City Council

Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, June 6, 2022 at 6 PM Attend online: us06web.zoom.us/j/88120733591 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 881 2073 3591 Attend in-person: Winooski City Hall (27 West Allen St) I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Agenda Review IV. Public Comment V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes of 05/16/2022 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant for 6/1/22 Subsequent to Payout Warrant for April and PayrollWarrant for periods 5/1/22 - 5/28/22 c. Approval: Juneteenth Event Permit Application Amendment VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion - Vermont Department of Transportation US 2/7 and Rt 15 Roadway Improvements Overview – J Rauscher b. Approval: Northern Border Regional Planning Commission (NBRC) Grant Application – J Rauscher c. Discussion - State Treasurer's Report: Internal Finance Controls Checklist – A Anastasi-Hill d. Discussion/Approval - FY2022-2023 Policy Priorities and Strategies – E Wang e. Approval - Juneteenth Holiday Recognition- J Acri f. Discussion/Approval - Inclusion and Belonging Commission Council Liaison Selection – Y Gordon g. Discussion/Approval - Inclusion and Belonging Commissioner Appointments – Y Gordon h. Discussion/Approval - Multilingual ARPA Survey Sessions: Agenda and Timeline – E Wang i. Approval - New Sidewalk Permit - Morning Light Bakery – J Willingham j. Approval - Certificate - No Appeals or Suit Pending -J Willingham k. Approval - Award Contracts for Land Records Indexing and Imaging and Restoration – J Willingham IX. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees andspecifically the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees X. Adjourn  MINUTES The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:01 pm. Deputy Mayor Duncan led the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Deputy Mayor James Duncan Councilors: Bryn Oakleaf, Aurora Hurd, Thomas Renner Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Janet Brouard, Sr Asst City Clerk; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Eric Vorwald, Planning/Zoning Manager; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Alex Anastasi-Hill, Treasurer; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; Paul Sarne, Communications Manager; Yasamin Gordon, Equity Director. Others Present: Town Meeting TV; Natalie Boyle, EIV Technical Services; Matt Bogaczyk, VTRANS; Joel Kolata, Judy Lance, Aimee Germain, Connor Daley, Daisy Berbeco, Ken Liu III. Agenda Review The Mayor said considering the possible approval of the Juneteenth Holiday Recognition on the agenda tonight. We will need to change the next City Council meeting on June 20th to the 21st. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve adding item L to potentially move the June 20th meeting to the 21st. Voted and passed 4-0. IV. Public Comment Joel Kolota was concerned about the bike lanes on West Center and Malletts Bay Ave, He said they are faded and wondered if they could be painted. Mr. Rauscher said he will investigate it. V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes of 05/16/2022 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant of 6/1/22; Subsequent to Payout Warrant for April and Payroll Warrant for period 5/1/22 – 5/28/22 c. Approval: Juneteenth Event Permit Application Amendment MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the Consent Agenda as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Hurd – The Safe, Healthy Connected People next meeting will be June 14 th. She invited anyone that is interested to attend. Councilor Oakleaf – The next Municipal Infrastructure Meeting will be June 16th. The last meeting, we met in person at the Myers Pool. It was great to see everyone again. She hopes this meeting will be well attended. She would like to see it held at the pool again, but it might be at City Hall. Mayor Lott – The Planning Commission met on May 26th. They continued their worked on updating Zoning. The public had some concerns and proposed some changes. The Commission will re-work the changes and bring back at a future date. She gave a huge thanks to staff and the Centennial Celebration for great turn out at the City’s Birthday Celebration. She recorded the Month in Review with City Manager Wang and Meredith Bay-Tayck of Winooski Downtown. She received and update from the Air National Guard; part of the F-35’s are overseas so there has been reduced air traffic. This will go through the month of August. Councilor Duncan - The Housing Commission did not meet. He wanted to give a thanks to the Centennial Celebration Committee for a job well done. Councilor Renner - He attended the Downtown Winooski Board Meeting. They continue to bring more activities to the Downtown to draw more and to help area businesses. The Winooski Wednesdays will start up on June 8th from 5 pm – 8 pm and run throughout the summer. Juneteenth Celebration will happen on the 19th. VII. City Updates City Manager Wang gave the following updates. • Happy to see so many members of the community at the Winooski centennial birthday party on Saturday! Special thanks to the Centennial Celebration Committee, the Winooski City Council, Chief Menard of the Missisquoi Abenaki tribe, and to our amazing partners, businesses, volunteers, and staff. • The US Route 7 and East Allen Street roadwork project is underway - this is a Vermont Department of Transportation Project, and the City is bouncing their updates to our website email list, social media, and Front Porch Forum • The Myers Memorial Pool is open! Full details to be updated at