 7 2022 Thank you for joining us in person in Contoy's auditorium and online for the Burlington City Council meeting. The time is 537 We're going to begin our agenda this evening with a motion to adopt our agenda Councillor Hanson I move to amend and adopt the agenda as follows note revised motion language for consent agenda items 7.06 communication Caleb manna and excavation specter department of public works Regarding Center Street daily planet and conference permit requests per assistant city attorney McLean a hand note revised version of consent agenda item 7.28 communication Laurie Oldberg licensing voting and records coordinator Regarding regular schedule of meetings of the city council and board of finance through May 2023 Per city council president per councillor Bergman note final version of agenda item 8.17 resolution annual appropriation and budget for fiscal year beginning July 1 2022 and ending June 30th 2023 mayor Weinberger and board of finance per CAO Shad note revised version of agenda item 8.24 ordinance housing and taxes short-term rentals BCO Chapter 18 sections 21 through 31 Ordinance committee per councillor Traverse Thank You councillor Hanson. There's a motion to approve with amendments the our agenda seconded by Councillor Traverse Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none all those in favor of the motion and the agenda as amended and presented please say aye Any opposed please say no we have our agenda our next two items 2.01 and 3.01 are communications with expected executive sessions the first Is an update on collective bargaining the second is on the city's lease with beta technologies For the benefit of the public we anticipate that these executive sessions together will last no more than one hour And before motions are made to go into executive session just as we customarily do would ask either the Administration or council if you feel that on either of these executive sessions if there's anything that you wish to state in open session Mayor Weinberger Thank You president Paul. Yeah, I'm happy to give a short update on both items as council is well aware we are coming to the end of collective bargaining agreements with all four of our public employee unions those have been lengthy four-year agreements that are up We have been for some months in various stages of negotiation with each of the the bargaining units It is actually on we believe we have concluded the work with IBEW we will be confirming that with the council and executive session and then it is our hope that that is ready for action and By the council tonight coming after the executive session the other three Contracts are somewhat further out. We are optimistic subject to council Feedback and some further negotiation that we may be in position to Bring to you for ratification As you know, perhaps two of the remaining three contracts as soon as your next meeting on July 18th So I think tonight's executive session is an important Discussion to confirm that we are on track in a direction that the council supports the So that's that's really the update on the collective bargaining with respect to we just had a discussion downstairs about Where things stand with the beta Negotiations this very important agreement That it is certainly my hope results in a electric airplane manufacturing facility being built by beta this starting, you know, essentially now We the council will remember you signed a license agreement last November that has allowed Substantial amounts of earthwork to take place up until now you have on your agenda a Now board of finance unanimously recommended Item to extend for several more weeks or through the month of July that license agreement so that that work can continue on an uninterrupted What we will be talking about in executive session is the long-term agreement the Ground lease agreement that is really I think should be thought of as a major agreement that if completed is what will allow that facility to be built at the airport and Set the terms of the agreement between the airport and in beta for many years to come and we think we're we're Coming to you for this executive session because we believe we are very close to an agreement that That we support that I support and we want to confirm that we the council will Confirm will prove this ground lease if it's brought forward for official action in July and that's the point of tonight's executive session is to check in on that Great. Thank you mayor Weinberger So I'll go to we have two sets of motions to go into executive session one for the beta lease and one for collective bargaining Councillor Bergman if you could make the first motion regarding the executive session on collective bargaining, please. Yes, yes I would move that the council find that the premature general public knowledge of information concerning the labor relations agreements with employees of the city of Burlington Would clearly place the city at a substantial disadvantage In those negotiations Thank You councillor Bergman. So motion has been made for the first executive for the first motion for the first executive session seconded by Councillor Hightower There's any discussion on that motion Seeing none all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed, please say no That motion passes. So on to the second motion councillor Bergman. Yes based on The successful motion and the finding within it I'd move that the council go into executive session to receive confidential updates on labor relations agreements with the city's employee matters with the city's employees and employee matters pursuant to one VSA section 313 a1 B and would also add that the following people Join in the executive session to provide the council with advice that would be CAO Shad A mayoral chief of staff with Jordan Rindell our outside council On this matter Mr. Maitland the HR director and the chiefs of the fire department and the police department Thank You councillor Bergen motion made and seconded again by councillor Hightower Seeing no discussion on that motion all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed, please say no So we have a motion to go into the first executive session so in the interest of of Time will make the motion on the second executive session on the beta lease Councillor Bergman. Yes, I would move that the Burlington City Council Find that the premature general public knowledge of the legal advice and the information We would get concerning the details of a pending lease of the pending lease negotiations with beta technologies ink To which the city is a party or has an interest would clearly place the city at a substantial disadvantage Thank You motion made by councillor Bergman seconded by councillor Hightower. Is there any discussion on that motion? Councillor Travers. President Paul, I just need to note my recusal from this item. Thank you Thanks very much So if there's no other discussion We'll take a vote on that all those in favor of the motion is presented by councillor Bergman Please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed the motion passes with Noting the one recusal by councillor Travers Which brings us to the second motion on this executive session councillor Bergman So based on the the motion that was passed and the finding within I move that the Burlington City Council go into Executive session to receive confidential communications pursuant to one vsa section 313 a1f Which relates to a pending contract and a lease agreement matter pursuant to one vsa 313 a1a Thank You councillor Bergman seconded by councillor Hanson Seeing no discussion all those in favor of the motion And I apologize we that should have had did we include thank you very much I got myself thrown off there with the following people joining to provide advice outside council Jeremy Farkas Consultant Glasberg Director of the airport Nick Longo and assistant director lozier Thank you. Thank you. So all those in favor of the motion with the Inclusion of those parties that will be in the executive session. Please say aye. Aye. Aye. All those opposed say no and Would appear as though that motion passes again noting the second Apologies present Paul. I Was incomplete and it should have been on the airline list that should include assistant director Friedman as well, and I apologize for that Okay, Julie noted so I would We you want to really do it technically we'd like vote to reconsider we'd go back and we reconsider I'm seeing all sorts of shaking hands So all that being clear in the up and up I'd say we'd add assistant director Friedman as well We will add assistant director Friedman to the motion which has been made and seconded we We can vote on it again. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Any opposed So that motion passes again noting the recusal from councillor travers and that based on all of this We will be able to go into executive session We're going to go downstairs for the executive session and hope to be back here We'd hope to be back here by 6 30. It may be a little bit later than that, but we will certainly do our best We're supposed to be back here about a half an hour ago But obviously we're not we'll resume that we'll resume our meeting forum and we had Noted that for a time certain so we're gonna need to go to the public forum There are here who in con toys that would like to speak during public forum just a few notes about public forum The system that is on the table in front of me has three lights There's a green light that will shine when you begin speaking a second light a yellow light that will Shine when you have about 30 seconds left And then the last light is a red light that will shine when the time is up And we just ask that you please try to complete your comments when the sound Indicates and when the light turns red So that we're giving the same amount of time to everyone for those people that are online There will be a timer that is that will come up on the screen and When that time is up, there'll be a noise indicating that your time is up That being and along those lines. We do have a hybrid system for public forum People can come into con toys and speak in which case they have filled out these forms that are right over here at the table if you fill one out you can just bring it to the clerk that's right to my right and And they will bring it to me As well for people who want to sign up in want to sign up to speak remotely You can fill out a form that's on the city website Burlington vt.gov Dash public for city council dash public forum or backslash dish forward slash public forum And it's been our practice and continues to be our practice that we have Burlington residents That will have first priority will do this in the order that Burlington residents that are in con toys will be And who have submitted a form will speak first then we'll go online to those people That are Burlington residents and are joining us Remotely and then we will come back to non Burlington residents In con toys and then back to those that are online We only have one request when it comes to public forum and that is that you Please speak and address me as the chair that you use respectful language and And It is a lot easier for us to listen and listen intently to you when we when you speak respectfully Please don't personalize your comments towards anyone in this room or beyond And we want to hear what you have to say and are interested Interested very much in what you have to say and just ask that you speak with respectfully and with decorum With that said we'll go to the public forum Apologize we just got up here. I just wanted to see who is a Burlington resident Okay so Burlington residents we have about six or so that are in the queue the first person is Milo Grant Milo Welcome commissioner Milo Grant of the police commission. Thanks for being here Please commission meeting. Thank you. I Am concerned about Some rhetoric coming from our police department Concerning the black community Last meeting it was the yearly report was reviewed. I do encourage all city counselors to take a look at that meeting and full it was a very important report reviewing the Statistics for the year in terms of crimes and incidents in the city It was stated that black people were responsible for the gunfire incidents I found that very appalling and it's kind of eaten away from me My concern is that we are being profiled No matter how inadvertently to make a statement like that does profile us To use terms like affinity groups almost as a racial trope profiles us People in the community hear this It gives them permission to say other things that are hurtful that are racist it may inadvertently give officers the opinion that They don't have to address issues of Results of unbiased Incidents that occur especially with use of force So my concern is we don't hear this about white people We don't hear that white people are committing most of the burglaries We don't hear that white people are committing you know incidents that involve drugs. We don't hear that white people are Tacking or stabbing people with knives or other sharp incidents. You never hear these things said about white people Why are we saying this about black people? Thank you so much Thank You Milo The next speaker is Abbott Stark to be followed counselors We're online. Thank you for taking the time to hear this comment I've spoken a number of times before and I think you all know my story and I just wanted to put it down in black and white for your consideration tonight because I Thought there was a really great compromise on the table And I just wanted to sort of paint the picture one more time of how as a housing provider in Burlington I use the offset from short-term rentals to actually buy a house myself Which was out of reach because I had gone back into the rental market in that house now. I have two Very low-income units where we've made a number of life safety Improvements, I mean and done things for like elderly disabled people adding a washer and dryer I mean just tons of investments and Then in this neighboring house that I was able to get through a very strange twist of fate I Was through a short-term rental able to add a unit So I doubled the number of units on that plot Offset by the str and I continue to Like scratch and scrabble to make ends meet by doing short-term rental I mean It's like something that most people wouldn't even be comfortable with it It's comfortable with doing a short-term rental in the bedroom of my unit and then as the second unit in the house that we developed Using short-term rental to sort of pay that off and eventually that will pay forward as a long-term rental in the Burlington community if only we could double every Unit number on every plot in Burlington. I mean that's sort of like the dream and what we really need to do to create more housing here, but I Just wanted to give that to you so you had that and could see I mean that's three That's three short-term rentals when you count them. And so when we're talking about this number of 300 I could be like 1% of the entire Short-term rental population, which I think is also something, you know We're dealing with a really small group of people here who are really trying to do good for Burlington housing. So thank you Thank you. Thank you Abbott our next speaker is Eric Cronk to be followed by Chris Hesley Welcome good evening You can just make sure your microphone is on there should be a blue a green dot that comes on right in front of you If you press the button in the middle There you go Thank you Greetings city councillors my name is Eric Cronk. I'm happy to see many of you here this evening I've been a resident in Burlington since 1988 I've lived and owned homes in three separate wards I've raised three children in Burlington all going to Burlington public schools I've been a reliable taxpayer. I vote in every election. I willingly give to local charities I am willing to help out neighbors regardless of their ethnic origin the language. They speak their sexual preference or orientation I think I'm the kind of guy that you would like as a Burlington resident In the last two months, there are a few things that I've witnessed in Burlington that I have not seen ever before in my 34 years of being in Burlington in the last two years in the last two months I've been woken up by a series of gunshots You're familiar with these events in the local parking garage I've seen groups of people Putting needles in their arms in City Hall Park right behind the whiskey room probably less than a hundred feet from here As if they were sharing a beer. I've seen a growing drug market That looks like a smaller version of our old farmers market that happened in the same space people willingly selling and buying drugs groups of up to 15 people around 6 p.m. In the evening. I Saw a poor soul Rolling around in the grass without his shirt on and 50 degree weather at Battery Park while a group of his friends were laughing at him The the residents and the sightseers walking through burling through Battery Park were not laughing And a few nights later. I saw guys trying to upend a porta potty with their friend in it I'm concerned about this and I would like to remain a Burlington resident But it's a bit concerning. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Our next speaker is Chris Hesley to be followed by Cheryl here. I'm not sure there was a Okay, wonderful. Thank you so much for that help Go ahead Chris. Thank you for your time So as many of you know, I've been actively involved in the redistricting issue, but that's not why I'm here tonight I just wanted to share some perspective related to the short-term rental ordinance that's been proposed having talked to some Friends of mine active in the host community. I'd just like to remind the council that for a number of folks that are engaging as short-term rental hosts They did so after one or more bad experiences with a long-term tenant My understanding is that the trade group representing the short-term rental host recently conducted a survey of its membership And I think I heard something like 90% of the respondents Said that they would not be moving their units back into a long-term capacity If the council were to make it difficult for them to continue to operate Their business as they have been so As my grandmother like to mark you get more flies with honey than you do with vinegar And my concern is is that to the extent that we make it difficult For people to continue to engage in business in the short-term rental market I suspect that some of those folks will probably deliberately keep those units off the long-term market Just because they're unhappy with the way that the process would unfold I will conclude by saying I think it is entirely reasonable to look at regulating this the city does have a compelling interest to prevent To limit the number of long-term units Converted to short-term But I think it needs to be done so in a way that doesn't destroy livelihoods And I am hopeful that we'll we'll get to a solution that will balance all of the competing interests. Thank you Thanks, Chris. Thanks very much Cheryl you're Next and then we will go to the Burlington residents that are joining us online Working hello, yes, it is go ahead. Welcome. I have a lot of issues. I've been a resident of Burlington for quite a while My uncle had the art store on the market I've seen a lot of changes. I love Burlington But I can't take the homelessness. It's getting ridiculous. I see people sleeping in business doorways now Drunk. I had an incident today. I came to the marketplace. I Saw a man very elderly man drunk sitting sleeping by Achies he was in the way of everybody trying to walk to go to the foods the Restaurant up the alleyway. I read square. I Came to City Hall actually and I asked the maintenance not the maintenance guy the guy that does the he said I'm security for City Hall. I said well I'd like to report an incident on the marketplace. This is I can't do anything about it. I said but your security Why couldn't you ask him to get up or something and leave if he's able he wasn't able of course and so I Went for phone calls to the police department got nowhere They wouldn't answer me. They didn't call me back because they have an answering machine I explained to them what was going on I asked for a couple police police to come and check the man out. Nobody showed up I waited till three in the afternoon and I said that's it I talked to a guy who owns a car shop and he said I'm having a problem And I said yeah, tell me about it. He went on to tell me that he's had vomit and Homelessness every morning when he comes into work. He can't get into his business because there's drunk There's vomit everywhere. He can't get in his door to open it up He says I've been doing this seven days a week now to make money because every time I try the homelessness are in my thing So I said well But nobody came when I asked for that response and I'm very disappointed in this town the way the police station has run Anyway, it's not been good. You've got too many shootings all of a sudden. Thank you so much Cheryl Thank you so much for sharing those thoughts. I have some other issues, but I guess I'm out of time Yes, thanks again We're gonna go on to those Burlington residents that are joining us online the first The first speaker is Amy Maggar Amy I know you had told me exactly what your zoom name was. I don't see it I do see someone who's raised their hand, but I don't know if that is you Amy is this you that's me. Thank you so much wonderful go go right ahead Thank you. My name my name is Amy Maggar and I'm a permitted B&B host to the city of Vermont. I'm excuse me city of Burlington I'm asking after almost three painful years for all of us To have you vote in favor of the proposal in front of you tonight as it is Tonight is not the time to amend. It is the time to vote Thanks to the courage the mayor showed by vetoing a past option Today's proposal is balanced, although not perfect for either side but it is based on Flexibility for residents of Burlington to use their homes depending on their needs. I believe many on this city council Believe that are as hosts. We don't actually believe in regulation. We do it actually helps with supply and demand It helps with safety and the quality of our product in Burlington as short-term rental hosts But over-regulation is crippling. We just saw that in Friday's Supreme Court decision Short-term rentals aren't new There have been women across the centuries renting out their homes to make ends meet The bulk of those STRs in Burlington are owned by individuals not developers Seeking to be able to afford to stay in Burlington 1% of the homes right now are