City Council

City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Winooski City Council Meeting Monday, January 6, 2025, at 6 PM Attend in person: Winooski City Hall (27 W Allen St) Attend online: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84364849328 Attend by phone: 1 646 558 8656 Webinar ID: 843 6484 9328 Members Present: Mayor Kristine Lott: Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner; Councilor Charles Judge; Councilor Aurora Hurd; Councilor Bryn Oakleaf Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Paul Sarne, Communications Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Nate Eddy, Library Director; Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director; Barb Pitfido, Senior Programs Manager; John Audy, Fire Chief; Kristen Wilson, Library Youth Services Coordinator; Mary Hussmann, Library Clerk; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; Ruby Tetrick, Assistant City Clerk Others Present: Judy Lance, Connor Daley, Jen Berger & Jessica Wignall I. Call to Order at 6:04 PM. II. Agenda Review Minutes: None. III. Public Comment Minutes: None. IV. Consent Agenda A. Approval: City Council and Cannabis Control Commission Minutes of December 16, 2024 B. Approval: Payroll Warrant December 8 - 21, 2024 C. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrants December 18, 2024 and January 2, 2025 D. Approval: Subsequent to Payout Warrants - July, August, September, October 2024 E. Approval: Safe, Healthy, Connected People Commission Member Appointment F. Approval: Winooski Memorial Library Committee Youth Member Reappointment Minutes: None. Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Oakleaf. Motion carried 4-0. V. Council Reports Mayor Kristine Lott: Finance Commission met last month and reviewed the Community Budget Survey results that were also presented to Council. There was no quorum unfortunately, but there was some discussion and a takeaway of the commission was that the results were affirming of the City’s current priorities and trajectory.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov They agreed that infrastructure, public safety, community services, and affordability of tax rate should be prioritized. The Finance Commission will not meet in the month of January. The Planning Commission met to reflect on the conversation from the Developer Roundtable meeting as well as data that had been previously shared with the Housing Commission on the cost to build parking. They also revisited the proposed placement ordinance amendments and in light of all the information received, they’re asking staff to pull together some more data before moving forward on the replacement of inclusionary zoning. Planning and Housing will be having a joint meeting, tentatively scheduled for January 22nd, a Wednesday, at 6 PM. Planning Commission’s regular meeting is January 23rd, Thursday at 6:00 PM. The Chittenden County Homeless Alliance monthly meeting was held recently. Mayor Lott was able to share Winooski’s legislative priorities in a discussion about legislative priorities. Winooski’s priorities were in alignment with what the Housing and Homeless Alliance of Vermont plans to advocate for in the state house, as well as in alliance with what Burlington has put forward. Mayor Lott also hosted the Housing Roundtable group and solicited some insights on the City’s priorities for the Armory property and approach to a future RFP. Lastly, Mayor Lott joined the WHS Culture and Community class to share a little bit about local government and hear some ideas from those students on how to better engage youth in the community and leverage school-based relationships to engage our broader community. Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner: Downtown Winooski took a break for the holidays and did not meet. Safe, Healthy, Connected People met last month and had a productive meeting. The commission had gone without a Chair for a little bit due to a lack of quorum and members coming in and out. The commission was able to nominate and appoint a chair which was exciting as well as appointing a new secretary. There was robust conversation about what the commission is looking to do. There are a lot of new members, previously there had been folks who had been there for a long time. The new members are excited to revitalize old things the commission used to be a part of and look into new things the commission can do and ways that they can help Council and help residents. It was an exciting conversation. The Fire Chief spoke about difficulties nationwide in recruitment and retention. The commission appreciated hearing that. Ray, the Fire Chief, and myself interviewed someone for the commission. It is exciting that the commission continues to have interest and folks joining. The next meeting will be next Tuesday. Downtown Winooski will meet next Wednesday. Councilor Aurora Hurd: The Inclusion and Belonging Commission met on December 19th, due to it being close to the Holidays and with two members being sick, the Chair was unable to attend. Most of the agenda items were moved to the February meeting, those include thinking about the timing and regularity of the meetings, looking at the remaining funds for the stipends that the commission is piloting, as well as an update on the Working Community Challenge Grant. One member of the Inclusion and Belonging Commission is doing overlapping work on these two equity goals. Those are now going to be on the February meeting agenda, which is scheduled for February 20th. Councilor Bryn Oakleaf: The Chittenden Solid Waste District met on December 18th, the board authorized the Executive Director to pursue new property purchase negotiations for the material recovery facility (MRF). The initial parcel that they had planned to develop had some updated wetlands delineated so they have been undergoing a search to find other parcels in the Chittenden County core, close to the existing offices, that could be suited for the new MRF. Things are still under way there, nothing is signed and probably won’t be for a few months. It is promising to see negotiations start for a parcel not too far from the original parcel in Williston. The Municipal Infrastructure Commission met on the 19th. The meeting primarily was a presentation by the Inclusion and Belonging representative Leo Beebe. As part of his Winooski School District capstone project, he worked with former Deputy Mayor Jim Duncan on providing draft updates for the tree ordinance. He did an excellent job presenting this to the commission. The commission cast an initial vote to move the draft updates to the next stage of review. The commission unanimously voted to move these updates to the next stage. It was exciting to see how the schoolwork was incorporated into updating some draft policy for the city. The Municipal Infrastructure commission will not be meeting in January. The next traffic calming study will not be ready for the January meeting and with the recent bridge open house and with weekly budget meetings in Council, this month’s meeting was cancelled.