City Council

Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, January 6, 2020 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 of 12/16/19 b. Approval: Payroll Warrant for the period of 12/01/19-12/14/19 & 12/15/19-12/28/19 and Warrant ending 1/2/2020 and Subsequent to Payout Warrant for October & November. c. Approval: Hickok Street – Sanitary and Storm Sewer Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund (CWSRF) application – Step 2 (Final Design) d. Approval: 355 Main Street- Stormwater Easement Release VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Planning Commission Appointment: Tommie Murray- E Vorwald b. Discussion: FY21 Budget: Community Services Presentation – R Coffey c. Discussion: FY21 Unified Planning Work Program Application -Parking Needs Inventory and Analysis- J Rauscher & E Vorwald X. Executive Session • Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 7D. IX. Adjourn MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. the Pledge of Allegiance was led by Deputy Mayor Colston. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Council Members: Hal Colston, Amy Lafayette, Mike Myers, Jim Duncan Officers Present: Jessie Baker, City Manager; Carol Barrett, City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director: Barb Pitfido, Senior Center Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Heather Carrington, Economic Development Director; Liam Keating, Fire Marshal; Alicia Finley, Parks & Rec. Director; Eric Vorwald, Planning & Zoning Director; Kate Anderson, Thrive Director. Others Present: Nicholas Cordua, Gwen Talbot, Thrive Program Asst. III. Agenda Review – None IV. Public Comment – None V. Consent Agenda MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Duncan – None Councilor Colston – said they had a recent Charter Commission meeting. We discussed a few items, one of them being a fact sheet that were trying to finalize, so that we can promote it and explain this process. We also discussed the need for the commission to go through an Implicit Bias workshop. They are looking at a date of Feb. 4 and wanted to combine it with Council, but we will be in the thick of the budget process. My thought would be to have two separate sessions, one for that commission and another one for us with key leadership here in the City to go through the same process and look at it as a pilot and how we expand to all commissions. Mayor Lott – Hosted a breakfast with the Mayor of Burlington, Chittenden County State Senators and Representatives and all of you were in attendance for the public information. This was a chance to share are State Reps and Senators what are priorities are as a City. This included the noise mitigation funding, ways to increase housing affordability, commercial cannabis and potential local and school funding were some key topics we discussed. I also attended the Burlington Airport Commission meeting and had the chance to speak about Winooski and advocate for us to get a seat on that body. Councilor Lafayette – None Council Myers – Would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  VII. City Updates • Great Capitol for a Day session on December 17th. Thanks to Heather for coordinating and the Mayor for attending as well as many Winooski partners. It was a great showing for State leadership on the exciting things going on in Winooski. • Anticipating a presentation on Working Communities Challenge Grant on January 13th • Received Common Level of Appraisal on December 23rd. 83.75% down from 88.51% in 2018. • Budget o Budget Community Dinner – February 19th at 6:00 pm at the OCC o If changes are anticipated, as early as heads up about those as possible would be appreciated. • Staffing o Phoebe Townsend will be joining us as HR Manager on February 4, 2020. o Fire/Code ▪ LT. Adam Lind Certified Fire Inspector 1 ▪ LT. Johnathan DeLaBruere Certified Fire Inspector 1 ▪ Code Enforcement Officer Alex Goletz Certified Fire Inspector 1 ▪ Firefighter Stafford, Fountain, and Chesbrough have received their Pro-Board Firefighter 2 Certifications ▪ This is literally hundreds of hours of professional development (done mostly on their own time), our emergency response and community risk reduction capabilities will/have been enhanced by their continued desire to succeed and serve our community. • Starting on Monday, January 13th, the Community Services offices at the O'Brien Center will be open and staffed for regular hours on Monday, from 9:30 - 6 PM, and Tues - Friday from 9:30 AM to 5 PM. We will be able to process credit card payments for Community Services programs, help with program registrations, and will also be hosting the growing "Library of Things" (a partnership with the Winooski Library), where materials such as garden tools, book group kits, and board games (among a growing number of "things") are available for circulation with a Winooski Library card. Got ideas for "things" to add to the Library? Drop by and let us know, or contact us at 655 1392! • Events o Battle of the Badges Blood Drive: Thursday January 9th from 11am to 5pm at the fire station ▪ Appointments should be scheduled at https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive- results?zipSponsor=WINOOSKI or people can contact Erika Bailey and she can schedule an appointment for you. o First Month is underway! For January 2020, we’ll be celebrating the “Roaring 20’s” through several events and programs: ▪ Tue, Jan 7 - Great Gatsby Theme Party ▪ Monday, Jan 20 - The Harlem Renaissance: Illustrated