short-term rental. That's just 1% Let's get this done tonight as is no changes. And finally, I just want to say thank you to Megan and Scott who have been incredible City of Burlington employees and also incredibly at facing the public and Listening to what we're saying and I just can't say it enough. They did it with grace and incredible patients. Thank you The next person is Erica reddick and Erica. I'm looking for you. I don't see you If you want to raise your hand I'm happy to call on you And I'll come back I will come back The next person in the queue is a June lace and June. I have found you and Enabled your microphone Please go ahead. You just need to unmute your microphone on your side. I'm sorry. I thought I had That's okay. Good. That's all right. Go ahead. Thank you Okay, my name is June lias. I live on Lake Beteris. I too am a Airbnb host I have been an Airbnb host for about six years and It has enabled me to keep my home pay taxes supplement my income I have no problem with Airbnb and I Really feel like It's an asset to those who want to keep their home the problem I have is with people who have airbnbs who don't live in the home I For the last month have come home every single Friday night after a 15-hour day with a party going on next door because they rent that Airbnb the Owners do not live there. It's a group of investors. They do not live there the first Friday night, there's like eight guys with I don't know how many women They partied all night long they partied all weekend long the next weekend There's eight guys from Middlebury College. They partied all weekend long the next weekend There's a bachelor party. They partied all weekend long. I came home Friday night There are 15 girls at 10 30 at night playing ball in the yard. I told him if they didn't get in that effin house I was going to come in I Can't even tell you how crazy I am over the situation I don't know what to do and although I support Airbnb. I cannot support this Party in my neighborhood and my all my neighbors are older I mean this whole business all weekend long is getting ridiculous and you know, how are we going to stop it? I Don't want to knock Airbnb. I support Airbnb. I mean I couldn't live without it, but this is ridiculous And I know my time is up. I wanted to voice my opinion. I have supported the short-term rental That you had come up with I Again, I just want to I do not agree with the mayor for vetoing this the bill I'm done Thank you so much, June The next speaker is Ben Gold and Ben I found you and have been able to your microphone and just unmute and please go ahead Hi, my name is Ben Gold and I've been a resident of Burlington for all of my life. I was born and raised here So I've been here for 24 years So first I'd like to recognize that there is a housing shortage in Burlington But I don't believe that it is derivative of Airbnb or short-term rentals. There's approximately 250 Airbnb units in Burlington, which you can see on the Airbnb page and there's about 16,000 total housing units in Burlington, which I found on the census So it's less than about 2% of the total housing Availability in Burlington. So I don't believe that's going to be contributing greatly to the housing shortage And additionally the folks that are coming in and staying in Airbnb I don't believe it's been fully measured how much they're adding to the local economy because when folks come here, they're spending in our restaurants. They're paying sales tax here. They're buying gas from gas stations and they're they're flying into our airports So I don't think that that's fully been measured and I think that that should be considered as well as we discussed short-term rent rental regulations and I would also like to ask anybody who is opposed to short-term rentals Have you ever stayed in an Airbnb and are you aware of the value that it adds to a community as well as to the people that stay in that? We're talking about a real estate market in Burlington that is highly inflated as someone who just purchased a house last year It's extremely cost prohibitive, especially with real estate taxes for most homes going up So when we talk about supplementing income, it's incredibly helpful and a great asset Like someone else had mentioned in order to be able to do short-term rental to supplement that income For my personal circumstance, it allows me to rent to college students and other long-term residents For the majority of the year and then do Airbnb for the summer I think it's a great alternative and one that should be considered and regulated, of course, but not so heavily. Thank you Thanks so much Ben Next speaker is Cynthia Cook and Cynthia I Don't see you if you want to use the raise hand function, I'll come back to you the next speaker is Genevieve Jacobs and Genevieve I don't see you either Again, if you want to use the raise hand function, I'll come back to you the next speaker is Diana Carlisle and Diana I did find you and have enabled your microphone. Please go ahead Hello, I hope there's not something running in the background. That's getting in I anyway I am speaking about the short-term rental situation and it is getting worse and worse with a House on the street that has turned into a party house. I think you heard from someone else We do have other ones on the street and they are And they are in The owners live in the house. This one there is no owner living in the house and on the weekends It is totally populated by people who are here to have a good time. I don't blame them I blame the owners who are allowed to do that or if they're not allowed to do that They are not enforced to stop it. I think that if we want to keep a good neighborhood Besides the housing situation if we want to keep a good neighborhood people were watching out for each other and the strength of Friends and people nearby Short-term rentals are not the way to go people come and go. They don't care at all The ones that were here last weekend. They came many girls with honk for the bride Gail before the veil and they partied all weekend. They're not watching after the neighborhood. They don't care Anyway, I do think it's essential that We make some regulations and we implement them and we could should even be charging the air BNB whole house people For money to implement them is my feeling about that I think I sometimes feel like a David against a Goliath because air BNB and VRBO Are strong and huge corporations and they're pushing communities like Burlington. Please resist. Please Make some rules and implement them and so that it's not a whole house People must live in the house in which they rent space. Thank you very much Thank you Diana The next speaker is Sean Hurley and Sean. I found you. Thanks for using the raise hand function and Have enabled your microphone. Go ahead, please Gotcha. Thanks so much and uh, thanks for the time And thanks everyone for everyone's hard work on this issue. It's uh, it's been a long time you know talking about short-term rentals and how to make the best decision for the city and um, you know, it's a tricky one But I do think at this point we've got to pass something because the you know, the lack of an explicit uh policy is is creating more of these types of meetings and um, You know what what it is or what it should be Doesn't exist yet. We need to have a firm rule that can be enforced consistently and as the partial owner of an Airbnb in town um You know, I can say that I've been here on mute for over an hour and I'm just grateful for the time, but you know, I'm here to kind of like defend and clear our name. Um We have an Airbnb with some apparently some parties that have been referenced on this call um a You know a different version of that is that we've got some friends that have helped us buy what will be our dream house It's a big bite. Um on a really nice street. We didn't think it was going to be possible when housing prices are inflated um, we looked at the short-term rental Um option as a way to generate revenue from it as a way to afford the rehab and in doing so we were able to put uh Put a house sort of like back into you know, working shape in Burlington Um, it had been vacant for about 10 years Our plan and still is is to wait until there's clarity about what the short-term rental future will be and then adapt Um, we look forward to living there Uh, we more look forward to clarity and how to operate. We remain in touch with zoning and permitting Looking for you know, what that date is or how to adjust our families um to uh, you know to meet what the Whatever the new ordinance will be, you know, we just ask that that I'll be done harshly or too quickly as we are uh You know working hard to hear what the new rules will be and we want to fold into that and think there's a place for it We just need a little bit of a lead time to make sure that's not economically ruin us. That's my time. Thanks Thanks so much, Sean. Uh next speaker is uh deb ward lions and deb I have located you and have enabled your microphone Um, and I see you've been unmuted as well. So please go ahead Thank you Megan title acknowledged in her memo that management and regulation of short-term rentals Can be part of the solution to the housing crisis But strs are not the cause of the problem that burlington is in This is accurate In general the pro proposal before you tonight offers some balance in allowing homeowners To help pay their taxes utilities and insurance costs My city taxes are 30 more than my monthly mortgage. I need this income to stay here This ordinance allows renters to be part of the str economy too Without all the costs repairs and maintenance that housing providers themselves incur What still causes me concern is that the 9% tax imposed on strs will not apply to hotels and motels Favoring these large chains who also provide short-term rentals Lastly, I strongly request that you turn your focus to where a much larger impact Can be found for btv's housing woes To uvm who needs to be held accountable for increasing its student body without a commitment to housing them This is where you will find the power to make a difference Please vet the university with as much attention as you gave short-term rentals They must be required to build up their trinity campus to provide affordable living quarters for both incoming and current students Or how about charging them a 9% tax for all the students who live in student in city housing Because there's nowhere to live on campus If you're taking a sledgehammer to strs to hold us accountable for btv's housing situation Then a wrecking ball should be applied to looking at uvm's part in all of this That's my two cents, but I will on a nice note Say I agree with amy maggar because she said it much more nicely Thank thank you so much deb uh the last speaker before we go back to a few that were You know and just give a a second try is someone who just listed as deb um, I don't see anyone else named deb If if one of you are There is someone else at debora, um, if you're If you're on and you are the person who Identified yourself as deb, please raise your hand Online and I'm happy to go back to you The others that we did miss, um, which I still do not see, um, but just wanted to give one more Try with is, uh, erica reddick Cynthia cook And jennivy jacob's I don't see any of you Don't see any of you as attendees If you are here, please use the raise hand function and when we come back to the online We can certainly acknowledge you then and give you time to speak There is one person This president in con choice, uh, who's not a burlington resident. That's julia marx Julia Hope you're still here Great. Thanks so much. Thanks for your patience Thank you And if you can just use the press the button in the middle Of the speaker so that the light turns green in front of you It's on the mic. Great. Okay Um, I know that you're used to hearing me talk about short terminals But I'm actually just want to talk about housing and safety In general here in burlington I'm trying to figure out exactly what it is that you want to see happen in the city As a housing provider Is it that you want local vermont resident? housing providers to Be forced to leave the rental market and sell to the highest bidder of somebody who's from out of state and wants to move to burlington Are you looking to have the big landlords win out over the small mom and pop landlords? Or are you actually wanting to see more people more Local people get into the business of providing housing Because that's what it is. It's a business. That's a job and it's a job that entails taking care of buildings and people and right now I can't do either of that Well, I can't do that for my properties because of the costs that keep going up with the taxes and the utilities and the cost of materials And the permitting processes I can't take care of my tenants because there's no police force when they call me Which they've been doing constantly in the middle of the night at all hours of the day saying they're scared and they're worried people are crapping in the front steps people are dumping trash doing drugs Bothering their properties and now the police is saying that Burlington has taken away the rights of tenants to call the police to To have them respond to a trespassing issue But suddenly that's my responsibility to show up and confront these people who are on drugs on their on their property That doesn't make any sense to me. How am I supposed to provide safe and affordable housing? the STR ordinance If you take that from me, I have no other means To do what i'm doing and to offer anything to my tenants Thank you so much, julie There is one non burlington resident who signed up online. That is jennifer collard Looking in the attendees list. I don't see you jennifer Okay, there is someone who does have their hand raised i'll give that a try um Is this you jennifer? Hello Hello Yes My name's david Okay, are you are you are you um one of the people that we've called on or are you? Yeah, I just raised my hand Okay, did you want to speak during public forum? Sure. Yeah Yes, okay And if you could just identify yourself because I don't see you on the sheet if you could just identify yourself Yeah, my name is david and i'm a retired carpenter and My age is 70 And I can't work as a carpenter So I've been in my house for 30 years And I depend on short term reasons to Make it make it speak. I don't have any extra money at all so A nine percent increase in taxes would make it less desirable for people to rent You know and so i'm concerned about that tax hike because You know the competition is pretty severe right now and my costs are fairly low right now, but my income is very low. So I just I just can't continue to uh operate on this level, you know, so Oh, that's about it. Thank you. There is one other person who has their hand raised That's uh Someone under eric chase eric. Are you one of the people that I had called I had called on who had been on the list that was submitted online or um If you could just identify yourself, please Can you hear me? Yes, we can. Okay. Hi. Yes. I I wasn't I couldn't I'm sorry. I'm not really zoom Uh savvy, so I was trying my best, but I just wanted to speak if I had a moment Sure. Go ahead, please. Yes. If you could just are you a burlington resident or I I am from I'm in uh milton vermont with man's field heliflight ink Okay Go ahead. Okay. It's eric chase from man's field heliflight ink. Um, we've been following the uh the beta Dell developments at the airport. Um back in november of uh 2021 There was an issuance of a license that allowed beta to do blasting on the airport and was and was voted on and approved based on That it wouldn't affect any current tenants Um, and now it appears that they've adjusted the license and I'm not I'm not really clear what the what was adjusted and how it What how it was adjusted, but it appears that the new map That allows for development or that license to cover Does affect our lease property with the airport It's uh just for the record. I'm just putting on the record that we you know, there is ongoing Um negotiations and we're trying to sort it out. We're trying to be good neighbors. We're trying to work um through our current lease and To make allowances to for for the development that's going on but so far all That we haven't resolved it and all I'm trying to To just put on the record that it's unclear what's Going forward and how it's transpiring and and that's I think that's about all I wanted to do Okay, Eric, thank you so much Thank you How is that? There uh doesn't appear to be anybody else in the queue and the other names just do not seem to be on I do not see the other names that I had called earlier Um as having rejoined us or use that raise hand function So with that said at 8 o 2 we'll close the public forum Did want to also acknowledge before we move on to item 4.01 that we do have several city counselors who are joining us online That is counselors McGee counselor freeman and counselor barlow. Thank you very much for being here um The next item on our agenda Is item 4.01 a presentation regarding bhs btc 2025 project um And we have with us to make this presentation the superintendent of schools tom flanigan Along with the chair chairperson of the burlington school board of commissioners claire wool um And I believe a lot of other people who are here as well So I will leave that to others to introduce everyone We'd love to know everyone that is here and um, my understanding is that you'll give us a presentation Approximately 15 minutes and then allow us about 15 minutes to be able to ask questions of you And I know you do have a you do have a power point. Um Did we make arrangements for that for us to be able to see that or I have not just talked through it Okay, um We can get that up there for you if you'd like. Uh, thank you all for the opportunity to be here tonight. Um We'll get started if that works Yeah, it's it's actually on board doc. So it probably could just be from there Thank you. Catherine. Sorry about that Okay, so we'll we'll I hadn't anticipated doing introductions, but I think it's great that we do introductions We have the majority of our school board here and I'll have them introduce themselves as well as our executive director of finance and operations Nathan Lavery who's with me up at the table here Um, and a couple of members of our design team, uh, who we've been working closely with so I'll give them Everyone the opportunity to introduce themselves Okay, thank you wonderful to have you here. Most of the team is represented Um, uh, Nate and I will present this evening and then we'll take questions Um, we'll we'll speak for about 15 minutes and try to keep it moving try to keep under 15 minutes Um, and then we'll open it up for questions We're here for questions Our our chair, uh, claire wool is here probably to take questions on behalf of the board and then we also have Our our partners here Joe and jesse to help if there are additional questions So with that we'll get started We are first of all grateful for the opportunity to be here to talk to you all tonight Um, we're moving forward with our project But still in a place where there is considerable room for input and for discussion and dialogue Um, but at a place where we feel good about bringing, uh, our current our current, um, plans to you The purpose tonight is really to provide an update on where we are as of today Um, we'll answer questions and and be prepared also to come back to you part of what we're preparing Is to be able to come back to you Um For an august 15th vote, uh for the for a bond that we are that we will be proposing Um, and so with that we'll we'll move into the first slide Um, and i'm i'm starting the slide back in april Um At uh starting the presentation back on april 27th Um, where the board uh voted to choose option c Which you can see at the bottom left of that Series of images option c Was the the board was presented with these five designs based on significant research From our team and based on engagement with the community C Was it was felt what by the board was best situated on the site Had strong design elements Created a campus feel What you can't see there is that institute road Is the bottom kind of road that goes across so the fields are directly across from from the school there, um, and It had efficiency efficiency of being one building that was that was together Um, and and in and efficiency in the overall design of that building compared to others on this list C was also the top in our community survey So we surveyed the community and asked them their thoughts about the designs Uh, c was was the top choice Option d was the second choice Which option d you can see down in the bottom right hand corner that was the sort of out of the box choice But even though that received a number of votes ultimately option c Was was the clear pick of the community And also among our design team the design team felt like this was the the best option So we'll move to uh, and just a reminder that that was we'll see this in the next slide That the school board selected that on april 27th that option I think it's important to note that while we want to build a beautiful school that is really You know meets the needs of our community and what education and learning will look like for students And and our community For the next 100 years or so We also picked the option that had the lowest cost of the five options that you just saw at 181.3 million um and the What we what we learned through this project what we Originally thought was that we would be able to build the building On the site of institute road and remediate the old building After we built the new building What we learned through the process of The conceptual design those first five Slides those first five images that you saw Was that it was far better from our from hearing from our experts to To move the building to to remediate and demolish the building the old buildings first And that was because of the the first the site location. So having the building um be situated in between the rock ledge and Which is at at the north side of the of the Space and the sand which is at the the south side of that part of institute road So there was a sort of an area within which they needed to be able to work that also saved would be Result in cost savings because they wouldn't have to the foundation And the piling didn't need to happen in the same way as it would have if we were building where the sand in the ledge was So learning that the remediation and removal needed to happen first Added there was always a 30 million dollar cost to removal and remediation But adding the 30 million dollar cost Up front or in the beginning Or alongside the entire project was what was what was new to us Um in april so when we made that decision we understood Okay, we we need to remediate and remove first In order to be able to build this building and also to build three of the other conceptual designs um and so in in in Most of the designs that we saw removal and remediation was the recommendation upfront um The other thing I just want to point out here is that we do have an aggressive timeline We need to where our goal is to be in a building by august of 2025 We are currently in a macy's That is doing us. Well, we have students returning who are worried about what the space would look like and have done a year At another school and are coming back. We have teachers that are happy in that space. It's a good space So it's a passable space for learning. It's working. It is not a long-term solution And we don't have an endless lease there So in we we have an aggressive timeline because we have to have an aggressive timeline Because we don't have a school building currently and we need to get our students back into a school And that's just part of what we're what we are really wrestling with here On to the next slide, uh, which is slide number four that one. Yep um So the overall project costs In the original project with the building choice at 180 80 million 181.3 million Plus the 30 gets us to a 210 million dollar project for building costs and pcb remediation We however have identified funds already to support this this building We've identified the funds that you can see up here In addition to and we're assuming the 150 million dollar bind and you'll see another slide next that shows the two Two options next to each other, but i'm kind of walking you through the timeline of where we are And i'm doing okay for time and so we're we're gonna use 10 million dollars of sr funds We we received funds from the federal government that passed through the state for the american rescue plan Um, and we're gonna you were planning to use 10 million of those sr funds We have already 1.5 million in surplus that we've been able to roll over. We do have we have had Vacancies over the past couple of years As a result of covet And the impact that that's had on staffing in the workforce. It's been a disruptive time in the workforce Um, and so we we're we're budgeting some some surplus Um, and then we also have 10 million dollars from the 2017 capital plan That was a 19 million dollar capital plan and at this at this point This building has become the number one priority There are other needs i a a in particular Is a is a school building that we need to attend to if you've driven by it in the past couple days You see lots of roofing materials on the roof So they got we are upgrading i a right now and we have much more to do there. We have more to do there Um, but we don't have a high school. We don't have a high school building And we need to we we just need to prioritize this um So As we think about the the overall kind of project plan prior to june Um, we are really being mindful of the impact to taxpayers And we also have had a couple of other opportunities arise We've had discussions with with beta A couple of them are here today or on other business I believe but we've met a couple times with art and his team And have an exciting opportunity. I believe to bring Career technical education For a significant portion about half of our of our programming to the airport We have a 10 million dollar grant from senator lehi that one of our aviation teachers sought and received On behalf of the district along with our outgoing director And um, and there's an opportunity there that is really exciting um, and so both to to be mindful of the cost but also to be aware that We need to continue to think about how we provide Education to students and providing the same model over and over is is is not going to work And so we need to be thinking about ways to to improve our programming And I think these two things as it relates to the opportunity to have aviation related programming Like advanced manufacturing pre-tech and aviation at the and and perhaps some some of our auto programming as well Um at the airport is a is a is a genuine opportunity. This is not a Um, I think I I see this as a good opportunity and a good opportunity for us to save And and to be respectful and mindful of the impact on taxpayers But also to to do some really amazing programming for our students Um, so we started shifting in may in june Um, as we started to learn more about this, we were also engaged with our regional advisory board for career and technical education That's a group of people who make up the nine sending districts that send students to our technical school pro-antitechnical center And so we started to started to shift our thinking based on some push that we were receiving from the rab to think a little differently And also the opportunity that was available and the pressures of of of resources So if we click to the next slide We had with we we as I mentioned earlier, we have a 10 million dollar grant from senator lehi We have the ability to expand programming at the airport We think and we are in really solid conversations around that right now Uh, that allows us to reduce the size and cost at institute road and it's an exciting opportunity What it does specifically is it removes the programs that require high bays So the high bays are the are the big doors that that open up And those doors Fill sit or open into programs that have a bigger square footage and also need more More development of the of the ramping in the road to get into those. So those are costly design designs for for that type of Program, so we're able to remove those And um, and so that's what we've what I proposed to the school board The school board voted on june 22nd to remove the high bays from the tech center at institute road And we are working with beta now and also With with the mayor in conversation about about possibilities at the at the airport And and so that's where we are now. So I'd like to click the next slide which shows what that what that sort of looked like When we did that the plan on the left is the original option c And so you can kind of go down The the list of the ways that we were going to bring resources to that program To reduce the overall cost to taxpayers through the bond And through a through a new bond And you see a funding gap of 35 million dollars there assuming the 150 million dollar bond By removing the high bays that number Moves to 15 million and that Is significant 15 million feels much much more doable In terms of both fund raising And the overall cost of the project given the resources that we've already put forward Into the project through through previous bonding and through our own budget and ESSER funds We also are committed I want I want to so what this does is if this if we were if we were proposing bond language today This is a this right hand column is a 165 million dollar bond ask And so that's where we are by by choosing the least expensive option Of overall design and adjusting that to remove the high bays that gets us to that right hand column Which again is 165 million dollars What I want to also caution us though that we are in the conceptual does we're in the schematic design phase When we've we've completed the conceptual design phase We we will not actually know the exact cost of the project for another Two month and a half And that's just the way that The the this type of project Goes this is the best number that we have right now based on square footage Based on estimators who are working in the region And understand what schools cost And and we've looked at the cost of schools too in our region and in massachusetts And we're in the range of what schools cost right now And not many schools have been built in the past two years But we are we are in the range right now of the sort of new england Schools that that are that are being built the range has has there's there's some You know the range spreads a little bit, but we are we are right within the range And we are going to continue to fundraise. That's a part of our part of our strategy And so we're going to continue to aggressively seek funding. This is the next and second to last slide And I'm right at 15 minutes So we have been in contact with state and federal leaders since the fall of 2020 We did a direct face-to-face ask to the governor for 3.5 million to get into macy's And we actually didn't ask for 3.5. We asked for funding and he gave us 3.5 Along with the legislature who supported that obviously And we have a lot of gratitude For their support and we've been in contact with state and federal leaders Since then And so I want to make sure that's clear because I think it's important to know that Our fundraising our fundraising has taken different we've taken different approaches We've asked directly and we've also done work behind the scenes when we thought that that was the right time To to work behind the scenes and we also have been working Hard to build up the capacity to bring funding to this project So we have engaged With leonine public affairs consulting group that we're working with And right now Before that actually we've applied for Two state programs already And we have heard really positive feedback today About our eligibility for one of those state programs in this project currently But what we're what leonine consulting is doing is they are researching all of the programs In the in the state budget right now and they're gonna Identify all those programs that they think we are eligible for and then they and we will go out and We the collective we all of you can help We'll go we'll go make asks It the asks will look different the the first two the one I just mentioned that looks promising for A couple of million dollars at least Or a couple of million dollars perhaps is Is through a program right so some of these are just going to be us applying for programs But we're going to be really aggressive about seeking funding for this project because we know there's funding out there For it and we know we need to go out and get it And the fundraising is going to be ongoing I think the one of the challenges with our with this current project is that The the project we have a time by which we need to be in a school because we don't have a building And so we need to we need to move And we need to make sure that we're bringing all the resources that we can to the project And and those two are not always lined up Exactly the way we would all hope that they would be Um, so with that the last slide is just the updated timeline Which is that we are planning to return to come back to you After we receive questions today, we can answer some questions. We can answer some questions in writing As well if that is what we if that comes out of today, then we'd like to come back If if that is okay with you on july 18th And have a second follow-up meeting that allows us Another time to connect before we would be presenting the bond ballot item to you all On august 15th So with that I'll open it up for questions and answers Great. Thanks so much. Are there questions? Comments from the council councillor hansen And oh great if you I was hoping you could take that down so I can see the others Thanks, go ahead councillor hansen. Great. Thanks so much and thank you all so much for being here For the city to meet our net zero goals and we've talked about this privately But I think it's important to talk about it publicly for the city to meet our net zero goals The high school is a huge component of that and this is a many decades long investment that we're making In this new building and so can you talk about the sustainability sustainability of the building and All right Is it planned to be net zero at this point? Absolutely. Yeah, I'll ask executive or Nathan to take the lead on that Yeah, so we uh, we haven't made any kind of final decision Regarding specifically whether it be a net zero building or not But we have already with The input from our steering team Committed to pursuing a lead certification And we are not going to just stop at that We have to determine what level of certification we want and also look to what are the other opportunities That we can use to not only minimize the kind of energy costs that go into the building, but obviously all of the Elements of construction as well right that that contribute to To carbon and and uh, you know all about We want to look beyond just like the operation of the building right, but even to the construction process itself I guess is what I'm saying. So um, that question is still an open question That's one that we imagined partnering with the electric with brolington electric To get their help and guidance Throughout the process and ensure that ultimately we've got the most Efficient building possible and if it's if we can pull off net zero, I think we would all be thrilled to do that But we're not in a position to kind of say unequivocally that we can do that yet given that the scope of The work we have to do and also again the financial investments, but sometimes there can be also funds to support Kind of moving from an efficient building to a net zero building. So that's definitely part of the equation that we'd want to pursue Thanks, and I'm glad you brought that up at the end because I think I think this this this commitment is critical and and making this decision is critical and also can be an opportunity to secure funding But we have as you all well know, but just as a reminder for everyone else the city does require that primary heating sources are Are renewable and so this is obviously subject to that and To get that final step of the way towards net zero. I think is entirely doable and Should be really the goal of all of us and you know, please let us know how we can help you all get there. Thank you Thanks, counselor Hanson Councillor travers Thank you president paul and thank you superintendent plan again for this presentation If i'm not mistaken, I think your hire was announced in march of 2020 and I anticipate that There were some things you didn't foresee at the time and taking the job, but You've been a real benefit to our community Really benefits not the word beyond that. So thank you very much for your work on these really big issues And and thanks to your team as well as to board president wool and school board members for being here It's clear you've put a ton of time and effort into this and really from my perspective I view you all as the experts with respect to this and think you all are do quite a bit of deference with respect to the School project itself Of course the council Will be jumping in here in the coming months with respect to A bond to the voters and I appreciate your comments with respect to Thinking about taxpayers and keeping that in mind I do think it's important to note some frustrations that Voters have faced and I suspect that you may share some of them as well about you know What I really view as a as a broken system Um, you know, it was state standards that had our building closed down and those standards have shifted since the building was closed um, the state set aside some money for pcb remediation, but Not nearly enough for burlington not nearly enough to cover what I expect we'll find in other schools around the state And unlike massachusetts, which you mentioned and I get vermont is not massachusetts in many ways But massachusetts has state funding available for school construction, and I think that It's it's really It's not sustainable not just for burlington, but for the future of our state for us to continue to have a defunded school construction fund That said I do have a couple questions for you You did mention that uh in the presentation and at the end of your comments there that you may have a more accurate cost estimate Coming in in july and I suspect that you may not have an answer for this, but do you have any sense as to Where that may be coming in do you anticipate it will be higher than the 181 numbers? There any chance it may be lower? Yeah, we we really don't know. I mean this is the numbers that we have now are the best numbers That we have so it's hard it would be hard to speculate You know outside of those outside of those numbers Okay You identified a number of potential funding sources to Also contribute to this project. I anticipate Whereas you may have a list of potential funding sources before this goes to a ballot that you may not have answers from all of those Potential funding sources as to whether or not it's available And again, maybe this is a question for later, but I would be interested in knowing whether or not The availability of bond money May change the equation for any of those funding sources as to whether or not It's available to burlington If there's any sources out there that think well if burlington's already bonded Then they're not going to offer us the funds again It sounds like you're still compiling the list, but I would be interested in knowing that when that time comes Yeah, I mean we are we are both compiling a list and actively Seeking the funds already like I mentioned we've applied for two state grants already and we've heard feedback on one of them that there's We're in we're in good shape And so but we do have a tricky We do have some tricky timing here with the with the vote with the vote with the bond ballot language and with the ability to to really lock in funds I would just add that in many cases as superintendent mentioned The channel through which we are suing the funds is an existing program via state or federal so I don't think in those cases The presence of a successful bond vote is likely to reduce our eligibility or change our eligibility in any way There probably are situations where that could be a factor, but by and large. I think the answer is probably no I would also add that in many cases those programs A local match is required So there could be exactly the opposite situation specifically We need to have a Approved bond vote in order to actually ultimately be eligible for those funds Great, thank you for that. I'm sure my colleagues may have some questions as well But this is a generational project and look forward to continuing to work with you and and to support it. Thank you so much for your work Great. Thanks. Councillor travers. Councillor berkman Please thank you Uh, I want to thank you for your work My younger son is a product of both my kids are products of the brilliant in school system And my younger son was I think saved by the technical center I am a very strong proponent of technical education and I'm heartened by the The use of the the airport facility as an innovative way you Mentioned the the contacts with the regional group that is working on technical education and I think Um, I have been contacted previously and I'm intrigued by the the interest to innovative ways Of providing technical Education, so I really encourage that continued conversation with them and I'm just wondering whether they're You know, are there other? opportunities out there to reduce the footprint of the the btc Building but still provide that vibrant Um, technical education, so can you can you talk about that? Yeah, I think we're we're Thank you for sharing your kind of support for Technical education. I I feel that around around the room everywhere. I I turn so it's it's good It's good to hear that it is it is the place where you really see students Young people applying their learning in ways that they really see The the outcome of their learning and the connection to the real world, which is how we want all of Student learning to be that is authentic engagement um, so I appreciate that that comment and Um, I think at this point where we we have some really strong programs as you know Um are and some of those programs I think I do believe strongly are best suited at the at the institute road And those are the ones that are there the art and design Programming's programming There are sort of arts programming is really really strong our health and and Human sciences programming programming that's preparing students to move into medical professions Or just have that knowledge and be able to apply it across those are really strong popular programs And they need a classroom and they need a community where they're together with other educators To work and learn learn together So I think one of the things that we've heard from the from the technical center staff is And our our new director who's going to be coming in his name is jason reid He They they want to make sure they can keep their faculty a team that is supportive of one another And you can do that across a couple of sites, but it's more challenging And when you start separating out across many many sites it becomes more challenging The other pieces that are half of the technical center students are bhs students And so many of our bhs students really like our technical center Programming because they they like being a part of bhs and being able to be a part of btc. And so in this Set up you get the both best of both worlds now There could be space for us to think flexibly about some full day some half day And and thinking about that a little differently But I do think it makes sense for us to keep the programming that we have plans there there Thanks Do you have a sense of the amount of pcb remediation? Grant fundings that are as possibly out there, you know, just a ballpark you, you know The cost is 29 million at this point in time So and you're looking for all available monies outside. I'm just sort of wondering what that universe Is out there? Yeah, I mean, I don't think we Feel like we know the total picture of that We are part of the work that we're doing right now is inventorying Where there might be other options? So we may have we may be able to provide a better answer to that question in the coming weeks But I would also say we're also exploring some innovative Approaches to securing or becoming eligible for that funding which and so it's not clear You know that it's hard to kind of answer the question when we don't even know for sure whether or not we'd be eligible But I would say we're being creative in how we think about Making ourselves the eligible for programs that at first blush It may look like we're not eligible for so we're trying to make that number as high as it can be We obviously know that there was funding as councilor traverse mentioned in the state budget for pcb remediation But we also know that that was intended to serve the entire state and so we You know, we're going to pursue that money aggressively But we understand that that's you know and that it for folks to understand that that's About 20 million dollars or so and there's some additional money that's going to be added to that So there's there's a big chunk of money there But it's not all intended to go to serve just one particular School so there's a lot of money out there We've got additional work to do inventorying it, but we think that there are certainly millions of dollars that could potentially Be made available to support that work Thank you Thanks councillor bergman councillor carpenter Thanks I hear you about your concerns on the timeline and the lease at macy's, but I am being asked You are exploring all these other alternatives Why can't you wait to march and and I'm wanting to hear your answer because that's a question a lot of my constituents are asking And would you have more clarity by waiting till march? Waiting till march by waiting till march. We lose a year at On the on the project So and also we compete Against ourselves in march So I think march is is it doesn't make sense for us to push back to march we have a a clear picture of the cost of the of the of the program and We we believe although we're open to to thoughts and feedback genuinely About that. We do believe that November is the right right time. Can you explain the year? I understand construction Periods because I've been involved with development, but how did you get from four months to a year? so in essence we need if you know if we can Achieve our our aggressive timeline. We're talking about beginning some of that demolition Kind of toward the end of this year like roughly december potentially If we're not able to even begin that work until late spring Then it probably precludes any sort of meaningful construction for the entire construction season to follow So that would almost certainly mean that we would not be able to hit our august 2025 opening Target date Okay, thank you You all set councillor carpenter. Yes. Okay great. Thank you councillor shannon Thank you president paul And thank you superintendent flanagan for um For everything you have done for burlington and as has been said before I know It was all unexpected. How could you have known? But all of you here Have stepped up to the plate for this community In in ways that you know, it's it's just impressive and I think that the community appreciates you and I know I really appreciate each and every one of you. I see this as um Not a time for for criticism of of anything but rather Time for us to work together to find the best solutions for our community and work Collaboratively with you and doing that and I also want to say mr. Lavery I remember when you took this job and I remember that there were I believe five Financial directors in five years Prior to you and this stability I don't know what we would do if we were in this situation We're in now And we did not have the stability that you have brought throughout This long process and prior to this process and the straight answers and good information that you always give us So thank you Sincerely for that My question is about School and I don't know if you can answer this it may be Complicated it may not be worth answering on the floor and if you want to get back to me to answer in writing that's fine too, but My understanding is that um School finance is now shared throughout the state and there is some obscure relationship between our budgets And what we pay in taxes But all of our collective budgets of schools throughout the state are at some level a collective burden of the state education fund And of the hundred and fifty million dollars that are needed. Well, actually two hundred and ten Whatever the number happens to be depending on how you look at it What part of that burden will be born By state taxpayers as opposed to local taxpayers Obviously, Nathan take that question But I want to take an opportunity quick opportunity just to Go back to your first statement because I think The it's important to recognize the importance of partnership And I have felt that from Council president paul We've been working very closely together Mayor weinberger and myself and our team and from all of you I've had the chance to meet one-on-one with many of you when I first came on and we have a really amazing school board Who has really? Asked the hard questions Pushed me but all and also supported me and pushed each other and supported each other We're a really good team And and I think that I wanted you all to know that because I think it's important as you're weighing Kind of the feedback and then where what you're thinking this is this is not a decision Where we are today that has that has gotten we haven't gotten here by Just listening to the experts. We've had a lot of Conversation about this to get to this point and and we've also been working really closely With mayor weinberger and I for me that's incredibly important that we have that partnership that we can be straight with each other And and that we get to a better place when we do that. So Thank you So the question about the state fund Works really complicated. Thank you. Yeah, and thank you for those kind words council shan If I recall correctly the last time I was here. I think the feedback I received from you was more like Gee, I've started to get a little crotchety in my Long tenure here. So I like the more positive assessment, but Yeah, so you're right. It's a good thing. My memory is not that good It is it is a complicated but in in in short I think you've actually done a really good job of summarizing broadly speaking the the vermont approach to school finance and And that is so you're correct In terms of the way that school spending is really Based on what is considered a statewide grand list even though we tend to think of it in local terms Um, well, I couldn't tell you With any confidence at this point kind of how much money or how much of the cost will be borne by non burlington based uh taxpayers I think it's fair to say that Uh, I I know it's fair to say that the answer is yes, some right exactly how much I don't know and I'm not sure that we would be able to quantify that precisely or at something We could we could take a stab at uh, potentially down the road, but um But in short that would be the case typically burlington as a community is receives more education fund dollars Um, then it contributes to the education fund although we've been kind of Around the the middle point there where we could we could tip either way depending on things that i'm not actually sure most recently How we came out in in that respect But the other thing to understand is that the education fund is made up of money that is not just What we tend to think of it's education property tax rates There are other revenue sources into that fund that also support the spending that goes on across the state So, uh, it is never just burlington Property or even income sensitized ratepayers who are who are paying for the full cost of education spending There's other other monies that go into that fund Can I just follow up briefly? Sure. Um, the So is a capital bond any different than our regular budget in terms of how it's funded or its share of the statewide pool It's not any different In the sense that the debt service to repay the bond would Just be part of the budget and and would be considered part of our total spending That we get from the education fund. There is an exclusion from any sort of penalty For excess spending so you could the capital investments can be excluded from that So we're not going to trip into the realm of excess spending on the basis of the fact that we're repaying a large bond Can you give us any sense of whether it's a meaningful amount that is going to and it's also changed because the school The funding mechanism has changed more in our favor now Yeah, absolutely. So I wouldn't be able to answer that with any precision today, but that'll be part once we have the updated cost estimate We will plan to bring kind of an estimated tax scenarios back to describe our best guess of What type of impact there would be on on taxpayers? You're right. It's complicated further By the change in the funding formula, although we think in a very positive way obviously for for our community in that case Namely that the work that school board and you folks also contributed to Successfully changing the funding formula in a way that better reflects the actual cost of educating students. So That's definitely going to help Offset some of the increased cost, but it will be, you know, there will be real impact on on education tax rates And we will plan to bring forward, you know Our best estimates of what those will be when we have our refined cost estimate Probably toward the end of july when we'll get those numbers and and obviously ahead of the august decision point Is there a way to reflect that so that we understand kind of How much we're paying versus how much is coming from other state taxpayers Maybe i'm not sure that we will be able to Estimate that with confidence, but certainly something that I can reach out to the agency of education education finance team and see if they can assist in in kind of Determining what the what the ratio would be at some level. It's important to understand that's going to be You know kind of an estimate built on other estimates Um, it wouldn't be something that would be guaranteed those and those numbers can change every year But we certainly could at least kind of inquire and see if we can put something meaningful together that would Kind of provide that context Yeah, thank you Great. Thanks councillor shannon. Uh, so we have councillor jang and uh The mayor had wanted to speak as well and then we'll try to move on Councillor carpenter. You had also wanted to speak as well. Go ahead councillor jang Thank you president Paul and thank you all for being here. Thank you also members of the school board for being here One thing is clear. We have to build this high school That's we all agree on that right? Um, and I appreciate also the work that you all have been doing to make it a reality, right? But it would be important also for us to go back a little bit There was a 70 million dollar balance that the voters approved What does it mean with this plan right here right now? Um, yeah, let me just ask the first question So, uh, thank you for the question. I think that is an important one. Um to to bring up we had received authorization from the community to borrow up to 70 million dollars in support of what we call the bhs BTC re-envisioning project, which is a major renovation of the campus and the preliminary stages of that renovation are what led to the identification of the PCBs and ultimately caught us to this point. Um, we We borrowed portions of that 70 million dollars beginning with a four million dollar portion to get that the work started Which included a lot of the testing that again identified the PCBs And we have essentially spent that first four million that's gone The good news if you can call it that maybe it's a silver lining Is that a lot of that work has contributed obviously to the problems that we identified and we're thankful that we identified these problems Before we actually Completed that renovation and then walked into a school that needed to be closed We also borrowed, but then returned unspent an additional 20 million dollars Which we had envisioned as being the first major installment of that renovation, but of course it didn't happen So there remains a large portion of that 70 million dollar authorization But it is our assessment that even if it was legally permissible To repurpose that authorization toward the new construction project It didn't feel like a good faith bargain so to speak with our community Um, we felt like it was made more sense to Essentially Forgo the balance of that authorization and come to the community And ask for authorization in the bonding amount sufficient to build the new the new high school So that people could understand the total cost that we were That we were going to absorb We know that that has created some confusion. We want to make that clear. We have not spent 70 million dollars That by and large we we spent very little of that money. So And and we don't have any plans to spend any any more of it All right. Thank you for being open and transparent with the people. Thank you. I think it's a good indication that things this time around would be better Just like what consul bergman was talking about. I mean his children Attended the school here two of them I think then we have a way to raise those 15 millions with the alumnus Tell your kids ready that we coming for them Um, but I also wanted to talk a little bit about the how and from I'm not criticizing anybody here But from my perspective this presentation is even premature Right. It doesn't seem we have a clear indication about net zero energy Will it be included or know how much we don't know? We also don't have any idea Um around the cost itself, right and we are here in front of us We all assuming this is how much I think from my perspective That is the first priority to be consistent and to be very clear This is how much we need and we should not come back to it And if you tie it to the 70 million after you were allowed to raise to borrow 70 million It was clear that it was not even enough Let's not repeat the same mistake that we have done in the past And that ties also to what consular Carpenter asked about timing From my perspective, we should not rush this. We should take our time do it right and Even if it's necessary, let's move it to another year That's that's that's just something that I wanted to say Because we have seen over and over this type of mistake Repeating in in the city of burning term, right? I just urge you to please um take your time. Let's do this right and Yeah, try to move on forward Also, I wanted to say that you are already innovating You already demonstrated a degree of innovation In so many different ways your collaboration with the better technology is one indication You're going outside and seeking 15 million from the federal government to particularly is one You're working with the mayor the council president. I think it's it's there and also the level of engagement you demonstrated with the community is perfect But please let's not rush this. Let's not have much as our timeline Right, let's step back. Let's do this right even though it will take us a couple more years I just I'm urging you and to please think about it that way Thank you again and thank you members of the school board Thank you councilor jank. Uh, councilor carpenter on a second and then we'll go to the mayor and wrap up from there Thanks. Um, at first just want to comment that I am a proud bhs graduate when the building was almost state of the art A very long time ago. Um, I want to ask you and this may not be possible, but um, we really got uh Blindsided a little bit when we did the reassessment because of the lag in the um income sensitivity and the state takes last year's taxes and income for this year If there's any way to work with the department of taxes to build A burlington focus portal like they have now how you how you sort of Enter your income your taxes Your rate in it. I know it's all going to be based on estimates But I think that would go a long way um with voters because it 150 million scares people to death All things smoothed out It may not be the level of tax increase That they're looking in their heads when you say 150 million So if there's any way to sort of do that I know you generally do that for tax increases sort of on a flat basis an immediate house price But if you could figure out a way to do it interactively I would encourage us to do that I did you want to comment back on that or? No, it's just it's I you know, I I just think Voters are going to want to see it in more detail and because So much of our population is income sensitized in burlington in particular um That's a really important factor that people may have a hard time translating Particularly because we got blindsided this last year with the lag And that's still sort of fresh in their heads Um, and we'll have new information this july 1 So it's just important that it all be processed together Great. Thanks councillor carpenter. We'll go to the mayor Thank you prism paul I um I want to build on what councillor traver said and just to voice my deep appreciation for superintendent flanigan and the remarkable Challenges that have been thrown your way since your arrival here and in addition to the the pandemic, of course On the first day of school having this huge issue thrown at you at you know, basically out of the blue It's we are very fortunate to have had you in this role throughout this period and I very much appreciate and share the sense of a partnership and The ability to have a close working relationship through this and be in frequent communication What what you are tempted to do Is very hard and I from the 15 year career I had before sitting in this role have have just a deep You know, a visceral sensation of how hard it is to pull off a complicated project like this that has as many variables and complicated Issues involved in it as you do and to do it while having not only having to work with an elected board and and And I want to extend my compliments to the board for grapple I know you guys have been spending time in executive sessions and really working with this You you got you all have to Work through this together and then you have to work with a council and a mayor and state regulators and this is just a tough thing to do and it's um, you know the Complications and you're doing it at a time of incredible volatility when prices and interest rates are are As volatile as we've ever seen them and this is a major challenge and it's a major challenge with Huge implications for our kids That we all feel incredibly passionately and committed to delivering for our kids Certainly it pains me that my oldest daughter will will not get to Go to this school. I'm sure Routened committed to making sure that my eight-year-old Daughter does does see this and does get enjoy the full benefits and that and that as many of the Kids in this community as possible Benefit from this and that includes the kids that For sure that will get a technical education. I am Absolutely with councillor Bergman and others and thinking that the tech center Is a critical part of this project for For the many many students maybe the majority of students Whether or not they all avail themselves or not that that learned best through experiential education I think the tech center is really where that that happens most directly in our community and the fact that we have such a resource here in burlington Is incredibly important for our kids. It's important for our employers and we got to get that done too I do think it is important and I guess to make sure You know as I see my role in part in I recognizing and giving Voice to the fact that that this that there this project has implications for our other community interests as well At the hundred and fifty million dollar level that you're projecting up there You know even if we're able to hold that not go to the potentially higher level that I hear you cautioning We may have to ask for we you know would already be in position of Allocating about two-thirds of what we've kind of agreed a bond as our and through our 2018 Uh joint debt policy is is sort of the the the bonding capacity that we seek to stay within About it would actually exceed that somewhat and mean that two-thirds of our Capacity is is dedicated to the district with about 75 percent of that to this Project and you know if that's what we have to do we have to do it And I'll be out there fighting side by side with you guys to make sure we make the case Fully to the voters that that's what we need to spend It is I think our obligation also to make sure we're not asking voters for more resources than Are needed to deliver this essential project and and I have been asking a lot of questions about that. I've been Uh very engaged in that. I've been particularly engaged. I'll share with my colleagues and the public I you know, I've been particularly engaged around these the the environmental issues at the site These environmental issues have already burned us Once terribly and I don't I think it's important for us all to recognize we're not We're not done with that yet that the the the contaminants are are still sitting there With and they represent great Um great regulatory uncertainty and risk on exactly how this project is going to unfold and um I've so I have been asking a lot of questions about that 29 million dollar part of the plan that really As I think you stated superintendent flanigan really just got squarely added to the project with the the april uh decision and as recently as this friday, you know the superintendent and I and the chair of the board and others Spent, you know a couple hours grappling with uh with the details of this and the simplifications. Um, I I mostly um I guess want to just close by I saying I'm I'm committed to to working through this critical period with you We've got to get to I don't think we should Uh, I I certainly support the goal of of um the importance of getting this new building in place as quickly as possible I appreciate and respect you setting an ambitious firm timeline out there and trying to hold Everyone to whether it's your design team or me and and the council It'd be very easy just to let this project drift and drift and drift and we can't do that At the same time council jang is on to We got to get it right and we got to work through it through this critical period to to try to get it to get it Right. I'm committed doing that with you. I'm committed to finding a way to Bring forward a bonding plan um by the uh august meeting that I can fully support and uh that gets Uh us a new bhs btc that is is the the right project for students It's the right project for the city and it's uh, it's the right project for this community I know we can do it and I'm I'm committed to working to get there with you Thanks very much. Wait, mayor Weinberger. I don't believe there's anyone else. Uh, Been a wonderful conversation and we'll look forward to uh July 18th And other other meetings to come and then discussing next next steps So thank you very much uh to superintendent flanigan finance director of lavery your team Chair clear wall the entire school board who is here Also wanted to acknowledge that there is commissioner who is um Who is one of the attendees um from ward 8? Commissioner almagali who is also who is who has joined us just not here physically Um, thank you all very very much in our apologies for keeping you waiting as long as we have Thank you for having us. We appreciate it. Thank you. See you soon We will move on to we've already completed our public forum and we'll continue with item number six Which is uh climate emergency reports. Are there any counselors who wish to offer a climate emergency report? Seeing oh, oh, I'm so sorry counselor hansen. Go ahead, please. Sorry that we've been in other conversations so long I didn't have time to gather my thoughts, but I'll follow up on this But there's a growing movement happening right now where municipalities are Banning new gas stations. It looks like council president has heard of this um And so I'll follow up with more information, but I think it's a important step and potentially A relatively simple step that we could take um towards the climate emergency. So look forward to further discussions on that Great. Thank you. Any others Seeing none We will move on to our next item. Which is the consent agenda Is there a motion to move the consent agenda and take the action indicate actions indicated Uh made by counselor carpenter Seconded by counselor high tower. Uh, is there any discussion on the consent agenda? Um, uh, yes, I just need to know my recusal from item 7.26 Great. Thank you. Councillor traverson. I'll also note my recusal of item 7.20 due to a professional conflict. Uh, is there any other discussion on the motion? Seeing none all those in favor of the consent agenda and take the action taking the actions indicated. Please say I Any opposed? We've approved our consent agenda um, it's now nine 906 907 and um before we move on to the deliberative agenda will recess the City council meeting at this hour and go to the local control commission meeting and give everyone a chance to get to that That agenda So the first item on the agenda is uh, the agenda Commissioner shan and could I have a motion on the agenda, please Move to adopt the agenda as amended add to the agenda item 2.06 first class liquor license application Asiana noodle house 88 church with the action to approve with all standard conditions Great. Thank you. Uh, is that is there a second to that motion seconded by commissioner travers? Is there any discussion on the agenda? Seeing none all those in favor of the agenda as amended, please say I I any opposed? Thank you. Any opposed? Um, we have our agenda So there are six items on our Deliberative agenda. There is no consent agenda The first item is item 2.01, which is a first and third class liquor license application for apon op go LLC doing businesses nectars at 188 church street uh, commissioner shannon Move to approve the 2022 2023 first and third class liquor license applications for apon op go Doing businesses nectars at 188 main street contingent upon fire marshal approval and with all standard conditions Thank you count. Thank you. Commissioner shannon seconded by uh, commissioner hansen. Is there any discussion? I believe the applicant was uh Was online. Let me just look for a minute and make and see They are online. I don't know Uh, so we do have the applicant online. I don't know if there was anything you wanted to add I've enabled your microphone if you'd like to speak No chair. Everything's fine. Thank you Okay, great. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here. Um Is there any discussion on the motion? Seeing none all those in favor Uh of the motion, please say I Any any opposed The motion passes The second item on our agenda is item 2.02, which is a first and third class liquor license application for santiago's llc Commissioner shannon if I can have a motion move to approve the 2022 2023 first and third class liquor license applications for santiago's llc doing business as santiago's at three main street With the following conditions contingent upon the fire marshal approval All city permits need to be closed out and with all standard conditions Thank you very much. Is there a second to that motion? seconded by commissioner hansen Is there any discussion? I don't believe the applicant. Oh the applicant is here um, did you want to uh, this is an opportunity if you wanted to say anything or Great. Thank you. Thank you very much and thank you for your uh, support of burlington. Um Are there any comments from uh commissioners? Seeing none, um all those in favor of the motion, please say I I Any opposed please say no That motion passes. Thank you again and thanks for being here. Um our next item Is uh an item 2 point 2.0 This is 2.0. Oh, yes 2.03, which is an outside consumption permit application again for santiago llc Commissioner shannon if I could have a motion, please move to approve the 2022 2023 outside consumption permit application for santiago's llc doing business as santiago's at three main street with the following condition All city permits need to be closed out Thank you. Uh, commissioner shannon. Is there a second to that motion? seconded by commissioner hansen Any discussion on the motion? Seeing none all those in favor of the motion, please say I Any opposed please say no That motion passes. Um, we have two more out Outside consumption permit applications the first Is item 2.04, which is an outside consumption permit application? For el cortillo at 189 bank street Commissioner shannon if I could have a motion, please move to approve the 2022 2023 outside consumption permit application for el cortillo at 189 bank street Thank you. Is there a second to that motion seconded by uh commissioner hansen? Is there any discussion on the motion or I don't is the applicant here? Okay Seeing none We'll go to a vote all those in favor of the motion. Please say I Any opposed please say no The motion passes The other outdoor consumption permit is for masala ali ala hachi Indian restaurant and bar at 207 colchester avenue commissioner shannon Approved the 2022 2023 outside consumption permit application for masala alechi Restaurant and bar at 207 colchester av Great. Thank you so much seconded by commissioner hansen Is there any discussion? Don't see the perm the applicant here and I did not see um see online Seeing none all those in favor of the motion. Please say I Thank you. Any opposed please say no The motion passes and our last item On the deliberative agenda is 2.06, which is a first class liquor license renewal for asiana noodle shop Commissioner shannon Move to approve the 2022 2023 first class liquor license renewal for asiana noodle shop at 88 church street with all standard conditions Thank you commissioner shannon. Is there a second to that motion seconded by commissioner hansen Is there any discussion? Don't see the applicant present or online Seeing none all those in favor of the motion. Please say I I Any opposed please say no The motion passes. Thank you so much commissioner shannon and to commissioner hansen for shepherding those License items for us. I'm seeing no other items on the local control commission agenda And without objection will adjourn adjourn at 9 15 And will return to the recess council meeting We will continue off at the Beginning of our deliberative agenda The first item on our agenda is item 8.01, which is an indoor entertainment permit application For apon op go doing business as nectars 180 at 188 main street Councillor shannon Move to approve the 2022 2023 indoor entertainment permit application for apon op go doing business as nectars 1888 main street With all standard conditions. Thank you, councillor shannon seconded by councillor hansen Any discussion Seeing none all those in favor of the approval of this indoor entertainment permit application. Please say I I Any opposed, please say no That motion passes and we'll continue with the next item on our agenda, which is 8.02 an outdoor entertainment permit application For main street landing at one main street councillor shannon move to approve the 2022 2023 outdoor entertainment permit application for main street landing one main street Sweet 301 Thursdays between july 14th and september 1st from 5 p.m. To 7 30 p.m Implied music. Yes dancing by patrons. Hopefully Hopefully It's always important to have a little bit of comic relief. Don't you think I think so I think so Motion is made by councillor shannon seconded by councillor hansen Um All those in favor Of this outdoor entertainment permit application for main street landing. Please say I Any opposed, please say no, uh anyone anyone going to dancing Thank you so much the motion passes and we can then move on to Uh item 8.03 which is a resolution the ratification of a tentative agreement And authorization to execute a collective bargaining agreement between the city of burlington And ibe w councillor mcgee Thank you president paul I would move that we waive the reading and pass the resolution and uh don't need the floor back after a second Great um motion has been made and seconded by councillor jang The floor is open if there are any questions or comments from the council Seeing none. Were there any comments from the administration? Seeing none. Uh, yes councillor shannon Just a very small point of order I think the motion was intended to be to be adopt the resolution as opposed to pass the resolution Oh That is absolutely correct. Thank you for that. So the motion is to waive the reading and adopt the resolution We had a motion and a second and uh, mayor wineburger. Did you Sure. I shared just a couple words. We also have the bd team here. Um, and uh general manager darin springer played a large role and negotiating um, this uh agreement as did, um CEO c. A. O. Catherine shod and um Karen durf here hr director And a variety of attorneys. I think most significantly uh, justin st. james Um, and this is a really important agreement and a good agreement. Um, we As the council is aware, the public may be aware we are in the midst of negotiating collective bargaining agreements with all four of our bargaining units and this is The first of the four that we are bringing forward for ratification Ibew has um throughout my time. I will say um been a really Union that has consistently partnered with the administration work through problems resolved Changing when we've had challenges that have come up and need to be resolved. We've been able to do that and I think, um, I certainly welcome the Way in which we were to work in a really volatile time as I was mentioning before when such uncertain economic times come to an agreement and do so quickly on terms that uh I think they feel good about and which certainly we feel are fair and um Fair good good terms for for repairs as well. So, um, I hope we'll have the council's strong support tonight and Hope that the ratification of this first agreement Boards well for the remaining work ahead with the three remaining bargaining units Thanks, mayor. Um, my apologies for not acknowledging the Our general manager of burlington electric darren springer the coo monia kesti and the cfo emily stevens wheelock who are here this evening Thanks for being here. Um If there are no other comments from the council, uh, then we will go to a vote all those in favor of the, um Ratification of the tentative agreement and authorization to execute collected the collective bargaining agreement between the city of burlington and ibew Please say aye. Aye Any opposed? That motion passes unanimously. Thank you so so much for all your work and to the others on the city team for their efforts um We will move on to The next item, which is 8.04 a communication boards and commission selection committee the 2022 Board and commission worksheet and For this item i'm going to go to councillor carpenter who chaired the boards and commissions committee and served along with councillors bergman jang McGee and chief of staff redell Uh, councillor carpenter if I could have a motion on the slate of candidates. I believe that's in Uh, that motion is in 8.04 Is that correct? I believe so Yes, I believe yes Um, so I would move to approve the slate as listed regarding the 22 board and commission appointments Uh, thank you if we could have a second to that motion seconded by councillor hightower Um councillor carpenter if you could maybe give the public an overview of the work That you and the committee did to get us to this slate And then if you could read from the worksheet the commission and board appointments That are part of the motion that's listed in items 8.05 through 8.15 on our agenda, please Surely thank you. Um, first off I want to thank my fellow committee members councillor jang councillor McGee councillor bergman Chief staff redell for um participating was a great process very collaborative We had tons of applicants. I probably should have counted how many there were but we have a lot And we worked long and hard on two different meetings reviewing the resumes or applications of the potential applicants Looked at where we had opening some with competition some without But I think did a really thorough vetting process I do want to say, um, there's a lot of talent out here in the city And for those that this this year, um, we could not offer you a position there is next year So keep looking at our boards and commission vacancies Let us know or your your councillor know of interests that you have in the future because You know, we really welcome your participation and we had as I said, um, lots of applicants and good applicants. So Please keep up your interest So with that I will read The names of the commission and the folks that that we are agreeing to advance Let me just find out Um, we had actually four openings for the airport commission Um, a number of interested applicants. This was a commission that we needed to be mindful Of issues around conflict of interest Um, so we at this point are advancing, um, three, uh, commissioners for your consideration Uh, Robin Julian, Greg Scheppler and Jeff Schulman And that leaves us with one opening to re-advertise For the board of assessors, we are advancing Rob Guttman For the cemetery commission Jennifer Diaz and Alexandra Miller For the conservation board Lena Swizlowski Swizlaki and Don Mills Um for the design advisory board, um, we are advancing um, Jack Quarley, Gabrielle Stadecker and Ron Wanamaker And Michael Alvinos for the design board Design advisory board alternate We still have an opening for the development review board alternate For the development review board itself. We are advancing Caitlin Halpert, Jeff Hand and Brad Rabinowitz For the electric light commission, not Burlington Electric Councillor Carpenter, I'm sorry That is the, um, that is the, um, uh, City Council with Mayor presiding Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry So if we could just go to the bottom of the worksheet I'm sorry No worries Um And go with the, um, City Council that's on page, uh Okay, I've got that. I'm sorry Um, those appointments, uh, include the Chittenden Solid Waste District Um, and we are advancing Lee Perry We still have an opening for the, um, Solid Waste District Alternate For the Church Street Marketplace, um, we are advancing, um, Mark Boucher Chris Hasley, Linda McGoon and Sam Tolstoy For Fence Viewer, we are advancing Shea Totten and for those of you who wish to do something, we have two more openings Um, for the Green Mountain Transit Board Alternate, we are advancing Tom Darenthal And for our representative on the Green Mountain Transit Board Shape and Tenth Excuse me, Chapin Spencer And for the Housing Board of Review, um, we are advancing three applicants, Betsy MacGavin, Ms. Gavis, um, Irene, Olivia Irene Taylor and Josh Ronsky Thank you. Thanks so much. Um, so let's see. We will go to, thanks for reading that list. I think it's important that Everyone get that acknowledgement. We're so grateful that we have so many people that do apply Are there any comments, um To the motion before us the motion that had the motion that's been made in seconded Seeing none all those in favor of the motion to approve the slate of candidates for their respective board and commission appointments Please say aye And any opposed, please say no Uh, the motion passes congratulations to all the newly appointed commissioners and board members and thank you for your service to Burlington Um, I'd also like to thank all those who applied for the commission For these positions for your interest and commitment to our community and for your time in applying And uh, there I believe that so there are a number of commissions that actually we had just started hearing about from Councillor carpenter That are approved by the council by city charter with the mayor presiding um So I'll recess the city council meeting at nine 9 30 9 28 um And we will go to those appointments on the agenda of the city council with mayor presiding mayor Weinberger Thank you president paul. I will call into order the city council with mayor presiding at 9 26 p.m And would welcome a motion on the agenda So moved Thank you is our second Seconded by councillor carpenter any discussion of the agenda All those in favor of the motion, please say aye Aye Are there any opposed Motion carries unanimously So we will move down that agenda to the consent agenda And I would welcome a motion to adopt the consent agenda and take the actions indicated Thank you councillor bergman seconded by councillor hightower Any discussion of the consent agenda seeing none we'll go to a vote all those in favor of the motion, please say aye Aye Are there any opposed The consent agenda passes unanimously Okay, so that now brings us to the numerous appointments listed on the deliberative agenda from 3.01 through 3.41 um and councillor carpenter would you Like to finish Articulating the slate and in full As and I think if you want to Enter that whole slate and then maybe we could get a second on that and we can discuss the slate and then we'll we'll we'll take a vote Um, sure I would uh Move that we approve the appointments as listed and I guess we're looking for a second for that and I'll just finish up Um, the names of those persons that were advanced I'll second okay great second by president paul and yes, why don't you go ahead and complete the list? So I believe I was at the electric light commission And um, we're uh Moving to advance bob herondine For the fire commission. We had two applicants, uh kevin mclaughlin and linda sheehy For the board of health. We have two applicants Josh jerry and an as gastro Castro, excuse me For the library commission sandy blanchard o' brian For the parks commission uh, we had four Applicants were advancing abby duke Nathan lantieri Jason weisberg and erin keach For the planning commission were proposing to advance alexander friend For the police commission. There are four um openings and We're proposing to um advance jabu gamash shireen heart stephanie seguino and jack keef For the public works commission. We had um two applicants. They were proposing to advance. Um christopher Damiani and alana fox Excuse me three and peggio neal um Vivant vivanco Excuse me for the retirement board. We're proposing uh robert hooper For the board of tax appeals sanya fuller For the voter board of registration Helen rock michael macgargan caron ral and thea knight We have a number of still have a number of vacancies for the vehicle for hire licensing board But what we want to advance yonas jamil For that one of those board slots And that should be it Okay Thank you, so The slate had of for has been submitted and um I believe president paul You seconded the the the slate so The floor is open for any discussion before we move to a vote. Okay Seeing no hands. Let me add my thanks to the The committee that worked on this over a number of evenings to to make it possible and thank you everyone for working hard to um Find a slate that the that by acclamation. We are about to act on And I do want to echo consular carpenters point to the many people Who applied but uh, we were we were not able to point this time Um, we'd really um, first of all, thank you for your interest. Burlington is really fortunate to have Such competition for these seats. It's really um not Uh common in my understanding and many other local governments to have such interest in these local positions. I think it really Speaks well of this community and of burlingtonians that there's so much interest in serving And we hope that people who were not able we were not able to point this time will um consider Applying again when future opportunities arise many many of our great commissioners were not appointed at the first time They um sought a position and um, we hope you'll try again So with that we will go to a vote. Um, all those in favor of the motion, please say aye Hi Are there any opposed? The motion carries unanimously. Thank you to all the newly appointed or reappointed commissioners and Without objection We will adjourn the city council with mayor presiding at 9 32 and return the gavel to president paul Thanks, mayor Weinberger. So we'll reconvene the uh council the city council meeting at 9 32 and Go to where we had left off which is item 8.16 a communication from mayor Weinberger regarding the aviation director market factor adjustment Before we go to the mayor um counselor car um counselor barlow Would you uh, please make a motion on this communication? Already freeze up No, sorry president paul. No, no worries I'm just going through all of these uh You remind me what uh agenda item it is item 8.16. I know there's a lot of them out there Right. Thank you. Sure. Take your time Okay, I will move to authorize and approve the reclassification of the position of aviation director consistent with the market factor compensation range of 138,168 to $196,879 Barlow, is there a second to that motion? seconded by counselor travers So we have a motion in a second and we'll go to the mayor who can offer some comments on this adjustment Thank you president paul. I um And thank you counselor barlow for for making this motion We are seeking action from the council tonight on this adjustment to the aviation director market aviation director compensation So that we can continue With the search process that is underway and that is uh is is broad in scope. We are advertising nationally and We do our hope we do believe and this study has confirmed that we are currently out of market And this adjustment would bring us back up to be competitive with other like airports and Um, we uh In the hope is to strengthen and diversify the pool of candidates that we receive we have received some candidates to date, but it's a small pool and we seek the council's support and um Broadening broaden that pool and doing right by this important burlington institution Thank you, mayor. Wineburger. Are there any comments or questions from the council? Councillor hansen to be followed by councillor bergman thanks, um Yeah, normally I think Just looking at this range and and how high it is and comparing it to other city employees normally this would Make me uncomfortable, but I do think this is different in the sense that it's not This isn't a tax fare taxpayer funded position. This is Funded through airport revenues. So I do view it differently and I'll be I'll be voting yes on this. Thanks Thank you. Councillor hansen. Councillor bergman. Well, I am continued to continue to be upset by the growing inequality of wealth and I am continued to I continue to Not be greatly supportive of increasing executive compensation and $200,000 is a Is a pretty penny. So, um, I understand that when you look at what we're doing, it's only increases Have about $20,000 when all is said and done. So I know that that is not a huge amount Relative to to a lot of pay. It is a huge amount for for normal working people and I consistent with other times I've had the opportunity to to deal with executive pay. I am not In in favor of this and we'll be voting no Thank you. Councillor bergman. Are there others? Councillor jang Um, thank you, president Paul I mean, I shared those sentiments, but I do believe that now the airport is transforming into a rate that we can soon Will not be able to to control and we just talked about beta technology expanding. We will be making Airplanes right here And I think just that aspect because this new manager will be able to have a greater Um field to basically manage and I from this perspective, I definitely do support this and Hopefully, let's see more new and great people from around the nation will consider applying and Participating in what's happening at the airport right now. I support this. Thank you. Thanks, councillor jang Are there other councillors that have comments or questions? Seeing none will uh go to a vote All those in favor of the Motion to authorize and approve Um Sure, would you like to do that? Okay. Um, we will do this by roll call if you could call the roll, please. Thank you Councillor barlow Yes Councillor bergman. No No Councillor carpenter Yes Councillor jang Yes, thank you Councillor Freeman is Still on Councillor Freeman had to leave as absent. They're absent. Okay. Councillor Hanson. Yes Councillor hightower. Yes Councillor McGee Yes Councillor shannon. Yes Councillor traverse. Yes City council president paul. Yes Nine eyes one day two absent Great. Thank you so much. Uh the motion passes um So we'll move on to uh item 8.17 Which is a resolution the annual appropriation and budget for the fiscal year beginning july 1 2022 and ending june 30 2023 Um, councillor jang, I'll come to you for a motion Um, thank you president. Yes. I want to make the motion as indicated on board dock Simple and I don't need the floor. Bye. Great. Thank you councillor jang Motion has been made uh to waive the reading and adopt the resolution. Is there a second to that motion? Seconded by councillor carpenter As councillor jang did not want the floor back. Uh, are there others who wish to speak to this? Um Before we go to the administration Or we can go to the administration first Are there councillors who wish to speak to this resolution? Mayor Weinberger Thank you president paul On behalf of the administration I am proud to bring uh before you the 2023 proposed budget. Uh, this is the um Kind of collective document the administration works hardest on over many months to get to tonight. Um, I want to particularly um voice appreciation for our cao who um has year after year um Well in her three years had to deal with um, really uh changing circumstances with each With each budget and um, and this one was no exception. Uh, this uh year We were facing um, uh, the um Issues ranging from the opportunity of Unprecedented one-time funds with uh, the arpa legislation as well as um Having our unassigned of fund balance Be really above the target that we had set through policy two challenges such as the proposed, um The proposed general city tax increase, um not meeting the uh approval of voters and having to respond to that And out of that has come Uh through a lot of hard work and a lot of collaboration with uh the board of finance and with counselors counselors over I believe 10 budget meetings from April through uh recent days in june Has resulted in a budget that I think we Should all be proud of certainly one that um of my 11 budgets I think is one of the most impactful budgets and one that I hope will earn the council's Strong support tonight. I'll hit just a few highlights. Um, first of all There is substantial new investment in public safety In this this budget. It is both new investment that we Are targeting toward rebuilding the number of police officers from the current effective Number of officers in the low 50s to a target over the next three years to get back in Much into the range authorized by the the current headcount And it also includes substantial new investments building on The other investments of recent years to further expand alternative Alternative public safety resources expanding our number of cso's to from the current number of Hired cso's of of of eight to to 12 doubling the number of budgeted community service liaisons and putting in place Funding that we hope will leverage that we are planning to leverage working with the state A new crisis response model This also this budget also has substantial funding for addressing the climate emergency Uh, the we will be able to continue with this year's budget the Green stimulus incentives that have played a significant role in changing the trajectory of the adoption of electric vehicles and cold climate heat pumps in this community. We will continue to Build out the infrastructure necessary for a for electrifying everything and pursuing our net zero goals We also have funding in this budget for Bd to continue its work towards what we hope will be a another Milestone infrastructure investment This fall of a district energy system We there's new funding in this budget for expanding our recharging stations public recharging stations and There continues to be substantial investment in the city's Vehicle and building Vehicle fleet and buildings including $250,000 of energy efficiency improvements at the burlington airport as part of A truck as part of a planned effort that you will be hearing more about In the coming months to move that facility towards our net zero goals as well Beyond that there's also major again investment in in in public infrastructure We will continue our historic level of investments in sidewalks replacing more than three miles of sidewalks tripling over our historic levels. We Will be continuing to make investments in The traffic calming and and other neighborhood transportation neighborhood level improvements There is substantial funds in this project for Matching funds that will help us leverage or continue to leverage major Federal investments in this community, whether that's the the shelvern Road Rotary or the Champlain Parkway or some of our other new sidewalk projects And there is New investment in an arts facility That is a substantial represents a substantial expansion of our Commitment to the arts in this community through support through the city playing a small part of the capital campaign At 405 pine street In addition to all that there's there's investment this year in sort of nuts and bolts funding that is not as Sexy as some of the other investments we make if you can call municipal investment sexy they but They are important and they will impact quality of life And they will pack our ability to do our work here And they're the kind of investment that often falls You know to the cutting room floor before we can do it in past years But the city's strong financial position with respect to on the side fund balance is allowing us to put $500,000 into Accelerating the implementing implementation of this recycling this Toter program that we've been working on for many years something that will improve our Recycling efforts and should substantially Reduce the amount of waste we see blowing around the community particularly in the in the spring There is $500,000 to do the important work of finding the right long-term Home for the city's it equipment given the uncertainty with memorial auditorium There's $520,000 of capital investments in city parks cemeteries and public buildings On a whole range of projects that we have not been able to fund in the past But we'll able be able to Support this year and more And I will close there and just say I think it's important especially after the challenges we faced in With the reappraisal last year while Also voters can expect about a four percent overall reduction in their property tax bills as a result of the combined impacts of really the reduction being driven by the Changes in the school taxation this year as a result of decisions in in montpellier and While having another year with the the reappraisal done and the and the cla adjustment which does help With the way that the tax is calculated there So for for many properties so with that I'd be happy to answer any questions although hopefully we've answered all of the questions about this budget over recent months and Do ask for the council's strong support of this proposal so that we can go out and Do the people's work With these resources in the year ahead Thank you, mayor Weinberger. Are there counselors? Uh Now there are council bergman Well, first I want to thank the the mayor and c.a. Oshad and the rest of the administration for for working with us This is I think a um A good budget with regard to a number of things. I would say a very good budget You've got a tdm study a study if we are going to deal with climate change We have got to deal with transportation. We've got to figure out ways to get people out of their cars and get people into alternative non fossil burning fuel modes of transportation It is in the budget and I look forward to that study and expect that we get a product this year In order to build the vitality of this community, we've got to Engage in community wealth building and so the jobs and people's study is also Funded and I'm appreciative of the the use of the the couple of sources of funds to get that done Because we've got the opportunity to continue the work that we've done here To build community worth Alternative means like employee ownership like the community land trust Like our procurement policies There is an exciting work being done all around the world With regard to community wealth building that we like the city of chicago should take advantage of and i'm particularly appreciative of the the increase in the cso's and the csl's And hopefully park rangers Which should add to a transformation of the The public safety system that I know that we have Got consensus around we don't have consensus about everything on it But we do have consensus about that and I look forward to their their use I think that we have challenges and we may See some budget amendments that reflect that I am particularly interested in making sure that The racial justice initiatives Get funded and in particularly the kemp center and I've let the council know that and look forward to seeing that And we'll work with people to make that happen. I believe that the cahoots System needs to be stood up and I hope that we can get other people's money to help us do that But I can envision us Being back here. Um, I was particularly impressed by councillor jeng's Invite and the the session on drug and alcohol Use and recovery and and programs and I think that there is a lot more that we need to do and I see this Coming back probably Sometime to in in this next budget year with the budget amendments to more effectively deal with that because as all of you know the level of drug Use and sales is a as a major concern Folks in this community and I think every every every part of the city So, um, let me just end by saying that I think that we've got some challenges over the next year to make sure that the uh, the use of That we can replace the the ARPA funds with permanent funds for things like the r.a.i.b and the The reparations task force And I look forward to us Making sure that those are embedded and that we don't have to rely on federal funds to To do that because they are a major priority for me, but I will be Supporting this budget and I think that overall it's it's a decent one Thank you, councillor berkman. Are there other councillors who have comments or questions to offer on the motion before us Councillor jang I was supposed to ask for the floor back, but I wanted to say I mean I said it before and I feel like it's very important for those who are listening um to hear the hard work That the mayor and chief gfo staff have done about this It's not something that we should think about. Oh, this is just serious and This is like the city didn't have any revenue But they figured it out and they figured it out in a way. They have not let any city staff go I think that speaks volume about the hard work that they have done behind the scene I also wanted to highlight that they also been very collaborative Not one communication not 20 not 30, but over and over people Councillors, what do you think? This collaborative atmosphere this year I think has been incredible And also To your point councillor berkman about the sustainability piece of the reib And i'm confident since they brought this year Not forego any city staff. I'm confident that they will figure it out In making sure that the reib will be sustainable as we move forward without our preference One element that i'm particularly that I was really looking into is the cahoots model Alternative to policing. That's not so on police officers But the mayor reassured us today and over the past couple of weeks that he is working diligently with all the Institutions in securing the funds for that program to Fly from burlington and and beyond from the state of america. So mr. Mayor. I don't do this enough Congratulation good work Chief ozard. Congratulations. Good work proud of you. Please give him a round of applause Thank you Thanks very much councillor jang councillor hanson Great, thank you. I would echo a lot of what both councillors bergman and jang have said and i'll be supporting the budget as well On the climate emergency, I think One of my biggest concerns continues to be that is the staff capacity to Input to to conduct these major studies Even if we are using consultants the staff resources to to go through that process to word Smith and craft and pass these major policies that we're trying to do And to then implement them and just seeing the rate the pace at which we've been doing that i'm Concerned that we're hitting a lot of bottlenecks on all of those fronts the studying the policy creation and passage and the implementation And I I just I really regret not playing a more active role in the budget and advocating more strongly for that And I think I just want to You know take this opportunity to redouble on a commitment to Work with the council administration to to push on that front because I think it's It's really critical. Thank you Thanks councillor hanson uh councillor McGee Thank you president paul, uh Also want to begin by saying, uh, thank you to The mayor and the ceo for a very collaborative process Being a new member of the board of finance. It was um Certainly challenging at times to get up to speed and I'm just very grateful for the responsiveness of the administration and answering The many questions that I've had over the past couple of months And you know, I'll be echo echoing some of the comments that others have already made so I I'll be brief here, but I just wanted to add my my voice to The hopes that we'll be able to find Funding in the near future to support the camp center I think that's crucial and I think we need to make good on those promises to make investments In those racial justice initiatives. So looking forward to supporting that in the near future I also want to comment on The administration's willingness to increase the number of cso's and csl's I think we've seen some early success with those new positions and I'm hopeful that We'll be able to continue to see Those positions be successful and supplement our response with unarmed support staff And in keeping with Those goals also to stand up the crisis response team You know quickly and Hopefully with the diverse array of funding sources And appreciate the administration's commitment to Make sure that that happens in the next fiscal year Regardless of where those funding sources will ultimately end up being You know, I think we've seen across the country that programs like the crisis response team have been Extremely successful so much so that some municipalities have quintupled funding for similar programs So I think you know at a time like this when we're facing so many crises that the police department Can't really be expected to address Grateful that we're making these investments and I look forward to I'm supporting that in the future so With that I will just say thank you and I look forward to supporting this budget Thank you counselor McGee are there others who wish to comment on the budget? Seeing Seeing no other counselors wishing to speak We will go to a vote. Uh, this is a certainly an important once a year very consequential vote um and Looks to hopefully be unanimous All those in favor of the motion before us, please say I Hi Hi Any opposed We have a We have a budget and we have a unanimous vote Congratulations to the mayor Congratulations, and many thanks for all the hard work for it to cao shad The entire clerk treasurer's team department heads all city employees that played a role And also to the members of the board of finance and many other counselors who Diligently attended and offered incredibly valuable input through this process Um, you know, we we did good here um We would now move will now be able to move on to um item one point Or I'm sorry eight point one eight, which is a resolution the annual tax assessment On the property grand list, um of the city for the fiscal year beginning july 20 july 1 2022 and ending june 30 of 2023 Councillor jang, I'll come to you for a motion, please I move the motion to approve the resolution And as indicated on board dark and I do not need the floor back Okay So motion has been made to waive the reading and adopt the resolution by councillor jang Is there a second to that motion seconded by councillor hightower? Uh, councillor jang did not want the floor back. Um, are there Uh, don't know if I perhaps maybe maybe just for the benefit of the of the of the public who might be watching if uh, perhaps a little bit of an overview on What makes up the tax rate and uh, if you wanted to do that either that either for the mayor or the cao Happy to do so um as we have talked about in some of our board of finance meetings Um, the tax rate is uh, actually made up of many tax rates. There is the general city tax rate Um, and then there are about 13 or 14 other rates And you can find them listed in that budget resolution Um, but there are important things that this community values. Um, there are such things as the housing trust There's money for penny for parks. That's always a popular one As well as really important capital expenses like street capital highway And open space Then there's less glamorous things like debt service and retirement. Um, and those are also important factors In our recommended tax rate As the mayor mentioned, um, we are keeping the general city tax rate At the same rate as it was in fy 22 Last year we capped some of those special rates. I was talking about like the library and penny for parks rates At a lower rate than we were authorized by the voters and that was To help people in the immediate wake of the reappraisal to keep tax rates as low as possible This year we are fully funding those. Um, so that we can continue those important investments Um, and despite that as the mayor mentioned, um, we are um able to Offer as a combined municipal and education tax rate Um, we expect that that will go down for people Because of some one-time money On the state side So unless there's any other questions, I think that concludes my 30 second tour of the tax rate Thank you so much cao shad Were there any other comments or questions from the council? Um, counselor travers I'll just my turn for a brief. Thanks Uh, which is uh, this time last year I served as chair of the parks commission and and came on behalf of the parks commission to ask for full funding for the penny for parks program which Was approved a number of years ago As a penny assessment for parks and has done a lot of good things For our community. I know last year we had some One-time funds available that made up some of the gap with some great improvements along the greenway and down at oak ledge park in particular Um, but still I remember a year ago that the administration committed To this year coming back with a full assessment of a penny for parks and i'm excited That that's in there. So thank you very much for that and think that there's a lot that Our parks department can do for the community with those funds. So thank you Thanks, counselor travers. Uh, were there others who had comments or Questions Seeing none We will go to a vote All those in favor of the motion before us to approve the To approve the annual assessment on the property tax grand list Um for of the city for the fiscal year beginning july 1 2022 and ending june 30 2023 please say aye Aye Any opposed That motion passes unanimously The next five items, which are 8.19 8 20 8 21 8 22 and 8 23 Are all regarding bonding and borrowing and for a motion I will go to councillor mickey Thank you president paul uh seeing as uh the items in Agenda items 8.19 through 8.23 Are substantially similar. I would move that I would move to suspend the rules To permit those items to be moved as a slate Okay, so a motion has been made to suspend the rules and to permit those items to be moved as a slate Is there a second to that motion seconded by councillor jang? uh that Motion to suspend is not debatable So it but it does require a two-thirds vote So we will go to a vote Um All those in favor of the motion to suspend the rules to permit these items to be removed as a slate Please say aye Are there any opposed So we have the two-thirds and with that I will go back to councillor mickey Thank you president paul I moved to waive the reading and adopt the resolutions attached to agenda items 8.28 Through 8.19 through 8.23 and do not need the floor back after a second Okay, a motion has been made to waive the reading and adopt those resolutions seconded by councillor jang Um, are there and and you did not want the floor back. Are there any comments or questions from the council? Seeing none, we will go to a vote all those in favor of the motion to waive the reading and adopt the resolutions 8.18 through 8.23. Please say aye. Aye Any opposed That motion passes unanimously and we have completed that section of our agenda We have two more items on our deliberative agenda regarding short-term rentals Um, the first is item 8.24 in ordinance housing and taxes short-term rentals bco Chapters 18 and section 21 oh Or 21 3. I'll go to councillor travers Uh, thank you very much president paul On the first item I would move to waive the second reading and adopt the ordinance amendments in the form attached to agenda item 8.24 as BJT amendment ordinance short-term rentals chapter 18 and section 21 31 revised for city council 6 27 22 meeting Version a and would ask for the floor back with a second Great. Thank you councillor travers. Is there a second to that motion? seconded by councillor carpenter councillor travers the floor is yours Thank you very much president paul Um Before moving into debate, I did speak to councillor shannon about this as well as our parliamentarian and obviously this Uh, this piece is is tied closely to uh, the next agenda item Which we will be considering which are proposed amendments to um, the comprehensive development ordinance and so My understanding absent any objection from our parliamentarian is that it would be germane for us to Discuss both those items in tandem here, although if we need to turn to any amendments on the CDO we would turn to that with the next agenda item um So just briefly I I haven't been on the council for long But I recognize this council has been talking about this matter for long before I arrived here I'm hopeful that we are on the brink of putting some regulatory framework into place and and um moving on From this item while also keeping it in back of mind such that we have something in place that we continue to work with and tweak as we move forward Um, because we're on the brink of something and hopefully We'll take at least some time to return to this. This may be uh, my last opportunity to thank those folks who I know have played a huge role in this particularly folks and uh, Mayor Weinberger's office like megan tuttle scott gustin. I see we have bill ward Um patty wayman and assistant city attorney kim sturd event who somehow you to arrive just now so Welcome So On one side of this issue I do think it's important to acknowledge that there are Significant benefits with the presence of short-term rentals and air bnb units in the community. They are Important for the tourist community. There are folks beyond tourists who rely on short-term rentals For business trips for for seeking medical care in our community And there's also a whole economy that has revolved around short-term rentals. We haven't Just heard from some hosts who I think are a well-meaning host. I appreciated comments from folks Like abbott start for example earlier today But there's also a whole number of individuals who have come to rely On income and a well-being In the context of of servicing and providing services to the short-term rental community Uh on the other side of this issue. We do have a housing crisis And I do think it's important That this council take action To address that crisis and and really to increase The city's housing stock for ownership as well as more long-term rental I'm mindful though That when we talk about short-term rentals the data here shows that what we're talking about is Is 200 to 300 units Perhaps one percent of the city's housing stock and while It's certainly important to be mindful of that I have no illusion that Regulation and restrictions around short-term rentals is is going to be the fix For for for the housing crisis. We're facing if anything I think the best thing we can do for the housing crisis is to Take action on something tonight so that we can move to bigger issues That will have more impact like the efforts that the mayor's office has started to undertake To to rezone certain areas of the city to allow for additional housing options I think we've gone over some of the pieces here, but just very briefly what this will accomplish The regulations here would require that nearly all short-term rentals in the city would have to be connected To a host primary residence The host can either rent out their own primary residence or another unit within the same building or lot Hosts would be limited to renting out one Short-term one whole whole unit short-term rental So the host could rent out their own primary residence or another unit on the same property But not both The regulation includes a number of tenant protections There is language in here that if a host evicts a tenant Unfortunately, we had the just cause eviction language vetoed by the governor But here we still have I believe an opportunity to say that if a host Evicts a tenant for the purpose of converting a long-term unit to a short-term unit Or if they refuse to renew a lease Over the tenant wanting to do it because they convert it to a short-term rental That that landlord would have to pay the tenants relocation expenses Which would include to not only their moving costs, but having to pay the security deposit At a new unit You know, we've heard a lot from neighbors who are concerned about short-term rentals I do think that a lot of these regulations will will take away the The party house it will also take away the folks who have really created a Sort of Airbnb empires here In that host would be limited to registering just one short-term rental themselves But to address some of those neighbors concerns, there's all sorts of minimum standards in here where hosts will now have to have a register a local emergency contact an emergency And managing agent in burlington They will have to provide a guess with emergency contact information for someone who's local during their stay They'll have to provide guests a copy of our noise ordinance among other protections I do think though that The potential biggest change here and shift and benefit From the status quo that we have right now, which is to try to enforce our bed and breakfast regulations here Is that we have found a way to apply our gross receipts tax To air bnb's and short-term rentals And if the data we've seen here is correct I believe this could generate in excess of an additional 400 000 a year For our housing trust fund for the development of more affordable housing, which i'm very excited about I know folks probably have other comments here But it is perhaps worth noting What's in the amended version because the version that i've brought before you tonight is is an amended version As opposed to what was passed out of the ordinance committee and i want to Thank councillor bergman in particular I i don't know if i have your vote yet councillor bergman, but But notwithstanding that i greatly appreciate Your efforts to make this a better piece of legislation So there's language in here that puts additional limitations around The sunset provision for non-compliant units. There's language in here that At councillor bergman suggestion, which i think was a good one requires A rental registry to include short-term rentals where Bill warden patty wayman's offices will Report back to this council with respect to that Registry in coming years There's language as well that makes clear that Folks cannot find a way around these restrictions by registering multiple short-term rentals Through multiple corporate entities when we say one short-term rental per host That's what it means one short-term rental per host and you can't find a way around that with additional llc's There's more amendments here. We'd be happy to answer questions from From colleagues, but i really do think that this strikes the right balance Appreciate it a number of the comments we've heard from the public appreciate councillor We keep calling this the carpenter amendment. So appreciate councillor carpenter as well for her efforts here and Before perhaps turning to On discussion on on the larger matters some colleagues have suggested Two additional amendments that i think we could probably deal with In relatively short order and then turn back to the underlying matter if if that would be in order this point in time president paul Oh, so you have other amendments that are not in this amended version correct. There's two Small amendments that i have not that are not in writing, but um, I could certainly address folks to To where it is and i do think that they Are hopefully non-controversial such that we could deal with them and then turn back to the underlying matter Yeah, if they're pretty small, I mean usually we we try to do these things in writing, but uh, If it's if they're relatively small, then we'll certainly try to do that. What is the This is on the um, what liner? be referring to right so Um Online 150 I believe There's some scrolling to be done. Yes So this is a section About the affordability swap. I mentioned that nearly all short-term rentals would have to be tied to a host Permanent residents or primary residents The exception to that or one of the exceptions to it is that if you put a Short-term rental into a multi-unit building and also offer an affordable unit within that same building That that is doable There was some language in this at one point in time that made clear that that affordable unit had to be in excess of any Required inclusionary units in that building. So I would move to amend this section To read that The dwelling unit is within a building with two or more dwelling units And the host rents another dwelling unit within the same building or a lot And this is the additional language In excess of any applicable required inclusionary units point of clarification. I think that's line 187 Okay, oh, okay. I'm not because I'm not seeing it. So let me let's go Thank you So line 187 um starts with the word rents another dwelling unit And where is the uh point of order? I think that the confusion is that the document was the word that we were that was introduced was the word document with the beginning bjt amendment and not the The one that was posted on unless i'm mistaken. So is that That's a good question councillor bergman. I mean, I have the one that says bjt amendment in front of me. Um, i'm just Not really sure exactly where my point of order relates to the fact that that document It would appear that uh, councillor travers was correct in terms of bringing it to the 150 through 153 section Oh, if you accepted the changes I didn't So Well in any event, I mean we could be clear about it. It's it's it's it's under section 18 15 Subsection f Yes, um And then subsection Three yeah, and then little two It says the dwelling unit is within the building with two or more dwelling units and the host rents another dwelling unit And then it's the added language Which is Within the same building or lot comma in excess of any applicable required inclusionary units is the additional language So that that that would be the motion to amend what's before us to add that language and I do have it in writing Okay, so, um Is everyone clear where we're talking? Okay, so, um It depends now now that I understand I now understand why it is that we're all looking on At different versions and that's because it depends on whether or not you've accepted all the changes Which I know I personally have did not I just simply opened this It is line 187 if you have not accepted the changes and I guess it's line 151 Or 150 for those who have so, um I don't know. I think we should all know exactly what we're voting on here. Um Is there any chance that maybe if you take just a couple of minutes that you might be able to just send it to send those changes to To lori sure. I and I I do have it in writing. Okay. All right. So we'll give it a give a give it a couple of minutes here Um, anybody wants to stand up? We'll we'll take we'll take a recess for three minutes So that we can all stand up if you'd like Okay Except the person who's typing Recess it's we've heard of agenda or if you wanted to go further than that So a motion has been made by councillor hightower to complete our deliberative agendas. There are seconds to that seconded by councillor hanson Um, all those in favor of the motion, please say I I Any opposed thank you any opposed So we have a motion to complete our deliberative agenda, which is items 8.24 and 8.25 Um at this point, I think we do have I don't see them on I know what the easiest way is to just simply View them online or Or if they should if they can be posted I don't know what the what is the easiest way? They are okay. They are on board doc. So I need to just simply refresh You know, I see I don't see that Right there. Okay. All right. So the amendment that we're talking about is um Under 8.25 It's the very last item on 8.25 Give people a chance to take a look at that. Um, and then, uh councillor travers if maybe you can just um, um Show us that show us that on that version and then make that motion. Um, and we'll get a second Sure after a couple of years. What's a couple more minutes? So, um, so thank you for your time. Um, so, uh, why don't we just do both this at once? So as I explained before, one of these proposed amendments will be with respect to the inclusionary units issue. Um, the other is with respect to, uh, a host who is a tenant and, uh, clarification on which units they may register In the version that you have, the first part of this amendment is on line 151 inserting the language that's highlighted in excess of any applicable required inclusionary units And the second part of this amendment Uh is on line 158 including the following language that's highlighted A host who is a tenant may only register a short term rental in their primary residence And so I would move that amendment Okay, so a motion has been made to move an amendment on lines 151 and lines 158 Seconded by councillor hightower Um, are there is their discussion on the amendment and the amendment only? councillor hightower I guess I won't make time. I was gonna also do my comments to the larger thing But I guess I'll just do the first one or to the amendment, which I just have to say that julia curry Sent me an email this morning whose award-winning constituent Noting that she disagreed with the language as it was written. I was like, oh, no, no, no, don't worry about it It says that it's not for all inclusionary zoning units only the and then I noticed that that wasn't true so I think that that's A huge thank you to julia, um and citizen engagement in terms of making sure that we got this right Great. Thanks councillor hightower. Um, are there others who wish to speak to the amendment and only the amendment? Seeing none We'll go to a vote on the amendment All those in favor of the amendment the amendment as outlined by councillor traverson seconded by councillor hightower, please say aye Any opposed Great, so we have those into The document before us, um, that brings us back to the the ordinance. Are there counselors who wish to speak to the ordinance? councillor hightower to be followed by councillor bergman Great. Thank you. Um, I don't know if I should protest to councillor traverse complaining about how long this has taken when He's only had to deal with it for a couple of months But strs have outpaced the vacancy rates Before covet of our housing and even with covet. They're still chasing those vacancy rates So while I also agree that is not the reason for the housing crisis There's no doubt that this is a lever that the city should be using To have to increase our vacancy rate or put more people in housing Um, this council and I along with it have talked about this ordinance for over two years What we have in front of us is a much better control on short term rentals than what we currently have on the books Which as we all know differs to the bed and breakfast ordinance and the same time I think that gave the last two years Um, keeping falls in their homes is important and by homes. I do not mean investment properties either brought down or passed down Either bought or passed down. I do mean homes. Um, and therefore Um, I think that this ordinance is a good compromise. I think it Restricts the most common most troublesome strs, which are those whole house rentals We heard about in public comment both here and in ordinance committee And it's also a mechanism that we can amend to ensure that it serves our city over time This isn't wildly different from what was passed out of ordinance a few months ago But I hope it is different enough to find the balance between What we passed and what the mayor ultimately vetoed and I'm supportive of this measure That's it. Thank you. Councilor Hightower. Councilor Bergman First I want to thank councilor travers for Filling my email with 18 Distinct questions And then I had one added on top of that and he was responsive I have not been In favor of this. I think it There is no one Cause of the housing crisis, right? So it's a straw Dog to to raise that as a reason not to To um support or to oppose This to say that uh short term rentals aren't the cause so you shouldn't you know Stop the floodgates. Um that being said they are a um 1% That's a lot of units if we were to raise the vacancy rate by 1% I think that this administration and other people would be jumping up and down And I've heard that before so it's not insignificant At all. Um I uh I engaged uh with councilor travers because if We're gonna have A an ordinance and I think the votes are there to pass this then I need to use the uh the experience and skill that I've gotten Reading and writing and enforcing these ordinances to try to make it workable And that's what I did and uh, I'm very appreciative of the The amendments that you see before you Um, which attempt to uh to address those things Um, I think there's still a a major Loop hole with regard to corporate ownership. I think it is a problem And I don't think that we have closed it with this. Um I would really like To have only limited this to people to rooms and people's primary residence. So that is my druther I Cannot win that fight tonight. I'm well aware of that I do think that there are some really positive things in this Having a registration is important so that we know So that we can count so that it's not Based on anecdotes. It's based on facts And those things can be enforced and I see our enforcement people in the room And I expect us to use the the full force Of the city of berlington to go after people And to enforce both the minimum housing code and the the zoning ordinance when there are violations of this because The hemorrhaging of housing units is Is something we need to stop But the the fees to do that are embedded in here and I think we've made some improvements over the last days in terms of that process and the The gross receipts tax I think is not as good as a housing replacement ordinance as Megan's Memo indicated, but it is We'll see if it will generate funds and in fact It will generate more funds the more of a problem short term rentals are so you know, uh, the irony of it. I don't think that it Will really replace but it will make something. Um, I've gone back and forth On this and I continue to but I have to say that I am I know that we're going to be back Um, regardless I I'm I'm leaning just to let you all know that in in in favor of this at this point knowing full well that it is a Well imperfect and much farther Away from what I would like to do but uh, I I'm I am very appreciative of the work that was done So, thank you Thanks, councillor bergman. Uh, are there um, councillor shannon Thank you, president paul I have some Questions that uh, I was hoping staff might be able to answer sure um We we keep hearing this one percent of One percent of our housing units, but I don't know if anybody here tonight can answer this question But the slide deck that we got it was probably a couple of years ago from a director tuttle Showed over 400 rental Short-term rental units back in 2020 Okay, I'm getting not so nobody disagrees with that information um, it also stated that 71 percent of Those short-term rentals were a whole unit rentals. So that would be over 300 units These numbers are are not one percent of our total number of units um And these numbers are are growing Um, it kind of flattened out or maybe declined during the pandemic, but the overall trend um, worldwide is More and more communities be being overcome by the short-term rentals So this still allows those whole unit rentals, which are the problem um It doesn't restrict them vastly differently than Than the way we restrict restrict them today, which is a requirement for owner occupancy um, I have another question which is In this process We are exempting if you change your use for Almost any other use You have to get a zoning permit from from the city, but in this case when you change the use from um Residential use to a short-term rental use We are exempting short-term rentals from Get the requirement to get a zoning permit and I read through those exemptions and as far as I could tell The only use exemptions that we have granted in the past were for daycares and I don't and um urban agriculture and actually the urban agriculture I'm not even sure that that's really a use it it's more about if you're building if you're if you're putting up structures There are other exemptions, but not for changes of use Is that correct? defer to my attorney, but just to say that The use is still going to be a housing unit. So in that sense There isn't it's not the person isn't making the second unit or their own unit a They're not selling something out of it. So they're not changing it to retail. So I think in that sense It's still a housing unit. That's where I think the Latitude comes from Well, it's defined differently And it's actually lodging which we have a definition of of lodging and we've chosen to Define short-term rentals Strangely as specifically not lodging Um But I think that uh, it's not housing people. It's it's Lodging and there's a difference. There's a distinction in our ordinance, but that's Um, not really my question. My question is more about the other Exemptions and are there um The exemptions that I see Um with regards to use like I remember when we exempted the daycare centers and we did it because we want to encourage that use I don't know So I'm hearing that um Or I'll infer from your answer that the reason for that exemption is because it is not seen as a change of use Is that correct Or maybe that If you if you don't feel you're the appropriate person to answer for reasoning I will also say that it in the same terms if someone's having a long term if someone's renting for more than 30 days We don't require a change of use from that from when a person's as a has owns a house or then Leaves and rents it out long, you know from up for more than 30 days This is simply saying for less than 30 days Is in a similar is similarly situated and by putting it in that section of the ordinance We and you are saying it is permissible. So I think if you're saying you don't want to do it then that's the prerogative of the council But that's what we would be doing under this enforcement mechanism And I think part of it is is working in tandem with the the chapter 18 changes that you are making That talk about the registration requirements Okay So I will just note that that that this is the only change of use other than daycare centers That gets an exemption from from requiring a zoning permit in the lists of exemptions And daycare centers are something we want to Encourage and my understanding going into looking at this entire regulation was that short-term rentals was something that we wanted to restrict Um, also in here It says lodging does not include historic ins or short-term rentals so if Um, I was wondering how how historic ins got roped into this Shh historic ins are not exempt from the Use if you want to convert your house into a historic in You do need a Change of use I believe but not if you change it to a short-term rental. Is that correct? Yeah, I mean the in the zoning ordinance there are separate regulations for the historic ins um, so that's I why they were pulled out So yes So lodging does not include historic ins but historic ins still would need a A zoning permit to become as historic in but you don't need a zoning permit to become a short-term rental correct For uh, short-term rentals that would be within the the places that they are allowed as a right Correct, they are exempt and part of that is because under the chapter 18. They are have go through the registration process Okay All right. Um, well, I'll just I I'm done with my questions. Oh, I do have one more question, which is I know that there has been frustration about the enforcement of our current regulations and That has left people with the impression that we do not have regulations of of short-term rentals After uh, uh, uh, counselor McGee and counselor bergman and I Did get to talk with um director ward As well as patty wayman and thank you for your time My understanding from that meeting was that our barrier to enforcement is not really the regulation It's having the third party on board to help facilitate identifying Who's doing what? and That that is what's going to really make the big difference in Enforcement, whether we change it or whether we stay with the existing ordinance. Is that correct? The um the granicus contract that we signed is going to provide us a great deal of information Whether with or without this ordinance, but with this ordinance change It would help us determine and more quickly those properties that are not in compliance and would never comply Because they're not owner occupied It would help you identify the owner occupancy Correct Okay, owner occupancy is a requirement in either case under the status quo or yeah, okay Thank you Um, so then I'll I'll just move to my comments. Thanks a lot Um, I really appreciate the work that uh, counselor travers has done To improve this ordinance um and work with counselors who have been working against you quite honestly Um And the addition of the tax which I do support I also want to acknowledge we have many people who do a wonderful job of providing lodging to our tourists And family members who come to visit and they shouldn't be vilified in in this process and in this discussion Their service is valuable and their units are usually better maintained than other city rental units But I do want to be clear about the status quo currently we regulate short-term rentals Airbnb's are regulated as bed and breakfast How you book your reservation makes no difference nor does it matter whether or not you serve breakfast We regulate this Today we do not allow non-owner occupied short-term rentals in residential zones Enforcement has been an issue for three reasons that I can identify First there was a decision not to enforce our current zoning law um That was happening at the same time that we were inundated with these type of conversions And then followed by a pandemic where quite honestly this was pretty low on most of our priority lists Second once we decided we would enforce enforcement takes time and whether or not we adopt tonight's proposal as you just heard It will take time to bring people into compliance, but that process has started It is it's a slow and arduous arduous process which our permitting and inspections department has begun third we do not need We do not have the needed in-house resources to effectively enforce We need the help from a third party, which you just heard in order to properly track the rampant expansion of air bnb's That help is coming whether or not we approve this tonight Approving these changes tonight will result in the following First short-term rentals will no longer be conditional uses in residential districts They will be allowed by right and there will be no discretion There will be no appeals And no public input And contrary to other uses they will be exempt from the entire zoning permitting process Short-term rentals will be given an even higher status Um By by this exemption and will join on only two other high priority uses that the city strongly wants to encourage Which are daycares and urban agriculture Short-term rentals will have no change in the downtown Currently you're allowed to have hotels in the downtown. So if you have an Uh air bnb that is not owner occupied. It's considered a hotel It's allowed under current ordinance and it's still allowed under this ordinance We will get a nine percent tax for the housing trust fund, which I support But that can't begin to support the lost units that are encouraged by the policy Cito tells us it costs four hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars for an apartment type housing unit That's not a single family home. That's the homes that they build for affordable units The conditions that julia marx describes are real and those conditions will continue to put pressure on property owners to convert Housing units from long-term rentals to short-term lodging The short-term rental lobby favors this proposal the housing advocates weighed in on this years ago And we're never asked again. That's what I was told when I called and I asked how do you feel about this? I was told yeah, I I'm like why why aren't you coming forward and talking to us Well, we weren't going to follow this and go to all of the many many meetings. We put our We put in our say at the beginning And there's a great concern among housing advocates about continuing to allow these conversions Cities that require primary residents in order to protect their housing, which is what was passed by this council In in a I believe it was an eight to four vote And that would have Really made a difference in these conversions It would have stopped the conversion of housing units to lodging units And that is the type of regulation That boulder colorado Portland, oregon denver colorado new york city san francisco Honolulu san amonica washington dc Los angeles california somerville massachusetts Calabasas california They all have that they require primary residents. We were not going out on some limb with that regulation That is not an exhaustive list That's just me kind of spot checking and going to the trouble of actually reading a whole bunch of regulations So there is a lot more out there Of other cities that are that are doing this to protect their housing stock I will not be supporting this ordinance because I believe the current ordinance which is Which only allows short-term rentals in owner-occupied homes and only if granted a permit under the discretion of the drb After getting public input and having the opportunity for appeal That's our current ordinance The current regulation better restrict short-term rentals though it is inadequate I don't want to go with an option that makes it much easier to convert units to lodging Thank you, councillor shannon. Uh, are there others who wish to speak? I just got a Message from councillor barlow that uh need to promote his phone So bear with me for a moment here. I'm fine for a couple more minutes. You don't Is that is that better councillor barlow? I can stay for a couple more minutes Okay, are others who wish to speak to this ordinance? Oh, I'm sorry councillor hanson go ahead That's okay. Um Yeah, I I agree with councillor shannon and I think it's not just you know, we've talked a lot about the loss of rental housing units. I think that's the primary motivator, but Well, we haven't talked about as much which I think is also a motivator for me in supporting an owner occupant or Yeah, an owner occupancy requirement or someone to do it in their primary residence rather Um Is about the benefits and we've talked a lot about the benefits of short-term rentals And by requiring it to be in someone's primary residence You're concentrating the benefits of short-term running to burlington residents and ensuring that Um, and you're changing the dynamics of that market and and who is when who's the winner in the in that market And who gets to benefit from it in a way that I think is also positive Um by constricting it and by putting it to the that population because ultimately these The the hosts are competing against each other and against the hotels for all of these benefits that come from their guests So I just think we're we're Making a mistake on on both sides of the coin. Um, both the The loss the impact on the housing market and also the the economic benefit side of the small business side of Of things so I appreciate all the changes that have been made in the last few days I think they've been they've strengthened this but it's still not something that I That I support. Thanks Thanks, uh, councillor hanson Seeing Oh, um, uh, I'm sorry. Of course wait, we can't we can't move forward with the carpenter amendment without a word from councillor carpenter Hopefully I won't sneeze in the middle of it. Um, I just hope we can appreciate that. Um, This is gonna restrict what we've got in the marketplace now The the primary changes are You have to be an owner occupant Or it's a unit on your property. That's very different than what's been happening in the marketplace people have Um investors have been buying whole houses and renting them That's what's causing the commotion in the neighborhoods that should go away Allowing somebody to use their own home or the unit attached to them As a source of income for their family I think is a good thing And I do not see masses of conversions I'm really perplexed about the concept of a conversion if it has to be your own home You already own it you have an attached property We've heard from many people about how they do it sort of part time part time for families Part time for guests. I think the creativity of allowing the We keep calling the the swap units the inclusionaries unit One in a unit of up to five Building with up to five units Is a good compromise into the situation And I I don't see lots of those because I think that's just not A product that most landlords are going to want to offer You know a fundamental thing which we probably should have done years ago is the registration We will have the data We can look at the data in six months from now and see what we've got And I agree with councilberg when we probably will be here back here with tweaks But we really got to start that now And and there are some gaps in our thing we keep Council Shannon refers to everything that's lodging well lodging is technically three or more units Well, what about the onesies and twosies? They're sort of out there in the ozone about is that a lodging? Is it a rental? Um, is it my own single family home that I choose to rent once in a while? So there is a a gap in our definitions which which this would help close so Again, I think we're going to find this Will in fact restrict the unit And I think where the impact has been The biggest in the city has Actually been on the single family home ownership side where we have seen investors purchase those And and that will go away And I do again want to thank everybody for all their work on this Thank you councilor carpenter. So we'll go to the mayor and then we'll go to a vote Thank you president paul I appreciate the chance to share a few remarks and make very clear If the council does act and pass this tonight, I I do intend to to to sign it It pained me quite a bit to veto the earlier version of our short-term rental ordinances. This is something I have wanted in place for Numerous years now. I believe it really was the mayor's office that brought this issue to the forefront for debate with the mayor's housing summit in 2019 And really felt have felt, you know, since before that time that we needed this both to protect The housing market and to give clarity to people individuals and others pursuing Short-term rentals clarity about how they would be regulated So I'm very pleased that in a relatively short period of time this Ordinance is back before us and hopefully on the cusp of passage I want to thank councilors travers and carpenter in particular for for leading this effort and making sure that we are in position to take this this action now from my perspective and I appreciate the passion on opposing sides of this debate, but from my perspective this version of the ordinance while still very restrictive is Fair and less likely to have unintended negative consequences on the housing market as I think We should always be concerned about as we're passing land use regulations This Is the last of the five reforms that we called for In 2019 for action on I do think an additional benefit and I think something well worth the additional time Over the last couple months is that this is now coming back With a as I hope they would and I want to be clear. I'm not generally you know leading the charge for for tax increases, but in this case It was really I pushed in this committee process for the revenue generation to For us to really consider a much higher rate than we currently have we currently have 2% gross receipts tax for short-term rentals I really thought by taking action now at the same time. We're putting new regulation in place to also change the tax rate We are going to do something substantial the We have already in the last couple years basically doubled the funding into the housing trust fund and with this action Tonight we could see that housing trust fund increase again by 50% or close to 100% if the figures councillor travers Suggested earlier tonight proved true. So I will be enthusiastically supporting this if it gets to my desk and I hope it does. So thank you Thanks, mayor Weinberger Seeing no other comments from councillors, we will Go to a vote. This would be A vote to waive the second reading and adopt the ordinance as we have amended Um, I think it'd probably be best to go to a roll call vote if we could do that Thank you councillor barlow Yes councillor bergman reluctantly. Yes councillor carpenter Yes councillor jank Yes councillor hansen No councillor hightower Yes councillor mcgee Yes councillor shannon councillor travers Yes city council president paul Yes eight eyes two nays two actions Thank you. So that motion passes, um, which leads us to our last item and related item on our deliberative agenda Which is 8.25 in ordinance the comprehensive development ordinance for short-term rentals z a 22-08 I will go to councillor travers for a motion Thank you president paul I'll move to waive the second reading of the ordinance amendments and the farm attached the agenda under 8.25 And refer the amendment to the planning commission to correct any technical deficiencies and make any recommendation or opinion It considers appropriate and thereafter promptly submit the amendment to the city council for public hearing Thank you councillor travers. So a motion has been made and seconded by councillor hightower councillor travers, did you want the floor back? Yes, please great go ahead the floor is yours So with the amendments to chapter 18 it will provide The award and patty wayman and folks in their office the opportunity To require that short-term rentals register The question is how do we enforce this language against units that are trying to operate a short-term rentals but Are not appropriately defined as such This is where we still need some amendments to the zoning ordinance The ordinance committee did not make any amendments to the version submitted under the carpenter amendment And so that is the version that is Before the council now it will have to go to the planning commission before coming back to the council I am Sorry to do this, but there is one small tweak to align with a suggestion from From my esteemed colleague councillor bergman here, which is There's another version posted to board docs Which has the parenthetical one at the end of it. So it's a pdf document That's up there and If folks were to direct their attention to that On the final page of the document There is an amendment to Instead of a short-term rental being based on the number of days rented during a calendar year That it be rented during any rolling 12 month period and this would now align with the language That we just passed in chapter 18 So with that small tweak I would I would move to amend it with that language as posted on board docs and parenthetical one Seconded by councillor hightower. I just want to make sure what it is that we are Amending so we all know Can you could you just go back councillor traverson repeat that one more time? Yes In the version on board docs the pdf version That ends with the parenthetical one On the last page of that document under the definition of a short-term rental There's highlighted language That states that a short-term rental is a dwelling in it rented in whole or in part For less than 30 consecutive days and for more than And this is where the new language is 14 days during any rolling 12 month period strike per calendar year Okay, so a motion has been made to amend to add an amendment to this ordinance As detailed by councillor traverson seconded by councillor hightower Is there any discussion on the amendment? councillor councillor hanson Yeah, I just Just to clarify is this Our have does this incorporate amendments needed to align with The amendments that we've made tonight during the meeting Yes, if if we make in my opinion If we make this amendment Then all the definitions In this version align with the definitions that we just passed in chapter 18 Okay, but the more broadly though that the three amendments that you know came by email and around the The additional unit and stuff to those require additional changes and if so where those made Uh, that does not require any changes because that only exists in chapter 18. Okay, and not in the CDO language the only definition that Is duplicated between the two is the definition of a short term rental, which just needs to be updated to align it Okay, thank you Thanks councillor hanson. Are there any other councillors councillor shannon? Sorry I am um Just one I I know what the intention of this is But I am wondering if the actual words Could lead one to believe that this is a short term rental is defined as somebody renting In increments between 30 days and 14 days as opposed to somebody who Is renting more than 14 days in total Um In a one-year period I mean, I don't think so. I mean again The the language stays the same with respect to 30 consecutive days and for more than 14 days It's just the time period that changes as opposed to per calendar year now saying during any rolling 12 month period um To provide you know getting into the weeds a little bit on it There was some concern that if we did it on a per calendar year, there may be some loophole around the holidays Where a host may be able to Rent their house for the last two weeks of the year and then rent their house for the first two weeks of the next year And and get around the requirement of having to register Because there there are 14 days would would reset with january 1st But by saying rolling 12 month period It does away with that concern And and makes it clear that if you're registering for If you're renting for more than 14 days and you're renting out the guests for less than 30 consecutive days During any rolling 12 month period then you're a short-term rental Thank you. Um I'll let that go and I think if there's a this is getting referred to the planning commission So if there's any issue, I'm sure that they will look at that carefully But I do want to note that this is the piece of our action tonight that does Eliminate all of the public process. It eliminates all of the discretion And it eliminates the ability to appeal So this is the part that makes it Significantly easier to Establish a short-term rental Thank you Thanks councillor shannon. Are there other councillors who wish to speak to the amendment only? Seeing seeing none will go to a vote. This is just on the amendment So all those in favor of the amendment as Moved as presented and moved and seconded. Please say aye. Aye. Aye Any opposed? So we have incorporated that amendment into this ordinance Don't know if you wanted the fit. Did you want the floor back? Councillor travers after that? No. Thank you. Okay. So are there any comments on the ordinance? As a man as now amended Seeing none Then we can go to a vote all those in favor of the amendment of the Of the ordinance as amended. Please say aye. All right Any opposed? No No, so that wouldn't we would note Know by councillor shannon and councillor hanson The ordinance passes And with it is the completion of our Deliberative agenda I would be remiss with the deliver with this item in not also thanking not only Those councillors who have spent an enormous amount of time on this resolution on these ordinances over the last two years But also just have to give a shout out to our former Our former colleague councillor mason who spent a tremendous amount of time on On this ordinance. So thank you to him and thank you to all With that, uh, we've completed our agenda And uh with no further business I'd ask for a motion to adjourn Moved by councillor hanson seconded by councillor jang On all those in favor of the motion to adjourn. Please say aye Aye Any opposed? We are adjourned at 11 22 Our next meeting is july 18th Uh three weeks from today between now and then we wish you all a Wonderful july and as we head into summer in full swing. Have a good evening and thank you for joining us