non legal courses of actions and the relationship with the Air Guard followed. MOTION by Deputy Mayor Corrigan, seconded by Councilor Mace to go into executive session at 6:26p for the purposes of having a strategic legal discussion with Mr. Dipalma and Mr. Coffey to join. Voted and passed 4-0. Meeting reconvened at 6:40p. Discussion regarding the potential cost of the appeal process being in the tens of thousands dollar range followed. Council consensus was to digest the information received tonight and receive feedback from the public before making a decision on September 6th. Mayor Leonard opened the floor for any public comment on the issue. Mr. Dumont stated that he believes there are holes in the judge’s statement and that there are grounds for appeal. Ms. Andreoli thanked the Council for their participation in the lawsuit to date and for taking a moral and ethical stand. Mr. Leas stated that the noise issue is stated to be a matter of annoyance in the conclusion issued by the judge but that it also should be seen as a health and safety concern and asked that the Council consider joining the appeal. b. Approval: Resolution Extending Appointments from 5/17/16-7/19/16 – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey stated that this is a housekeeping issue. During the transition Ms. Decarreau completed a number of appointments in March that were made effective through the adoption of the charter. The charter was adopted by the legislature on May 17th. New appointments have been made as of July 19th. Mr. Coffey stated he is seeking support on retroactive appointments. This was discussed with legal counsel. It is intended to be a technical fix to prevent future issues regarding authority to act. We are not aware of any issues in this regard at this time. Minutes of August 15, 2016 Winooski City Council Page 3 of 5 www.winooskivt.org MOTION by Councilor Millar, seconded by Councilor Sweeney to approve the resolution as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. c. Approval: Appointment of Health Officer – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey stated that when the previous health officer resigned their position the duties as health officer fell to the Mayor. The role has not been reassigned from that position since. The Mayor has no capacity or resources to deal with the health issues and they are directed to staff. This appointment is intended to streamline the process and making staff the health officers for the City. This will make a recommendation to the commissioner and upon state acceptance the role would formally transfer. MOTION by Deputy Mayor Corrigan, seconded by Councilor Mace to approve the appointment of the Health Officer as presented. Friendly amendment by Councilor Millar to include the appointments of the Deputy Health Officers as well. Amendment accepted by Deputy Mayor Corrigan, seconded by Councilor Mace. Voted and approved 4-0. d. Approval: Appointment of Building Inspector – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey noted that state statute requires that Council appoint the building inspector. Discussion regarding staff workloads followed with Mr. Audy making it clear that this appointment would not add duties to his staff, but instead give them the authority to do their existing jobs. MOTION by Councilor Sweeney, seconded by Councilor Millar to approve the building inspector appointments as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. e. Discussion: Introduction of Heather Carrington (Community and Economic Development Officer) – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey introduced our new Community and Economic Development Officer, Heather Carrington. Ms. Carrington began on August 8th and brings competence and skill from her previous employment with a non profit in Syracuse. Ms. Carrington stated that she has a lot of ideas and is looking forward to implementing them. Council expressed their welcome. f. Discussion: Review Draft of MOU with Winooski School District – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey presented the draft memorandum of understanding with the Winooski School District. He noted that it has for the most part remained unchanged from prior years. This will be up for approval at a joint meeting with the school board to be held September 14th at the School at 6:30p. Discussion regarding adding language regarding opioid addiction education and enforcement, strengthening language around health and wellness, and partnership opportunities for bulk purchasing followed. Some typographical errors were noted for correction. g. Approval: Request to Correct Manifest Errors in Grand List – R. Coffey Mr. Coffey stated that this is a request from the assessor to make changes to the grand list. MOTION by Deputy Mayor Corrigan, seconded by Councilor Millar to approve the correction of manifest errors in the grand list as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. Minutes of August 15, 2016 Winooski City Council Page 4 of 5 www.winooskivt.org Mr. Gill missed public comment and requested a few minutes to speak. He thanked the Council and the community for their support for his senate run though it did not turn out the way he had hoped. VIII. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Millar, seconded by Deputy Mayor Corrigan to adjourn the City Council meeting at 7:15p. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST: ___________________________ Assistant City Clerk Minutes of August 15, 2016 Winooski City Council Page 5 of 5 www.winooskivt.org