 It is 6 p.m. Monday August 7th. I will call to order the when you ski liquor control board meeting Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Deputy Mayor Thomas Leonard. I Pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands One nation under God Indivisible with liberty and justice for all. Thank you Jenny would you like to join us? So first up we have Mountain Valley restaurant application Yeah, good evening. So this is that annual renewal of the restaurant application. This is that Any comments or concerns from staff Any questions or comments from council? I Don't think we have anyone here from that organization Hearing no concerns. What's the one like to make a motion to approve? So moved second motion by Thomas second by Charlie all those in favor, please say aye. Hi motion carries Next up is the Hickok and River LLC formerly known as chicks market second-class liquor license and tobacco license Yes, so this was a preview chicks market was Previously approved liquor license application, but because there's a new owner. They have to apply and Chicks market Welcome. Thanks for joining us. Do you want to introduce yourself? I'm Michelle Sharon and I'm the supervisor for the new store. I manage a different store, but we'll supervise this store Welcome to when you ski. Thank you folks are excited to see chicks market continue on. Yes. Yes. It's a great little store Is there anything you want to share with us or we can see if there's any council questions? No, and the community really loves that organizational business and the location and so really excited to see it continue No concerns from staff All right, do I have a motion to approve Hickok and River liquor and tobacco licenses? Second motion by Brent second by Aurora all those in favor all those in favor, please say aye Motion carries. Thank you And then finally we have southern smoke foods first-class caterer renewal Yes, this is also a renewal That was just submitted and this is a caterer first-class for all off-premise events No concerns. No, no one here from there Okay, any questions from council? Do I have a motion to approve? Second motion by Thomas second by Bryn all those in favor, please say aye Motion carries. Thank you That is the end of our liquor control board meeting agenda. Do I have a motion to adjourn? Second motion by Thomas second by Charlie all those in favor, please say aye. Hi motion carries All right So I've got 6 o 3 p.m. Calling to order the Winooski City Council meeting first up is agenda review You concerns about tonight's agenda All right public comment, I think we do have public. Are you here for public comment? Please join us at the table if you can introduce yourself and then Share we have to share Yeah, hi, my name is Kristen Lawson and I'm a resident of Winooski And I just wanted to bring up my concerns about the safety of crosswalks in our city There I don't feel like our city very pedestrian friendly all the time And there I have a lot of concerns, but I just wanted to bring up crosswalk striping as we're getting into school starting in a couple weeks and Especially the mallets Bay crosswalks where traffic is really fast through there and Also the crosswalks on Main Street because I know a lot of children use those and it's not just for the children But for all the residents of Winooski So just like to say that I think it's really important that we strike them soon and have in the budget money to continue Striping them so we don't end up with Unstriped crosswalks where we are today Well, thank you so much for coming in. It's nice to meet you too. You would also emailed us If I could ask our public works director John Rousher to share for the benefit of the public our timeline on crosswalks Hey everyone Welcome John. Yeah, welcome Kristen nice to see you virtually so, yeah, just an update on city-wide Line striping so we we've had a contract with a vendor Since October to to repaint the whole city for the most part So all the main corridors including mallets Bay and the crosswalks you mentioned As I mentioned in some of the correspondence, we've had a couple of the main issues One there's there's basically one Contractor in Vermont that does all line striping. So that's been challenging especially this summer given all the rain we've had so Initially, they were going to be they were supposed to be done in June But unfortunately with with the weather they are they're looking at the They're looking at completing the work all the city work and this month starting August 21st and that is very weather-pending so We we basically bugged them weekly just to see where they're at So that's kind of where we stand right now And obviously like we knew that this was This was been an issue for the last couple of years it started off one when we had the pandemic and We couldn't even get paint To do painting work even if we wanted to do it ourselves with in-house staff And then given all the the paint work that was needed. We we had to bring on a contractor To do all that and you know, our intention is to keep Annually have a budget for that work to do all of the corridors because you've probably seen on East Allen There's a lot more crosswalks in East Allen a lot more striping a lot more bike lanes So we have to we have to keep on top of that Main Street It's gonna be the same way with the Main Street revitalization project. We're gonna add Quite a bit more crosswalks along the whole corridor and an uphill climbing bike lane So that's gonna really require us to have an annual contract budgeted so that those The that striping works remain remains fresh fresh top Thank you Did you have any follow-up questions or I wanted to just say a few things I just want to say that I'm here in support of that and that It's I'm new here in Winooski and I care very much about this community The lack of crosswalks and I and I understand the situation now much more clearly But I really do hope that in the future That crosswalk painting is a yearly thing for everybody in the city not just the kids It's very important for the kids going to school, but also for older folks Folks in wheelchairs and even just regular folks that come walk not regular folks, but folks that can walk around regular So I just wanted to offer my support to the city and to this organization Yeah, and thanks for coming in This is a great thing to hear about now before I think early October We do goals setting for the annual budget process. So appreciate you guys reaching out Yeah, and I think whatever we can do to make sure that you know It's one thing to work towards having new infrastructure But we also need to make sure we can take care of the infrastructure We have because then we're just back to square one where we have to start all over again So I do think it's really important to get that in the budget And please make sure you signed in okay Jenny can help you We'll log the public comments for the public record. Okay. All right. Thank you very much. Yeah. Thank you Thank you. I think we have some public comments In attendance on zoom as well You may allow let's start with Laura