City Council

Mayor Kristine Lott - klott@winooskivt.gov Councilor Hal Colston - hcolston@winooskivt.gov Councilor Jim Duncan - jduncan@winooskivt.gov Councilor Mike Myers - mmyers@winooskivt.gov Councilor Bryn Oakleaf – boakleaf@winooskivt.gov Winooski City Council Remote Meeting Monday, June 21, 2021 at 6 PM Attend online: https://zoom.us/j/99009608815 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 990 0960 8815 Attend in-person: Winooski City Hall (27 West Allen Street) I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: Liquor Control Board and City Council Minutes of 06/07/2021 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant as of 6/17/2021 and Payroll Warrant for period 05/30/2021-06/12/2021 c. Approval: Commission Reappointments – P Townsend d. Approval: CHT Loan Discharge – H Carrington/A Aldieri VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Housing Trust Policy – H Carrington b. Discussion: Mayor’s Memo on Master Plan Progess Reports – K Lott c. Approval: Opportunities Credit Union MOU – H Carrington d. Discussion/Approval: Downtown Winooski MOU – H Carrington e. Discussion/Approval: Downtown to-go spaces – H Carrington f. Discussion: Financial Policies – Control Environment – A Aldieri g. Discussion: O’Brien Community Center Update – R Coffey h. Discussion: State Treasurer’s Report – A Aldieri i. Discussion: Legacy Campaign Features – P Sarne j. Discussion: Goals Update #9 – P Townsend/J Rauscher IX. Adjourn  MINUTES The City Council Meeting was called to order by Mayor Lott at 6:01 p.m. Deputy Mayor Colston led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Hal Colston, Jim Duncan, Bryn Oakleaf and Michael Myer Officers Present: Phoebe Townsend and Jon Rauscher, Co-Interim City Manager; Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk; Eric Vorwald, Planning & Zoning Manager; Heather Carrington, Economic Development Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Paul Sarne, Communication Coordinator; Alexander Anastasi-Hill, Treasurer Others Present: Maggie Barch/Our House, Meredith Bay-Tyack, Town Meeting TV III. Agenda Review Mayor Lott requested that Regular Item B be moved to the end of the agenda following Regular Item J MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Duncan to amend the order of the agenda moving Regular Item B to the end of the agenda following Regular Item J. Voted and passed 4-0. IV. Public Comment – None V. Consent Agenda MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Liquor Control Board and City Council Minutes of 06/07/2021 as presented. Voted and passed 3-0-1 Councilor Myers abstained. MOTION: by Councilor Colston seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve items B, C, and D of the Consent Agenda as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Oakleaf: attended the Municipal Infrastructure meeting this week-they were focused on city updates and some future plans. Councilor Oakleaf was happy to report that this particular Commission is retaining all of its current members. Councilor Duncan: attended the Airport meeting this week. Updates were that the noise monitoring equipment has been ordered, noise complaints remain steady. Also attended the Planning Commission meeting where they discussed setbacks, windows and parking all around Form Based Code. There was plenty of good discussions. Councilor Duncan also participated in a training on tree statues and the new laws regarding tree wardens. Councilor Duncan is also excited about the upcoming tree give aways for resident land owners in order to increase the urban canopy. Councilor Colston: Reminded all that this is Veto Session Week. Winooski’s proposed Charter change is being considered. Councilor Colston is hoping to achieve passage. The vote will be on Thursday.  Councilor Myers: Expressed his thanks for the outstanding job done on the Myers Memorial Pool. He specifically thanked Ray Coffey and Jon Rauscher and their teams for all their hardwork. Mayor Lott: Expressed her thanks to Ray Coffey for all his work on the Priorities and Strategies Retreat this coming Saturday. The previously passed Resolution on sound mitigation was shared with the airport. The City Manager Search Committee has narrowed the applicant list to 6 qualified candidates who will be interviewed in the next few weeks. VII. City Updates Co-Interim City Manager P Townsend presented the following City update. End of State of Emergency Updates on mask guidelines for City buildings – we are still requesting that people who are unvaccinated wear masks Hybrid/in person Council & Commission meetings -continuing to work on this with Town Meeting TV ARPA funds: VLCT is lobbying for the Treasury to release County funds and we’re still in the planning stages while we wait for confirmation on the total amount. Commission Recruitment - many open Commission seats, please spread the word. Pride flag raising 6/28 . The flag raising will occur at 12:30, involve a couple of speakers and the