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, May 19, 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 and Councilor Aurora Hurd Officers Present: Elaine Wang, City Manager; Paul Sarne, Communications Director; Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director; Angela Aldieri, Finance Director; Jenny Willingham, City Clerk; and Kim Hier; Assistant City Clerk Others Present: Sarah Reeves, CSWD; Jen Holliday, CSWD; I. Call to Order 6:02 pm II. Pledge of Allegiance lead by Deputy Mayor Renner III. Agenda Review Minutes: None Motion: None IV. Public Comment Minutes: None V. Consent Agenda A. Approval: City Council and Liquor Control Board Meeting Minutes of May 5, 2025 B. Approval: Accounts Payable Warrant May 15, 2025 C. Approval: Payroll Warrant May 27-May 10 D. Approval: Subsequent to Payout Warrants February and March 2025 E. Approval: Resolution - Recognizing the Waking Windows Music Festival F. Approval: Event Permit - Winooski Farmer's Market G. Approval: Vermont Community Development Program Anti-Displacement and Relocation Plan H. Approval: Request for Use of Unassigned Reserves to Cover Land Records Overage in Fiscal Year 2025- 2026 Minutes: None Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve Consent Agenda. Voted and passed 3-0  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 Planning Commission met last week. The Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission came back to discuss what future status Winooski might adopt for Act 250 exemption. The commission will meet on this again May 22 for a side-by-side of Act 250 review vs our local regs to confirm this before sending a recommendation to Council, as we will make the final decision to send to CCRPC. They also held a public hearing for Inclusionary Zoning amendments, with no public participation. This will also be reviewed at the next 5/22 meeting before deciding what to forward to Council. The Finance Commission met as well and dug into the Small Business Loan Program. It was a good discussion about how to make the program better meet its goals. Staff took commissioners’ feedback and will bring some draft updates to review at the next meeting in June. Deputy Mayor Thomas Renner: Recreation services are almost fully staffed for the summer, of particular interest 85% of the lifeguards for this season worked as lifeguards last year. The Library commission presented to SHCP and shared some interesting facts: Library has 10,188 items in its physical collection, that's not just books, but also park passes, yard tools, winter gear and so much more! 11 online databases are available to library card holders; there are 3430 members of the library and 448 programs were held in 2024. Also, a thank you to the Friends of the Winooski Library, whose goal is to support the library through fundraising, which is separate from the Library commission. Councilor Aurora Hurd: None Councilor Bryn Oakleaf: The Municipal Infrastructure Commission met last week and discussed the sidewalk placement at Hood’s Crossing. It was decided the placement would be on the southern side of the road. Priorities from the Council retreat were reviewed. The commission also had a presentation regarding electric vehicles in Vermont. Ravi Venkataraman, Director of City Planning, will be leading an initiative to apply for grants to expand EV charging within the city. VII. City Updates Elaine Wang, City Manager, provided the following updates: Receipt Raffle Top of our announcements today: Support Main Street Businesses,and Win Prizes - the Winooski Mosaic Receipt Raffle is live! Every time you shop, eat out, or use a service on Main Street, you're supporting our community during construction AND getting a chance to win special prizes or gift certificates - all you have to do is save your receipt from a Main Street business, write your contact information on the back, and submit. Receipts from the last 30 days can be submitted online at downtownwinooski.org/mosaic or in person at City Hall; Monday – Friday from 8 AM – 4 PM. Check out the City and Downtown Winooski social media channels to share this promotion and encourage your families, friends, and neighbors to support businesses on Main Street.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov Board and Commissions Are you looking to get more connected to the community and shape our city? Residents with relevant experience, skills, interests, or a willingness to engage are encouraged to apply for board, commission, and committee seats that expire on June 30, 2025. Council and staff welcome a diversity of voices, and if you’ve never served before, we’ll do our best to support you! Current members may indicate their interest in being reappointed, and residents who are not currently serving are welcome to apply online. To learn more, visit the news updates section on our website at winooskivt.gov. Appreciation was given regarding the return of 85% of the Lifeguards at the Winooski Pool, as this is a Testament to people wanting to work for this community as well as the City treating employees in such a way that they are willing to return. VIII. Regular Items A. Discussion: Chittenden Solid Waste District Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget Presentation - Elaine Wang, City Manager Minutes: Sara Reeves and Jen Holliday from CSWD presented the Fiscal Year 2026 budget. The budget is essentially the same as fiscal year 2025. Revenue is anticipated to be similar to 2025. Revenue streams were discussed, such as user fees, payments from trash haulers and the fact that no revenue is received directly from cities and towns. The funding gap that is present for the Material Recycling Facility is due to covid era delays in the project as well as loss of their intended site, which led to the purchase of a new site. B. Discussion/Approval: Appoint Representatives to the Board of Chittenden Solid Waste District - Mayor Kristine Lott Minutes: Councilor Oakleaf is willing to serve another term as a representative, which she has been doing since 2017. Rachel Kennedy is currently the alternate and is willing to serve a second term . Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner and seconded by Councilor Hurd to appoint Councilor Oakleaf to the Board of Chittenden Solid Waste District, with Rachel Kennedy as an alternate. Voted and passed 3–0, with Councilor Oakleaf abstaining. C. Discussion: Strategic Vision Area Goal Update (Housing) - Jazmine Hurley, Housing Initiative Director Minutes: Goals update on Housing were presented. Items discussed include status of the just cause eviction charter change with the State Legislature. The airport noise mitigation program statistics were presented. Thus far outreach and construction have been focused on South Burlington. The National guard has finished demolition of the armory and is finishing up the site remediation. Champlain Housing Trust was the sole bidder to be a development partner in the project. An overview of the short-term rental registry was presented, as well as the status of the City-wide 2024 reappraisal, and an update on the FY 2024-2025 Landlord Survey, which contains 72% of public buildings represented in the data.  City of Winooski 27 West Allen Street Winooski Vermont 05404 Vermont’s Opportunity City 802 655 6410 winooskivt.gov D. Discussion/Approval: 2025-2026 City Council Policy Priorities and Strategies - Mayor Kristine Lott Minutes: The City Council met on 5/15 to discuss priorities for the upcoming year. There were no follow-up questions. Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve the 2025–2026 City Council Priorities and Strategies IX. Executive Session: Pursuant to 1 V.S.A. §313 (1A) contracts, (1E) pending or probable civil litigation or a prosecution, to which the public body is or may be a party; and (1F) confidential attorney-client communications made for the purpose of providing professional legal services to the body. Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to find the need for Executive Session, voted and passed 3-0 at 7:00pm Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Oakleaf to enter Executive Session, voted and passed 3-0 at 7:01pm Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd to exit Executive Session, voted and passed at 7:23pm X. Regular Items A. Discussion/Approval: Settlement Agreement with MWG - Elaine Wang, City Manager Motion: Motion by Deputy Mayor Renner, seconded by Councilor Hurd to approve Regular Item X. Voted and passed. XI. Adjourn Motion: Motion to adjourn by Councilor Oakleaf, seconded by Councilor Hurd at 7:25pm Attest: ________________________________________ Kim Hier, Assistant City Clerk