City Council

Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, December 9, 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: Liquor Control Meeting Minutes of 12/2/2019 and City Council Minutes of 12/2/19 b. Approval: Payroll Warrant ending 11/17/2019 to 11/30/2019 and Warrant as of 12/05/2019 VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Development Review Board Appointment - E Vorwald b. Approval: Waking Windows Event Permit Application - H Carrington c. Discussion: Channel 17/Town Meeting Annual Presentation - Lauren-Glenn Davitian & Meghan O’Rourke d. Approval: SHARP Grant for Occupant Protection and DUI Enforcement -J Huizenga e. Discussion: FY21 General Governance Presentation - J Baker f. Approval: Equity and Inclusion Pilot Recommendations - J Duncan, K Lott, H Colston g. Approval: Resolution Supporting Municipal Authority in a Commercial Cannabis System– J Baker IX. Adjourn  MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Deputy Mayor Colston. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Council Members: Hal Colston, James Duncan, Amy Lafayette and Mike Myers Officers Present: Jessie Baker, City Manager, Janet Brouard, Sr Asst City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Heather Carrington, Community and Economic Development Manager; Eric Vorwald, Planning & Zoning Manager; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Justin Huizenga, Lieutenant. Others Present: Laura Stedenfeld and Sheila Fuentes, Omnes; Ali Nagle, Waking Windows; Eric Covey, Elsie Goodrich; Lauren-Glenn Davitian, CCTV. II. Agenda Review – None IV. Public Comment – None V. Consent Agenda MOTION: by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Liquor Control Minutes of 12/2/19 and the City Council Minutes of 12/2/19 as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION: by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Myers to approve the Payroll Warrant ending 11/17/19 to 11/30/19 and Warrant as of 12/05/19 as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Duncan He did not have anything to report however he did want to remind all that the Holiday Concert will be this Thursday, December 12th at 6:30 pm at the Winooski High School. Councilor Colston He attended the Charter Change Commission Meeting. He said they are finalizing the workplan for the group. They are drafting a fact sheet to disseminate to the community. Mayor Lott She attended the closeout meeting on the TIF. She was pleased that the State had no significant recommendations. She commended staff for a job well done. She attended the recent Refugee Resettlement meeting. She said a lot of exciting things are happening. Councilor Lafayette She attended the Holiday Pop up Shop on December 5th. There were approximately 40 vendors there. She wanted to give a huge thank you to Downtown Winooski and City staff for making this happen. Great to see people come out and support local business. Councilor Myers He attended the Municipal Infrastructure Meeting on December 5th. The Commission met with Mike Willard of VHB. Mr. Willard showed examples of work they have done in the past regarding pavers that we might like to see on the sidewalks along Main Street. They talked about building a timeline along Main Street, starting with the first settlers of Winooski to the present population. VHB will bring back 3 design options to a future meeting. VII. City Updates The City Manager gave the following updates; • Omnes here this week for the second in a series of public feedback sessions for the development of the Parks and Open Space Master Plan. Open House tomorrow night at the SHCP Commission – 6:30 at City Hall.  The City Manager invited Laura & Sheila, from Omnes up to give a status report on their progress. They are very excited to work in Winooski. They will be hosting a workshop at the Winooski High School working with 5th graders and a group of Highschool students to get their feedback on what they want to see happen. They will be meeting at the Public Works Department to talk infrastructure. They are planning two more public events for January & February. More to come. • PC will meet on Thursday to continue zoning discussions. • Last week we received notice that we received the Municipal Planning Grant for historic preservation planning. • Anticipating the State Auditor’s Office to release the TIF Audit by the end of the year. • Next meeting the Airport will be here to present on the Noise Compatibility Program. Four finalists for the HR Manager position. Finalists will be interviewed by the Leadership Team next week with hopefully an announcement early in the new year! Thanks to Angela and Janet for all of their support in the interim VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Development Review Board Appointment – E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald invited Elsie Goodrich to join him. He said Elsie has applied to be on the DRB Board. He said the appointment of Ms. Goodrich would provide a much-needed voice to the DRB. This appointment would fill the remaining alternate position with the term ending June 30, 2021. The Mayor asked if she would like to tell us about herself. She said she recently worked for the City as our Youth Coordinator at the Library. She currently works in an Attorney’s office and she feels being on this board will allow her to put her talents to work while giving back to her community. MOTION: by Councilor Duncan seconded Councilor Lafayette to approve the appointment of Elsie Goodrich to the Development Review Board as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Approval: Waking Windows Event Permit Application- H Carrington The City Manager asked that Ms. Carrington and Ali Nagle, Waking Windows come forward. Ms. Carrington said staff has received an event permit application for the 10th Annual Waking Windows event in May 2020. This 3-day arts