Safe, Healthy, Connected People Commission

11/9/2021 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Ashley Lucht, Christopher Page, Courtney Blasius, Dillon Lovell, Jason Burds, Jason Williams, Jean Szilva, Laura Dlugolecki, Mary Hussmann, Matthew Francis, Maurice Matte, Meredith Bushey, Thomas Renner, Yam Basnet. Council Liaisons Present: Mayor Kristine Lott, , Deputy Mayor Hal Colston, Councilor Bryn Oakleaf City Staff Present: Jon Rauscher, Angela Aldieri, Ray Coffey, Wendy Harrison, John Audy, Jon Rauscher Call to Order by: Mary Hussman Meeting Start Time: 6:03 PM Minutes Recorded by: Thomas Renner, Chris Page II. Public Comment None III. City Council Update Thomas Renner Hal Colston gave update on road improvements, small business Saturday (November 27th). City council approved description for HR position. City attorney is looking to dismiss lawsuit on all resident voting. Kristine Lott discussed the local options tax revenue and Bryn Oakleaf brought up that the council met on single member district, the recommendation is that Winooski remain a two member district and not include any of Burlington. Christopher Page Heading into annual road resurfacing, for a couple weeks. Details listed in meeting minutes as to where that’ll take place. November 27: small business Saturday; lengthy conversation with council over tax; more details to be provided to make decision. Several search firms being considered for the search for the permanent City Manager position. Council approved HR Director position description. City attorney will be offering a motion to dismiss lawsuit brought against Winooski with respect to all-resident voting. Office will be reaching out to lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston also interested in defending our position. Local Options Tax revenue was requested by Winooski businesses; council will be hearing more about this issue next week.  to all-resident voting. Office will be reaching out to lawyers for Civil Rights in Boston also interested in defending our position. Local Options Tax revenue was requested by Winooski businesses; council will be hearing more about this issue next week. Single Member Districts option, upcoming election cycle for all-resident voting; requests and support from BCA was that we remain 2-member district, focused entirely on Winooski. Language being finalized, will be provided soon to committee. Municipal Infrastructure Commission accepted work plan for the year. We reviewed success points/lessons learned for the pool. Wonderful tree event that was held in September; will repeat if we can secure funding. IV. Discussion/Approval: FY23 Capital Plan Decision: Unanimous Pass Motion by: Jason Williams Second: Jean Silva Thomas Renner Angela Aldieri explained to us what the purpose of the capitol plan is intended for. Currently it is just over a million dollars and any projects must last more than 5 years. Money has been set aside for the pool, main street and weaver street projects. Councilors asked for more details on Lafountain scoping study and Manseau Street sidewalk installation, Jon Rauscher explained what the intention of those plans is. Meredith Bushey asked if there were any plans for sidewalk installation near Hoods Crossing, Meredith also asked where the money comes from for those types of projects. Jon explained that the city has been lobbying VTrans to try to get money for a signaling project in that area and that grant money is the funding pursued for that. Mary asked if there is a ratio of debt service that the city likes to stay within when making decisions on the expenses proposed. Angela explained that the city tries to finance items that will last longer than the dept payment. Jean asked about the West Allen Park improvement, Ray shared that there is high level design work based on community feedback, the proposal here is to create a more concrete design. Bryn is wondering if our DPW should invest in the equipment for striping/marking. Jon said that due to the cost he is working with other cities to do a regional bid to get one machine that could be shared. Bryn also suggested that city vehicles should transition to an electric fleet. Jon said that electric vehicles are considered when replacing vehicles when the opportunity is available. Angela noted that police cruisers are hybrids which has led to a gas savings. Ashley noted that LaFountain street is frequently used as a travel through way and that the city should look into the clean water fund for the west Allen park improvement, Ashely asked to know how Winooski decided to save as opposed to taking out debt. Angela explained that there is history in the city that some projects can not be done through bonds and that is what they reserve debt service for. Jason Williams wants to know about the roll of ARPA or other federal funds coming to Winooski. Angela said they want to make sure to be taking care of those who stepped up during the pandemic and taking community feedback responses when considering ARPA funding. Jon noted that more investment needs to be put into the capital funds. Angela asked if there were any other project suggestions and Bryn shared that the walkability of the city is very important. Dillon who was in attendance in person, asked about the bridge from Winooski to Burlington and if the state can be used to address the accessibility of the bridge. Jon mentioned that VTrans is being pushed to do a benefit cost analysis on the bridge to get federal funding as the bridge needs updates that are costly to Burlington and Winooski. Angela explained money is being set aside for bridges but that there isn’t enough yet to do a match with a grant. Meredith gave kudos to the committees for improving the city, she questioned if the Richards Park could have some improvements and get a plan like West Allen. Ray explained that the parcel was given to the city and the deed has limits on constructing on the property, which for the moment means it is going to remain as a green space. Laura Dlugolecki brought up sidewalk upgrades, wondering if money could be set analysis on the bridge to get federal funding as the bridge needs updates that are costly to Burlington and Winooski. Angela explained money is being set aside for bridges but that there isn’t enough yet to do a match with a grant. Meredith gave kudos to the committees for improving the city, she questioned if the Richards Park could have some improvements and get a plan like West Allen. Ray explained that the parcel was given to the city and the deed has limits on constructing on the property, which for the moment means it is going to remain as a green space. Laura Dlugolecki brought up sidewalk upgrades, wondering if money could be set aside for sidewalk repairs. Jon explained that internally they want to do more sidewalk replacement and is not a capital plan project. Meredith asked if there is a place where plans for the next years’ capital plans would go. Jon explained that projects come from the master plan or a bond vote. Bryn asked about a basketball court, and wonders if we have done an inventory of our parks and what assets we have and if there has been thought on how to leverage our open spaces. Meredith asked how old the structure is at Landry park, Ray shared he doesn't know the actual age of it, but all the decking was recently replaced due to a warranty issue. Rayl et Bryn know that there had been a basketball court, and with the west Allen design m the team hopes that there will be an opportunity for a basketball court there. Jason Williams noted that there was a notion for a vote, and he would like to have more added details on making Winooski more walkable and bikeable. Mary asked if we need to move through the budget sheets, Angela expressed the they are very detailed sheets and that they projects are the same on the summary page. Christopher page noted that he really thinks it is important to highlight the mobility around the city. Jon said there are plans to do a study to on public input on what utility work is important to the public, such as bike lanes, tree lines etc. Matthew Francis wanted to highlight that Multi-Modal transportation options is important. Council inited to come to city meeting where these plans will be shared. Christopher Page City creates Capital Plan to try to smooth out long-term asset purchases, so we don’t have spikes to the tax rate; planning ahead. Portion of budget dedicated to capital programs. In order for a project to be included in plan, must last for at least 5 years, cost threshold per our policy ($5,000), higher threshold for street infrastructure, buildings, land; typically more expensive items. Goal of Plan is to set aside money before a project is to be completed so we can buy outright, instead of borrowing to complete project (additional interest, etc.) About 65% of capital plan is spent on debt service. Pool: While we did have to borrow to construct pool, we have been setting $ aside in advance for maintenance of pool systems (pump failure, i.e.) so that debt doesn’t exceed life of pool. Others: Main Street project, Weaver Street bridge replacement project. List of criteria that we use to evaluate programs, how we prioritize one project over another being included. Items discussed by FC and approved by Council. Seven items: l Meets a policy goal/strategic objective of city l Mandated by Federal/State regs? l Addressing known safety hazard. l Maintaining or improving delivery of services l Improving existing capital l Fulfilling the need of underserved portion of City. l Will project affect ability to complete another planned project? Seven Major Projects (and two proposed debt service)  l Maintaining or improving delivery of services l Improving existing capital l Fulfilling the need of underserved portion of City. l Will project affect ability to complete another planned project? Seven Major Projects (and two proposed debt service) Are there priority projects that