City Council

Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, June 3, 2019 6:00 PM Claire Burke Council Chambers 27 West Allen Street Winooski, VT 05404 Mayor Kristine Lott - klott@winooskivt.gov Councilor Hal Colston - hcolston@winooskivt.gov Councilor Jim Duncan - jduncan@winooskivt.gov Councilor Amy Lafayette - alafayette@winooskivt.gov Councilor Mike Myers - mmyers@winooskivt.gov Jessie Baker, City Manager - jbaker@winooskivt.gov I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes and Liquor Control Minutes of May 20, 2019 b. Approval: Payroll Warrant ending 05/05/2019 to 05/18/2019 and Warrant ending May 31, 2019 And Subsequent to Payout Warrant for April, 2019. c. Approval: Chittenden Solid Waste District Budget d. Approval: Hickok Street Water Main Replacement: Contract to Award to Cortland e. Approval: FY20 General Fund transfers for COLA VI. City Update VII. Council Reports VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Champlain Water District – New Executive Director- Joseph Duncan b. Discussion: Vermont League of Cities and Towns – Maura Carroll, Executive Director c. Discussion: Noise Exposure Map and Noise Compatibility Program– J Baker d. Approval: O’Brien Community Center Leases – R Coffey a. Vermont Works for Women b. Community Health Centers of Burlington IX. Executive Session: • Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A § 313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees and specifically AFSCME. • Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 7D. X. Adjourn MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. The meeting began with the Pledge of Allegiance led by Deputy Mayor Colston. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Hal Colston, James Duncan, Amy Lafayette, Michael Myers Officers Present: Jessie Baker, City Manager; Carol Barrett, City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; John Rauscher, Public Works Director; Eric Vorwald, Planning/Zoning Manager; Ray Coffey, Community Service Director. Others Present: Sam Myers, Joe Duncan, CWD; Jim Fay, CWD; Marguerite Adelman, Robert Ackland, Jennifer Way, Salvation Farms; Diana, Bobby & Ruth Arnell. III. Agenda Review – None The Mayor asked for a moment of silence for Padma Tiwari who was a student at Winooski High School passed away this weekend in a drowning accident. IV. Public Comment Ms. Way, Workforce Development Coordinator is promoting Salvation Farms. This is a job training program. Trainees learn skills in food handling and manufacturing, earn and industry recognized certification, and receive support in finding the right job for the long-term. This is an eight week training programing. V. Consent Agenda MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. City Update  Thanks for all of your time on Saturday at our 2019-2020 Strategy session. We, as staff, found it a very useful conversation  Pool- Construction mobilization starts this week. Hoping to schedule an Official groundbreaking next week. More to come!  TIF o Vermont Economic Progress Council will be here on Friday, May 31 st for their annual TIF monitoring site visit. o State Auditor will be here next Tuesday to kick-off the very 5 year State Audit.  Public Hearing on Tree Ordinance – 6/17  Development  o Main & Mansion Apartments has been appealed and will be heard by the DRB on Wednesday (not their normal Thursday) June 19th. The date was changed due to issues with maintaining a quorum. o Permits were issued for the redevelopment of 211 thru 225 Main Street, Appeal period ended today without an issues.  Events this week: o 1st Winooski Wednesday Concert on June 5th from 6-9PM – Band = Everyone Invited o Chittenden Solid Waste District will hold the ROVER Household Hazardous Waste Disposal Event this Saturday, June 8th from 9AM – 1PM at OCC o Winooski Artists’ Market in Rotary Park – the first was held this past Sunday, and the second will be held next Sunday, June 9th from 12- 3 PM sponsored by Wishbone Collective  Downtown and Historic Preservation Conference: Wednesday – Delegation from Winooski including Kristine, Meredith, and I will be attending  East Allen Scoping Study – June 13th at Joint Planning Commission and Public Works Commission meeting. Discussion of prepared alternatives. VII. Council Reports Councilor Myers - said he attended the Farmers Market and the music in the Rotary. I applaud those vendors for being out in that weather. Waterworks had their clear canopy up and the place was filled. I also want to let the residents of Winooski know the passing for George Gamelin who served 60 years on our Fire Dept. Councilor Lafayette – None Mayor Lott - said she went to three commission meetings; Housing Commission is still working on the housing trust fund guidelines and down payment assistance. Planning Commission is still working on reviewing minor regulations. Community Service Commission last year engaged with a consultant for what programs we need to implement. We also need to tighten up entire recreation program. We also dug through goals and objectives. Councilor Colston – said he attended a Winooski Equity Dialogue meeting. The focus was on the breakdown and understand the White Supremacy Culture and how it affects all of us whether, we are white, black or brown. We meet again tomorrow and we are going to focus on some action steps. We will be looking at other communities who have done similar work to see what they came up with and our final meeting will be in two weeks to determine what action steps were going to try to implement so we can create an environment where leadership in our community uses blends of equity. The Mayor said once the final meeting occurs you will be bringing back recommendations to this board and as well to the School Board. Councilor Duncan – None VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Champlain Water District – New Executive Director – Joseph Duncan Mr. Fay, General Manager of CWD is retiring on June 28 and he is here tonight to introduce Joseph Duncan as the new Executive Director of Champlain Water District. Mr. Duncan stated that he was on the