Jazz Lecture ▪ Fri, Jan 24 - Movie Night: Great Moments in Silent Films  ▪ Sat, Jan 25 - From the Parlor to Polling Place: Suffragist Stories & Songs ▪ Sun, Jan 26 - 1920's Style of Vermont's Mill Girls: a Costumed Presentation o 2020 MLK Day of Service: Monday, January 20th from 10 - 2 PM. This January marks the 25th anniversary of MLK Day. Observed as “a day on, not a day off,” MLK Day is the only Federal holiday designated as a national day of service for all Americans to improve their communities! ▪ A food drive will be hosted from 10 AM - 2 PM at the O'Brien Community Center ▪ Volunteers can also help clean and organize The Winooski Food Shelf (RSVP to volunteer@winooskivt.gov) ▪ Create Greeting Cards for Military Service Members and Meals on Wheels Recipients 802 655 1392 / volunteer@winooskivt.gov o Registration for Thrive February Vacation Camp is open. Thrives full-day February Vacation Camp provides a safe and enriching environment for children in grades K-5 during the time off from school. This year’s camp will be Tropical Beach theme, so we will enjoy games, crafts, and science experiments designed to help us forget about the cold weather! Visit the City's website to sign up today! VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Planning Commission Appointment: Tommie Murray – E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald said that Tommie Murray couldn’t be here tonight because of a work conflict. He said the City has been actively recruiting residents to fill vacant positions on the City’s commission. Currently, one vacant position still remains on the Planning commission for the position of Alternate. Ms. Murray was previously a member of the Planning Commission and served as the Chair. Her past experience and guidance through significant regulatory updates will prove valuable as the Planning Commission contemplates updates and changes to the Unified Land Use and Development Regulations. MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Myers to approve Tommie Murray as alternate to the Planning Commission with a term ending June 30, 2021 as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Discussion: FY21 Budget: Community Services Presentation – R Coffey Mr. Coffey presented the Community Services FY21 Budget Mr. Coffey briefed the Council on the: Strategic Vision – FY19 Accomplishments to date. FY20 Accomplishments to date. FY21 Goals and Priorities Included in the FY21 proposal: Total Community Services Budget: $827,855.21 of which $633,083.37 is General fund (76.5%) and $194,771.84 other funds (23.5%) Mr. Coffey noted in the General Fund *Non-Pool expensed reduced by 2.2% overall from FY20 to FY21 budget. Myers Memorial Pool Operational Budget: Mr. Coffey said the full time salary is: $14,535.04 which covers 0.4E01 in Public Works, this covers the facility piece. Contractual Services – Lifeguards based on actual hours YMCA coverage $57,105.00 The budget estimate and the FY21 proposed budget for December 2019 based on the FY19 Tax rate and a home assessed at $225,000 would go from $32.23 to $39.54 which is a difference of $7.31. We are estimating the total revenue is $54,569.00 our total expenses are $143,125.99 which is (88,556.99) difference. This includes daily passes, season passes and any uses by camp group, swim team, etc. We have been discussing the fee structure with the pool committee. The fee schedule that they are looking at is as follows: Resident Family Season pass $120.00 Non-Resident Family Season pass is $150.00 Single Adult Season Pass $ 60.00 Non-Resident Adult Season Pass $75.00 Resident Youth and Seniors Season Pass $45.00 Non-Resident Youth and Seniors Season Pass $56.00 Swim Lessons $30.00 Swim Team membership fee $2.00 We are also anticipating one swim meet a year and charging $300.00 Mr. Coffey also said a day pass fee use to be $1.00. These numbers came right from the Rutland pool and they charge the following for day passes: $6.00 day pass for residents $7.00 day pass for non-resident $4.00 day pass for resident youth and senior $5.00 day pass for non-resident youth and senior The City Manager said the scholarship policy will be applicable for season passes. Mr. Coffey said getting back to the budget the community room is a four season room. Councilor Myers said we should reach out to UVM and St. Michael’s college who have life guard training. Councilor Colston, how do you approach outreach? Mr. Coffey said community events, pool pass sales events, will be available online. Councilor Myers also suggested reaching out to businesses. Mr. Coffey said moving on to the proposed Myers pool operating schedule you will see that there is an additional 29 hours of weekly service proposed (over historical schedule) This requires an estimated 65.5 additional hours of lifeguard coverage each week (estimated at $15/hour) for a total additional cost of $11,790. Note: this number does not include potential revenue increases associated with the additional hours of operation. I think we are going to learn a lot this summer. The City Manager said Ray’s team also did outreach to some of our leadership partners during the design and planning of the pool to think about, are there particular needs for gender, sole gender, and swimming hours. We’ve tried to build some of those relations with the institutions and the hopes that they will also help promote through outreach channels. Mr. Coffey presented the proposed schedule for the new pool. We are proposing some early hours for lap swim and