City Council

Remote Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, January 25, 2021 at 6 PM Attend online: https://zoom.us/j/95909725312 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 959 0972 5312 Sign up for public comment Budget Presentation (link available soon) Watch live or recorded via Town Meeting TV I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes of 1/19/21 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant as of 1/21/2021 c. Approval: Vtrans Highway Recertification VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Public Hearing: Public Hearing to Receive Comment of the Proposed FY22 Budget and Capital Plan Across All Funds – 6:00 p.m. On December 7, 2020 the City Manager presented an overview of the FY22 proposed budget to the Council. Since that meeting, the Council received presentations from each Department. – J Baker IX. Regular Items a. Approval: FY22 General Funds Budget and Capital Plan to Present to Voters – J Baker b. Discussion/Approval: Regulation of Commercial Cannabis (per Act 164) and decision on a Ballot Item for Town Meeting Day – J Baker c. Discussion/Approval: Ballot Item- F-35 Resolution – J Baker d. Approval: Town Meeting Day Warning – J Baker e. Approval: FY22 Fund Budgets and Capital Plans (Water, Wastewater, Parking, Community Services Programs, and Rental Registry) – J Baker f. Approval: Resolution: FY22 Water Rates – J Rauscher g. Approval: Resolution: FY22 Wastewater Rates – J Rauscher h. Discussion: Request for City-Wide Reappraisal, Records Modernization, and Assessor Services – J Baker i. Approval: City Manager Annual Review Process – K Lot 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 6:02 p.m. Councilor Colston led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Hal Colston, James Duncan, Amy Lafayette and Mike Myers Officers Present Jessie Baker, City Manager; Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Paul Sarne, Communications Coordinator; John Choate, Utility Manager; Eric Vorwald, Planning and Zoning Manager Others Present George Cross, Town Meeting TV, Eli Harrington, Bob Ackland, Dillon Lovell, Cara Montague, Matthew Ennis, Mary H, Bryn Oakleaf, Kate Nugent, Erin Patrice, David Rugh, Annalee Pratt, Fiona Griffin III. Agenda Review - None IV. Public Comment - None Consent Agenda MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve as presented the City Council Minutes of 1/19/21 and Accounts Payable Warrant as of 1/21/21 and Vtrans Highway Recertification. Voted and passed 4-0. Council Reports Councilor Colston – None Councilor Myers – None Councilor Duncan – None Councilor Lafayette – She attended the most recent Downtown Winooski meeting. They are bringing on new members and new officers were elected. Mayor Lott – The Council previously approved an MOU with Burlington and South Burlington to collaborate on noise mitigation efforts. All three towns have now agreed to the MOU. V. City Updates The City Manager gave the following updates. COVID Update Our Lady of Providence - 55 Cases, 6 deaths – No changes. Current outbreak resolution date 02/01/2021 (if no additional cases are identified). Last week, we had 10 new cases (compared to 20 last week) in 4 new unique addresses (compared to 14 last week. Thank you to residents who are making this difference. Testing daily for the foreseeable future and at least through February. This week shifting to more evening hours. At the OCC 2 to 8 on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. 9 to 3 all other days including Saturday and Sunday. Daily – can sign up at the VDH website or walk in. All information is on our webpage All materials are translated and there will be translators on site. Vaccines for 75+ started today NO walk-ups. You must register in advance. There are two “mass vax” clinics starting in Chittenden Co – one in Burlington and one in Winooski Winooski’s clinics will be on Tuesdays starting on 2/2 at the Armory. If you or a loved one over 75 needs assistance registering for a vaccination appointment, please call Healthvermont.gov/MyVaccine or 855-722-7878 If you are having trouble signing up on-line, the Senior Center can help. Call 655-6425 and we can help. You can also sign up for appointments to use the public computers by calling the Library at 655-6424. The most important thing you can do is: Not spend time with anyone outside of your immediate household Wear a mask when in the presence of others Socially distance Wash your hands Consent to be on the ballot – closed at 5:00pm today. Here are the candidates running for office: Mayor - Kristine Lott Councilors James Duncan James McCormick Samuel Myers Dallas Wheatley School Board – 3 Year Term Steven Berbeco School Board – 2 Year Term Alexander Yin School Board – 3 Year Term (To serve the remainder of a three-year term, which expires in March of 2022) Kamal Dahal Champlain Water District – 3 Year Term Jonathan Stockbridge Community Services – Get out and enjoy the cold weather! 85 people for Nordic skiing this Saturday! Join us next Saturday! Free and equipment rentals available.  