Council back in 2004. His previous employment was with a local consulting engineering firm. Mr. Duncan said he has worked closely with John Choate and has an open dialogue. The City of Winooski is near and dear to me. I continue to look forward to working with Winooski. I also want to thank our board member Jonathan Stockbridge who lives and represents Winooski, is a great asset to the CWD Board. The Mayor welcomed Joe to the team and wished Jim Fay the Best in his retirement. b. Discussion: Vermont League of Cities and Towns – Maura Carroll, Executive Director The City Manager said we have Maura Carroll, Executive Director here tonight to give us an overview of what VLCT does for municipalities. VLCT’s mission is to serve and strengthen Vermont Local government. It is the only statewide organization devoted solely to delivering a wide range of services to local officials who serve municipalities of varying populations and geographic regions but face similar requirements with disparate resources. Winooski also receives insurance services through VLCT and works closely with the League on various technical support and training programs. The City Manager also said she sits on the Board of Directors of the organization. Mrs. Carroll provided a handout of all the services they provide to municipalities. We also have advocates down in Montpelier during the legislative season. Mayor Lott thanked Mrs. Carroll for giving us an overview of what VLCT is and what they do. Councilor Colston asked if there were any other issues that arrive at the top of list. Mrs. Carroll said water issues, funding cleanup for Lake Champlain, this is a statewide issue. Recreational Marijuana, local municipalities are protected and we are also concerned about property taxes. We will also have available the final legislative report, and number of issues that were followed. The City Manager would like to add to that I think we are all really fortunate, Hal to have you on the Council and in the Legislature and carrying that message back and forth between local elected officials and the state wide elected officials. We have an amazing staff on the league side and amazing professional staff statewide. If there is an issue that you feel very strongly especially going into the second half of the biennium that you want to engage in through the league. Karen, Maura and their team do a really good job providing legislative briefings and scheduling testimonies. I encourage you to keep that in mind about emerging issues that come up that impact us. For ex: the Montpelier charter change on all resident voting. If something like that comes up that we want to have more of a voice in. I can help shepard your voices to that table through the league as well. c. Discussion: Noise Exposure Map and Noise Compatibility Program The City Manager gave an overview of what has happened over the past week with the arrival of the F35’s. Tuesday the airport released the noise exposure map draft which indicates about 40% of our parcels about 43% of our residents will be impacted within the 65 DNL line. We also had two open houses last week one at the airport on Wednesday and one at the City on Thursday. We are now in a 30 day comment period for the draft noise exposure map as well as ramping up very quickly in partnership with the airport to submit the FAA grant application for noise compatibility program. The Mayor and I thought it would be a good idea to put time on the agenda both likely this meeting and next meeting to talk about your reactions and to hear from the community and allow the community another opportunity to be heard. This will provide feedback to the airport, both on the noise exposure map and the noise capability program. There are some ideas about how we can do that, but I think it would be best to start with conversation of what people saw an experienced last week. We need to know what your concerns are so the Mayor and I can go back an advocate for an if you have recommendations on what that advocacy looks like over the next two weeks and months. Councilor Colston said in the past we have talked about the need to expand the airport commission. Where does that stand? The City Manager said the Mayor of Burlington in the past has offered to advocate for Winooski having a seat on their airport advisory commission. South Burlington currently has a seat in the interest and to require Winooski to have a seat on the board requires a charter change of the City of Burlington. It’s quite a process, the Burlington voters would have to approve it and it would go to legislature. She also gave an overview of what the past council has been interested in and the challenges of the airport advisory committee. If it is something the current council is interested in seeing it to fruition I think it is absolutely in my conversation with the Mayor of Burlington and the Airport Director it’s something they are more than happy to go to their voters with, but it is a process. The Mayor said she attended the meetings last week. What we are being asked to provide is comment on the mitigation options, what do our community members want to see and where do we prioritize that. We could ask them to prioritize our homes in a different way, places where children are, address first; the most dense areas by nature, mitigation options themselves. We want to think about what the most important is for our community. Councilor Lafayette’s concerns are the mitigations are not going to be available until much further along in the process. The F35’s are slated to come in September, so these installation options won’t happen for 12 to 18 months. We received a memo from constituents wanting the F35’s delayed or speeding up the mitigation so that there is not this huge gap. The Mayor stated we can ask our congressional delegation to advocate for more funding. Councilor Duncan asked about the match of 90% federal and 10% local. The City Manager said the 10% is not Winooski local it is covered by airport funds or the City of Burlington. Mr. Arnell said his wife has sent a letter regarding the F35’s with their