 Hearing on public questions for the November 6 2018 special city meeting ballot First item on the agenda is the agenda is there a motion on the agenda Moved the count the agenda is moved by councillor Paul. Is there a second second by councillor Hartnett? Well, we had any discussion on the agenda hearing none all those in favor, please say aye any opposed We have our agenda passed unanimously The second item, which was what we are here for is if there are any public questions on the two ballot items And that is dealing with the 70 million dollar bond for the schools and the Also the stormwater discharge issue 30 million dollar wastewater bond Any member of the public who would like to speak to us or ask us a question about these issues What's going on? Councillor busher, what's your point of information? Meeting is slated from five to five forty five. So I'm wondering What legally we need to do is our is your intent to leave someone present in the room until five forty five Or are you intending to? After Ten minutes or so adjourn the meeting That is a good point Councillor busher Because that's true someone could come in They aren't here to start the meeting, but it is scheduled to go to five as late as five forty five We have board of finance at five forty five I Guess we will we'll wait for a little bit and see if anyone shows up council Busher So without legal well, we do have legal representation, but he's from the schools, you know, no, he's financial never mind Sorry We do have someone for the city. Oh, we do So excuse me, but I think the intent is to have someone available from Mr. President, I think the intent is to have somebody here to field the questions or at least hear the questions from the public I Believe that the council as a whole or in part doesn't really need to be present as long as this room is available Until five forty five. So could staff be designated to hear any of those concerns and then forward them to the council I know we do I know we do hold on. I don't I know we do not need a quorum Councillor Hartnett, I would say if that's the case I nominate council Busher to stay Well, I I I mean I'm gonna be staying. I'm gonna be staying here till the time anyway, so So we can counselors. I think counselors if you want to stay for a few minutes or not you can leave I'm gonna be here anyway and We'll wait and see I think we I think we can recess because there's no member of the public here So let's let's recess the council unless and until someone from the public shows up so the council's in recess Good evening. I would like to convene this regular meeting of the city council Tonight at 715 and would you all please join with me in reciting the pledge of allegiance now? Before I recognize councillor nodell on the agenda. I would like to take a moment Two days ago. We had a horrific event in Pittsburgh Shooting and murder of 11 people in the tree of life congregational synagogue in Pittsburgh an absolutely horrific event and I would like to take a moment to Think about the victims and send our sympathies to the victims and the entire city of Pittsburgh So moment of silence, please Thank you, and let's hope that this country can Find its way forward through all these horrific events that we keep seeing and That we can we here in Burlington can continue to do a job in a positive way and stay away from Rhetoric that might lead to or might assist in these people thinking these things are okay to do Now on to the agenda, is there a motion on the agenda? councillor nodell president right I moved Oh, mr. Mayor present rate. Thank you. I apologize We didn't get a chance to fully coordinate this ahead of time But I did just thank you for those thoughtful remarks and for making sure that this moment didn't Go without note here at the city council I I do just would like With your permission just to add very quickly that one of the elements of this event is that I think it has shaken Jewish community throughout the country throughout the world Certainly in this community and there is going to be an event In recognition of that here in Burlington in contoys in fact tomorrow night from 5 30 to 7 30 and Wanted to make sure that the council and the community was aware that there would that would be that further Acknowledgement and processing of this terrible event Thank You mr. May I apologize for not having seen that and thank you for alerting us to that event tomorrow Councilor nodell Yes, president. I would move to amend and adopt our agenda as follows To note the corrected version of consent agenda item 3.15 Which is a communication from the board clerk of the board of electric commissioners? Regarding the electric commission attendance record per councillor busher note the commission report certification for consent agenda item 3.16 a Report from the cemetery commission and report and per councillor busher remove from the consent agenda Item 3.21 which was a communication from there about councillor's participation in community stat Per chief of staff for Dell Thank You councillor nodell Seconded by councillor busher any discussion hearing none all those in favor of approving the agenda as amended by councillor nodell Please say aye I opposed we have our agenda Item number two is a public forum of time certain of 7 30 so we will not we will move to a couple of other items first and I am going to Recess the regular meeting of the city council to to convene the meeting of the liquor control committee and so First item on the agenda is the agenda commissioner Dean Thank You commissioner right I would move To adopt our agenda Moved by councillor Dean seconded by councillor roof all in favor of the agenda please say aye I We have approved the agenda second item number two is a consent agenda commissioner Dean Thank You commissioner right I'd move to adopt the consent agenda taking the actions as indicated Moved and seconded by councillor roof Discussion on the consent agenda hearing none all those in favor of approving the consent agenda and taking the actions indicated Please say aye I opposed we have unanimously passed the consent agenda And item number three Deliberative agenda commissioner Dean is 3.01 first-class liquor license I'll let you take it from there. All right. Thank You commissioner right I will move to approve the 2018-2019 first-class restaurant bar liquor license application for BDM enterprises LLC Doing businesses as Orlando's bar and lounge with the following conditions All city permits need to be closed out contingent upon fire marshal approval with all standard conditions and a Special condition no partner on the license shall be convicted of a misdemeanor or felony criminal charge If any partner of the license is convicted of a misdemeanor or felony criminal charge BDM shall be subject to an immediate suspension revocation hearing before the local control subcommittee If any partner on the license receives a misdemeanor or federal Felony criminal charge BDM enterprises must disclose the criminal charge to the local control subcommittee within 14 days of the charge These conditions apply to their first-class restaurant bar Restaurant liquor license application their outside consumption permit application and their indoor entertainment permit application And after a second I would request the floor black for a few comments Seconded by council roof commissioner Dean you have the floor back So I'd like to just take a moment to give the full Commission view into what were our deliberations at the committee level first a note about the application that this is for the Magnolia space at Lawson Lane With a young group of interpreters who have significant experience with this type of business and music food and club operations and their intent is to open a Business that's geared toward an older more mature audience Focused on acoustical music arts and culture and food which is at the center of their experience so I will say that the history of the past offenses that were Given to us in the application where the central focus of an extended discussion among the committee members and with the city attorney's office providing input and guidance in our discussions I will note that the people the Attending partners were forthcoming acknowledged Their past offenses and provided additional background information to us They freely acknowledged the mistakes that they had made And they weren't trying to hide anything from us And they committed to us that they understood the critical importance of not letting these mistakes be repeated And as such the committee Concern brought forward a tightly controlled and constructed conditions Which we have just heard I think that these applicants recognize that there's a significant level of scrutiny here The police department is aware the fire department is aware of the conditions of this application And they're going to be vigilant to assure that their operational guidelines are met We also would like to point out If for further discussion that this application will also leave reviewed Although it's being supported here at the local level at the state level by the liquor control commission and Also, since we are proving this late in the year that this license will be upped for renewal in April So this is a very short term License essentially provided under strict conditions. So with that I'll end my remarks and Turn it over for any other comments or questions from the other commissioners. Thank you commissioner Dean discussion by the by the board Commissioner busher so so thank you I want to thank the chair of the subcommittee for the explanation As I read this I was confused because it it spoke to no partners name being on a license yet some of the very Criteria mentioned that There have already been noticed or convictions. So these are any new Correct and so does it is it important to add that to the language because if as I read it right now I thought that there were going to be other people stepping in to sign the light sign the license agreement I didn't understand it and So I I don't know how that plays out, but that was my only observation I And I wasn't sure about it Okay, I think I understand the question So the the conditions are any further that there have been past Intenses of offenses and the intent of the of the committee Was to make sure that that did not happen again our feeling was that it was important for that to be established as a ground rule for Securing the license for them to operate their business And I just so as it reads so it says no one No partner on the license shall be convicted and if there are convictions and I Thought that was a disconnect between the language and the experience so In response, I would just say that that this is a language that was given to us as Offered by the city attorney's office, but it is for future any future offenses Thank You Commissioner Dean Councilman commissioner pine Thank you, I appreciate the the difficult job that the committee had on this license given the The background of the applicants and I want to just say that I Think everyone does deserve a second chance. I think this is a case where we are giving folks a second chance who've had experience that has Hopefully taught them a lesson and I just want to be clear that We don't want to be looking back a year from now wishing we hadn't done this I just want to be really clear so that the applicants understand We're there's no there's no guaranteed right that you can get a license to sell alcohol. That's a privilege We're granting that privilege and the expectation is is the applicants will take that seriously and understand that We're putting ourselves on the line as well Not just the reputations, but the potentially of the safety of of this community So I think we have to be really cautious and be really Candid about this and I appreciate their candor when they spoke up about their Background of what they hopefully have learned going forward. So I just want to state that Thank You Commissioner pine other comments or question from the board Hearing none Grow ready for vote. All those in favor of the motion. Please say aye. Hi. Are you opposed? That passes unanimously and item number three point oh two now is a consumption permit application for Orlando's bar and lounge Commissioner Dean I move to approve the 2018 2019 outside consumption permit application for BDM enterprises LLC doing business as Orlando's bar and lounge one loss in lane Sweet number 10 with the following conditions All city permit needs to be closed out contingent bonfire martial approval with all standard conditions And with the conditions that were mentioned in the the first essentially that the the restrictives You know no further Offenses thank you. Commissioner Dean. That's moved and seconded by council roof Discussion from the work commissioner. No Dell. Thank you president right the Time period is 4 p.m. To 2 a.m. Is that now kind of the norm for outside? Consummate permanent downtown commissioner Dean Yes Commissioner no Dell that's very typical of this area. It's consistent with The businesses that are have liquor licenses and outside consumption permits directly adjacent to them. Thank you Further discussion or questions from the board Commissioner Jang Thank You president and this is a question for the chair Now looks like these are three partners right and now let's say if one of them is no longer part of the business anymore Right down the feature. Do they need to come back and apply? For the license again, or do they just need to notify you? What what the process in there? Commissioner Dean I Think I believe that the standard is that they just need to notify us as a liquor control board Committee of any changes to their partnership agreement Commissioner Jang and can that be included? In your provision that you provided in here or it's just okay My understanding is that that's a standard condition. So it's already understood that that's part of The application the conditions of application. Thank you. Thank you councillor Jang other questions or comments Hearing none all those in favor of approving the motion on the consumption permit application, please say aye Any opposed that passes unanimously motion to adjourn motion to adjourn is made seconded by council roof all those in favor of adjourning this Meeting please say aye aye opposed we have adjourned that meeting and we are now ready to Reconvene the regular meeting of the city council at 730 which leads us right into tonight's public forum Right now we have just one person signed up to speak And they're case anyone else wants to speak there are sheets over here in the corner table If you would like to speak Write your name down and bring it over here to Laurie in the clerk's office and she will get it to me So I will open the public forum at 731 and the first and only speaker right now is norm Fisher Mr. Fisher come on up Welcome, I don't want to wear out my welcome and speaking And I didn't know I was going to be the only speaker but I'm back on the mural because something has happened with the statement by Donald Stevens chief of the Anarchy and I believe that this statement is the first blowback From the October 15th resolution The most famous use of the concept of blowback came after George W. Bush's wretched invasion of Iraq The blowback went on for years and years as the United States suffered because of this In this case, I think the blowback was predictable You go around throwing out the term racism without having an adequate basis for it And there's going to be blowback and his statement was watch out when you accuse people of Racism I believe that I'm not quite sure who he was thinking of But I think that everybody involved in the humiliation of the makers of the mural are Throwing out basing their humiliation of the mural