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Councilor Charles Judge: Councilor Judge announced his intention to run for re-election in his current seat on City Council. After much thought, consideration, and introspection, Councilor Judge came to this decision. He said it would be an honor to continue to serve Winooski in this role. The Winooski Housing and Planning Commission have a joint meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, the 22nd at 6 PM. There is a hybrid option available via the City’s website. Jazmine is here to discuss the commission’s progress on strategic vision goals. The commission did not meet last month, so there were no updates from that stance. VI. City Updates Elaine Wang, City Manager, provided the following updates: Fiscal Year 2026 Budget Discussions Tonight continues the Fiscal Year 2026 staff budget presentations. Please stick around for the Community Services Department presentation to learn more about community programs and events, parks, the library, the pool, the senior center, community gardens, and more. For the full schedule of budget meetings and information, please visit winooskivt.gov/fy26. Running for Local Office in Winooski - Town Meeting Day 2025 Interested in running for local office during the Town Meeting Day election on March 4, 2025? Residents can run for Winooski City Council (there are 2, two-year terms available) and for the Winooski School District Board (openings are available for two and three-year Trustee terms and an (one-year remaining of a three year-term) for WSD Treasurer term. To run, you must file a consent of candidate form and petition with at least 30 signatures (more are encouraged) by 5 PM on Monday, January 27, 2025. Please visit the news updates section of our website at winooskivt.gov to learn more or stop by the City Clerk’s Office Monday – Friday, 8 AM – 4 PM. Call or email 802 655 6410 / clerk@winooskivt.gov. Planned Green Mountain Power Outage Green Mountain Power has scheduled a power outage to upgrade a transformer in Winooski on Thursday, January, 9 2025. The outage will occur between 8 AM – 12 PM which will affect buildings on East Allen Street, East Street, and Abenaki Way, and the traffic signal at the East Allen/East Street intersection. Customers affected by this outage will be contacted directly by Green Mountain Power ahead of time For up-to-date outage information, visit greenmountainpower.com/outages. If you have questions, please contact Green Mountain Power at 888 835 4672. Thank you for your patience while Green Mountain Power works on this project. VII. Regular Items A. Discussion/Approval: Voter-Backed Petition - Pledge Regarding Palestinians and Israel - Jenny Willingham, City Clerk Minutes: Jenny Willingham, City Clerk, presented a petition brought by voters to add a measure to the March Town Meeting Day ballot regarding Palestinians and Israel. Willingham noted that the petition is non-binding on Council because it deals with a matter over which municipal voters have not been given explicit authority by statute. Discussion ensued amongst Council.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Motion: A motion to add the measure to the ballot was made by Councilor Judge, seconded by Councilor Hurd. Motion carried 4-0. B. Discussion: Fiscal Year 2026 Staff Budget Presentations - Community Services - Ray Coffey, Community Services Director Minutes: Ray Coffey, Community Services Director, presented an overview of the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget for the Community Services Department. This update included discussion about the Myers Memorial Pool, the Winooski Library, Parks and Recreation programs, and the Senior Center, among other things. Questions arose from Council and discussion ensued. C. Discussion: Strategic Vision Area Goal Update - Housing - Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director Minutes: Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director, gave an update on the work being done by the Housing Department. Ms. Hurley discussed changes to the Public Building Registry along with plans to educate residents on these changes. A roundtable discussion with local developers was held in November by the Housing and Planning Commissions. From this arose an opportunity for scheduling a building proforma presentation held by a local developer to highlight current costs and barriers to housing development. Questions arose from Council about the possibility of including a non-profit developer in this presentation. Jen Berger made a public comment in favor of including a non-profit developer in this potential presentation. Discussion ensued. D. Discussion/Approval: City Manager Review Process - Mayor Kristine Lott Minutes: The City Council conducts an annual review of the City Manager. This is typically conducted in January and February to be completed before Town Meeting Day in March. Mayor Lott proposed that the same evaluation tool used in the past be used for this evaluation as well. Motion: A motion to use the previous review model was made by Councilor Judge, seconded by Councilor Hurd. Motion carried 4-0. VIII. Adjourn Motion: A motion to adjourn was made by Councilor Oakleaf, seconded by Councilor Judge. Motion carried 4- 0. Meeting adjourned at 7:40 PM. Attest: ____________________________________________ Ruby Tetrick, Assistant City Clerk City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov