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 27, 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 Bryn Oakleaf; Councilor Aurora Hurd; Councilor Charles Judge Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Paul Sarne, Communications Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Jon Rauscher, Director of Public Works; Ray Coffey, Community Services Director; Ravi Venkataraman, Director of Planning and Zoning; Johnathan Fenney, Treasurer; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; Ruby Tetrick, Assistant City Clerk Others Present: Connor Daley, David Bean, Brian Armstrong, Eli Ogilive I. Call to Order at 6:00 PM. II. Pledge of Allegiance led by Deputy Mayor Renner. III. Agenda Review Minutes: None. IV. Public Comment Minutes: None. V. Consent Agenda A. Approval: City Council and Liquor Control Board Minutes of January 21, 2025 B. Approval: Payroll Warrant January 5, 2025 - January 18, 2025 C. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant January 22, 2025 D. Approval: Job Overview Approvals - Department of Public Works E. Approval: Vermont Economic Progress Council Tax Increment Financing District Annual Report F. Approval: Resolution Setting Fees for Thrive Program Minutes: Ray Coffey, Community Services Director, clarified that Thrive Fees are set by Resolution for convenience, efficiency and by ordinance on an annual basis. Motion: A motion to approve the Consent Agenda was made by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd. Motion carried 4-0.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov VI. Council Reports Mayor Kristine Lott: The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission presented to Winooski’s Planning Commission on Act 181 which requires changes to update regional land use maps across the state. The intent of those changes is to align local, regional, and state planning in service of meeting housing targets within planned growth areas and preserving rural landscapes like watersheds, forests, etc. The Regional Planning Commission previewed that Winooski’s updated map won’t change substantially from what we have in Zoning right now. They will be returning to a future meeting to provide more detail on specific impacts to Winooski related to those maps, the process they are going through for setting housing targets and impacts of the Act 250 tiers. They also intend to engage our Housing Commission. At that meeting the Planning Commission also revisited transportation demand management draft regulations. They set a public hearing for those at an upcoming meeting. Deputy Mayor Renner, City Manager Elaine Wang, and Mayor Lott presented the proposed Fiscal Year 2026 budget on Town Meeting TV. That recording will be available on the City website. Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner: Safe, Healthy, Connected People Commission had a meeting scheduled for tomorrow but that is cancelled due to commission members not being able to attend. At this point, the February meeting is planned for the 11th. Last week Councilor Oakleaf and Deputy Mayor Renner went to one of the senior living facilities in town to speak about the budget and to take the Budget Activity to the residents there. A handful of folks showed up, which was great and were a very involved group in the community. The residents had some great questions. The residents played the Budget Game and allocated their money similarly to the way the City has allocated their money. The residents went heavier in on the Police budget as opposed to the City, but felt similarly in the way they spent the money. Councilor Aurora Hurd: Councilor Hurd returned from a conference called Creating Change. Some important takeaways were the importance of local government and how important work can be done at a level that affects people the most. Councilor Bryn Oakleaf: No significant updates. Councilor Charles Judge: No significant updates. VI. City Updates Elaine Wang, City Manager, provided the following updates: You’re Invited! Join the City of Winooski and Winooski School District for the “Our Taxes, Our Future: City and School Budget Event” to learn about City and School budgets and what will be on the Town Meeting Day ballot this year. The event is hosted by the Winooski Partnership for Prevention and takes place on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 – starting at 4 PM at the O’Brien Community Center. This is a family friendly event, free and open to all, so please bring your families, friends, and neighbors. We’ll have a buffet-style dinner provided by a Winooski restaurant, youth basketball in the gym for kids, and open- house activities where you can play the Budget Game (developed by our Finance Director and featured on the local news), learn more about progress on our equity initiative (next steps after the “Winooski Together” events last summer), and hear from special City and School guest speakers. For full details about this event and for all things ballot, budget, and election, please visit our website at winooskivt.gov/townmeeting. And, if you can’t attend, the annual Town Meeting Day Informational Meeting is the night before the election on Monday, March 3, 2025 – 6 PM at the Winooski School District. If you have questions about the budget, you can always email budget@winooskivt.gov  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Traffic Disruption on Abenaki Way and Winooski Falls Way Due to construction activities related to the Winooski Falls East (hotel) project, sections of Abenaki Way and Winooski Falls Way will be temporarily closed to through traffic (resident and emergency access only) from Tuesday, January 28, until Thursday, January 30, 2025. For full details and to view the schedule and traffic control plan, please visit winooskivt.gov/7d. VII. Regular Items A. Discussion: Just Cause Eviction Charter Change Public Hearing - Jenny Willingham, City Clerk Minutes: A Public Hearing on the proposed charter change regarding Just Cause Eviction was held. The public hearing was opened at 6:10 PM. David Bean, a landlord and realtor, raised several questions regarding the logistics of this process. Bean asked about the meaning of the date, March 4th, 2025, which was referenced in the petition. Mayor Lott clarified that this was the date of the election where residents would vote on the petition. Mayor Lott explained that voters had previously approved this matter last year and a bill proposal had been drafted by Winooski’s representatives. The legislature has yet to take this up. The legislature’s duty is to approve or deny charter changes. The legislature would need to approve the bill to be then sent back to Winooski. Bean said he was under the impression that the bill had already passed and didn’t realize that there had been a technical issue previously. Bean also asked if next week’s public hearing would serve the same purpose as this one, to which Mayor Lott said it would. Bean asked about the rationale behind the charter change, assuming it had to do with the housing crisis. Mayor Lott explained that the purpose of the resident organized petition is to put a protection in place for renters from being evicted without violating the lease or other just causes. Mayor Lott mentioned that people have experienced having their leases ended because the landlord wanted to charge more rent than they could afford, knowing they could get more rent from a new renter. Deputy Mayor Renner mentioned that the organization who brought the petition and gathered signatures was Rights and Democracy. Deputy Mayor Renner mentioned that a just cause to evict a tenant would be nonpayment of rent. Renner mentioned that many landlords were concerned that this would allow tenants to stop paying rent, which is not the case. Bean asked if he was correct in assuming that if this permission for charter change passes, it would then come back to the City for ordinance crafting? Mayor Lott said that if the legislature approves this, it would then be sent back to the City and the City would then have to draft an ordinance around it. This process would include additional public hearings. Mayor Lott also noted that the legislature has the power to change the language of the charter however they see fit. Bean asked who would be responsible for drafting the ordinance and what kind of input residents would have, to which Mayor Lott responded that City staff and the City Attorney would be drafting the ordinance. Mayor Lott said that public hearings would be held for residents to weigh in and that outreach would likely occur through the Planning and Housing Commission meetings as well. Bean asked if there was any intention to have landlords be a part of these meetings, to which Mayor Lott responded that she would intend to have all stakeholders involved. Bean asked about some unintended consequences of this, which could include raising rents to the maximum amount allowed as Bean felt that this sounded like rent control. Bean acknowledged it may be too early to speak to these issues and asked about how the word “reasonable” would be defined in regard to potential rent increases. Mayor Lott said that language such as that would be tweaked and defined by the legislature before it came back to Winooski. Mayor Lott said she agreed it was probably too early to speak on these specific questions. Bean acknowledged he has great tenants and has enjoyed working with Winooski and is simply trying to be prepared and wants to think about potential unintended consequences. He mentioned that with rising costs and rising taxes he worries about getting behind from an income perspective. Bean then asked about a provision of the charter change that references landlords being able to not renew a lease if a landlord is to do significant renovations or move in an immediate family member. He asked about who would qualify as an “immediate” family member  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov and what would constitute “significant” renovations to which Mayor Lott said that definitions to clarify would need to be added to the ordinance. Bean then referenced a situation he had experienced with a tenant who paid their rent on time but caused their neighbor to move as they were passive aggressive in exchanges in their shared yard. Bean asked about other language which he felt would need to be defined. He mentioned that there is language regarding landlords being responsible for relocation costs if a lease was terminated for just cause, to which he was concerned about. Mayor Lott agreed that there were things in the charter change that would need to be clarified and defined. Bean asked if there had been any thought about how this would be tracked and imagined that it would be difficult to track. Mayor Lott said that there had not been time spent looking into this and that it would take significant time to do so. She mentioned that a few other towns had explored Just Cause Eviction and that because it is very difficult to predict what the legislature will move forward with, little time has been spent thinking through implementation because there is so much room for change before it comes back to the City. Mayor Lott and City Manager Elaine Wang clarified that the current language was put together by the residents and that City Council does not have the authority to edit the language before it is voted on. Bean said he would happily be involved in any stakeholder meetings. Mayor Lott and Councilor Judge said that the timeline for something like this would probably be 1-2 years before it was enforced in Winooski. Bean said that as a realtor, he could see something like this impacting real estate prices because it