City Council

Remote Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, May 18, 2020 @ 6 PM • Attend online: https://zoom.us/j/411567807 • Attend by phone: +1 253 215 8782 US • Meeting ID: 411 567 807 • Password:000285 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 and Liquor Control Minutes of May 4, 2020 b. Approval: Payroll Warrant 4/19/2020 to 5/02/2020, Accounts Payable Warrant ending 5/15/20 c. Approval: Implementation of Winooski All-Hazard Mitigation Plan – 2019 Report d. Approval: Deputy Health Officer – Renewal for Erika Bailey VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Reenact Resolution for a Chapter 30 Emergency Ordinance to Alleviate Financial Pressures as a Result of COVID-19 – J Baker b. Introduction: Interim Zoning Bylaws for Downtown Core Zoning District – E Vorwald c. Discussion: Lot 7D (Abenaki Way) Development Update – H Carrington d. Discussion: Wayfinding Plan Presentation – H Carrington e. Approval: Justice Assistance Grant: COVID-19 Funding – R Hebert f. Discussion: Community Justice Center – Discontinuation of State Funding – J Baker & R Hebert g. Introduction: Chapter 28 – Fee Chapter Update – J Baker h. Discussion: Goal Update: Safe, Healthy, Connected People – R Coffey, R Hebert & J Audy i. Discussion: 2019-2020 Policy Priorities and Strategies Report-out and 2020 Planning –J Baker j. Approval: City Manager Contract – K Lott IX. Adjourn  MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:01 p.m. Deputy Mayor Colston led the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Amy Lafayette, Hal Colston, James Duncan, Mike Myers was absent. Officers Present: Jessie Baker, City Manager; Carol Barrett, City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Heather Carrington, Community and Economic Director; Eric Vorwald, Planning/Zoning Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Phoebe Townsend, Human Resources Director; Paul Sarne, Communications Coordinator Others Present: Terry Zigmund, Marguerie Adelman, Doug Nedde and William Niquette, Nedde Real Estate; David Raphael, Landworks. III. Agenda Review – None IV. Public Comment Ms. Edleman said many of us had attended the F35 open houses at the airport last year. We made recommendations that the airport apply for an FAA grant for Sound Monitoring and Tracking Equipment. We met with Richard Doucette who is with the FAA. She said she was told that the airport was applying for the sound mitigation grant, which is not the same as the Sound Monitoring and Tracking Equipment grant. She said we have a letter of approval from Richard Doucette that includes the Sound Monitoring and Tracking Equipment in the last NCP that was done in 2008. She said the Airport doesn’t need a new NCP to apply for that Sound Monitoring and Tracking Equipment. It is our understanding a Sound Monitoring and Tracking grant could be submitted by mid-June of this year for this equipment. However, it appears that the airport is putting this off until proposals are due in May, June 2021. When they have a new NCP in place, it means funding for the project would not come until the end of 2021 and the equipment will likely not even be set up operational until 2022. Many of us feel this is unacceptable. We encourage Mayor Lott to contact Mayor Weinberger and Burlington City Council and urgently request that the airport prepare and submit a grant in mid-June for the Sound Monitoring and Tracking Equipment. Mayor Lott said we would look at the information and follow up with the City of Burlington and the Airport. The Mayor also said there have been on going conversations about the NCP, about mitigation and funding for the noise monitoring. We will continue to produce updates when information is available. Ms. Sigmund is concerned about the parking relief waiver that was introduced to the Council on April 20, 2020. I’m a member of the Planning Commission and I voted to approve the idea of the parking waiver under duress. I was not in support of the parking waiver. The only reason I voted is to forward it on because I was under the impression it was mostly to help with the high school with their renovations and they were looking for relief from the parking requirements. She said it was her understanding that the Chair of the Planning Commission  was going to be at the City council meeting and was going to make it very clear that there as a lot of apprehension and they were worried about how it was going to be used. My understanding, it was going to be much more difficult for developers to do this. Mayor Lott said that we set a Public Hearing for the Parking Waiver on June 15 at which time you will have further deliberation and here from members of the public. V. Consent Agenda MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Lafayette – None Councilor Duncan – None Councilor Colston – None Mayor Lott said she attended the Planning Commission meeting and there are ongoing discussions about parking. She also said she and the City manager participated in a virtual Town Hall and shared information about property taxes and is participating in the Winooski Leadership meetings. • HUGE Thank you to the Community! As of today, we are at 92% collection of the 4th quarter installment of taxes with more still coming in. This equates to a 2% overall delinquency for FY20, slightly above where we ended at 6/30 during the recession. We will likely be down lower by that date. o We are still awaiting our quarterly Local Options Tax payment from the State and are seeing significant