City Council

City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Winooski City Council Remote and In-Person Meeting Monday August 8, 2022, at 6 PM • Attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84364849328 • Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 • Webinar ID: 843 6484 9328 • 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 and City Council Minutes of 07/18/2022 b. Approval: Payroll Warrants 07/10/2022-07/23/2022 c. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrants as of 07/26/2022, 08/01/2022, 08/03/2022 and Subsequent to Payout Warrant for May 2022 d. Approval: W. Spring St Block Party 8/28 Event Permit Application – R Hebert e. Approval: Bruce Wilson as Alternate to Member Inclusion & Belonging Commission – J Willingham f. Approval: SRF Authorized Representative – J Rauscher VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Public Hearing – ULUDR Amendments - Draft Amendments – E Vorwald IX. Regular Items a. Discussion/Approval: Traffic Calming Manual and Policy – J Rauscher/CCRPC b. Discussion: AALV and Net Zero VT Request – E Wang/I Webster/D Sachs c. Discussion: Nonprofit Grant Guidelines - E Wang d. Discussion/Approval: Winooski Pride Event – T Renner/M Bay-Tyack e. Discussion: Police Department Strategic Plan Update – R Hebert f. Approval: ULUDR Amendments – Draft Amendments - E Vorwald g. Discussion/Approval: Treasurer Appointment – A Aldieri h. Discussion/Approval: COVID Business Recovery Awards – A Aldieri i. Discussion: Eviction Protection – T Renner j. Discussion/Approval: GMT Appointments – K Lott k. Discussion: Goal Update: Housing – E Wang X. Executive Session - E Wang/A Aldieri Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (6), records exempt from the access to public records provisions, namely, information in any files relating to personal finances, as listed in 1 V.S.A. section 317(c)(7) XI. Executive Session – K Lott/E Wang Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (3), the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee, provided that the public body shall make a final decision to hire or appoint a public officer or employee in an open meeting and shall explain the reasons for its final decision during the open meeting. XII.. Regular Items: l. Discussion/Approval: Housing Trust Fund Application Down Payment Assistance – E Wang XIII. Adjourn Minutes The Mayor called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. Councilor Oakleaf led in the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Councilors: Bryn Oakleaf, Aurora Hurd, Thomas Renner, Deputy Mayor Duncan was absent Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk; Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Paul Sarne, Communications Manager; Eric Vorwald, Planning and Zoning Manager; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk Others Present: Meredith Bay-Tyack/Downtown Winooski, Terry Ziqmund, Daisy Berbeco, Mary Hussman, S. Sampali, G. Goyette, Pandamonger, JB, Lt. Charkalis, Lt. Huizenga, Deb Sachs/Net Zero VT, Irene Webster/AALV III. Agenda Review - None IV. Public Comment - None V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: Liquor Control and City Council Minutes of 07/18/2022 b. Approval: Payroll Warrants 07/10/2022-07/23/2022 c. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrants as of 07/26/2022, 08/01/2022, 08/03/2022 and Subsequent to Payout Warrant for May 2022 d. Approval: W Spring St Block Party 08/28 Event Permit Application – R Hebert e. Approval: Bruce Wilson as Alternate to Member Inclusion & Belonging Commission – J Willingham f. Approval: SRF Authorized Representative – J Rauscher MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Hurd to approve the Consent Agenda items a. through f. as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Hurd: Councilor Hurd mentioned that the Inclusion & Belonging’s meeting is this Thursday August 23rd. The SHCP Commission will not meet until 8/23. Councilor Oakleaf: None currently  Mayor Lott: Mayor Lott is on the search committee for the new Airport Director. Those interviews have begun. The Mayor met with the City Manager, Superintendent of Schools and the School Board President. Mayor Lott discussed the shared work that was recommended because of the Equity Audit. They hope to have a joint meeting sometime in October. Councilor Renner: Councilor Renner has an update on the meeting with Downtown Winooski but since that is an item listed on the agenda – Winooski Pride Event, he will wait until then to discuss. Councilor Renner had no other updates at this time. Deputy Mayor Duncan: Mr. Duncan was not present at the meeting but had provided the Mayor with a written update which Mayor Lott read. The Housing Trust Fund is open for applications. It will be promoted through different partners. VII. City Updates City Manager Elaine Wang gave the following update. The Statewide Primary Election is tomorrow. Voting takes place 7 AM - 7 PM @ the Winooski Senior Center (123 Barlow St). winooskivt.gov/vote for details. The Airport Commission