and music festival has been held annually for the last decade and draws thousands of visitors to downtown Winooski. The event will take place in many locations throughout Winooski. Staff has discussed the requirements and recommends approval of this permit. Ms. Nagle said they are trying to make this event special since it’s their 10th Annual. She said they have 2 new bands, unable to say who as of yet, but it’s going to be great. They are still working on other festivities to make this extra special. The Council thanked Ms. Nagle for their continued efforts in hosting this event in Winooski and wishes them great success next year. MOTION: by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Myers to approve the Waking Windows Event Permit as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. c. Discussion: Channel 17. Town Meeting Annual Presentation – Lauren-Glenn Davitian & Meghan O’Rourke The Mayor said we are going to hold off on this item, Ms. Davitian has yet to arrive. d. Approval: SHARP Grant for Occupant Protection and DUI Enforcement – J Huizenga The Mayor invited Lt Justin Huizenga up to present this request. Lt Huizenga said we are awarded this grant every year for participating in enforcement campaigns that occur within the state. Last year the amount was $4,000, this year the grant is $5,000. It’s basically bonus money, no City match or pay back. The Council liked the that idea. MOTION: by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the SHARP Grant for Occupant Protections and DUI Enforcement as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. e. Discussion; FY21 General Government Presentation – J Baker The City Manager said the full FY21 Proposed Budget was presented to the Council at the last meeting. This presentation will focus specifically on the General Government section, to include Administration, Community and Economic Development, Planning & Zoning, Parking and the Tax Increment Financing District (TIF). She began with a Powerpoint presentation, stopping to answer questions that arose. She ran through lots of numbers, trying not to be too confusing. Discussion ensued about administrative focuses on the moving to a new accounting software and costs associated with and paying off notes early. All in all, the Council appreciated all the work put in to the part of the overall FY21 Budget. The Mayor called a 2-minute recess and reconvened at 7:10 pm The Mayor said that Channel 17 Rep has arrived so we will go back to item c. c. Discussion: Channel 17. Town Meeting Annual Presentation – Lauren-Glenn Davitian & Meghan O’Rourke The Mayor said Lauren-Glenn Davitian of CCTV is here to present their annual update. Lauren introduced herself and said that Meghan O’Rourke was unable to attend. Channel 17 currently serves 7 communities, producing most City Meetings on a weekly/monthly basis. She appreciated the input from Kevin Lumpkin, Winooski Representative. He brings a lot of insight to the board. She said the board has finally negotiated a contract with Burlington Telecom as a result of the settlement with Comcast. One of the changes this brings is that they will need to move their access channels. She said they will no longer be broadcasting on Channel 17 She looks forward to the 2020. It’s going to be a big election year and continue their commitment for election coverage. She thanked the Council for their continued support. She said the municipal contribution is incredibly important to the future success of public access. The City Manager wanted to thank Lauren for their partnership in producing the Fire Recruiting video and the upcoming Legacy Campaign. Mayor Lott thanked Ms. Davitian for her presentation. f. Approval: Equity and Inclusion Pilot Recommendations – J Duncan, K Lott, H Colston Mayor Lott and other Councilors have worked with others on moving forward with our Equity and Inclusion Priorities. They gave a brief update of where things stand and how they intend on moving forward. The Equity Council will focus on “building relationships across generations and cultures by providing an authentic space for diverse voices to be heard, to be respected and providing opportunities to connect and engage with the leadership of the City”. They are collaborating with members of the community as well as a Winooski School liaison to put together a pilot program. They are looking for feedback on their recommendations. Staff looks forward to providing implementations plan based on full Council guidance. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Equity and Inclusion and recommendation for staff to come back to us with potential implementation as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. g. Approval: Resolution Supporting Municipal Authority in a Commercial Cannabis System – J Baker The City Manager said this was discussed at the last meeting. The Legislature is likely to take up the Commercial Cannabis Marketplace Legislation this session. The VLCT says if this is adopted, here is what municipalities would like to support and what it looks like on the local level. Since this was only warned as a discussion item at the last meeting, we are here tonight for your approval. The City Manager said that there were some concerns last meeting about the land use and how we determine where this could possibly go. Eric Vorwald is here tonight should you have any questions. The Mayor said we have time to have that discussion at a later date. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Myers to approve the Resolution Supporting Municipal Authority in a Commercial Cannabis System as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. X. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Duncan to adjourn the Regular City Council Meeting at 7:44 pm. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST: ______________________________________ Sr Assistant City Clerk