Community Services has installed a Skating Rink in Rotary Park. Despite the cold weather, it takes a while to freeze! We hope to be opening it to the community this week. And for those of us thinking about warmer weather, we anticipate launching Community Garden & Pool Pass sales this week! VI. Public Hearing: Public Hearing to Receive Comment of the Proposed FY22 Budget and Capital Plan Across All Funds – 6:00 p.m. On December 7, 2020 the City Manager presented an overview of the FY22 proposed budget to the Council. Since that meeting, the Council received presentations from each Department. – J Baker Public Hearing opened at 6:13 p.m. with an overview by City Manager Baker. There was one comment from the public. The Public Hearing was closed at 6:18 p.m. VII. Regular Items a. Approval: FY22 General Funds Budget and Capital Plan to Present to Voters – J Baker There were no comments made regarding this item. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the FY22 General Funds Budget and Capital Plan as presented and place on the warning for Town Meeting Day. Voted and passed 4-0 b. Discussion/Approval: Regulation of Commercial Cannabis (per Act 164) and decision on a Ballot Item for Town Meeting Day – J Baker City Manager Baker and Mayor Lott clarified the difference in license types and the advantages/disadvantages that may impact the decision on which to allow or not allow. There was some hesitancy on moving forward with this ballot item as the rules and regulations have not yet been clearly established. There were many comments from the public expressing the desire to see this item placed on the ballot. Councilor Colston explained the timeline for Act 164. Councilor Colston stressed that a safe recreational market is the goal. Councilor Duncan expressed that he feels the risk is worth taking. He stated that he would prefer to have the rules and regulations clearly laid out before approving this ballot item. Councilor Lafayette stated the she could support the retail option vs. the integrated license. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Colston to approve a Ballot Item for Town Meeting Day regarding permitting the operation of cannabis retailers within the City of Winooski as presented. Voted and passed 4-0 passed. c. Discussion/Approval: Ballot Item- F-35 Resolution – J Baker The Mayor opened the discussion with an explanation that at this time City Council is not in favor of this particular item being placed on the ballot. Mayor Lott stressed that the question is allowing the residents to believe that a change that cannot happen may happen. The Mayor has had conversations with VTANG. The Governor has also indicated that he is not interested in seeing a change at this time. The Mayor then opened the floor to those who were present to share their opinions/concerns. There were several  members of the community who shared their concerns. Cara Montague, Matthew Ennis, Annalee Pratt, Bob Ackland and George Cross all shared. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the F-35 Ballot Item with the following language revision, “Shall the City of Winooski urge the State to halt F-35 training flights in a densely populated area, such a Winooski?” Voted and passed 3-2. Councilors Lafayette and Myers voted no. At 7:31 p.m. Mayor Lott called a 5-minute recess. The meeting was called back to order at 7:36 p.m. by Mayor Lott. d. Approval: Town Meeting Day Warning – J Baker MOTION by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the 2021 Town Meeting Day Warning with the updated language as put forth by Councilor Duncan on item #4, the F-35 Ballot Item, as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. e. Approval: FY22 Fund Budgets and Capital Plans (Water, Wastewater, Parking, Community Services Programs, and Rental Registry) – J Baker City Manager Baker explained what is included in this approval and what is not included. The TIF and the Community Fund Budget will be brought before Council in March. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the FY22 Fund Budgets and Capital Plans (Water, Wastewater, Parking, Community Services Programs, and Rental Registry) as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. f. Approval: Resolution: FY22 Water Rates – J Rauscher MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to approve the FY22 Water Rates as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. g. Approval: Resolution: FY22 Wastewater Rates – J Rauscher MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the FY22 Wastewater Rates as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. h. Discussion: Request for City-Wide Reappraisal, Records Modernization, and Assessor Services – J Baker City Manager explained the process briefly as this item was on the agenda to start the conversation. Some discussion ensued and there was mutual agreement with getting the City’s records available online. i. Approval: City Manager Annual Review Process – K Lot There was discussion regarding the timeframe to complete this process. Councilor Lafayette suggested pushing it out some since there would be only 6 days to complete the process. Councilor Duncan inquired about extending the timeframe and Councilor  Myers also agreed to extending the timeframe. After some discussion all agreed to begin the process on 2/3/21 and to have all documents submitted to Councilor Lafayette no later than 2/9/21. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the City Manager Annual Review Process with the extended timeframe as discussed. Voted and passed 4-0. VIII. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Lafayette to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST:_____________________________________________ Assistant City Clerk