met on August 3rd. At this meeting, they made recommendations to the Burlington Board of Finance and City Council to accept FAA Grant Funding and award contracts related to: ▪ An environmental assessment ▪ Passenger Jet Bridge for Gate 12 at the new Terminal Integration Project ▪ Phase 1 of the Residential Sound Insulation Program ▪ Noise Exposure Map Update ▪ The Airport Commission also received a brief update on the Director of Aviation Search ▪ The next meeting is on September 12th VIII. Public Hearing – ULUDR Amendments – Draft Amendments – E Vorwald The Public Hearing was opened by Mayor Lott at 6:09 p.m. There were no public comments. The Public Hearing was closed at 6:12 p.m. IX. Regular Items a. Discussion/Approval: Traffic Calming Manual and Policy – J Rauscher In FY022, the city received funding through the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission’s (CCRPC) United Planning Work Program (UPWP) to prepare a Traffic Calming Manual. The CCRPC contracted with Stantec to complete this effort. The purpose of this manual is to provide a formal evaluation process to review traffic calming requests. The manual also outlines the types of traffic calming measures for potential implementation. Along with the manual, a traffic calming policy is included formally ratifying the review process. Also presented was a draft public input form for reference. Mr. Greg Goyette from Stantec reviewed the manual via a PowerPoint presentation. Jon Rauscher also summarized the manual and policy. Some discussion ensued. There were no questions from the public. b. Discussion: AALV and Net Zero VT Request – E Wang AALV has been partnering with Net Zero VT to provide its clients with well-built trolleys that can be used by a pedestrian to transport groceries, laundry, or other items. They made the case for city support to expand their reach to Winooski households. Deb  Sachs/Net Zero VT and Irene Webster/AALV were present to share the program and the request. They presented the background of Net Zero VT via PowerPoint presentation. Some discussion ensued regarding the match required and how it will work. Also, Councilor Hurd wanted to make sure that the trolleys would be provided free of charge to the residents. Deb Sachs reiterated that the trolleys would be provided free of charge to our residents. c. Discussion: Nonprofit Grant Guidelines – E Wang At the last City Council meeting, Council directed staff to create a nonprofit grant program to be used to address immediate and urgent pandemic-related community need. As proposed at the last meeting, this grant program would allocate $50,000 as done for the Business Recovery grant program. The Safe, Healthy, Connected People Commission would be the logical application review committee for this grant program. SHCP plans to review this material at the August 23rd meeting. Assuming mostly regular meeting schedules, the soonest funds could be disbursed is October 18th. External third-party input on the draft guidelines will be obtained. Mayor Lott is looking forward to what the external reviews will provide. Mary Hussmann, SHCP Chairman had a question regarding the evaluation criteria. Feedback and an explanation were provided which clarified the process. d. Discussion/Approval: Winooski Pride Event – T Renner/ M Bay-Tyack Meredith Bay-Tyack, Downtown Winooski and Councilor Renner reviewed the event. The Event Committee has not yet approved this event to be held on Saturday 9/17 from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. This is a conditional discussion prior to approval. MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Hurd to conditionally approve the Event Permit Application for Winooski Pride 2022 as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. e. Discussion: Police Department Strategic Plan Update – R Hebert Lt. Charkalis and Lt. Huizenga were present to share the Police Department Strategic Plan. Lt. Charkalis presented the history and reviewed the plan. He shared that the plan must reviewed every three years, and that time has come again. This is the plan for FY23-FY25. Lt. Charkalis shared that he is very proud of the work the department has done. Including further diversity in hiring. f. Approval: ULUDR Amendments – Draft Amendments – E Vorwald Eric Vorwald presented this item. Mr. Vorwald asked Council to consider approval of the proposed amendments to multiple sections of the Unified Land Use and Development Regulations. There was no discussion. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Hurd to approve the ULUDR Amendments- Draft Amendments as presented. Voted and passed 3-0. Mayor Lott called for a 5-minute recess at 7:49 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 7:55 p.m. g. Discussion/Approval: Treasurer Appointment – A Aldieri The City Treasurer job description approved by City Council currently requires that the Treasurer shall be appointed annually by the City Council in accordance with the municipal charter. The Council may appoint the same treasurer without publicly posting the position for no more than three consecutive years. The current Treasurer Alexander Anastasi-Hill was appointed in November 2018. Mr. Anastasi-Hill recently expressed a desire to step down from the position at the end of his term. The City began advertising for the position in May 2022. Several qualified people submitted applications and interviews were conducted by the Mayor, Finance Director, and HR Director. Staff is recommending the appointment of John Fenney as Treasurer. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to approve John Fenney as Treasurer as presented. Voted and passed 3-0  h. Discussion/Approval: COVID Business Recovery Awards – A Aldieri In January 2022 the City of Winooski allocated $100,000 from the municipal funds received through the American Recovery Plan Act for the purpose of establishing a small business COVID-19 recovery grant program. As of May 2022 $80,000, of this allocation remained to be awarded. Council approved updated grant guidelines on June 21st . Applications were posted on the website and communicated to businesses though social media, Vermont Professionals of Color and Downtown Winooski through July. A total of 5 application were received, 4 were recommended for approval. Angela Aldieri explained the scoring and approval process of the applicants. Discussion ensued. MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Hurd to approve the COVID Business Recovery Awards as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 i. Discussion: Eviction Protection – T Renner Councilor Renner presented the memo drafted by Deputy Mayor Duncan and himself on requesting the City Council to discuss and consider further action on eviction protections for renters in the City of Winooski. Councilor Renner stated he is hoping to get this item on the ballot in November. Mayor Lott stated that November would be out of the question even Town Meeting Day would be questionable. Outreach is needed along with Public Hearings and further review. Discussion ensued. It was recommended to bring the discussion to the Commission Chairs. “Unintended consequences” are of great concern to the staff. Staff recommended Council request the Housing Commission spend time this year to engage renters, landlords, and housing partners to solicit input on issues and solutions, with support from the pending housing position. Then use this work to identify policy priorities and strategies for 2023-2024. More discussion ensued. j. Discussion/GMT Appointments – K Lott Mayor Lott presented Eric Covey as GMT Alternate and reappointment of Austin Davis. These are three-year terms. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to approve the GMT Appointments of Eric Covey and Austin Davis as presented. Voted and passed 3-0 k. Discussion: Goal Update: Housing – E Wang City Manager Elaine Wang presented the Housing update. Most items are proceeding as planned except for the policy work which cannot be accomplished at this time with the unfilled Housing position. There were no questions from Council or the public at this time. X. Executive Session – E Wang/A. Aldieri XI. Executive Session – K Lott/ E Wang MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to discuss both items listed below in Executive Session. Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. Section 313 (6), records exempt from the access to public records provisions, namely, information in any files relating to personal finances, as listed in 1 V.S.A. section 317(c)(7) Executive Session Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (3), the appointment or employment or evaluation of a public officer or employee, provided that the public body shall make a final decision to hire or appoint a public officer or employee in an open meeting and shall explain the reasons for its final decision during the open meeting. Voted and passed 3-0  MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to enter Executive Session and to invited City Manager Elaine Wang and Angela Aldieri to attend. Ms. Aldieri will depart the Executive Session before the second item begins. Voted and passed 3-0 MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to adjourn Executive Session and reconvene the Regular City Council meeting. XII. Regular Items I. Discussion/Approval: Housing Trust Fund Application Down Payment Assistance - E Wang Reviewed the application in Executive Session. Approved conditionally on a Certificate of Occupancy and credit approval by Opportunities Credit Union. MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Hurd to approve the application reviewed in Executive Session for down payment assistance pending credit approval by Opportunities Credit Union and issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy. Voted and passed 3-0 XIII. Adjourn MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Hurd to adjourn the City Council meeting at 9:45 p.m. Voted and passed 3-0. ATTEST:_____________________________________________________________________ Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk