City Council

Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, October 4, 2021 at 6:00 PM Attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84002581234 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 840 0258 1234 Attend in-person: Winooski City Hall, 27 West Allen Street Masks and 6' distancing required 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 I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council & Liquor Control Minutes of September 20, 2021, Special City Council Meeting Minutes of September 27, 2021 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant as of 9/29/21 and Payroll Warrant for period 9/5/21-9/18/21 and Subsequent to Payout for August VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion/Approval: Mayor’s Memo - City Manager Hiring Process Update – K Lott b. Discussion: ARPA Update to Council – P Townsend/J Rauscher/A Aldieri c. Discussion: All Resident Voting Update – C Barrett d. Discussion/Approval: Review Calendar Year 2020 Progress/Implementation of All Hazards Mitigation Plan – J Audy e. Discussion/Approval: Firehouse Reserve Use – J Audy/A Aldieri f. Discussion/Approval: Centennial Celebration Committee Request for Reserve Funds – P Sarne/ A Aldieri/M Bay-Tyack g. Approval: Finance Commission Appointment – Ashley Lucht - A Aldieri h. Discussion: Myer’s Memorial Pool 2021 Season Update – R Coffey IX. Executive Session a. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A § 313 (3) the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee (City Manager search discussion) - K Lott X. Adjourn  Minutes The mayor called the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Deputy Mayor Hal Colston. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Hal Colston, Michael Myers, Bryn Oakleaf and Jim Duncan Officers Present: Phoebe Townsend and Jon Rauscher, Co-Interim City Managers; Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Paul Sarne, Communications Manager; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Heather Carrington, Community and Economic Development Officer; Eric Vorwald, Zoning and Planning Manager; John Audy, Fire Chief Others Present: Town Meeting TV, Jess Lukas/YMCA, Amy Lafayette, Steven Berbeco, Jess Wignall, J Lane, Bruce Wilson, Meredith Bay- Tyack III. Agenda Review The Mayor proposed to change the order of the agenda moving item G. to A. and then item A. to H. The was no objection to the movement of the items. IV. Public Comment – None V. Consent Agenda Councilor Oakleaf noted an error on the minutes from the meeting on 9/27/2021. On page 2 the fourth motion was voted 3-1. The correction was noted and will be made. MOTION by Councilor Colston second by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the City Council and Liquor Control Minutes of September 20, 2021, Special City Council Meeting Minutes of September 27, 2021 (with correction), Accounts Payable Warrant as of 9/29/21 and Payroll Warrant for the period 9/5/21-9/18/21 and Subsequent to Payout for August as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Colston – Had a meeting with Lauren Sampson a former Winooski resident who had previously served on the Restorative Panel and has since moved to Boston. Her mother-in-law Mary Cooper a previous Montpelier Mayor and current State Representative reached out to Councilor Colston to express her concern regarding the RNC lawsuit against Winooski. Ms. Cooper works for Lawyers for Civil Rights and has offered to work on the City’s behalf in defending Winooski’s right to charge their Charter. She stated the she will be reaching out the Rep. Taylor Small in the near future. Councilor Duncan – Was unable to attend the most resent Housing Commission meeting due to the Special City Council Meeting on September 27th. He was able to review Ms. Carrington’s notes and shared some of the highlights with Council. He was able to attend the Housing Commissions of Chittenden County last Thursday. One notable take away was that the area exceeded the target for home building but missed its target for building affordable housing. Councilor Myers – Shared that a previous anonymous business donor to the Myers Memorial Pool has given a second donation. This donation was in the amount of $14,000.00. This generosity is very appreciated. Councilor Oakleaf – Attended the Municipal Infrastructure Commission meeting. There was a presentation by graduate student and Winooski resident Bethany Kelly. Her presentation focused on street scaping and health funding opportunities. There were no real questions or changes on the work plan. Concerning the energy goals, the Commission wants to know what the City’s usage looks like on city owned properties. They are reaching out to the local utilities to requested baseline usage.  Mayor Lott – Updated Council on the RNC lawsuit. She referred to her memo on the subject. She did state that the Council had previously discussed the possibility of a lawsuit prior to requesting the change to the Winooski City Charter. Planning and Housing Commissions met jointly to discuss zoning changes and how that will affect the city. The changes should be out in the Spring. The Mayor did receive a written response to the city’s questions from VTANG. She felt that some of the questions were not completely addressed. She has asked for more clarity, giving them more time to reply. VII. City Updates P Townsend, Co-Interim City Manager shared the following City Update. For COVID updates, testing will continue at the O’Brien Community Center with the same hours as September. We are partnering on advocacy work with Vermont Department of Health and are still working with the Multilingual Resources Task Force. We had a Visit from Molly Gray, LT. Governor of Vermont to review some of Winooski’s challenges related to the pandemic and general impacts/recovery in our community as part of her Recover Stronger initiative. Halloween in Winooski, being spearheaded by Downtown Winooski and the City, is set for October 29, 30, 31 in Rotary Park. Pumpkin Carving will happen at the Winooski Senior Center on Saturday 10/23 and Sunday, 10/24, with “curbside carving” available from 10/23 to 10/27. There will be lots of exciting new elements being added to the event this year, so stay tuned for announcements coming soon! We will have Auditors on site next week for the FY21 audit. J Rauscher, Co-Interim City Manager shared the following City Update. Building Homes Together Campaign – General overview provided by Councilor Duncan and Mayor Lott. Highlighted that Winooski proportionally exceeded the program goals for units constructed and 20% affordability goal. Winooski staff will