should be listed that aren’t on list? Are there things on the list that you wouldn’t consider a priority based on criteria? Question: LaFountain Street: what is scoping study? Looking to get ready for potential reconstruction project on that street sometime in the future. Don’t have the funds yet, but some may be on the way. Start outreach with residents, talk about how LaFountain corridor could get replaced; narrower traffic lanes? Wider sidewalks? Bike lane? Underneath the street is a 100+ year water line, which is high priority to replace ASAP. Whenever replacing a water main, whole street gets torn up. What improvements can we make (multimodal) as we’re doing that water line work? Scoping study is preliminary work, primarily grant-funded through RPC; typically RPC funds 80%, 20% local match. Manseau Street Sidewalk; where’s that going? Lot of discussions with folks on Manseau, we have sidewalk prioritization plan; council authorized prioritizing the installation of a new sidewalk on Manseau (west side) all the way from Hood’s Crossing; very narrow ROW so trying to fit 5 foot sidewalk into 48 foot ROW, so folks don’t walk on the street. Hood’s Crossing drove one member to apply; safety of that intersection, living so close to Hood’s Crossing; not sure where funding would come from for that? Huge new development, increase in pedestrian and car traffic, how do you request that your street get a sidewalk? Where is money coming from for Hood’s Crossing? Seems like a public safety concern. We performed a scoping study, triggered by Hood’s Crossing; multiple roads coming in, railroad tracks, lots of crashes, geometry of intersection. Through study, determined what is the best configuration for E. Allen going forward. Specific to HC, signalize that intersection; $2M project to do that work. Winooski has been lobbying VTRANS to put money towards that project. With scoping study, we “get in line” for some Federal money; relying heavily on grant funding to get E. Allen corridor work done. Relying on VTRANS for the work. Priority project that we want to complete very soon. VTRANS will be resurfacing all of Rte. 15 next year. Short-term improvements = calming traffic, pedestrian/multimodal improvements (striping, road paint); with VTRANS doing work next year, they will incorporate short-term improvements. Expand refuge island, replace refuge island at Dion and make it larger, etc. Small cost for curbing work, but pennies on the dollar given contractor is already there. Long-term effort for signalization. Gateways with thru-traffic, we have a good case for State/Federal money, it’s not all local traffic moving through the area- not fair to Winooski residents to fund multi-million dollar signalization package. If we were to try to fund $2M project ourselves, we’d have to set aside money for at least 10 years or else borrow for, but that would tie up more of our existing capital in Debt Service; trying to seek alternative funding sources. Hood Street is also a priority sidewalk location. Transportation Master Plan includes sidewalk priorities. Just because something doesn’t appear on CIP list doesn’t mean it isn’t a priority as well; alternate funding sources being sought out. Is there a cap to the debt service % that you seek to stay within? Just because something doesn’t appear on CIP list doesn’t mean it isn’t a priority as well; alternate funding sources being sought out. Is there a cap to the debt service % that you seek to stay within? Doesn’t make sense to finance police cruisers, we replace every year. Certain other projects can be paid for with reserves. For equip that is financed over time; we only have 376K available, trying to balance getting the best for those dollars, trying to finance things that we know will last longer than their debt payments (plow truck, for example). West Allen Park Improvement; has that design been solidified or work in progress? 2019-2020 study prioritized West Allen for needed work. As part of study from consultant, some conceptual design work of what that park could look like, based n community feedback (desired elements). This proposal is to move beyond conceptual design process to a more concrete design; right now very conceptual, but needs detailed engineering (erosion control, etc.) to go further with the plan. Community members have asked about striping; would that be something our DPW should invest in as far as equipment? Similar to resurfacing. Curious about capacity to pull that into capital projects. Vehicle replacement; wonder if those estimates include enough funding for replacing with electrical vehicles; we should consider the concept of moving to an electric vehicle fleet. Paint marking: Proposing for the FY ’23 budget, but doesn’t meet CIP threshold because it only lasts a season. Equipment piece, pretty specialized; pretty large trucks, probably in $200K range. Trying to work instead with Burlington and South Burlington for a regional bid; let’s get together and share