City Council

Winooski City Council Remote and In-Person Meeting Monday April 18, 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. Agenda Review III. Public Comment IV. Consent Agenda a. Approval: Liquor Control and City Council Minutes of 04/04/2022 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant for 04/14/2022, Payroll Warrant for period 03/20/2022-04/02/2022 c. Approval: Amended Resolution for Municipal Planning Grant d. Approval: Community Services Department - Recreation Position Descriptions V. Council Reports VI. City Updates VII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Equity Audit Report – Y Gordon b. Approval: Resolution: Declaration of Inclusion-K Lott c. Discussion: Housing Goal Update – E Vorwald/J Rauscher d. Discussion: Update and Overview on Master Plan Goals and Objectives – E Vorwald e. Discussion: Parking Inventory, Analysis, and Management Plan – E Vorwald f. Approval: Resolution: Supporting Adjusted Student Weights in Vermont’s Education Funding-K Lott g. Approval: ARPA Grant Funding Assignment – A Aldieri h. Approval: Resolutions: Setting Fees for Community Services Programs and Thrive Program - R Coffey i. Approval: Ordinance Update – Chapter 28 Fees-Set Public Hearing- A Aldieri j. Approval: Appoint Interim City Manager – K Lott k. Discussion: Review of potential items for next meeting on May 2 (no action) l. Approval: Consider Settlement Agreement (after Executive Session) – W Harrison VIII. Executive Session a. 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. IX. Adjourn  Minutes The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:06 pm. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Bryn Oakleaf, Aurora Hurd, Thomas Renner, James Duncan was absent Officers Present: Wendy Harrison, Interim City Manager; Janet Brouard, Sr Asst City Clerk; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; Paul Sarne, Communications Manager; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Eric Vorwald, Planning/Zoning Manager; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Yasamin Gordon, Equity Director, Elaine Wang, City Manager Others Present: Town Meeting TV, Iris Bond Gill & Etai Mizrav, Opportunity Consulting Group; Steven & Daisy Berbeco, Sarah Van Ryckevorsal, Jason Charest, CCPRC; Jonathan Slason, RSG; Robert Millar, Kalyal Loving, Malachy Flynn, Connor Daley, Jessica Grant-Domond, Stephen Michon, Kathleen Voight- Walsh, Mileydeth Ortiz Culley II. Agenda Review – none III. Public Comment Kathleen Voigt Walsh came before the Council with a request that the COVID 19 Wastewater Surveillance data that the City has recently begun collecting in cooperation with the CDC is well used to support the ongoing prevention of COVD 19 infections in our community. She wanted to know what steps are currently being taken to publish and use this information for public health purpose in the City. She also was curious if we were in collaboration with Burlington as they are compiling this data as well. Mr. Rauscher and Mr. Coffey both spoke saying that we are using the data as much as we can. We do not have the capabilities of reviewing the data and processing it. We are currently relying on Burlington’s data. IV. Consent Agenda The Mayor said she is going to split out approval of the minutes since she was not present at the last meeting. a. Approval: Liquor Control and City Council Minutes of 04/04/2022 MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve the minutes as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. Mayor Lott abstained. b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant for 04/14/2022, Payroll Warrant for period 3/20/2022–04/02/2022. c. Approval: Amended Resolution for Municipal Planning Grant d. Approval: Community Services Department – Recreation Position Description MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the Accounts Payable and Payroll Warrants, the Amended Resolution and Community Services position descriptions as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. V. Council Reports Councilor Oakleaf – She thanked Interim City Manager Wendy Harrison for her time here. She has been an essential part here in the last 4-5 months. She wanted to recognize the death of Fern Feather and Kyle Tipson with a moment of silence. The Municipal Infrastructure Commission will meet Thursday at 6:30 pm. Earth Day is the 22nd and Green Up Day is May 7th. She gave a huge thanks to the mutual aid services. Councilor Renner – He seconds what Councilor Oakleaf said about Fern. He has not attended any commission meetings yet, therefore has nothing to report. Councilor Hurd – Aurora attended the April 12th joint Housing & SHCP meeting. Their focus was to bring people up to date on the housing work being done. They are currently working with the Equity Director, hoping to have a Housing Summit to bring homeowners, property owners and renters together to voice their concerns. More to come. Mayor Lott – Said she has been attending the weekly meeting regarding 300 Main Street. The proposed evacuation has been put on hold and they will continue monthly meetings to work with the property owner and tenants. The Planning Commission met; they reviewed the language for the priorities set forth by Council. The next meeting will be on May 12 to approve, then the Public Hearing on May 26th. Councilor Duncan was not able to attend tonight’s meeting and he would like to remind folks of the tree planting at the Centennial Celebration in June. VI. City Updates Ms. Harrison gave the following update. • Chief Audy has been working with Hallkeen Management in light of their recent 2 large sprinkler failures. Chief Audy said that approximately 130 units were affected, 90 residents were displaced. HallKeen has agreed to install new sprinkler systems in each unit, at their cost. They will be replacing one unit per day. It will be a lengthy process but will be a huge savings in the future.  • Pool passes are available, and sales are going strong • Thrive registration is available for the weeks of 7/5/22-8/19/22. Scholarships are available. • April 30th is Drug Take Back Day. Folks can drop off medications at the Police Department from 8am – 8pm. • Green Up Day is May 7th, bags are available at various locations. • ARPA survey forms are still available on the City’s website. • Finally, the Council’s Priority and Strategies Retreat will be May 21 st from 9am-1pm at the Senior Center. VII. Regular Items a. Discussion: Equity Audit Report – Y Gordon Equity Director, Yasmin Gordon is pleased to introduce Iris Bond-Gill, CEO and Etai Mizrav, Managing Partner from Opportunity Consulting Group. The two will present their audit findings and recommendations moving forward. Ms. Bond-Gill said the audit consists of an 80-page City/School combined report. She walked the Council through the steps they took to gather data. They felt it best to “Let the People tell the Story.” They collected data from a multitude of sources to include, but not limited to, City staff, Law Enforcement, Winooski School District, and community members at large. The report outlines the inequities found and presents recommendations the City and School may take to overcome them. The Mayor thanked them both for the time and energy they both put into this. b. Approval: Resolution: Declaration of Inclusion-K Lott Mayor Lott said to go along with our equity audit, we have before us tonight our Declaration of Inclusion Resolution. The Mayor read the Resolution. There was a suggestion to be added in the Section that states what Winooski condemns, to include “sexism, anti LBGTQIA bias and other forms of active discrimination of oppression.” The Mayor said she would include this language and bring the Resolution back to the next meeting for approval and signatures. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve the Resolution as presented with the changes agreed upon. Voted and passed 3-0. The Mayor called a 5-minute recess at 8:10pm c. Discussion: Housing Goal Update – E Vorwald/J Rauscher Mr. Vorwald said as a part of Council’s Policy Priorities and Strategies, staff is presenting the fourth goal update relating to Housing. This update was last presented to you at the November 15, 2021, meeting. Mr. Vorwald said that in the absence of the Community & Economic Development Officer position being filled, he is presenting this update. Not much had changed considering the position is still vacant. The Mayor asked if staff could comment on the timeline to launch the Housing Trust Fund, believed we were just waiting on the translations. The Communication Manger said we have a total of a total of 24 translations, still working with AALV, should have them by the end of the week. Finance Director will reach out to Opportunities Credit Union, our partner to set up training. Councilor Duncan had a question regarding the Public Registry Program. Chief Audy said other commitments have taken priority and hopes that will be a focus when the new City Manager comes onboard. d. Discussion: Update and Overview on Master Plan Goals and Objectives – E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald provided an update on the Master Plan Goals and Objectives. The Master Plan is updated on an eight-year cycle with a four-year interim check in with the Reginal Planning Commission. The purpose of these check-ins are to show the progress towards achieving the set goals. While this check in is not intended to occur until 2023, staff felt it pertinent to give an update as the goals of the plan align with the annual strategies and priorities adopted by the Council. e. Discussion: Parking Inventory, Analysis, and Management Plan – E Vorwald Mr. Vorwald said last fiscal year the City received funding through Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission’s Unified Planning Work Program. The funding was to conduct a parking inventory, analysis, and management plan. CCRPC contracted with Resource Systems Group to complete this effort. Jonathan Slason of RSG provided