Wade Hi, thanks so much. Thanks for having me here. Yeah, I just wanted to voice my concern as well and just kind of reiterate what Kristen was saying or the other guests was saying as well just kind of time sensitive with the kids heading back to school and Just trying to get those crosswalks, maybe on priority for your painting schedule and also wondering if there's a possibility to throw out some of those You know yield or caution cones that say that It is a state law to yield pedestrians not just along Main Street and Mallets Bay, but also in the Rotary if possible I think a lot of folks visiting our state do not know that So that would be just my request that we can kind of support before the Before the painting actually Happens and that's it Thank you Laura John you can take a note of that for consideration And next up we have representative Daisy Perbeco is with us Hi, everybody. Can you hear me? Okay? Yeah, welcome Daisy Hi, thanks so much for taking this issue up. Um I'm calling in actually as a parent and community member and just in support of um prioritizing the area especially up by the school as a parent that Walks my kids to school and picks them up every day. I just Can't underscore enough the importance of Getting those crosswalks painted ASAP There are so many hundreds of kids that I worry about every day not just my own in Walking around our community and I think we have a responsibility To families to prioritize that area and also I want to Echo Laura Wade's comment about it being state law to yield to pedestrians and I think we We need to be cognizant of that around the rotary as well There's a lot of um a lot of us who love and adore that area of the city But we need to be mindful of safety too. So thank you so much for letting us have space to talk about this I really appreciate it. Thank you And next we have terry Terry go for it Hi, can you hear me? Yeah, welcome terry Great. Thank you. Hi um So i'm here um for something different actually I um I was not able to attend the last uh city council meeting on the 17th of july but I did listen because um, I know that you were um discussing the proposed amendments to the land use and development regulations from the planning commission Yep, and um a couple of things that stood out for me after listening to that meeting. Um, first of all When the these um amendments were introduced The council had asked the zoning administrator if any of the commissioners had any expertise in the area of parking And I wanted to um just come and say that um There are two members on the planning commission who's been on there for several years. Um I used to be on the planning commission and I sat on there as a commissioner with um, two of them who Remain on the commission. Um, one of whom has been Involved uh on the board. I believe or the as a commissioner with uh, ccrpc for over 20 years Um, so I believe that that might be some little bit of expertise in the area of parking There's also another member of the planning commission who has a master's degree in urban planning and worked as a Sustainable transportation program manager so another person who I think would have some um area of expertise in parking um And then the counselor went on to suggest uh some changes to the minimum parking standards and um Changes that from the proposal that the planning commission has proposed And I'm just curious. Um, what the expertise is of the members on the city council have And this this counselor in particular In the area of parking since um that seemed to be Something that was of concern But my first question Terry, I believe what you're referring to was suggestions that counselor Renner made Related to the best practices for parking that are shared at a state level through zoning for great neighborhoods I also specifically remember that wording being used. I just remember It wasn't specifically called out in the meeting. You're correct. So again, my question is Since since they were calling the counselors are calling out the members of the planning commission who are volunteers who spent Over a year working on this Um, and then called out the planning commission and asked if anybody had expertise. I'm just curious of that person who who Maybe suggestions has any expertise in the area of parking or somebody else on the Council has that expertise. Um, I don't believe that Members of the planning commission were called out. I think the question was What information was used to make these recommendations? And the the council was looking for some of that background context Um, I think actually mayor, I'm sorry to disagree with you But I think if you go back and listen because I listened to the meeting twice. I was actually shocked that the council would Would just question question the integrity of of the commission that Is appointed by the council and also does have quite a bit of experience and has been on the planning commission for Many years. It was just shocking to me. So I'm not gonna I'm not going to continue to go back and forth with you but I think if you go and listen to that meeting again, you will hear that They specifically asked if anybody had Any expertise in the area of parking and I'm I'm just bringing that up because I would like to know if anybody on the council does And you don't have to answer that you can go back and listen to the recording I just wanted to put it on the record um And I I would also like to say that I was I was on the commission for many years Um part of the reason I stepped down is because I felt like A lot of the work that we did wasn't respected and um, I was part of the discussion around parking reduction Quite a while ago while I was still on the commission and I continued to case occasionally attend meetings And um, I know That the planning commission spent a significant amount of time thoughtfully just thoughtfully discussing and carefully considering What to do about parking minimums and and reduction of parking minimums So I'm a little bit astounded that the the city council would suggest that these amendments aren't sufficient and I'm also wondering why the city even has a planning commission if the work that they do is just like disregarded I don't expect an answer about that Um, but I want it to be on the public record um I would also like to um Talk about a planning commission meeting on may 11th 2023 Where eight citizens of wunewski and one developer did come to speak during public comment when they were talking about parts And the citizens who attended spoke about how new new development has affected the streets they live on And expressed concerns around public property being used for public vehicle storage So eight eight members of the community came to that meeting that night and unfortunately I couldn't find a recording online. So I don't know that there's any recording Um, I did look at the minutes and it is indicated that there were eight members of the public um And just that there were concerns but that was all um So I just want to put that out there also that that this is This is something that the public If eight people attend a meeting and we all know that not a lot of people come to meetings I think it's worth listening to the members of the community Um, so thank you for your time. I appreciate being able to speak and um I hope that when there's a public hearing next month about this That the council will consider what the residents want and that was just what the council wants Terry, thank you for the feedback. Um About how the conversation came off There was a follow-up discussion with staff to request more information Based on the questions that came up during that meeting, which will be shared at that public hearing. I believe it is september 5th um and we had chose to host that meeting Keeping the item on for discussion only so that we could spend time Reflecting on any feedback we do get from residents before we take action on those changes. All right, great. Well, thank you Do we have anyone else signed up paul? No other sign-ups Laura, I see your hand is still raised. Did Did you have a comment still? Oh, I do. I forgot a couple things. Um, so just to go back to the crosswalk Um, uh discussion Just a few more requests if you are still Waiting to do the the painting is that Um, there's nowhere near the school that says school zone. Um We've I've crossed there several times with my kiddo and cars who have stopped for us Thankfully, um Did not know it was a school like we've had discussions through the open window about it So I just would request that Second thing I would request is that the norman street crossing right where the bus stop is that that definitely get painted I've talked about that in the past and Was told that all the crossing should be happening at teacon street Where there is a light and a crossing guard But the majority of the kids that are going are heading south On main street and it just is like the path, you know, it's just the flow And so I would really request that there be a priority to that particular crosswalk there And then another request just for Um in the budget to get those flashing pedestrian signs that they have the bottom of main street heading into burlington I think it's very effective and I would really really push for having those At all the major crosswalks Definitely in the rotary like at every single crosswalk in the rotary But also at those very crucial crucial and critical points on main street and mallets bay And that is all I have. Thank you very much Thank you for the suggestions laura And for calling out the signage um If anyone is Not signed didn't pre-sign up but wanted to make public comment now. You could just use the raise hand or chat feature Okay Thank you all We are moving to our consent agenda so I will call out We need to pull out the commission appointments because there has been one change since this was posted So we'll move that into regular items Otherwise we have our council minutes from july 17 payroll warrant for july 9 to 22 accounts payable july 19 and august 3rd CCR piece sorry Chittenden county regional planning commission alternate appointment and community college of vermont parking contract amendment Are there any questions or comments from council on consent agenda items christine? There's also august 4th for accounts payable For which one accounts payable. Oh, okay. Thank you and august 4th. Thank you Any questions Down to motion to approve the consent agenda So moved second Motion by charlie second by thomas all those in favor. Please say aye. Aye motion carries council reports Can I start with you charlie? um, so the At the most recent housing commission meeting. Uh, we debated the practicality of the raduzki housing trust continuing to offer Down payment assistance versus offering a graduating interest reduction Program through opportunities Um, that wasn't we didn't come to a final determination on that. Um, but it's something that we're ongoing Discussing an ongoing way We also overviewed the housing initiative directors work plan alongside the city's priorities and strategies as laid out during maize party's address meeting Commission chair the initiatives director and I will meet on wednesday the night to determine the next agenda for the meeting That will occur on august 22nd at 6 p.m Thank you Um downtown wanierski has a new event that's first uh day is going to be tomorrow actually Um, it is bingo with a twist. So it's blingo And uh, that will be at waterworks um from 6 to 8 p.m. And then it's going to continue. Um For our most first, I believe tuesday's uh, you know Take that back just a few tuesday's uh in the upcoming month. So august 15th august 22nd and august 29th Um, if you can make it tomorrow at waterworks, you are encouraged to wear funky flair Um, and then also um downtown wanierski is currently In the planning stages of wanierski's pride celebration This year we were doing our first pride parade, which we're very excited about and we're looking uh, September 9th is going to be the day that we celebrate pride here in wanierski If you are interested in volunteering or um partaking in any other way, please email downtown wanierski You can go to their website at downtown wanierski.org. Thanks Thank you Um I want to let you all know that I was able to meet with the new superintendent of the school district who just started last month And we'll be resuming a quarterly meeting with city manager myself superintendent and the school board chair um, we'll be having a meeting in september to plan for the October 11th when we join the wanierski school board meeting for our annual joint meeting um And our city manager and the superintendent have Resumed weekly meetings that were happening in the previous structure as well Yeah There was no finance commission meeting last month There is a meeting tomorrow at 5 30 p.m. It's hybrid city hall or online We will be receiving input from them on the proposed sidewalk changes which we saw In the spring and we'll be coming back to us in a future meeting soon These were the changes around sidewalk usage near the rotary To address safety concerns The planning commission meets this thursday, so they've been discussing this design review district um This would add a layer of review For projects instead of just going through if you meet the administrative requirements being approved a design review district is structured to Add a board a design review board layer of review for any demolition development or significant changes to existing structures It's intended to support historic preservation So at the meeting on thursday the discussion is about what that district would be it would be Not the entire city, but a subset of the city Where there's concern about preserving historic structures That meeting is 6 30 p.m. On thursday through zoom Um, and then my monthly housing round table group is meeting on friday um Our goal for this month is to collect perspective from housing providers and support organizations working in manuski that we can share with the housing commission and initiative director to inform those priorities That's it for me um the municipal infrastructure commission did not meet in july we Took a break while we recruited some additional commissioners which are on the agenda for tonight We had a great amount of interest. It was really exciting to see how many folks wanted to participate in the commission and participate in the conversation um and we have Two regular two regular seats and two alternates. So, um, we'll be filling at least three of those tonight But for anyone that has interest there are spaces and other commissions. I believe that still need Some commissioners. So feel free to reach out to me or to any of the other counselors for information on that city staff as well, of course Um, our next meeting Now that we'll have a full slate of commissioners will be thursday august 17th That will be hybrid as well. It'll be 6 30. We usually meet in the pool room Up at mires memorial pool And um, we're able to offer a hybrid option a non-line option, which is really nice To add that in as well We don't have an agenda yet. Um, i'm not sure if the cc rpc is ready to Discuss the next steps or stages of the local fountain die-on street scoping But that could be on this this month. Um, and if not, it'll primarily be orientation and getting others up to speed Um, should install a waste district their next uh, full board meeting this month Usually it's the fourth wednesday and it's going to be the third wednesday. So august 16th Um, i have not seen an agenda for that yet. Um, and airport commission met on august 1st Um, there were no significant, um Updates for housing, um the sound insulation work Um, it looks like there will be a number of, um, homes in muski that are able to Get, um, some housing, uh, some sound insulation. Um, we're not sure yet on, on Uh, where those will be just yet, but um more information to come. So it's exciting because those will be I think the first that that will be, um Yeah Also the noise exposure map update, um, they have a Consultant secured for that work. Um, and will be reconvening a technical committee as well as a regional committee. Um, Probably later this fall or winter Uh, they anticipate having a first public meeting in middle of september and, uh, I believe that'll be at chamberlain elementary. So TBD on, um, the date and time just yet by the middle of september Is what i'm told, um So we'll get more information about, um, hybrid opportunities as well as any translation services. So I haven't, um, I haven't gotten more information than that at this point. Their next meeting is September 6th And the bridge muski bridge, uh Development and scoping planning and scoping will be kicking off a committee meeting The end of this month The date hasn't been finalized yet Which you will be serving correct All right, so we don't have a safe healthy connected people meeting for the month of august This is a an even month. So we do have an inclusion and belonging commission meeting that will be this thursday at 6 p.m via zoom And the inclusion and belonging commission is a commission that is still looking for new members We have two open regular seats and two open alternate seats So please feel free to either reach out to myself or jenny willingham if you are interested in more information about that Yeah, inclusion belonging finance Is safe healthy connected people still looking? We'll do an update. Thank you Okay, uh, moving on to city updates elaine Yes, so muski finance commission does is looking for new members We're looking for engaged and dedicated residents to serve on the finance commission If you're interested in or want to learn more about the city's finances and economic vitality So some topics might include budgets financial policies grants and loan programs This is the place. So if you can look to connect with your neighbors and get involved in public process This is a good opportunity Applicants with related experience skill sets and interests are encouraged to apply You can visit the news update section at when you ski vt. Org. I'm sorry dot gov to learn more Council and staff do welcome diverse voices. If you've never served, we will do your best to support Utility and tax payments are due august 15th That will be property tax water and sewer payments. That's a tuesday Payments can be made online at when you ski vt.gov slash pay or by cash or check or credit card in person at when you ski city hall at 27 west allen street The city clerk's office will be open on tuesday august 15th From 8 a.m. To 4 p.m. Normally it is closed on tuesdays But because that's tax day and there's a holiday in the vicinity We wanted to make sure that we had Some more hours available than usual A residence may also use the after hours drop box located just to the right of the entrance And post marks will not be considered on time payments as a reminder Finally expiring free covid test kits. So we are we do have a supply of them. They're expiring september 30th But if you anticipate having a need in the meantime, please feel free to come and stock up At city hall the most new new ski senior center or the when you ski memorial library just ask during your next visit All right, thank you Moving into regular items. Uh, so we had to pull consent item e commission appointments So we have one appointment for finance I think there were four for three for municipal infrastructure, however Um The recommended one-year alternate position had to pull out um So just looking for wanted to for open meeting law Um, pull that out because we need to make a motion to approve this with the removal of that applicant Any questions or concerns from council? Okay, can I have a motion to approve commission appointments for finance and municipal infrastructure Except for the one-year alternate position So moved second Motion by brin second by charlie all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi motion carries. Thank you So next we are on to item a and our regular items budget adjustment for code enforcement angela Went so many years without having to do these but um, so for fiscal year 24 Code enforcement officers were budgeted in department 24, which is the fire and code department We have been having issues recruiting for a 30 hour a week full-time position So the decision was made to make The remaining full-time employee 40 hours a week and fill the remaining 20 hours of code enforcement time with part-time staff Making those evening and weekend positions There was discussion regarding the supervising of those positions since the fire department's supervisory staff is not usually here in evenings and weekends So the decision was made to shift the supervisory responsibility to the police department So in order to show that budgetarily we are requesting moving the salary and benefits related to those positions From department 24 firing code to department 34 the police This has to come to city council as a budget adjustment because we are changing the type of spending that we are doing from fire In public safety to police public safety It is cost-neutral however, though, correct all budget adjustments are always neutral Thank you for the context any questions from council. I have a question um, does moving this position have any