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, October 17, 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: City Council Minutes and Cannabis Control Commission Minutes of 10/3/22 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant of 10/13/22 c. Approval: Payroll Warrant 9/18/22 – 10/1/22 VI. Council Reports VII. City Updates VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Inclusion & Belonging Commission Appointments – J Willingham b. Discussion: Joint Meeting with School Board c. Discussion: Winooski Valley Parks District Presentation – R Coffey d. Discussion/Approval: Treasurer’s Q1 September 2022 Budget Report- J Fenney e. Discussion: FY24 Budget Goal Setting – E Wang f. Discussion/Approval: COVID-19 Recovery Non-Profit Grant – E Wang g. Approval: Vote to Cancel the City Council Meeting on 11/21/22 – E Wang IX. Adjourn  Minutes Deputy Mayor Duncan called the meeting to order at 6:02 pm. Councilor Oakleaf led the Pledge of Allegiance. Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott Deputy Mayor James Duncan Councilors: Bryn Oakleaf, Aurora Hurd, Thomas Renner Officer’s Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; Paul Sarne, Communications Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; John Audy, Fire Chief; Jesse Acri, Human Resource Manager: Jon Rauscher, Public Works Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Rick Hebert, Police Chief; John Fenney, Treasurer: Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk Other’s Present: Allison Burlock., Sean McMannon, Katie Letourneau, K. R. Decarreau, Alexander Yin, Michael Eppolito, Tori Cleiland, Kahmal Dahal, Steve Berbecco, Claudine Nkurunziza, Abdi Mohammed, Town Meeting TV, Nick Warner, Francine Bahati, Connor Daley III. Agenda Review – none IV. Public Comment – none V. Consent Agenda a. Approval: City Council Minutes and Cannabis Control Commission Minutes of 10/3/22 b. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant of 10/13/22 c. Approval: Payroll Warrant 9/18/22 – 10/1/22 Councilor Hurd asked that the City Council Minutes of 10/3/22 be removed from the Consent Agenda as a correction to the minutes was requested. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to approve the Consent Agenda as presented removing the City Council Minutes of 10/3/22 to be presented as item h. Voted and passed 4-0. VI. Council Reports Councilor Hurd-The SHCP Commission met last week on the 11th and the Inclusion & Belonging Commission met on the 13th. At the SHCP meeting the group began reviewing the non-profit grants but was not ready to move forward at this time. They hope to have a special meeting on 11/1 to finish their reviews in time to present them before Council at the next meeting on 11/7. Unfortunately, the Inclusion & Belonging Commission did not have a quorum so they could not meet. Tonight 2 new members are being added to this commission so going forward they should have the membership they need. Councilor Oakleaf-Municipal Infrastructure and Finance Commissions met jointly to discuss ARPA and budget priorities. They will meet again jointly on 11/17 and this will be the regular meeting of the Municipal Infrastructure Commission. As a reminder, please remember to request  your CSWD Bond Ballot from the Clerk’s Office, this ballot was not included with the General Election ballots sent out by the State. Mayor Lott-Joined the Town Meeting TV Trustees meeting. They reviewed financials. Also attended the School Board meeting. WSD signed the final documents for the funding on the Capital Improvement Project. The good news is that the project will be completed this Fall and has come in well under budget. Kudos to all! Also was able to attend a meeting with City Manager Wang and some Somali community leaders and a meeting at Our Lady of Providence with Councilor Hurd. Councilor Duncan-Attended Heart Winooski as a board member. Discussed the BIPOC educator fund. Also seeking a parent representative. This would be a great opportunity to get involved with the school. Councilor Renner- Would like to remind the public that volunteers are needed to set up pumpkins in the circle for the Halloween celebration. There will be pumpkin carving at the Senior Center this weekend. Come out enjoy the fun! VII. City Updates- • This is a reminder that as the weather gets colder and we gather indoors more, that COVID is still around. You can get your free tests from the city from the clerk’s office, library, or senior center, and vaccines are available near you. To find a walk-in clinic near you, visit healthvermont.gov/covid-19/vaccine, or call 2-1-1 • Board and Commission seats currently open: Winooski Commission for Inclusion and Belonging, Town Meeting TV Trustee, Finance Commission, Municipal Infrastructure Commission, Safe/Healthy/Connected People Commission – learn more and apply, visit our news updates section at winooskivt.gov • It is not too late to register to vote in the November 8th Election. Visit winooskivt.gov/vote or connect with the City Clerk’s Office: 802 655 6410, clerk@winooskivt.gov, M – F 7:30 AM – 4:30 PM o All Winooski residents may vote on the CSWD Materials Recovery Facility bond vote. o Just U.S. citizens may vote in the General Election, because they include statewide and nationwide offices. • If you are looking to develop affordable housing as a developer, as a homeowner on your own property, or need a bit of extra help with a down payment as a buying your first home and it is in Winooski, please note the Winooski Housing Trust Fund is available to potentially help you. More information is at winooskivt.gov, or by calling Opportunities Credit Union, the grant administrator, at 1-800-865-8328. VIII. Regular Items a. Approval: Inclusion & Belonging Commission Appointments – J Willingham City Clerk J Willingham presented Parker Silver and Abdi Mohamed for approval to the Inclusion & Belonging Commission. Abdi Mohamed was present via Zoom. Council Liaison Aurora Hurd and Councilor Renner along with City Clerk Willingham interviewed Parker Silver and Abdi Mohamed for the Inclusion & Belonging Commission appointment. City Clerk Willingham also obtained approval from the Commission Chairs to appoint Parker as a Member and Abdi as an Alternate. City Clerk Willingham asked that with the recent resignation of Arianna Cano from the Commission if Abdi Mohamed could be appointed as a Member instead of an Alternate. Mr. Mohamed agreed to serve in that role.  MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the appointment of Parker Silver as a member of the Inclusion & Belonging Commission for a 2-year term ending 6/30/2024. Voted and passed 3-0-1 with Councilor Hurd abstaining. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Hurd to approve Abdi Mohamed as a member of the Inclusion & Belonging Commission for a 1-year term ending 6/30/23. Voted and passed 4-0. b. Discussion: Joint Meeting with WSD School Board This was a joint meeting with the Winooski City Council and the WSD School Board. The meeting began with introductions all around. The two groups shared their respective roles and something that they enjoy doing. City Manager Wang reviewed the MOU and highlighted the items that City Staff would like to see added (paragraph #3, #8 and #9). There was some discussion. School Superintendent Sean McMannon mentioned that should there being any change to the MOU that would result in a budget change to the city, he will notify City Manager Wang by 11/01/2022. There was some discussion on School Resource Officer and the plans regarding the SRO. More to come on that plan at a future School Board meeting. Some discussion ensued. Deputy Mayor Duncan called for a recess at 7:19pm. The City Council Meeting reconvened at 7:29 pm c. Discussion: Winooski Valley Parks District Presentation – R Coffey Ray Coffey, Community Services Director presented Nick Warner, Executive Director of WVPD to the Council. Mr. Warner gave a brief introduction of himself and the work of WVPD. Some discussion ensued. There was discussion regarding how to track who is visiting the parks in town. No decision was made on how to accomplish this task. There was also discussion on potential future plans for Memorial Park. d. Discussion/Approval: Treasurer’s Q1 September 2022 Budget Report – J Fenney Mr. Fenney presented the Treasurer’s Q1 September 2022 Budget Report and then asked Council if there were any questions regarding the report. There was a brief discussion. MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Hurd to approve the Treasurer’s Q1 September 2022 Budget Report as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. e. Discussion: FY24 Budget Goal Setting – E Wang City Manager Wang introduced this item beginning with a question to Council. Would it be acceptable at this point not to ask you to set a tax rate but rather have staff bring a level services budget for review to Council at a later meeting. Mayor Lott and Council supported this option. City Manager Wang then sought to determine from Council what are the priority areas to fund, what are the priority areas for service reduction and finally are there any new initiatives or programs Council would like considered as the budget is built? There was much discussion. Council will look to staff to help inform their decisions. Mayor Lott did state that there is no interest in adding anything new (programs/projects) based on the position we are currently in. City Manager Wang also reviewed with Council the Criteria for ARPA/TIF spending. This draft list came out late to Council and some did not have time to review it. Mayor Lott did state support for the list. Discussion ensued. f. Discussion/Approval: COVID-19 Recovery Non-Profit Grant – E Wang There is some confusion as to whether Council wanted a.)a total of $50,000 for this round of the program, less the $10,000 already allocated to the Congolese Association and the Winooski  Food Shelf, meaning SHCP has $40,000 left with which to recommend awards; or b.) $50,000 after the two allocations. Some discussion ensued. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Renner to confirm that the total allocation was $50,000.00 with $10,000.00 already obligated. Council would encourage the SHCP Commission to make a recommendation for funding that contemplates additional allocation to the total grant awards available it they deem appropriate. Voted and passed 4-0. g. Approval: Decide whether to Cancel the City Council Meeting on 11/21/22 – E Wang Historically City Council has not met during Thanksgiving week. MOTION: by Councilor Oakleaf second by Councilor Hurd to approve the cancelation of the City Council Meeting on 11/21/22 as presented. Voted and passed 4-0. h. Approval: City Council Minutes of 10/3/22 with corrections to Parker Silver’s preferred pronoun usage. Councilor Hurd brought it to the Council’s attention that Parker Silver had been “misgendered” and asked that this error be corrected. MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Oakleaf to approve the City Council Minutes of 10/3/22 with the above noted correction. Voted and passed 4-0. IX. Adjourn MOTION: by Councilor Renner second by Councilor Oakleaf to adjourn the City Council Meeting at 9:25 pm. Voted and passed 4-0. ATTEST:_____________________________________________________________________ Angel Lane, Assistant City Clerk