an overview of the plan including implementation to be considered for future action. Mayor Lott thanked both Mr. Slason and Mr. Charest, CCRPG for their attendance tonight. Hopefully, this report provides a good comprehensive overview of the project. Councilor Oakleaf had a question about electric vehicle chargers. Mr. Vorwald said section 5.8 talks about that issue. The question raises the thought that once you put a charger in a parking spot, do you want to have that type of commitment to that parking space and the second issue is who owns that infrastructure. VTRANS does not want to own them, then it becomes a question to the City if we want to procure and maintain that system. f. Approval: Resolution: Supporting Adjusted Student Weights in Vermont’s Education Funding-K Lott MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the Resolution: Supporting Adjusted Student Weights in Vermont’s Education Funding as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. g. Approval: ARPA Grant Funding Assignment – A Aldieri Ms. Aldieri explained that after the issuance of the final ruling governing the use of ARPA funds, the VLCT initially recommended to wait for them to rule. The VLCT has since issued a recommendation for Vermont Communities to exercise the simplified revenue loss classification which allows ARPA funding to be used for any government costs. Ms. Aldieri said this allows us two benefits; it will allow us to meet the requirements of the grant separate from having to determine the use of reserve balance. It also removes the deadline for obligating and spending the funds that will provide for maximum flexibility with the use of the money in the future. Ms. Aldieri said staff recommends using the funds on general government operations and assigning $250,000 for operations in the parking fund, particularly the on-street meter department. MOTION by Councilor Hurd seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the ARPA Grant Funding Assignment as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. h. Approval: Resolutions: Setting Fees for Community Services Programs and Thrive Program - R Coffey Chapter 28 of the City Ordinance serves to, provides for fines or other penalty for violation of any ordinance, to regulate the rate charged for municipal water, sewer, and utility services, and finally to establish other fees. The Chapter also states that “Fees for Community Services and Recreation Programs shall be determined by resolution of the City Council.” Mr. Coffey said he is in support of both resolutions and recommends maintaining the Thrive rates for the Summer 2022 program year. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve the Resolutions: Setting Fees for Community Services Programs and Thrive Program as presented. Voted 3-0. i. Approval: Ordinance Update – Chapter 28 Fees-Set Public Hearing- A Aldieri At the previous Council meeting proposed changes were reviewed. Attached is a draft of Chapter 28 Fees including such changes. Ms. Aldieri said the Council now needs to approve the proposed changes and to set a Public Hearing date for May 2, 2022. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve Chapter 28 fees as proposed and to set a Public Hearing for May 2, 2022, as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. j. Approval: Appoint Interim City Manager – K Lott Ms. Harrison’s contract for Interim Manager ends April 18, 2022, and she is not able to extend the term of the agreement. The incoming City Manager, Elaine Wang is scheduled to start May 16, 2022. Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director served as interim City Manager in 2021 and is willing to take on the additional responsibilities for the next four weeks. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Renner to appoint Jon Rauscher as interim City Manager as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. k. Discussion: Review of potential items for next meeting on May 2 (no action) Ms. Harrison pointed out that this is a new item on the agenda. This is to be an informative piece only. This will give the Council and the public an idea of what is on the radar for the next meeting. This is not to say that these items will be the only things, its just a look ahead. l. Approval: Consider Settlement Agreement (after Executive Session) – W Harrison MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Hurd to enter Executive Session to further discuss this item. Voted and passed 3-0. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to enter Executive Session at 9:39pm and to invite Wendy Harrison, Interim City Manager; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Kerin Stackpole, Attorney at Paul, Frank & Collins. Voted and passed 3-0. VIII. Executive Session a. 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. IX. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Hurd to adjourn the meeting at 10:05pm. Voted and passed 3-0. ATTEST: __________________________________________ Sr Asst City Clerk