impact on Future negotiations union negotiations Currently this position is going to remain in AFSCME there has been some inquiries But I haven't heard anything official about changing union negotiations This would actually consolidate the number of people who are usually involved in a union negotiation It would be the police department person who's also involved in fopina book negotiations. So Actually reducing the number of people at the table Okay I was so it does sound like there's one current staff And I just wanted to make sure that like this isn't doesn't sound like it's going to drastically change their work And it's just me making sure that they're comfortable with this change too. Yes any other questions Any questions from members of the public If you are still on zoom if you're on zoom you can use chatter raise hand Okay Not hearing concerns. Uh, would someone like to make a motion to approve this budget adjustment? So most Second motion by thomas second by charlie all those in favor, please say aye. Aye motion carries Onto item v another budget adjustment for st. Michael's college fire and rescue support All right as council knows in the fiscal year 2024 budget We included 37 000 to support the mutual aid with st. Michael's college fire and rescue um during the budget process that was refined and rather than providing direct financial The city is going to continue to allow st. Michael's to utilize our diesel at the public works garage In order to facilitate that and have an actual number that we're tracking We are going to use some of the 37 000 to purchase a diesel fuel tracking system It will actually help us better manage internally as well between the departments as to who's using the diesel and make sure that it's not going out the door Um anywhere it shouldn't be it's died diesel. So it needs to be properly controlled So the request is moving the funds from the professional services line added in the fire department To diesel in the fire department Professional services in the streets apartment for the software services That will be used for the diesel tracking system and into capital for the purchase of the system itself These are based on quotes that were received by the public works director Thank you any questions from council Very excited to hear about this investment Any questions from members of the public Okay, do I have a motion to approve this budget investment? So moved Motion by brin second by thomas all those in favor. Please say aye. Aye motion carries We are on to item c Uh position authorization for part-time fire inspector firefighter Good evening. Hello All right, i'm going to be up here quite a bit tonight. Um, so this first part, uh, we're looking to approve or have council approve the position scope as well as the Description for a part-time fire inspector firefighter position Uh, uh, john, would you like to talk about the purpose of the position? Sure, uh, this is intended to be an entry-level Fire inspector, but also dual role as a firefighter We anticipate The position working the days that our other staff do not so we'd be covered five days a week um At least two plus the chief during the day You know during the business hours monday through friday at the firehouse That's when we do most of our inspections. So the the big lift of their work is to learn inspections get into the community risk reduction um that That sort of thing. So this is anticipated to be a 28 hour part-time position With obvious room for growth in the future Forgive me if I am misremembering, but are we is this adding a new role or Releveling something that was existing in your staffing structure. So with the code With the parking and the piece that we just heard going to PD You know division has always been in previous councils Previous administration was those positions would supplement code and we had hoped that they would Be dual firefighters You know why we were adding parking tickets if something's burning in the city type and we couldn't get there when you know the union just There was too many details to try to to make barriers to try to figure out Um, so that never really came to flourishing. So with the change With the code position That lump of money Again cost-neutral was looked at of how can we continue to support Existing and valued employee in the parking Still be on the outskirts of code As heavily as involved as we had envisioned in years past I'm still involved And then how do we supplement that The deeper dive if you will for the code and that's what this is And is this Already built into the budget for f y 23 or is this a new so this is cost neutral from the adjustments of the 230-hour positions that came with benefits Again, we looked at the money. How do we keep the valued employee whole? Still do some part-time evening parking Ships that to PD and then what was left we looked at right? How can I now apply that to community risk reduction? And this is where we've landed I have to say that um, it it's hard to explain Uh verbally, but the staff has done this magic trick of creating more people to do more work with the same amount of money It does sound like magic. It is I've never been calling this And this is actually adding some more inspection This is actually adding some more capacity for inspection Yes, the on but we've had like to date. Yes That's good part of the magic Yeah, no and in the part that You know, I'm excited about his entry level It's going to give somebody an opportunity to you know, hopefully we can You know Build a relationship with someone that can turn into to future here and serve when you see That's as exciting as doing more inspection Well, thank you. Are there other questions from council? um, just Give me resources question I guess Um, you said it's part time. It's part time 28 hours I know that not just here, but in many places part time positions have been hard to fill So do you have the ears on the ground that you think this might be an easy position to fill? This position to be easier to fill than the trouble we've been having with the getting the You know supplemental code enforcement position at 28 hours at part time with a Chance for brush as well as a chance to learn starting an entry level as well as a pretty sister pretty set schedule This is going to be much easier to develop on the previous positions. We've tried great. Love that I do think we need to watch, you know, again, we always want to support some on the further their career um, and this This should be looked at some by some folks that want You know whether we're prepared to keep them when they get kind of as far as I can go on musky Which we accept right? I mean we're helping somebody get you know get to where they need to be and better themselves, but we're also Getting some more service for musky. So I suspect that Will be the case until the musky's ready to Bring that expand upon that Do you feel like you have the capacity to train an onboard somebody use? Yeah, um, so you know It's easy for me, right? It's kind of it's really going to land with the fire marshal So, you know, we're in a really good place Technically and with knowledge and years of experience with chief Palmer Um, you know, he knows the codes. He's very very good at it. Um, so I'm very comfortable that You know Working the off days where it's more one-on-one time with the chief Palmer This person be very successful Do you do any I remember? um, approving a budget for quite a bit of training for The safety services, um Is there is there anticipated be a portion of the budget to pay for additional training or Classroom time or yeah, so there's always opportunities, you know chief Palmer's at the national fire academy For a week that's free. We just have to get in there By a mail plan. So room and board is free Is there for a week? He's with his peers from around them around the country And he's there for code specific stuff this week. Um, so there's and there's local stuff You know the division of fire safety does a class every month, you know, that's easy virtual So there there'll be lots of opportunities Okay, great Any other council questions? Any questions for members of the public? Again, if you're on zoom chat and raise hand Okay, uh, once again hearing no concerns would someone like to make a motion to approve this position authorization So moved second motion by aurora second by thomas all those in favor, please say aye. Hi Motion carries Thank you I suppose you're both staying up here for item D fire department All right, so with this one we're looking to make an update for the part time and per diem fighter fire fighter compensation plan Um, really we're just looking to improve the policy as adjusted. Most changes are clarifications when it comes to codifying what we're currently doing current practice such as the weekend schedule The dollar amount for duty weekend pay was removed to allow more flexibility to adapt year to year through the budget process Is the budget changes each year? One significant change proposed is to increase the training pay for per diem staff to match their response pay Previously the per diem was minimum wage But now we're wanted to match what they're currently making because it incentivizes them to stay for the training instead of Come back and making less than they normally would for the per diem And because the volume of the edits the current and proposed version are included They were included in the packet and rather than one version with all the changes, which could be a little confusing yes chief to you like the The proposals. Yeah, I mean obviously it's a huge part of you know the 2018 You know when it came here, you know, it's it was super important to There's one one of the things that the team, you know the The leadership team and then council worked on to create an incentivized pay plan You know in an effort to try to recruit and retain the value of part-time folks We rely heavily on them And when I say heavily, I mean like a third of what we do if not more is You know our part-time folks and So having a compensation plan that's relevant We went too long. This shouldn't go You know this big of a span And not be looked at and I think we made some tweaks that you know through the budgeting process you We present our budgets in detail enough of You know from this part the part-time line item in our budget You know, I have in very in-depth conversations with Angela about what makes up that part-time Line item right and I can tell you you know what our training nights cost I can tell you what our call response cost and we can break that we break that down Um, so through that process It allows us to stay really current And it's not getting any easier to keep Folks right and you know a duty weekend You know a full duty weekend is 36 hours of someone's time to be available You know and when you look at it and you break it down you're paying about three and a half dollars an hour To be available This we want to stay relevant, right? And our staff is very appreciative you know in 17, you know, they were getting like $20 for the weekend Um, and through through what we've supported what you all have supported Um, and if this goes tonight, you know, it's like at $120 for the weekend for the for the officer It's a lot of responsibility, right? And it's they're keeping their certs. They're being available But that person has a ton of responsibility when that pager goes off and we we are you are trusting them to Have the capacity And the ability to make good decisions on their behalf And we're lucky That this model is still Going for when you see it's not in other places The compensation changes and a lot of the tweaking in here all made sense to me. I had two questions A little more technical thinking about recruitment you've specified in here that Anyone living or working within five minutes of when you ski may apply and I wondered I don't know. I just like to hear more about like if if you we've had trouble recruiting if somebody is six minutes away Would we really not hire them? so It's real simple, right? We we get the address and I run that address five or six times different times of the day Um, do you submit an application when you say yep? I'm five minutes from the firehouse Well, that may be on a Non traffic, right? So that five minutes could go to nine minutes And it happens And you know for instance, you know, I looked at our numbers just so I could really try to piece this together We do a tremendous job as far as To think about someone's available And they're five minutes from here and then a truck gets on the road in eight minutes So if you think about the 911 call has come in Now it's hitting us That person's got into the station and that truck's on scene Generally in eight eight minutes That's that's kind of Okay, right? I mean that's kind of I can process that information There are instances that we are 10 13 14 And I am not going to sit here and tell you that's That's where we need to be a lot can happen. This is not a rural community. This is an urban very dense community You know sprinkler pipe on the sixth floor 14 minutes of pumping x yg gallons a minute, you know We have to get somebody there Um, so it is a constant balance of we don't have as many people that live in monoski anymore You know It wasn't long ago. You had 22 people on roster You know, we're we're down to 11 and 12 people You know, um So we have to be very careful not to get that imbalance. So you have to you have to draw the line somewhere And you know, I have chosen five minutes and I run that and that's on that average that I've run five or six times We just did it with two applications You know The representation is in five minutes when I ran it at quarter or seven And it's almost it was over nine minutes just due to traffic, right? So it's real time and you think about You can't wait nine minutes in the emergency um, I just so we have to We have to draw the line somewhere What I would say is I agree it becomes a barrier for us for recruitment and You know and performance, right? um, and that will be part of our future conversation of having sleeping quarters and You know investing in that type of facility you know amenities in our facility that you know Yeah, you may live nine minutes away, but you may be able to give me a saturday or two saturdays a month and we can change our system So that works and and you know people can contribute in other ways Does that make sense? Yeah, I appreciate hearing that context and having that for the public as well the second thing I wanted to ask about was the high school diploma g e d requirement and if that really feels necessary or if that You know could be a barrier to some of our residents being able to apply for these roles So again, you know you have to create a baseline and what I would tell you is Um, firefighting is not like it used to be and again, this is not the role vermont you know this is a very Sometimes very complicated city as far as its systems by virtue of density in some of our structures um, so they're in Even at the very basic entry level of firefighting, there's basic chemistry basic basic math terminology That that a high school diploma or equal to g d Will help that person be successful Is there like an equivalency though for somebody outside of the us education system? So not generally in the fire service um, you know and I thought a lot about this because Lynn sent it on friday, so I'm burning quite a bit of bandwidth on it, right? And I You know, I believe in my support and that's why I like being here is we're always pushing that envelope Um, and I would feel very differently if you know if we were resourced differently, you know You start to create an imbalance in your teams um And it's not fair to that person. It's not fair to their their safety And and or their success if we can't You know, there's there's a lot of work that goes into if they don't have that baseline We've got to figure out other ways to get them there and that's usually one on one time that's usually getting them a more immersed in a in a company in a group of You know three four five firefighters on a regular basis where they can on the job training, right and In my mind, that's how you overcome Not having that education But we don't have the resources to do it Um, you know, we're we're trying to do some of that now Um, but who's doing that? Um, that's you know, the inspectors that have got you know six inspections for the day Um, there's just there's no resources to do it currently You know or duty weekend Just You know, you're asking part-time employees to take on more responsibility to do that unless it's not Not they're not going to be successful And and they worry about their safety So it felt to me like what christine was asking wasn't like can we allow people that don't have a gd or some kind of equivalency to Take on that role more. So how can we accommodate people proving that they are Proficient enough without them having that Specific diploma or equivalent diploma and you made it clear there's not some kind of industry standard I just wanted to make sure that that was clear the the idea isn't that people that Don't have the type of skills that we need but how do they prove that they have those skills without having that piece of paper So and that's why I say resources right now. I mean people resources or having You know that that expertise on staff that can work more one on one On the job In additional questions I had a question. I I must have Miss misunderstood something in the opening Presentation I There aren't section numbers on this for me to refer to but On bottom page four page five Um, I I thought that you've mentioned that you're going to take out Click compensate our some of the hourly compensation for Per DM to give flexibility Um, so the per DM is set Um, and it has to be for a couple different reasons what we were referring to taking out is the duty weekend pay Okay, that got pulled out. Okay. Um, because that's That's what will Will change more than the per diem the per diems have kind of set rate They're available shifts But we're talking more of the the part-time on call folks They're doing a full duty weekends and how we compensate them Okay. All right. I'm glad I asked Thank you Um, I noticed that the per diem doesn't have that five minute Um requirement or at least I didn't see that in the definition So the per diem is so we Every two weeks I We set the per diem shifts available and they're at the firehouse. Okay, so this is available from a distance They're in the firehouse. Um, they picked the the shifts they want kind of that's how the per diem works Okay, I can't tell them I can't tell john audio every day. He's gonna work this day in these hours You put these shifts out and they they take them. They're pretty qualified And and then they come do those shifts All right, that's helpful context um And this is something that I I must have missed in reading because I was Looking at a lot of these rates between the two documents and they look the same and I had some similar concerns about recruiting But is that just the like the skill based pay between the two have remained the same So the additional Amount per hour So I'm sorry, I missed I'm missing what you're asking. I'm sorry The base gets escalated so the base pay for a new Firefighter is minimum wage and with every cert they get that additional pay on top of minimum wage So they all get paid increases in january minimum wage goes up and they achieve a certification right and previously it was Minimum wage, but it was specified as 1050 in the gotcha. Okay, so that we took the that specific That's where the 1050 came from we took that specific out and we're referring to minimum wage and And by February while we have to you know, that changes every year or an hour or so We have to follow that. So that's an automatic escalator I have another question Which may seem Like an obvious answer, but um, do you anticipate any budget adjustments? Um, resulting from These changes no anything else for council Any questions from the public Again, I'm not really hearing concerns. Does someone want to approve the fire department compensation plan? Make a motion to approve it So most seconded motion by thomas second by charlie all those in favor, please say aye. Aye Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you. I think you're dismissed chief Yeah, yeah Jesse will stay with us for item e the personnel policy manual Time off cash out policy addendum Yep, i'm looking to uh, see even addendum to our personnel policy manual with a cash out policy This kind of mirrors what's already established in the f.o.p Contric to behave with them So the employees can benefit from the ability to cash out unused time off to help them deal with unforeseen Unusual or unfortunate situation some calamities happen to them and they need some financial help from that We're sticking the type of time off to what the employee would likely be owed in any case limits the city's exposure For example, the city expects employees to take their time their combined time off and in case of a resignation This time would be converted to pay converted to pay and paid out to the employee. Whereas sick time would not be Uh, because we do not want employees that we're excuse me. We