winooskivt.gov/pool (thanks to the community services and public works team for making that possible. • Speaking of Community Services, Winooski Recreation and Parks are looking for a new Recreation Operations AmeriCorps Member! This volunteer service opportunity is perfect for people ages 21+ and supports all the amazing programs at the pool, in our parks, and at the Community Center • Now Hiring: City Treasurer and Water Resources Equipment Operator II - learn more and apply at winooskivt.gov/jobs • Public outreach for open Commission seats will begin this week, including o Finance Commission o Planning Commission o Development Review Board o Winooski Commission for Inclusion and Belonging o Safe/Healthy/Connected People Commission o Municipal Infrastructure • The 2nd annual Juneteenth event is on Sunday, June 19 from 3 - 8 PM in Rotary Park! Visit downtownwinooski.org/Juneteenth for details • We are celebrating Pride Month at the Winooski Memorial Library - throughout the month, we will be posting book reviews and recommendations from local elected officials and community members that highlight LGBTQIA+ voices - follow @winooskilibrary on Facebook and Instagram to view! More to come on Pride Month at the next Council meeting. • Winooski Wednesdays start this Wednesday, June 8, 5pm to 8pm. Come to Rotary Park for music and outdoor market. • Staff delayed the COVID Business impact grant second round to get more input on how to improve accessibility of the application for the most impacted businesses. We plan to ask Council for approval to award some short term need applications sooner than that and stay tuned for the full grant re-release soon. • The Planning Commission will continue their discussion on priority housing incentives this Thursday at 6:30pm. The public is always welcome to attend planning commission meetings. Currently they are held only virtually. If you are not sure how to do that, by Thursday 4:00pm, call City Hall at 802-655-6410 for help on how to join that meeting virtually. You can find the link to the meeting at winooskvt.gov, in today’s Front Porch Forum, or in your email today if you are subscribed to city updates, VIII. Regular Items a. Discussion – Vermont Department of Transportation US 2/7 and Rt 15 Roadway Improvements Overview – J Rauscher Mr. Rauscher introduced Matt Bogaczyk from VTRANS and Natalie Boyle from EIV Consultants. They gave an overview of the proposed roadway resurfacing project on US 7 and East Allen Street. The project started on May 31st and is scheduled to run through 2023, however the Winooski portion will be completed by the end of October. The scope of the project includes milling and resurfacing the asphalt. The work will also include removal and replacement of rigid concrete pavement on Main Street from the top of the Rotary to the bridge. Lengthy discussion ensued over noise mitigation, traffic flow, bike lanes. Ms. Boyle offered her email nboyle@eivtech.com for anyone to reach out to her with any questions or concerns or if they want to receive updates on the project status. The Mayor thanked them both for attending the meeting and the update was highly informative. b. Approval Northern Border Regional Planning Commission (NBRC) Grant Application – J Rauscher Mr. Rauscher said this grant application has been re-submitted. We were previously awarded a $500,000 grant for the Main Street project. Unfortunately, funds were de-obligated due to the expenditure deadline of September 2022 and having issues with the scope of work to be done. NBRC recommended that we proceed with de-obligating the FY19 award and resubmit a new grant with an increased threshold of $1M with a focus on the city-owned transportation infrastructure scope. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the Northern Border Regional Planning Commission (NBRC) Grant Application as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. c. Discussion – State Treasurer’s Report: Internal Finance Controls Checklist – A Anastasi- Hill Mr. Anastasi-Hill said that State statute requires an Internal Finance Controls checklist to be presented to the Council for review by June 30th each year. This checklist provides that we are maintaining control over the City’s finances. Councilor Oakleaf had one question regarding the interest question. Both yes and no were checked. Ms. Aldieri explained that interest is applied to the funds separate from the general fund, but the general fund is applied in a lump sum, due to some accounts have a negative balance at the end of the year. The Mayor thanked Mr. Anastasi- Hill for report and continued review of the City’s finances. d. Discussion/Approval – FY2022-2023 Policy Priorities and Strategies – E Wang Ms. Wang said staff have made the revisions to the attached spreadsheet to reflect your discussion from the Priorities and Strategies Retreat held on May 21st. The last step is to review to confirm this reflects your vision and to vote on your top priorities for FY23. Some discussion ensued over correct wording, they wanted to be clear and concise on their thoughts moving forward. The Mayor and Council each made their top three choices in each category and City Manager Wang recorded them. MOTION by Councilor Hurd seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the FY23 Policy Priorities and Strategies with the revisions made as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. The Mayor called a 5-minute recess to reconvene at 7:45 pm. e. Approval – Juneteenth Holiday Recognition – J Acri Ms. Wang said you had the opportunity to preview this request at the last meeting. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery. On June 17, 2021, it became a Federal holiday. We are proposing to include June 19th to our list of paid holidays, in accordance with the Federal Government. MOTION by Councilor Hurd seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the Juneteenth Holiday Recognition as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. f. Discussion/Approval – Inclusion and Belonging Commission Council Liaison Selection – Y Gordon Ms. Wang said with the newly formed Inclusion and Belonging Commission the Council will need to provide an appointment. The Mayor mentioned that Councilor Hurd had previously expressed interest in the appointment. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Renner to appoint Councilor Hurd as Liaison to the Inclusion and Belonging Commission. Voted and passed 4-0. g. Discussion/Approval – Inclusion and Belonging Commissioner Appointments – Y Gordon Ms. Gordon presented the recommended appointments to the newly formed Inclusion and Belonging Commission. Each bring great vision and insight to the table. The Mayor was pleased to see the ray of applicants. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the recommendations as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. h. Discussion/Approval – Multilingual ARPA Survey Sessions: Agenda and Timeline – E Wang Ms. Wang said that the multilingual survey schedule was approved at the May 16 th meeting. We had to make a change in schedule. We are here tonight to review the plan, provide feedback, ensure that different Councilors host the different sessions. Councilor Oakleaf said it would be a nice gesture to invite the School District. Ms. Wang said she will be unable to attend on June 18th, however she will have a staff member attend. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Multilingual ARPA Survey Sessions: Agenda and Timeline as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. i. Approval – New Sidewalk Permit – Morning Light Bakery – J Willingham Ms. Willingham said we received an application/map for a 75 sq ft sidewalk permit at 106 East Allen Street. Ken Liu, owner of the establishment was present. He briefly described his business and looks forward to further meeting his customer’s needs. Ms. Willingham said staff sees no issues with granting this permit. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve the Sidewalk Permit for Morning Light Bakery as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. j. Approval: Certificate – No Appeals or Suits Pending – J Willingham Ms. Willingham said Form PVR-4155 is required to be filed with the Vermont Department of Taxes on an annual basis. This form states that there are not any appeals pending. MOTION by Councilor Oakleaf seconded by Councilor Duncan to approve the Certificate of No Appeals or Suits Pending as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. k. Approval – Award Contracts for Land Records Indexing and Imaging and Restoration – J Willingham Ms. Willingham said our searchable index & images date back to August 11, 2011. This project is intended to add another 11 years of searchable material into our Land Record system. Our goal is to have indexes & images available on-line back to January 2000. We posted an RFP on May 10th on our website and on the Bid Registry. The bid closed on May 24th. There were three bids submitted. The bids came in fairly close to each other. Staff recommends going with our current land records vendor. Ms. Willingham said we are also looking to repair Volume 20 which contains original surveys that are in dire need of attention. They have been folded, stained, and ripped over the years, making some not even legible. We reached out to Kofile Preservation a local company that can provide the service to repair the volume. See attached quote. The cost of both projects will come from the Records Preservation Fund. The fund currently has approximately $140,000. These two-project come in at roughly half, leaving a balance of $70,000 or so. Ms. Willingham said to keep in mind that we continue to add to the fund, $4.00 per page of recorded documents. Ms. Aldieri said that currently equates to $20,000/yr. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Renner to approve the Contract for Land Records Indexing and Imaging and Restoration to Avenu Insights & Analytics as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. l. Approval – Reschedule June 20th Council Meeting This item was added at the beginning of the meeting. Mayor Lott said if Juneteenth Holiday Recognition is passed then we will need to move the June 20th Council meeting to the 21st. MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to approve moving the June 20th Council meeting to June 21st. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Hurd Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees and specifically the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees feel that further discussions should be held in Executive Session. Voted and passed 4-0. MOTION by Councilor Duncan seconded by Councilor Renner to enter into Executive Session at 8:30 pm and to invite Elaine Wang, City Manager and Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director. Voted and passed 4-0. IX. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (1) (B) labor relations agreements with employees and specifically the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. X. Adjourn MOTION by Councilor Renner seconded by Councilor Hurd to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 pm. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST: ______________________________________________ Sr Asst City Clerk