be participating in a focus group to set goals for the next five years. WSD Multi-stakeholder group – JR and Councilor Duncan are continuing to participate in these meetings. The meeting this week will begin the data collecting phase with discussions with the SRO and Superintendent. VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Finance Commission Appointment – Ashley Lucht – A Aldieri Ms. Aldieria introduced Ashley Lucht and shared her experience and qualifications. The Mayor echoed Ashley’s experience with the Vermont Bond Bank and her benefit to the Commission. Councilor Oakleaf also shared her positive experience working with Ms. Lucht. Ms. Lucht shared that prior to applying for this position she investigation whether or not her employment with the Bond Bank would be a conflict of interest. The Bond Bank works with all municipalities. She assured the Council that there is not a conflict of interest with her serving on the Finance Commission. Ms. Lucht was warmly welcomed by the Council. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Duncan to approve the appointment of Ashley Lucht to the Finance Commission as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Discussion: ARPA Update to Council – P Townsend/J Rauscher/A Aldieri Mr. Rauscher reviewed the process and the presented memo. Key dates to remember for submittal were highlighted. It was pointed out that VLCT webpage is an invaluable resource on this subject. Answers to many questions and direction is to be found on the VLCT site. The Mayor suggested replicating the process used for the Charter change here in allocating the available funds. It was also stated that the Housing Commission and Downtown Winooski could assist to funnel up valuable information on community needs to the Finance Committee. Mayor Lott also stated that she has a standing call with community partners and will be reaching out to them for additional input on the needs in the community. Some more discussion ensued. c. Discussion: All Resident Voting Update – C Barrett Co-Interim City Manager P Townsend provided the overview. Some discussion ensued. Having an outreach plan and how the Council could be involved was the main talking point. Bruce Wilson, a resident of Winooski shared his public comment stating that he would be happy to share his knowledge and his willingness to help and to promote the Democratic Party in Winooski. P Townsend stated that more would be brought before Council once the City Attorney has reviewed the proposed documents. Discussion ensued.  d. Discussion/Approval: Review Calendar Year 2020 Progress/Implementation of All Hazards Mitigation Plan – J Audy Chief Audy review the plan with Council. He stated that we are doing well and on target. Some discussion ensued. MOTION by Councilor Myers second by Councilor Colston to approve the review of the Calendar Year 2020 Progress/Implementation of All Hazards Mitigation Plan as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. e. Discussion/Approval: Firehouse Reserve Use – J Audy/ A Aldieri Chief Audy presented the request and explained the need for this allocation of funds. There was some discussion regarding from which account line the funds should be withdrawn. Ms. Aldieri clarified to Council the flow and how there would be some funds used that were previously unused when a previous expenditure came in under budget. MOTION by Councilor Myers second by Councilor Duncan to approve the Firehouse Reserve Use as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. f. Discussion/Approval: Centennial Celebration Committee Request for Reserve Funds – P Sarne/ A Aldieri/ M Bay-Tyack/A LaFayette Ms. LaFayette presented the request and reviewed the budget. The plan for the week-long celebration was also reviewed. There was some discussion. The event and planned festivities have great support amongst the Council. City resident Bruce Wilson had a public comment and a few questions. He asked about the BIPOC makeup of the Centennial Celebration Committee. Ms. LaFayette informed Mr. Wilson that the committee is comprised of 2 members of the BIPOC community and 8 members of the non-BIPOC committee. Mr. Wilson would also like to see youth involvement on the committee. MOTION by Councilor Myers second by Councilor Duncan to approve the Centennial Celebration Committee Request for Reserve Funds as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. The mayor called for a recess at 7:44 P.M. The City Council Meeting was reconvened at 7:59 P.M. g. Discussion: Myer’s Memorial Pool 2021 Season Update – R Coffey Mr. Coffey presented the update to Council on the successes and growth points from the first summer of operation. Mr. Coffey thanked all those involved from the tremendous support of the YMCA and Jess Lukas, to his awesome staff, the support from Public Works, to the amazing community support. Some discussion ensued. h. Discussion/Approval: Mayor’s Memo – City Manager Hiring Process Update – K Lott Mayor Lott opened the discussion with the questions, “How do we move forward?” and “What can be done differently?” The Mayor also referenced her memo. There was discussion regarding using a recruitment firm to find pool of pre-vetted, qualified candidates. There was agreement on this potential direction. There was much discussion. Public comment was made by Winooski resident Bruce Wilson. He stated that the original candidates should have another chance at the position. He stated that is unfair for the second-choice candidate not to have another chance. Mayor Lott shared with Mr. Wilson those previous candidates are able to reapply. Discussion continued. IX. Executive Session Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A § 313 (3) the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee (City Manager search discussion) - K Lott MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Colston to enter into Executive Session at 9:24 P.M. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Colston to invite Co-Interim City Managers P Townsend and Rauscher to attend Executive Session. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION by Councilor Myers second by Councilor Colston to adjourn Executive Session at 10:05 P.M. MOTION by Councilor Colston second by Councilor Oakleaf to allow the HR Director to negotiate an interim agreement with an external interim candidate conditional on a background check and maintaining a reasonable cost to the city. Voted and passed 4-0. X. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Myers to adjourn the City Council meeting at 10:07 P.M. ATTEST:______________________________________________ Assistant City Clerk