also two days a week, swim team access, expanded the amount of time for camps and swim lessons. The Mayor said after our first year I would like to see an analysis of usage. Mr. Coffey presented the Community Services Special Revenue Fund. He said he was going to talk about the bottom line on these. I do want to flag for some of them there is a fund balance tracking summary and unfortunately this recreation account there is a negative number and the way that this is covered is that we on the accounting side view all of our community service revenue funds into totality. If Recreation loses some money in a year and community gardens make some money in a year those net out, so our total balance for fund balance is still positive of about $75,000.00 but tracking these in isolation you’re going to see negative numbers. Community Services (Recreation) Special Revenue Fund FY20 Budget to FY21 Proposed (% change) ($21,730.13) Senior Center Special Revenue Fund $30,985.94 Meals Program Special Revenue Fund ($27.37) Thrive Special Revenue Fund $50,287.58 For full text see attached. There was discussion amongst the Council on how to market these programs better. The Mayor called for a 2 minute recess at 7:51 and the meeting reconvened at 7:53 p.m. c. Discussion: FY21 Unified Planning Work Program Application – Parking Needs Inventory and Analysis- J Rauscher & E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald said he and John are here to talk about an application for the Unified Planning Work Program which is done through Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission annually. A new application we are considering submission for which we are here tonight to discuss parking needs inventory and analysis that will build off the Downtown Parking Study that was completed in 2017. This new effort will explore and evaluate parking throughout the City with a focus on the corridors including East Allen Street, Main Street, and Malletts Bay Ave. Specific outcomes will include an inventory and analysis of parking needs, guidance on expanding parking enforcement, updates to the City’s Municipal code (Chapter 15) related to parking, and other parking management initiatives. While the focus for this study will be on the three main corridors, the outcomes will be transferrable throughout the City because of the project it would require a 20% municipal match which is the purpose of being here tonight to see if you support that. If you do support these funds we will provide you with an application and at your next meeting you could review and approve the application before we formally submit. The deadline is January 17. Mr. Rauscher said he has two projects that he wants to submit for. They are as follows; Stormwater Phosphorus Control Plan – Phase 2 Report Preparation and Updated Pavement Condition Index Inventory (2-yr cycle) Mr. Rauscher said his two projects are water quality related. CCRPC solicits these at the same time and this is Pavement Condition Index Inventory upgrade of our water network. They have interns who come in every summer and they delegate them throughout the county with different task. A lot of that is doing traffic counts we are requesting this so we can get updated information on our roads. We don’t anticipate there is a cost to this because we pay dues to CCRPC. The City Manager said this is an application we put in every year. We are trying to find planning funds that are not using taxpayer dollars. The two, Jon just mentioned are continuations and we regularly use these projects. The parking one is a new initiative but again to find outside funding to support some of the conversations being had and instead of just bringing that to you for approval in one night, we wanted to gauge your interest ahead of time. There was some discussion amongst the Council concerning the parking needs inventory and analysis. The City Manager said that this City is the most densely populated City in Northern New England, very small city supposedly very transit oriented. We have nobody on staff to get into parking management or theory. Yes, while we have some ideas of how this could work and we thought about it as form base code, also thought about it in terms of engineering. We are not at all being strategic about how we think about parking. We talk about using our public spaces efficiently as we can. If we could use this opportunity to apply some real parking management theory to the systems were going to set up in our parking operations manual in our ordinance about parking and in our future land use planning. I think that we would fast track ourselves five years down the road rather than building out some of these engineered solutions and seeing some development happen and impose them at that point. At some point we are going to have to implement real parking theory in this City and why not start doing that right now. This item will be reviewed and approved at the next meeting. For full text see attached. X. Executive Session • 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 Duncan seconded by Councilor Lafayette to go into Executive Session to discuss 1 V.S.A. §313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease option related to lot 7D and to also invite Jessie Baker, Heather Carrington and Jon Rauscher into Executive session at 8:07 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to adjourn City Council meeting at 8:40 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST:______________________________ City Clerk