declines in Parking Revenue. o A full update regarding revenues will be provided at the June 1st meeting. • Last week with National Police week. We extend our sincere appreciation to all Winooski’s Police Officers and professionals who keep us safe! Hopefully next year we will be able to hold our Public Safety Day • This week is EMS (Emergency Medical Services) Week. St. Michael’s provides EMS service to Winooski – free of charge. A huge THANK YOU from the City of Winooski for what you do. We have a deep appreciation for the exceptional work the students/providers do for the residents of Winooski and beyond. St. Mikes answers over 1200 call annually here in the city, day or night, holiday or COVID-19 you are there for our residents. We cannot thank you enough for the dedication, compassion, commitment, and service that is provided to Winooski. We look forward to many more years of working side by side with a valued partner. • With the Governor’s recent briefings, he has indicated that restaurants with outdoor seating may be able to open with major restrictions in the next few weeks  o With Downtown Winooski and the business community, we are exploring options to use adjacent parking spaces for outside seating on a temporary basis this summer. o We are also exploring at what point we restart parking enforcement to ensure turnover of parking spaces to support businesses. • Myers Memorial Pool – We continue to work closely with the Pool contractor on the construction schedule – the biggest challenge being the out of state subcontractor. We intend announce a decision about summer operations at the Council meeting on June 1st. • Upcoming Meetings: o Charter Commission – Virtually tomorrow (Tuesday, May 19th) night. o Project Review Committee – Thursday at 11:00 am - Main Street Apartments and Morehouse Drive Duplex. o Municipal Infrastructure will meet on Thursday, May 28th. • We held a kick-off meeting with VHB for the historic preservation work. The schedule has been slightly adjusted due to Covid-19, and will commence with the consultant initiating the field work documenting historic resources prior to the public engagement. This may actually be advantageous, as it will give the public more information to which to respond as we initiate an ongoing community dialogue. • Community Services Updates • Thrive receives grant from VCTF: Thrive was awarded an Equipment Grant from the Vermont Children's Trust Foundation. We will be getting a 3d printer, a tablet, some programmable robots, and legos/magnetiles to be used in future programs. • FREE healthy meals are available on Wednesdays for Older Vermonters (60+): Home delivery and curbside pick up at the Senior Center available. Social distancing does not mean social isolation. Now, more than ever, we need to stay connected. Enjoy a free nutritious meal and some goodies from us! We want to support you being well at home. Call us today to learn about this new program. 802 655 6425. • Winooski Recreation Online Scavenger Hunt: It's time for our 2nd Scavenger Hunt to begin! The hunt starts Thursday, May 14th at and ends on Thursday, May 21st at 5 PM. This round will require you to find things indoors as well as outside. You will be able to find everything near home and in Winooski. We will be giving away a $25 gift card to Papa Franks Italian Restaurant. Will you claim the prize? • May 21, 2020 Janet will be celebrating 30 years of service with the City VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Reenact Resolution for a Chapter 30 Emergency Ordinance to Alleviate Financial Pressures as a Result of COVID-19 – J Baker The City Manager said back in April we adopted a Resolution for 30 days and we are here tonight to extend and additional 30 days. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Reenact Resolution for a Chapter 30 Emergency Ordinance to Alleviate Financial Pressures as a Result of COVID-19 as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. b. Introduction: Interim Zoning Bylaws for Downtown Core Zoning District – E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald said in an effort to clarify and correct an inconsistency with the location of the easterly boundary of the Downtown Core Zoning District, staff is proposing an interim zoning bylaw. This interim zoning bylaw would address the inconsistency between the zoning map and the description of the Downtown Core Zoning District as outlined in Appendix C of Unified Land Use and Development Regulations. In order to consider the interim zoning bylaw, the City Council will need to hold at least one public hearing prior to adoption. No other zoning districts would be impacted by this interim zoning bylaw. This measurer would only provide support to clarify the easterly zoning boundary and not change, alter, or otherwise amend any other requirements of the Downtown Core zoning District. See attached. There was some discussion concerning the Interim Zoning and he would like to hear from the Planning Commission. MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Colston to Introduce Interim Zoning Bylaws for the Downtown Core Zoning District and to hold a public hearing on June 15, 2020. Voted and passed 3-0. c. Discussion: Lot 7D (Abenaki Way) Development Update – H Carrington Ms. Carrington updated the Mayor and Council on Lot 7D. Over the last few months, staff has been working in partnership with Nedde Real Estate to develop designs and move the project forward. In an effort to limit the possible delays in