do want employees to take their time off We're limiting this to once per year every rolling, uh, 12 months Yeah, so we're encouraging them to use their time off. Yes, but they have this available If they need it and you can't just bank your time off for 10 years and then suddenly cash out a boatload of money correct Oh, there's okay I was gonna say we have we have some long-term employees that could be pretty And there are checks and balances in there It's at the suggestion of their department manager discretion of city manager human resources and the finance director as well This is good Will there be a cap of how Many days or hours they could cash out It's for each year. We had a brief discussion about that. I I don't know that It's for and like an emergency So I don't know that we really need to do that I think there would be some discussion though in the just terms of discretion It's like, are you sure you want to do this? You're not going to have any sick time, for example If you know, so the discretion is in there So we can have those discussions, but I didn't want to limit it because of you know If somebody really has something pressing would we really dictate how they're using it? I don't know that I would Thank you So I'm Assuming this is not part of contract negotiations Correct. This is personal policy. So applies to non-union staff I see it as written. It's wouldn't apply to non-union staff. I see All things are to union staff all things being risk averse How many employees could this be for per year Leadership team plus currently two three Three So 11 Okay, so in terms of a budget amount, so maybe 20 people if All Dozen or so eligible staff Opted to take advantage of this So there's a provision in the Yes, good question. There's a provision in there that says also subject to budget availability So that's some of the discretion in the conversation with the finance director And what fund would it come from? It would depend on where the employee is currently working Um, and so in some cases like the wastewater plant that are full cruel basis There actually wouldn't be an impact to an annual budget Because we book Any earned time off as a liability every year And is that recommended by our auditors? That is required by accounting standards to book the liability We don't do that in the general fund because you don't recognize long term liabilities In fund accounting, but we do book it in our fund wide financial statements. Okay one more question Why is this coming to us now? There was a situation there was a situation that prompted us to Look at whether we wanted to do something more consistently for all staff and not just based on somebody thinking to ask Um I am wondering In the world of trimming things up. So say we've had some several staff who have taken advantage of this And you look at the budget and you kind of realize that we're at the max of staff that we can offer this to But then somebody comes forward and they have a reason That you would normally approve if the budget was available What would be the process for or would that be a process for seeing if you can continue to approve it Even though the budget isn't where Angela would like it to be Well, that's a good question and um It does bring up an equity problem right like generally if you do things open until filled or in you know Rolling basis that it creates equity problems. However, these are emergencies It's the trade-off like you can't make it available for an emergency But say you have to tell us by a certain time in order to be considered So we just have to do our best. I think is the answer This is meant to be for extreme circumstances that somebody should not have foreseen So this is not I needed down payment for my house. This is Somebody needed emergency surgery and I can't pay the doughnut hole that our hra doesn't cover Or you're burying someone all of the expensive things that could make sense We actually had the word unforeseeable in there and I took it out But that would be one of the things that I would be looking at like how unforeseeable is this I mean that goes you have our unforeseen unforeseeable close And then unfortunate I mean it's a lot of discretion in there pros and cons of having that flexibility, but also Curious if that opens to any challenge Oh, what do you mean by challenge like if it were to be denied Not based on budgetary availability, but because That's I guess anything is possible. It does or unfortunate That that's fair. I mean anyone can bring a grievance It does say a discretion. That's my attempt to cover that but Some of it might be experiment right like we might do it a few times and then find that there was a better way to refine it I I have seen this in my old municipality and it to me. It's a actually a morale booster There is an emergency fund of sorts that is that you earned So hopefully people can see it as a benefit not just as an entitlement This is a little more restrictive actually than what is in the current f.o.p. Contract The current f.o.p. Contract allows them to cash out up to 80 hours of vacation time every quarter Period no reason And I'm sure this isn't here, but just to Rhetorate it. So is this for all earned leave or just just cto. Okay Right There's already a provision within the non-union personnel policy that allows the cash out of call time for our hourly employees Who can convert there over time? So this would be basically opening up the ability to cash in time to your exempt staff that are salary and can't Get Okay Right. So floor time isn't paid out anywhere. So we don't have that and and sick time is never Begged to cdo accrue over time. It's not like granted upon hire. No, it's not one lump sum. It's accrued over everything here I wanted to be sure. That's a good question Yeah Thank you It's a great question Because if someone could work here for you know, maybe past if we have a probationary period I probably shouldn't know. I don't know but if someone's here for 90 days they could cash out What however many hours it said put one two eighty max out over years 40s are max but it's not what you earn when you start Exactly and that would be a number that I would ask for if it was But like rather than a lump sum up front, which is not necessarily uncommon. Yeah I think it depends on a new hire 5.54 hours of cto every payment period And then your leadership staff some of the ones we've been here years 13.68 per And the amount that they can cash out is only what's been accrued, right? There isn't like taking on loan. No, okay Any other council questions Any questions for members of the public on zoom? No more in the room Okay, does someone want to make a motion to approve the personnel policy manual combined time off cash out policy addendum So moved Motion by thomas second by charlie all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi Motion carries. Thank you Thanks, jesse We are at the end of tonight's agenda to have a motion to adjourn Second motion by brinn second by charlie all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi Motion carries meeting adjourned. Thank you