city will be holding an event during Vermont's Pride month in September that will be in collaboration with city partners. Thank you to Councilor Oakleaf and Equity Director Yas Gordon for their coordination on this exciting event. Thanks! Phoebe Co-Interim City Manager J Rauscher presented the following City Update. Council Calendar Update Saturday - Council Retreat for the Policy, Priorities Strategies Discussion One Council meeting in July on the 19th In-person meeting space available at City Hall Construction project Updates Butternut Station - 32 MBA - The Champlain Housing Trust will be starting construction on July 12th for their proposed development at 32 MBA. We have a pre-construction meeting scheduled for the OCC tenants on July 1st at the OCC at 10 am. Hickok Street - The final portions of this project will be starting in the next few weeks. The Contractor will be performing the road paving work. During this work no on-street parking will be allowed, M-F 7a- 5p. This project is targeted to be complete by Mid-July. Gratitude - The first annual Juneteenth Celebration took place on Saturday evening hosted by Downtown Winooski. Kudos to Yasamin Gordon opening speech. VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Housing Trust Policy – H Carrington Ms. Carrington gave an overview. She explained that the City Attorney suggested a minor update and that the Equity Director had reviewed the policy and found that no changes were needed. Some discussion ensued. MOTION: by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the Housing Trust Policy as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Approval: Opportunities Credit Union MOU - H Carrington Ms. Carrington gave an overview. Some discussion ensued. MOTION: by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the Opportunities Credit Union MOU as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. c. Discussion/Approval Downtown Winooski MOU – H Carrington/M Bay-Tyack Some changes were reviewed by Ms. Carrington. Ms. Bay-Tyack agreed that the document was very similar to the previous year’s MOU. MOTION: by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Colston to approve the Downtown Winooski MOU as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. d. Discussion/Approval Downtown to-go spaces – H Carrington The recommendation is to return the “to-go spaces” back to the paid parking inventory effective July 1st. Maggie Barch made public comment expressing her desire to allow the outside seating to continue through October of this year. Councilor Myers supported Ms. Barch’s suggestion. Discussion ensued. MOTION: by Councilor Myers to return the specially designated parking spaces to regular paid on street parking inventory with the exception of the outdoor dining spaces in front of Our House and to extend the use of those spaces until October 2021. The motion died for lack of second. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Colston to return the specially designated parking spaces to regular paid on street parking inventory as presented. Voted and passed 3-1. Councilor Myers opposed the motion. e. Discussion: Financial Policies – Control Environment – A Aldieri Ms. Aldieri reviewed the policies and stated that this item would be on the Consent Agenda for approval at the next meeting. There was some discussion. f. Discussion: O’Brien Community Center Update – R Coffey Mr. Coffey informed Council that North End Studios is officially all moved out of the center. There are some discussions regarding the rental of the kitchen space that will be brought forward at the July Council meeting. At this point in time, Mr. Coffey stated that we are not looking at leasing the other spaces in the building but will do so in the future. Discussion ensued. g. Discussion: State Treasurer’s Report – A Aldieri/Alexander Anastasi-Hill Mr. Anastasi-Hill stated that there were no changes from last year’s report. Some discussion ensued. h. Discussion: Legacy Campaign Features – P Sarne Ms. Carrington opened the discussion then Mr. Sarne reviewed the website with Council.  i. Discussion: Goals Update #9 – P Townsend/J Rauscher Co-Interim City Managers Phoebe Townsend and John Rauscher presented the material and asked for any questions or concerns from Council. There were no questions or concerns at this time. j. Discussion: Mayor’s Memo on Master Plan Progress Report – K Lott The Mayor reviewed the memo then asked several Councilors for updates. The Mayor sought out items that would be a top priority for the various Commissions in advance of the Priorities and Strategies Retreat this Saturday at the Senior Center 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be more discussion and direction at that time. The Mayor asked the Councilors to be sure to read through the Goals Update #9 prior to the retreat. IX. Adjourn MOTION: by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Colston to adjourn the meeting at 7:36 p.m. Voted and passed 4-0.