City Council

Remote Winooski City Council Meeting Tuesday, September 8, 2020 at 6:00 PM • Attend Online: https://zoom.us/j/97975939386 • Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 • Webinar ID: 979 7593 9386 • View our Remote Meeting Procedures and Public Comment Request Form at winooskivt.gov or call 802 655 6410 I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Meeting Minutes of 08/18/2020 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant ending 09/03/2020 and Payroll Warrant for period 08/9/2020 – 08/22/2020 VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Proclamation: Now is the time to Shop Small/Local – K Lott b. Approval: Assessor’s Office Errors and Omissions – T Nelson c. Approval: Treasurer’s FY20 Year End Report – A Anastasi-Hill d. Discussion: Working Communities Challenge Grant Proposal – J Baker e. Discussion: Main Street Revitalization Project Update – J Rauscher f. Approval: Charter Change Ballot Language: All-Resident Voting, Administrative Changes, and Self-Governance Rights – J Baker g. Approval: FEMA COVID-19 Grant – A Aldieri h. Approval: Local Government Expense Reimbursement Grant – A Aldieri i. Approval: Vermont Department of Children and Families Operational Relief Grant for Childcare, Summer Day Camps & Afterschool Programs – R Coffey j. Discussion: Vermont Childcare Hubs Initiative and Thrive – R Coffey k. Approval: Vtrans Bicycle and Pedestrian 2020 Grant Application Scoping Study- New Sidewalks – J Rauscher l. Discussion: Housing Stability Indicators Update – J Baker m. Discussion: 2020 Policy, Priorities and Strategies Recovery Plan Report-Out #1 – J Baker n. Approval: Appoint Voting Delegate for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ Annual Business Meeting – J Baker IX. Executive Session a. Executive Session pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (a)(1)(1) and specifically “….grievances ….where premature general public knowledge would clearly place the municipality at a  substantial disadvantage” and pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 312(e) regarding quasi-judicial proceedings concerning pay X. Adjourn 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 MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Councilor Colston led the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Hal Colston, James Duncan, Amy Lafayette, Michael Myers Officers Present: Jessie Baker, City Manager; Janet Brouard, Sr Asst City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Alex Anastasi-Hill, Treasurer; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Eric Vorwald, Planning & Zoning Director; Phoebe Townsend, HR Manager; John Audy, Fire Chief; Paul Sarne, Communications Coordinator; Kate Anderson, Thrive Manager; Rick Hebert, Police Chief. Others Present: Michael Willard & Evan Detrick, Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, Inc; Ted Nelson, Vermont Appraisal Company, Arica Bronz, Terry Zigmund, Kate Coffey, Douglas Weston, Sam Myers. III. Agenda Review The City Manager said there is no need to have Executive Session tonight. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to remove the Executive Session item from tonight’s agenda. Voted and passed 4-0. IV. Public Comment The Communications Coordinator said there are a few people that have requested the opportunity to speak before the Council. First up was Arica Bronz. Ms. Bronz said she attend the meeting on August 24th concerning parking, traffic calming and pedestrian safety along Manseau Street. She hadn’t seen any results of the meeting and was wondering what ideas came from it. The Mayor said this will be addressed in the City Managers update. She was willing to wait until then. Terry Zigmund had similar concerns. She said it seems that when projects are happening in the City, sidewalk concerns seem to be an “afterthought”. She urged the Council and City staff to make planning for pedestrian traffic a priority in future projects within the City. Kate Coffey also had concerns over the Manseau Street meeting. She wondered if any thought was given to putting traffic lights on East Allen, maybe at Manseau Street or Dion Street to make crossing easier. All three would wait to hear City Manger’s Update on meeting. V. Consent Agenda MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. Councilor Myers did not vote due to the fact he lost WIFI and was not present when the motion was made. VI. Council Reports Councilor Lafayette attended the Downtown Winooski Board meeting. They are still looking for community involvement, however are happy to announce three new members to the board; Seth Leonard, Laura Wade, Misery and George Bergin, Beverage Warehouse. Councilor Colston – none Councilor Duncan attended last month’s Safe Healthy Connected People meeting. It was basically a reconvening of the group. They discussed the traffic needs on Cedar Street. He also attended the Housing Commission meeting. Councilor Myers welcomed the kids back to school. Mayor Lott said she hosted her last informal Zoom meeting. She said it was not very well attended and that they would have to do something brainstorming for future events like that to be held. She went to a meeting held on Church Street in Burlington celebrating the 100- year Anniversary of Woman’s Suffrage. She also commented on the reduced versions of the Charter changes being put on the General Fund Ballot. The City will be mailing out an informational sheet listing the full versions. This will also give us the opportunity to spread the word on the proposed changes. VII. City Updates The City Manager began her update with the Manseau Street meeting. She said it was a well- attended meeting, 40-50 residents, she was glad to see all in masks too. She highlighted the following bullet points; Parking, Traffic Calming, and Pedestrian Safety - Manseau Street Public Meeting and other discussions • Parking, traffic calming and pedestrian safety have been the focus of staff and community work for many years. The community has indicated values around these factors through: o Form Based Code o 2017 Parking Study o 2017 Transportation Master Plan o 2018/2019 Main Street Planning o East Allen Scoping Study o 2020 UWPW Parking Study – now underway o 2020 priority of a city-wide traffic calming policy o A good summary of this is in Eric’s memo to the Planning Commission this week and linked off the Planning Commission agenda • These public processes have repeatedly resulted in city goals around maximizing development potential of the gateway districts, focusing on improving bike and pedestrian infrastructure, and efficiently making use of private and public parking available to the community. • On August 24th five City leaders met with about fifty residents – masked up – on Manseau Street. Many concerns and ideas were discussed for both short and long-term solutions. We want to share with you the efforts the City staff continue to work on: o New: DPW will be stripping parking spaces along Manseau next week to ensure that public parking is being used efficiently along the Street. o New: Tonight, you will consider a grant application to do scoping for a sidewalk on Manseau o Ongoing: Staff remain committed to monitoring the impacts when the road is reopened this fall to ensure safety for the neighborhood. o Also discussed: Changing the one-side of the street parking from the east side to the west side o Also discussed: Changing zoning in the future to review minimum parking standards • We also want to acknowledge that there are several examples of developments on the Gateways where parking has been developed per the code (as it is here) and once completed there have not been issues – City Lights and Casavant. This is the worst phase of this for this particular corner as the road is closed and there is a great deal of construction happening. We acknowledge that it’s challenging and will continue to work with the neighbors and developers on the solutions listed above. • Finally, we are very thankful that so many residents were actively engaged in these conversations and brought good ideas and energy to the conversation. We look forward to working with them in the future as these infrastructure questions are addressed. Ms. Baker also had the following updates; • Heather Carrington, Community & Economic Development Officer, represented the Winooski Housing Commission as a panelist for the Fair Housing Project webinar “Housing Committees as a Tool to Meet Local Housing Needs” recently. The webinar had over 80 registrants across the state and was sponsored by CVOEO, VHFA and DHCD. The webinar recording is available at: housingdata.org. • Street Paving: o Work is scheduled to start middle of next week and will include Maple, Union, East and Pine Street (south of Malletts Bay Avenue) o DPW will be putting out door hangar notifications and temporary no parking signage for these streets. • Skateboarding at the pool – a concern has been raised about folks breaking into the beautiful new Pool o Since 8/3 we have 22 documented directed patrols that we physically went to proactively and got out to check the pool. o Officers are also expected to drive by and spotlight the area several times a shift during the hours of darkness. o We have received one 911 call about intruders - 08/03 at 19:09 hours. The WPD arrived on scene at 19:15 hours and no one was there. This was before the new perimeter fencing was complete – completed on 8/4. o Since the completion of the fence and the filling of the pools, there have not been any intruders. o Moving forward, there are motion detector lights along the pool deck to dissuade folks. And the pool will remain substantially full of water with a cover – so no skaters o Finally, Ray has reached out to the skater community and let them know additional patrols would be checking the pool. • Upcoming Meetings: o Planning Commission meeting this Thursday. No major items, just the meeting. o DRB meeting next Thursday to hear appeal of a Notice of Violation for 133 Elm Street related to odors from the CBD operation. o Finance Commission – Next Tuesday Ms. Baker said lastly, she wanted to make the Council aware of the situation regarding the School Resource Officer position and the changes made for this upcoming school year. The timeline is as follows; • In July and August, the School Trustees had several conversations with the Winooski Students for Anti-Racism about demands made by the students and alumni aimed at helping WSD begin its journey towards becoming an antiracist institution. One of these demands including changing and/or eliminating the School Resource Officer position. o I have had several conversations with the Superintendent about this demand – as has the Chief and our SRO. o We were never invited to speak at a School Trustee meeting about the SRO position. o On August 31st, the Chief, Superintendent, School Trustee Chair, two representatives from WSA, and myself met to go over how we would be going to jointly implement the adopted policy demand around the SRO position. We had an open and engaging conversation at which we thought we’d left with a shared understanding of how the SRO would function this school year – changed uniform, changed car usage, but remaining armed. o On Sunday evening the School Trustees called an emergency meeting at which the Trustees reaffirmed a commitment to not having an armed SRO in the school – thereby removing him from the school for this school year. o As it currently stands, the Winooski PD will not have personnel in the School District – except if requested through a 911 call. o It is unclear how the public process in September and October previously agreed to will move forward. o This represents a significant shift in how we managed broad public safety for our residents – especially our youngest residents. We are assessing this impact and how we might shift this position in the future. o Currently the School Trustees have said that they will honor their FY21 financial commitment. VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Proclamation: Now is the time to Shop Small/Local –K Lott The Mayor said she is happy to submit this proclamation. We all need to do our part and support of local vendors. See the full Proclamation attached. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the Proclamation to Shop Small as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Approval: Assessor’s Office Errors and Omissions – T Nelson This item was tabled to the September 21st City Council meeting. c. Approval: Treasurer’s FY20 Year End Report – A Anastasi-Hill Mr. Anastasi-Hill gave his condensed version of the year-end financial status. He said despite the pandemic, the City has successfully managed to meet the financial parameters established in the 2020 fiscal budget adopted by Council. Assuming any/ all transactions placed on hold will resume as normal for the 2021 fiscal year, the overall variance from budget will result in an approximate surplus of $120,000. He is confident that any additional strain will not immediately impact the City’s existing financial stability. The Mayor thanked him for his report. Ms. Baker wanted to add that the sacrifices the employees made throughout the beginning of this pandemic aided in us ending the year with a surplus. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the Treasurer’s FY20 Year End Report as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. d. Discussion: Working Communities Challenge Grant Proposal- J Baker Councilor Colston recused himself from being part of this discussion due to the fact he is on the board that will award said grants. Ms. Baker said the City of Winooski was awarded a Working Communities Challenge planning grant in January 2020. Since that time the Steering Committee and other partners have had discussions about our shared goals and visions for this work. The Steering Committee approved the high-level goals and staff have drafted the attached memo, job description, and budget to implement these goals. Ms. Baker said we are looking for feedback from you tonight. The Steering Committee will take your suggestions, finalize plans and we will come back at the September 21st meeting for the grant application approval. The grant deadline is September 30th. Councilor Lafayette appreciates all the time and effort building this role out model of the budget, including beyond the life of the grant. e. Discussion: Main Street Revitalization Project Update – J Rauscher Mr. Rauscher is here tonight to present his quarterly project update. He said the update will include the current design status, schedule revisions, the current cost estimate, design feedback requests and next steps. Mr. Rauscher said he was hoping to report that they are around 90% complete in the design phase however, the pandemic has delayed progress and they are currently running around 60% complete. Staff has developed a more detailed project schedule outlining all remaining tasks at hand. See abbreviated version of schedule attached. Mr. Rauscher said our goal tonight is to get Council feedback on two areas; Streetlight fixture style selection and Silva cell tree pit system to be extended for the entire corridor. Lengthy discussions ensued over these two areas. Should we install more expensive fixtures, just to tie in with Downtown? Should we be using the same pavers as Downtown given the history of heaving? Mayor Lott has some concern spending ½ million dollars on street lights. Councilor Lafayette agrees. Councilor Duncan was in agreement but only if there were any operational costs or efficiency savings going with the more expensive version. Councilor Colston’s thoughts were the same. The other area of discussion involved trees and the placement thereof. There were initial concerns with coordinating around the underground duct bank. After further discussion with the landscape architect, it was found that this system can accommodate future underground maintenance. The Mayor called a 4-minute recess. f. Approval: Charter Change Ballot Language: All-Resident Voting, Administrative Changes, and Self-Governance Rights – J Baker Ms. Baker said on August 18th, the City Council approved ballot language to bring to the voters at a Special City Meeting to be held in conjunction with the General Election in November. This language includes, All-Resident Voting, Administrative Changes, and Self- Governance Rights. Ms. Baker said it was later discovered that the current language will not fit on the General ballot, so we are here tonight with a condensed version to be approved. Ms. Baker says that City staff intends to send out a direct mailing to all registered voters with the full complete text of each ballot article. MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Charter Change Ballot Language as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. g. Approval: FEMA COVID-19 Grant – A Aldieri Ms. Aldieri said that FEMA is offering funding to eligible applicants for costs related to emergency protective measures conducted as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ms. Aldieri said that the grant will cover up to 75% of total costs. To date we have spent around $11,000 and expect to spend an additional $4,000 more by the end of the year. Ms. Aldieri said that the 25% local match is expected to be covered by the State of Vermont. MOTION by Councilor Lafayette seconded Councilor Myers to approve the FEMA COVID-19 Grant Application as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. h. Approval: Local Government Expense Reimbursement Grant – A Aldieri Ms. Aldieri said the Local Government Expense Reimbursement Grant (LGER) is funded by the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF). Under the LGER grant, expenses related to COVID-19 pandemic response must be incurred by municipalities on or before December 30, 2020. Ms. Aldieri said this grant is completed in coordination with the FEMA grant. Any costs denied by FEMA will be automatically forwarded to this grant for funding determination. Costs incurred by the City to provide screening, virtual meeting software, small business loan support, shifted communications staff time, and a hazard pay proposal have been compiled and submitted for reimbursement. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the Local Government Expense Reimbursement (LGER) grant as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. i. Approval: Vermont Department of Children and Families Operational Relief Grant for Childcare, Summer Day Camps & Afterschool Programs – R Coffey Mr. Coffey said that in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the State of Vermont Department of Children and Families has recognized that this has been a challenge for a lot of programs to sustain. With that, the State will issue funding through the Operational Relief Grant. Based on calculations for lost revenue due to reduced enrollment, Mr. Coffey said we are seeking a total of $33,837.56 to offset losses in both our Thrive Summer and Afterschool Programs. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Myers to authorize staff to accept funds to replace lost operating revenue. Voted and passed 4-0. j. Discussion: Vermont Childcare Hubs Initiative and Thrive – R Coffey Mr. Coffey said that on August 18th Governor Scott issued an Executive Order regarding the need for expanded childcare due to increases in hybrid and remote learning during the school day throughout Vermont. In response to this, the Department of Children and Families, in partnership with the Vermont Afterschool’s Inc have moved quickly to develop a plan for funding support for childcare “hubs” throughout the State. Mr. Coffey said this support will cover the cost of initial fit up, as well as the first month of operational costs. Mr. Coffey met with his team to develop a “hub”. Mr. Coffey said they would most likely operate at the new community room at the Myers Memorial Pool location. He said we are still working on the details but feel we can at least offer full day care two days per week. Kate Anderson, our current Thrive Manager said this will be for K-5th grade. This will be in place for when kids are not in school (remote learning days). She is looking to operate Monday, Tuesday and possibly Thursday and Friday. k. Approval: Vtrans Bicycle and Pedestrian 2020 Grant Application Scoping Study- New Sidewalks – J Rauscher Mr. Rauscher said he is requesting to submit a grant application for scoping study to review adding sidewalks along East Spring Street, North Street, Hood Street and Manseau Street where there are currently no sidewalks on either side of the street. The scoping study request would include funding for survey, public outreach and cost estimating to support future construction funding. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the Vtrans Bicycle and Pedestrian 2020 Grant Application Scoping Study-New Sidewalks as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. l. Discussion: Housing Stability Indicators Update -J Baker Ms. Baker said that Heather Carrington, Community and Economic Development Director is currently on vacation. She said that you as a group at previous council meeting raised concerns about supporting our residents with stable housing during the COVID-19 pandemic, from homeowners to landlords and renters. Closure of the economy has resulted in economic hardships for many of our residents, which may result in an inability to pay mortgages and rents. Ms. Baker said that attached memo from Ms. Carrington provides a high-level overview of housing stability. The Council thanked Ms. Carrington for her due diligence on the state of our current housing affairs. m. Discussion: 2020 Policy, Priorities and Strategies Recovery Plan Report- Out #1 – J Baker Ms. Baker said since 2017, the Council and Leadership Team have come together on an annual basis to establish a shared list of goals for achieving the City’s Strategic Vision priorities. Ms. Baker said that given the COVID-19 pandemic we currently are facing, the reduced staffing levels, and the financial uncertainty, you adopted a 2020 Recovery Plan in July. I am pleased to provide you with our first report of that plan. Rather than going line by line, she opened up for any questions the Council may have. Councilor Myers said he had an inquiry from a resident on Hickok Street about paving. Mr. Rauscher said this fall they will be doing the underground sewer slip lining work and paving will be next spring. He also had a question about snow removal. Mr. Rauscher said that temporary paving has been put down and that we should be fine this winter. n. Approval: Appoint Voting Delegate for the Vermont League of Cities and Towns’ Annual Business Meeting – J Baker Ms. Baker said each year as a part of the Town Fair, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns holds its annual business meeting. As a member, we need to designate on official as the voting delegate to ensure that our voice is heard. This can be an elected official of the City Manager. Me. Baker said she currently serves on the Board of Directors and will be at the meeting. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to appoint City Manager, Jessie Baker as voting delegate to the Vermont League of Cities and Towns Annual Business Meeting. Voted and passed 4-0. X. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to adjourn the City Council meeting at 8:38 pm. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST____________________________________ Sr Asst City Clerk