could discourage people from buying and investing in Winooski if regulations like this were in place. Brian Armstrong, a housing partner in Winooski for over 25 years, spoke about his experience with no-cause evictions. Armstrong said he believes no-cause evictions help protect small business owners who work hard to provide a safe place for people to live, have housing, and often do so on limited means. Armstrong shared a story about his late wife who worked hard to buy a property and build wealth for herself and her son. The couple owned several buildings in Winooski. Armstrong said that without no-cause eviction in place, his late wife would not have felt comfortable going to her own building as she had tenants who paid rent on time, complied with city regulations, etc. but were misogynistic and threatening towards his wife. Armstrong said he has very few, if any, evictions and that currently, in Vermont, it takes six months on average to evict someone, if it goes smoothly and the person doesn’t request a jury trial. Armstrong mentioned that a Just Cause Eviction charter change could make more sense in a state like Florida where it takes 30 days to evict a tenant. Armstrong said his history with no-cause eviction is that he has only utilized it as a last resort in cases where every other avenue has been exhausted. He said that people have suggested utilizing other tenants to testify in court cases against the disruptive tenants. Armstrong said his experience has been that these tenants do not want to stick their neck out and go to court against a neighbor for fear of retaliation. He said he felt that no-cause eviction was used as a last resort and believed it probably made up less than 2 or 3% of the evictions that hit the court system. Armstrong believes that no-cause eviction is a valuable tool. Armstrong works with Burlington Housing Authority, Winooski Housing Authority, Section 8, and Vermont Refugees and Resettlement. Armstrong’s company believes in providing safe and reasonable housing. His concern is that if this charter change goes into effect, people who rent out units in their home to make ends meet will have a valuable tool taken from them. Armstrong raised points about potential litigation over defining the ambiguous language in the charter change. Armstrong also had questions about if the City would provide support for landlords who may need assistance if these regulations go into effect. He also was concerned that people may choose not to invest in Winooski or remove units from the market. Armstrong said that with the recent tax increase, he had to raise rent $100 per month per unit to break even. This tax increase, he mentioned, comes along with increased inflation and rising prices. Armstrong mentioned that Allen and Brooks, a firm that does real estate analysis, is projecting a 3% vacancy rate in Chittenden County. Armstrong said that if landlords are subject to rent control but expenses from the City can go up 13.8%, he wonders if people will be less inclined to buy in Winooski. He hopes that we can find an equitable way forward but worries he will be unable to recoup the expenses from being a landlord. Armstrong ultimately believes people will be deterred from providing housing for others. Armstrong says he was willing to give people with less than stellar records or credit a shot  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov as a tenant but worries that he will be forced to change with this charter change. He says that affordability can be achieved in other ways. The public hearing was closed at 6:38 PM. B. Discussion: Treasurer's Report: Quarterly Budget Projections - Johnathan Fenney, Treasurer Minutes: Johnathan Fenney, Treasurer, presented an overview of the City’s budget projections. Finances from the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2025 were discussed. Most things in the budget are tracking to expectation. It was mentioned that some forecasted cost savings from staff vacancies have decreased and will continue to decrease as the City fills these positions. C. Discussion: Public Hearing - Unified Land Use and Development Regulations (ULUDR) Amendments related to Act 181 - Ravi Venkataraman, Director of Planning and Zoning Minutes: Ravi Venkataraman, Director of Planning and Zoning, reviewed the proposed amendments to the Unified Land Use and Development Regulations that were presented to Council on December 9, 2024. A Public Hearing was opened regarding these amendments at 6:46 PM and closed at 6:47 PM. No members of the public were present to discuss this matter. D. Discussion/Approval: Approval of the amendments to Unified Land Use and Development Regulations (ULUDR) – Act 181 - Ravi Venkataraman, Director of Planning and Zoning Minutes: Questions arose from Council regarding how potential disputes over shared parking would be resolved, among other things. Discussion ensued. Motion: A motion to approve the amendments was made by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd. Motion carried 4-0. E. Discussion: Review of Anticipated Demands on Reserves - Elaine Wang, City Manager Minutes: City Manager, Elaine Wang presented an overview of potential future projects that could require a request to use reserve funds. Many of these requests are expected to occur in the next year or two but some could be further out. Some potential projects that may require use of reserve funds would be repairing the pedestrian bridge between the Champlain Mill and Winooski Falls Way and adding additional Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacons at the pedestrian crossings in the traffic circle. VIII. Adjourn Motion: A motion to adjourn was made by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Judge. Motion carried 4-0. The meeting adjourned at 7:15 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