concerns. We want to make sure the City of Winooski is advocating for us. He pointed out some of his concerns; research on loud noise exposure to young children over a long period of time, measuring decibel levels in certain part of Winooski where we feel like young children are being exposed, fair market value. Ms. Adelman suggest that the four communities join together and advocate for more money and get our federal legislatures to come together. She would like to know what the process of all the questions that were heard. We would like to see the answers to these questions. The Mayor said she would follow up and she also said the FAQ’s have been shared on our website for easy access. Mr. Ackland thanked everyone for organizing the informational meetings. Ms. Carrington asked in terms of funding coming in. I have heard repeatedly that it will be years before the funds come in. Is it possible for those to be reimbursement funds? Could there be a stop gap measure put in the interim either by the State or municipality which then could be reimbursed by those funds. The Mayor said she would look into it. Discussion ensued the program options: Sound Mitigation Sales Assistance Purchase Assurance Easement Acquisition for new development Real Estate Disclosure She said we are not guaranteed they are going to accept these 5 options. June 28 is the deadline for official comment. Concerns are: children first, schools, day care providers. Councilor Duncan is asking for analysis of mix of rental vs owner occupied and advocating to the landlords for their residences. The City Manager said she would like to make a proposal about what the Mayor and I can work on to bring back to you all at the next meeting. There are three priorities; we want to provide feedback on the NEM, include CenterPoint, daycares and how we get the map as accurate as possible. There is also the noise compatibility programs, we would like to see here, sound insulation, not tear downs for example. She also said there is a third set of agreements which I think we should put forth which would be an MOU directly with Burlington. The feedback we provide on the NCP process is really guiding the airport on. When you apply for funding, we would like you to apply for this kind of funding. We also want to advocate directly to Burlington for example; we want them to apply for funding annually. The people who will coordinate the noise compatibility program once it is up and running can either be done through a staff person at the airport or done through a consultant that could be somewhere else in the country, just coordinating from a distance. I want to advocate for a person on the ground who can come out and meet with our neighbors. So my recommendation is the Mayor and I should take what we hear today, take what we’ve heard from the public and any public comment we received and try to put it in three different documents. 1. NEM Feedback 2. Guidance on our priorities around the NCP 3. Update MOU that we would approach Burlington with in partnership with our surrounding communities to say this is what we would like to prioritize and then we can bring it back to you on June 17 and then you can walk through and and capture those details of prioritization that you’ve heard the community is interested in. d. Approval: O’Brien Community Center Leases  Vermont Works for Women  Community Health Centers of Burlington Mr. Coffey gave an overview of the leases approved by City Council on May 6, 2019, these two new leases with Vermont Works for Women and community Health Centers of Burlington/Vermont Dental Care, if approved, will bring all O’Brien Center leases current, and will mean all leasable space within the building is leased as of July 1, 2019.  The lease details of note include: Vermont Works for Women (VWW) o Amortization schedule detailing full payback by the City of construction costs for the VWW suite. o VWW will begin paying full “CAM” (common area maintenance) fees effective with his new lease, and in exchange the City will take on maintenance of the HVAC system servicing this suite effective with the new lease. The previous agreement with VWW included a phased CAM payment over time, with VWW paying CAM on only a portion of their actual square footage, and having responsibility for all HVAC costs in their suite until they reach full CAM payments (originally scheduled for FY2023). This agreement expedites VWW reaching full CAM payments by 3 years. Community Health Center of Burlington (CHCB) Vermont Dental Care (VDC) o As discussed at the May 3, 2019 City Council meeting, this lease agreement includes an increased lease rate designed to recover the cost of proposed HVAC upgrades (estimated at $26,890) over the first 5 year term. As part of this agreement, the City takes on ownership of the HVAC infrastructure for this suite, equipment which had originally been installed by Winooski Family Health/VT Dental Care prior to the City owning the building. Ms. Aldieri explained the Amortization schedule and rent schedule. MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the lease documents so as long as the final versions remain in substantial conformity of the documents reviewed and authorize the City Manager Jessie Baker to negotiate ministerial and non-substantive changes to the document and when complete execute them. Voted and passed 4-0. IX. Executive Session:  Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees and specifically AFSCME.  Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 7D MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to go into Executive Session at 7:45 p.m. Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees and specifically AFSCME and 1 V.S.A. § 313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 7D and to invite John Rauscher, Julie Hulburd and Jessie Baker into Executive Session at 7:45 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0. X. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to adjourn City Council meeting at 8:15 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST: ___________________________ City Clerk