City Council

Winooski City Council - Remote and In-Person Meeting Monday February 7, 2022 at 6 PM Attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84364849328 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Attend in person: Winooski City Hall (27 West Allen St - masks & 6' distancing required) I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes of 1/24/2022 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant for 02/03/2022 Payroll Warrant for period 01/09/22- 01/22/22 and Subsequent to Payouts for October. & November VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Centennial Committee Update – A Lafayette, P Sarne b. Approval: Municipal Infrastructure Commissioner Appointments – J Rauscher c. Approval: Mask Mandate Reconsideration – W Harrison d. Discussion: ULUDR Amendments - Detailed Discussion – E Vorwald e. Approval: Reserve Request – Fire Truck – J Audy f. Approval: PT Battalion Chief & Captain Job Description Update – J Audy g. Approval: Community Services Department- Position Descriptions for Myers Pool Director and Lifeguards – R Coffey h. Approval: Renewal of Annual MOU with School District – W Harrison i. Discussion/Approval: Reserve Request – Public Works Staffing Compensation – J Rauscher & A Aldieri j. Approval: VEPC TIF Certification - A Aldieri XI. Executive Session a. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (2) the negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 7D (Abenaki Way) b. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A § 313 (1) (E) pending or probable civil litigation or a prosecution, to which the public body is or may be a party. c. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. § 313 (1) (E) current litigation or a prosecution, to which the public is or may be a party. XI. Adjourn 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 MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm. Councilor Mike Myers led the Pledge Of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: James Duncan, Michael Myers, Bryn Oakleaf Absent: Councilor Colston Officers Present: Wendy Harrison, Interim City Manager; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Paul Sarne, Communications Manager; Eric Vorwald, Planning & Zoning Manager; John Audy, Fire Chief; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Bruce Palmer, Fire Marshall; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk Others Present: Town Meeting TV and Amy Lafayette III. Agenda Review Interim City Manager corrected the address in Executive Session (a) to Lot #9. IV. Public Comment- None V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes of 1/24/2022 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant for 2/3/2022 & Payroll warrant for the period of 01/09/22-01/22/22 and subsequent to Payouts for October & November. MOTION by Councilor Duncan and seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 VI .Council Reports Councilor Duncan – None Councilor Oakleaf- None Councilor Myers- Expressed thanks to Public Works Dept. for clearing the roads/ sidewalks for the Winooski residents Mayor Lott – The Mayor and Wendy Harrison, Interim City Manager presented the FY’23 Budget on Town Meeting TV. Other presentations to follow are on 2/17 & 2/28,  in addition, the Recruiter for the City Managers’ position has strong applicants. On 2/23 the Search Committee will review the applications and schedule final interviews for 3/7. The Finance Commission will meet on 2/8 to discuss ARPA funds. The Planning Commission will be reviewing on 2/10 the draft language into the regulations. The second Planning Commission will meet on 2/24. The Mayor expressed gratitude for the dedicated staff in coping with increased stress & staffing challenges. VII. City Updates Wendy Harrison, Interim City Manager expressed appreciation for the staff in maintaining the roads/sidewalks while at 50% capacity. Sadly, Heather Carrington is resigning in the next few weeks. The Interim City Manager wishes her the best and she will be missed. A new part-time dispatcher with Police Department. Interviews this week for this week for the Human Resources Director. Also, an All-Resident Outreach is scheduled for February 13th at the O’Brien Community Center. The next Council meeting will be on February 22nd due to the upcoming holiday. VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Centennial Committee Updates- A. Lafayette & P.Sarne Amy Lafayette, Centennial Committee Chair updated the events scheduled for the Centennial celebration. March 7th is the Centennial for Winooski. Due to COVID concerns, the majority of events will take place on June 4th at Rotary Park. There will be music performers and participation from various residents. In addition, there will be a Tree Planting for Abenaki Acknowledgement. Sales of Centennial merchandise will be available for sale at in-person events along with the Heritage Mill Museum. There will be a great deal of social media promoting the event. b. Approval: Municipal Infrastructure Commissioner Appointments- J. Rauscher The Commission has 3 vacant seats at this time. Mr. Rauscher has proposed nominating Brian Borah and Emily Corley. In addition to promote the alternate, Peter Werndorfer to fill the last vacant seat. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the nominations as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 c. Approval: Mask Mandate Reconsideration- W. Harrison Staff recommended another extension for 30 days. John Audy, Fire Chief/ Safety Advisor specified the new extension does not apply to licensed public or Private school. Councilor Myers suggested the business community make their own choice for a mask mandate. Councilor Oakleaf inquired about local business’ concerns. Wendy Harrison said there have not been any complaints from local businesses. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the extension of the Mask Mandate extension as presented. Councilor Myers voted no. Mayor Lott voted for the approval. Voted and passed 3-1 d. Discussion: ULUDR Amendments- E. Vorwald Planning & Zoning Director, Mr. Vorwald gave an overview of the proposed changes and amendments to the existing regulations. In addition, he responded to comments by the City Council regarding the changes to a Form Based Code. He has streamlined the process for the applicant(s) so that they are aware of requirements prior to submitting the applications. His summary contained information and requirements for public use of setbacks, bonus story and energy standards. In addition, Mr. Vorwald spoke about proposed Traffic Impact Study that contained statistics on specific vehicle trips along with pedestrian traffic. The amendments allow for consistency in adhering to the amendments. Mr. Vorwald will continue to modify and clarify specific items and return to the Council (2/22 potentially) to present the complete amendments. The next step would be for a Public Hearing. The Mayor and Council thanked Mr. Vorwald for his detailed discussion and overview of the ULUDR Amendments. e. Approval: Reserve Requests- J. Audy John Audy, Fire Chief provided an overview in the mechanical/electrical issues of the current vehicle. His proposal is requesting up to $10,000 as a down payment from the Fire Equipment Capital Reserve line item. The new vehicle is needed to continue to respond to emergency calls, etc. Councilor Oakleaf inquired as to an alternate fuel source vehicle might be included in a bid. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve as presented using up to $10,000 of Fire Department reserves for the purchase of a new vehicles as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 f. Approval: PT Battalion Chief & Captain Job Description updates- J. Audy Mr.Audy, Fire Chief gave an overview of the existing structure. The position of PT Battalion Chief has been filled and the Captain job has remained unfilled. Mr. Audy is building depth in the command structure while trying to improve efficiency and effectiveness within the department. MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Fire Department job descriptions as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 g. Approval: Community Services Department- Position Descriptions for Myers Pool Director and Lifeguards- R. Coffey Community Service Director, Mr.Coffey provided job descriptions for a Director as well as Lifeguards. He has received interest from potential applicants. MOTION by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the job descriptions as presented for Myers Pool. Voted and passed 3-0 h. Approval- Renewal of Annual MOU with School District- W.Harrison Interim City Manager, Ms. Harrison seeks approval of the MOU with the School Director. This MOU was approved last year by the City Council. The document describes how the School and City work together in cooperation with each other. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf and seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the MOU with the School District and the City as presented .Voted and passed 3-0 i. Discussion/Approval: Reserve Request-Public Works Staffing Compensation- J. Rauscher & A. Aldieri Public Works Director, Mr. Rauscher proposed 2 goals for the Public Works Department. The first goal is incentives for new hires including a possible bonus to align the City with other communities (Municipalities) offerings. The second goal is to reward staff who assumed additional duties. In addition to increase the on-call time rate of pay and cross-train the current staff. This would be a temporary increase. The request for Unassigned Reserves is up to $10,000 pending upcoming union negotiations. Mr. Rauscher advised the City Council of the staffing shortage in the Public Works Department. MOTION approved by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the use of up to $10,000 in Unassigned reserves to retain and add additional staff as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 j. Approval: VEPC TIF Certification- A. Aldieri Finance Director, Ms. Aldieri presented to the City Council the certification of TIF. To comply with State Statutes, this needs to be accepted before February 15th. This is an annual administrative requirement and certified by the Appraiser for Winooski. MOTION by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the VEPC TIF certification as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 MOTION by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to decide to enter into an Executive Session. Voted and passed 3-0 MOTION by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to enter into Executive Session A at 7:33 p.m. Voted and passed 3-0 Executive Session a. Negotiation of real estate purchase or lease options related to Lot 9 (Abenaki Way) MOTION by Councilor Myers seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to enter into executive session. b. Pending or probable civil litigation or a prosecution, to which the public body is or may be a party. MOTION by Councilor Duncan and seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to enter into executive Session. c. Current litigation or a prosecution, to which the public is or may be a party. MOTION by Councilor Duncan and seconded by Councilor Myers to enter into Executive session. MOTION made by Councilor Myers and seconded by Councilor Duncan to adjourn at 8:20 p.m.