applications and permitting, on March 16th the City Council authorized the City Manager to sign an ACT250 Permit amendment application on behalf of the City. This authorization was given in advance of the final designs being presented to the City Council with the understanding that council will have an opportunity to approve the final designs and, at any point in the process, council can withdraw, amend, or change the application and/or permit (if issued). The development team has brought forward preliminary designs in order to update City Council and the public and to seek initial feedback. A further opportunity for discussion, feedback and input will follow at the June 15th City Council design review of the project. Mr. Nedde thanked the Mayor and Council for this opportunity and to also thank Jessie, Heather, Erik and Jon. He said they are ready to submit the ACT250 application. He described what the project would look like. The Southwest corner would have a lot of glass, retail present, visioning coffee shop, roof top restaurant, bar and a deck to hold events. We are trying to create a bookend, remove power pole and build a boardwalk out to Casavant Park. We have some challenging times to finance a hotel. We are looking at different Banks in 60 to 90 days. Mr. Niquette gave an overview of the downtown from the beginning of time. Mayor Lott said she is happy to hear that you’re focusing on that. Mr. Niquette said the design that you see is a conceptual design that VEIC has signed off on. This design has results of four months’ worth of work. The City Manager said these are current plans along the with bidding process. This is important to note that this is attractive. Mr. Niquette also aid you are not going to see a different set of drawings. Discussion ensued concerning the size of the restaurant and event space. They are also very excited about VEIC coming into Town because the amount of employees that will eat in Downtown Winooski. d. Discussion: Wayfinding Plan Presentation – H Carrington Ms. Carrington said in December 2018, city staff secured a Municipal Planning Grant in the amount of $22,000 for the purpose of hiring a consultant to develop a wayfinding plan. The City hired LandWorks as the consultant firm in April 209. Over the last year, staff have worked with the consultant team to develop the draft wayfinding plan. Staff and the consultant team held public meetings to solicit public input and stakeholder feedback has been incorporated in the plan. The draft wayfinding plan has been included in Council’s materials and will be presented by David Raphael, the principal of LandWorks. The project is on schedule to be closed out by the grant deadline at the end of May 2020. In addition, last year the City of Winooski was awarded just under $10,000 in grant funds by the Vermont Downtown Transportation Fund for the first phase of sign fabrication and installation. This funding is insufficient to implement the full wayfinding plan, thus a second Downtown Transportation Fund grant application was submitted in March 2020. The funding committee will be considering the grant application and announcing the award decisions in the next few weeks. In addition, funds for signage implementation have been included in the FY2021 budget. Mr. David Raphael, Principal of LandWorks presented the wayfinding plan. See attached. The Mayor and Council were very impressed. Some of their concerns were having different languages, life expectancy and adding our logo to the signs. e. Approval: Justice Assistance Grant: COVID-19 Funding – R Hebert Chief Hebert said historically the Justice Assistance Grant has awarded money on an annual basis to states using a formula that takes population and crime statistics into consideration. Applying that formula using those statistics if a municipality reaches an award of $10,000 or more, the City becomes a direct recipient and is allowed to directly apply for the grant funds. This particular grant was put together as part of a COVID-19 federal stimulus package to assist state and local law enforcement with meeting both short term and long term needs to address new law enforcement concerns for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition the Bureau of Justice Assistance has acknowledged that because the need for additional resources is needed in a timely manner that current local “Sanctuary City” policies and certifications will be waived and are not a consideration for this particular grant, in an effort to get the money to municipalities in days and not months. The average application is approved within 3 days of submittal. The Winooski Department will utilize the COVID-19 Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) to pay for the cost of adding safety equipment (PPE), technology and remote training opportunities due to the immediate and long term budgetary and social distancing limitations of the virus that require new ongoing mobile solutions. The grant allows for the purchase of various items to assist with new workplace safety equipment, training and a wide array of operational costs. These purchases will provide relief for short-term needs and allow the City of Winooski to strengthen resources as a countywide partner in the event local dispatch centers need assistance during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. MOTION Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the FY20 bureau of Justice Assistance (JAG) grant as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. f. Discussion: community Justice Center – Discontinuation of State Funding – J Baker & R Hebert The City Manager said this is a sad agenda item to be bringing to you. The City Manager said historically the City has received a grant from the Department of Corrections to provide restorative justice services in Winooski-specifically Circles of Support and Accountability and Reparative Panels. Our current grant is set to expire on June 30, 2020. Since 2018, we have been working with DOC and our surrounding communities to find efficiencies in the State CJC system. With Eli leaving the City’s employment in March, Chief Hebert and I explored ways to further these conversations. • On April 7, 2020, I wrote to request that the Department of Corrections (DOC) support the City in entering in a Memorandum of Understanding with another Community Justice Center to provide services in Winooski. DOC responded that they did not have the ability in the grant to do this. • On April 21, 2020, I wrote to request that DOC renew this grant of $130,000 to the City of Winooski for another two-year period to continue to provide restorative justice services to our residents. At that point, our community was prepared to continue the required 10% local match in the amount of $13,000. DOC share that DOC would only commit to a one year grant of $60,000 (a 54% reduction) to support Circles of Support and Accountability and Restorative Panels in Winooski. Chief Hebert and I reviewed our options and, at this point, do not believe we can responsibly staff and ensure the excellent service delivery our community deserves at that funding level. We are extremely disappointed and regret that the State does not support continuing these services in Winooski – the most densely populated and diverse City in the State – through local service provision. Therefore, I’m recommending to the council that we not move forward with a local grant to provide restorative services in Winooski. As of this writing, we are informed by DOC via email that: • Burlington will be responsible for Winooski –based Reparative Panels (with no additional funding from DOC) • Essex will staff Winooski-based Circles of Support and Accountability (with $60,000 from DOC) Additionally, we are interested in re-directing the $13,000 in the FY21 General Fund budget to find ways to better support young people in Winooski. We will bring you a recommendation on that at a future date. I want to express to the Mayor and Council that Rick is very optimistic over this. Chief Hebert’s said we are being penalized for our good work. We are devising a plan and it’s all about prevention and education. We are keeping that $13,000 to better support youth in this City. We will also be coming up with a job description for that position. Council Colston said with this new structure would the Restorative panels rely on the volunteers. Chief said they would remain to Winooski residents. Mayor Lott is acknowledging the level of effort and appreciate what the next step will be. The City Manager said what we will be bringing you typically is a budget adjustment to you on zeroing it out. g. Introduction: Chapter 28 – Fee Chapter Update – J Baker The City Manager updated the Mayor and Council on Chapter 28 fees. Under the Municipal Charter, the Council has the authority to update municipal ordinances from time to time. This update to Chapter 28: Fees reflects fees discussed during the FY21 Budget process and other changes as recommended. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to introduce Chapter 28 Fees as presented and to hold a public hearing for June 1, 2020. Voted and passed 3-0. h. Discussion: Goal Update: Safe, Health, Connected People – R Coffey, R Hebert & J Audy Mr. Coffey updated the Mayor and Council on Safe Healthy Connected People. See attached. Some of the concerns of the Council are the census participation especially the non-English speaking residents. Mr. Coffey said we would start to see numbers improve the elderly and the non-English. i. Discussion: 2019-2020 Policy Priorities and Strategies Report-out and 2020 Planning – J Baker The City Manager said since 2017, the Council and Leadership Team have come together on an annual basis to establish a shared list of priorities (a work plan) for achieving the City’s Strategic Vision priorities. This has included a review of accomplishments, a review of future priorities, and an alignment to the City’s Master Plan and the Commission structure. Given the COVID-19 pandemic we currently face, the reduced staffing levels, and the financial uncertainty, we recommend that together we set a shorter-term work plan that focuses on response, recovery, and resiliency, and addresses long-term goals later in 2020. To further that discussion we are providing you with: • A full report out on 2019-2020 Policy Priorities and Strategies • A DRAFT recommended set of short-term 2020 Policy Priorities and Strategies. See attached. Mayor Lott likes the idea of moving forward with this method. Councilors, Lafayette, Colston and Duncan also support the plan. j. Approval: City Manager contract – K Lott Mayor Lott stated we met in Executive Session to discuss City Manager Jessie Bakers agreement for employment and we are here tonight to approve her agreement. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the City Manager’s contract as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to adjourn at 8:20 p.m. Voted and passed 3- 0. ATTEST: _________________________ City Clerk