equipment, reduce costs, helps everyone. Our crew will continue to do crosswalks in-house; stencils and paint. Could not find paint this year; remnant COVID issues trying to get supplies, so not much accomplished this year. We will look for electrical vehicle replacements where possible; where there are opportunities we will pursue that. A lot of vehicles are moving to hybrid; lot of savings in gas budget because all police vehicles are hybrid. *Long-term cost/maintenance lower on electrical vehicles, potentially. LaFountain Street is used as through-traffic; could make argument as through-traffic for funding. Stormwater improvements associated with West Allen; could tap into Clean Water state revolving fund. May be opportunity for significant subsidies with upgrades there. Also, how did Winooski decide to save for long-lived assets and not take out debt service? If an asset is long- lived, it may be better to take out debt for it, intergenerational equity, and debt is very cheap right now. We will still use debt service for long-term projects. Intent is to save money for truly long-term projects, that are not necessarily bond-financeable. Pretty major storm line that runs underneath West Allen Park, so SRF funding might be a very good call. Will definitely be looking at that. Role our infrastructure has in local economy versus amount we have to invest in it is striking; seems like there would be more. ARPA and other funding coming to Winooski? There is going to be a lot of public outreach in next few months to see what priorities community has for using ARPA; infrastructure projects are included, also social services/partner agencies, local businesses, folks who stepped up to serve community. Regarding funding, back in FY ’18 budget was only about $500K; council and city manager at the time recognized we need more investment in Capital Fund; Local Tax Option revenue new There is going to be a lot of public outreach in next few months to see what priorities community has for using ARPA; infrastructure projects are included, also social services/partner agencies, local businesses, folks who stepped up to serve community. Regarding funding, back in FY ’18 budget was only about $500K; council and city manager at the time recognized we need more investment in Capital Fund; Local Tax Option revenue new source for capital fund. Slight increase in FY ’19 to start funding Myers pool. Prior to the increase for Main Street and Pool, annual Cap budget was about $450K. Any other priorities? Walkable/Bikeable components; goal in Master Plan but that we don’t see a lot of project work on the ground to that effect. Another area that Bryn hears about. Highlighting components that incorporate multi-modal improvements. Is it Winooski or Burlington or both responsibility for bridge on Colchester Ave? Sidewalks are starting to look dangerous, exposed rebar, who should be thinking about that? Bridge is owned 50:50 by Winooski and Burlington. For some reason, State doesn’t want to take $18M expense off our hands. 2018 scoping study on bridge to look at how we would replace it and improve multi-modal connection. Alternative was to put lanes that could be used by bikes/pedestrians. Bridge is structurally in good shape, though deck looks a little ratty. We will be talking with VTRANS about sidewalk repairs there, as they’re doing the Rte. 15 work. Benefit/Cost Analysis on the bridge in order to get Federal funding; no way that either Burlington or Winooski would cover that cost. Coming up on its useful life. In the past we have set aside money for work on the bridge, but nowhere near what we would need even for a match on a grant. We have other bridges, like Weaver Street, that are more urgent to replace. As a resident, want to commend all the commission members; quality of life has improved significantly over past 7 years. Much more walkable; improvements in plowing. Continued improvement with walkability for sidewalks. Richards Park is a lot of green space; is that under umbrella of armory or is that Winooski property? Seems underutilized, often empty. Richards Park: The deed for the parcel has strict limitations on what we can do there. Not allowed to construct permanent recreational infrastructure on the property. Got some legal opinions that implied it would be very difficult to unwind and adjust that. By and large, will have to remain as open green space per deed gift. Trying to get in more playable conditions for soccer program; busting at seams at Landry Park. Would be good to potentially expand. More organized activity there could be in the works. Sidewalk repairs and installation tend to be very expensive. Could money be set aside for annual sidewalk repairs? -- usually wrapped into other work being done in specific area, so they tend to be repaired opportunistically; is it possible to have a little reserve for sidewalk repairs that need attention? Sidewalk replacement work; way cheaper for City to do it vs. contractor; one 5x5 slab = $250 contracted, versus cost of materials if done internally. Unfortunately with COVID impacts, didn’t have staff to make repairs happen this year. It doesn’t land on Capital Plan per se but we do call it out on budgets/meetings with Council. Proposed capital expenses; list of things you’d like to target this year? More ideas next year, or is this everything? This is what we have on tap for FY ’23 that we have now. Some improvements will be done in the Spring that are in FY ’22 plan. This is a 5-year plan. We do have some other projects that we’ll be putting in as we get more detailed on FY ’23 budget. Any of these projects that come in are from bond vote or one of our Master Plan documents. We will try to add more detail as to what we think is going to happen in the next couple years. We have a Tower Truck that needs to be replaced; will hit in the next couple years. How do we fund that? $1.2M asset. To give folks a This is what we have on tap for FY ’23 that we have now. Some improvements will be done in the Spring that are in FY ’22 plan. This is a 5-year plan. We do have some other projects that we’ll be putting in as we get more detailed on FY ’23 budget. Any of these projects that come in are from bond vote or one of our Master Plan documents. We will try to add more detail as to what we think is going to happen in the next couple years. We have a Tower Truck that needs to be replaced; will hit in the next couple years. How do we fund that? $1.2M asset. To give folks a heads-up of what’s coming in the next 5 years gets on to plan. Park improvements in general, constraints at Landry; where is closest basketball court? Have we done an inventory of parks as far as co-locating some of those assets wrapped into planning as well as design work, but thinking about opportunities to leverage what’s available in a better way. How old is structure at Landry Park? Don’t know exact date of playground structure. All decking got replaced; warranty issue with rubber coating. Recommended/Average number of various types of park infrastructure based on population; X number of tennis courts per 1K people. Used that to make some decisions about what would be added in or improved upon. Basketball; was a court up at Landry behind tennis courts; not sure why dismantled. We are hoping with West Allen redesign, add second court there and improve infrastructure at that facility. With Landry, 3 conceptual designs brought to the community at various forms; ultimately the design concept looks similar to what we have now with some embellishments, based on feedback from the community directly. Pretty sure we did talk about possibility of basketball court there was a discussion, but ultimately there wasn’t an appetite to add hardscape. Parking lot is getting utilized to its capacity, especially on softball nights. Indeed, there was a basketball court right at the bottom of sledding hill. One reason it was removed was for # of kids who crashed into basketball pole was too high. Deemed a safety hazard. We did 1 pg. summaries for each of the proposed projects, overview, cost, what are benefits, criteria. Two were in the packet, just to give an idea. Approval; is that a motion? What are we looking for? If the group was in support of the CP as proposed, they could vote to agree to the submission of this plan to the council. Calling out areas of budget specifically focused on multimodal infrastructure is very good. Beyond that, I would move to recommend this plan. Budget sheet review for commissions? Very detailed, but projects are the same as that summary page displayed. What we will do in future: there are a lot of streets in Winooski that could be right-sized. Anywhere we’re looking to do major utility work, do scoping study properly; so we know what folks want/public feedback on the correct multimodal uses folks want to see on that corridor. For Hickock Street, scoping studies were skipped over because there were so many water line breaks. Also, for that project, did a lot of repaving and did some sanitary work, but a lot of it was trenchless work (lined sewers, didn’t fully replace) and didn’t change catch basin locations; didn’t allow us to modify curb lines so much. Focus on multimodal makes a lot of sense around the city. Also, Joint Commission meetings are great, what was the process in deciding the joint commission meeting? We could have this be an annual event; more public feedback is always good. More folks around to advocate for these projects, priorities of residents, not just doing things willy-nilly.  Focus on multimodal makes a lot of sense around the city. Also, Joint Commission meetings are great, what was the process in deciding the joint commission meeting? We could have this be an annual event; more public feedback is always good. More folks around to advocate for these projects, priorities of residents, not just doing things willy-nilly. V. Adjourn Motion by: Thomas Renner Second: Laura Dlugolecki Meeting End Time: 7:12 PM