make the makers of the mural on their concept of racism But they've never proven any racism I would suggest that people if you have any doubt that rants against racism dominated The task force go listen to what's on the public record. That's literally all that there is there and Because that's all there is there. It's very difficult to take Pierre Hardy down. Pierre Hardy is in my view Somebody who was not only an extremely interesting artist But if somebody understood the theory of art and its marvelous statement on his art You will find things that if you compare them to the task force statement Are so much above anything that the task force said for example He talks about his experience in Vermont working here for a year or so He brings out his Quebec background. I happened to have lived in Montreal for six years. I know this man I know man strong intellectuals like Pierre Hardy. I've seen many of them, but his Wonder the wonder of this man goes beyond where he lived and is working in Vermont He understands art not just his art makes plain in a statement He understands art itself that is he understands that art is imaginative You have an imaginative vision, but anybody can perhaps have an imaginative vision that they think is an imaginative vision But art requires sincerity Above all art requires sincerity and Pierre Hardy gives a sincere statement Of a man who is committed to his vision Who has the intellectual background to say this is my art? I stand in front of it I worked in Vermont for for months and months and months I moved to Vermont and I am a proud Quebec intellectual and artist and I'm being trashed Thank You mr. Fisher Paul dame good evening. Mr. Dame welcome. Yeah, so yeah, my name is Paul dame I Happen to be running for a state Senate here in Chittenden County I just wanted to stop by because although I'm not a Burlington resident anymore Burlington was my first home when I transferred up to to UVM and So it's always kind of have a has a special place in my heart But I wanted to come to before you today Just to offer my help. I have served in the house Human Services Committee before working on various treatment options for the opioid epidemic And and I'm just wanted to come before you let you know that if elected to the state Senate I'd love to hear from anyone here. I know there's a lot of conversation going on about safe injection sites and whether or not that's a good move forward and I just want to let folks know I'm open to helping out there. I've also had a number of interesting conversations with some colleagues who are in in the construction field on wastewater treatment facilities and was Made aware of a of a scenario in the city of Syracuse where they had a similar problem looking at trying to split their stormwater and their their their regular septic lines and That's an expensive process. You got to dig up a lot of the city What they didn't says they found a vacant parking garage or a vacant parking lot We're able to put in a containment center where when they had storm surge It would hold that when they were over capacity and then after the storm had died down They were able to pump that out and the advantage that had compared to separating the lines is that when you did have stored a storm surge You could still treat that because there's there's still potential problems With storm surge water getting into into the lake and that's another important issue. I know Here in here in Chittin County. So again, if anyone wants to contact me My name is Paul Dane. You can reach me out Paul at paul dame calm. Thank you very much for your time Thank you very much, Mr. Dane And with that those are the only two speakers I have lined up to speak so we will close out tonight's public forum and move to item number two Excuse me move to the consent item number three the consent agenda councillor, no doubt President right. I moved that we adopt the consent agenda as amended and take the actions indicated Councillor nodel has moved the consent agenda seconded by councillor Hartnett any discussion Hearing none all those in favor of approving the consent agenda and taking the actions indicated. Please say aye Any opposed Hearing none we have passed the consent agenda unanimously and We will I am now going to Recess the regular city council meeting again for the purpose of allowing the mayor to Move two meetings and the first one would be the board of civil authority And then the next one is city council of mayor presiding and then board of tax appeals actually Thank you president right Let me call to order the board of civil authority at 7 38 p.m. And The first item on the agenda is the agenda and welcome emotion Move approval of the agenda. Thank you president right Seconded by a councillor Shannon discussion all those in favor. Please say aye. Hi the opposed The agenda passes unanimously and that brings us to I am to the consent agenda And I would welcome motion to move that as well Move approval of the consent agenda and take the actions indicated. Thank you president right seconded by councillor Shannon discussion of the motion See none all those in favor of the motion. Please say aye Hi any opposed consent agenda passes unanimously and without objection the Board of civil authority is adjourned at 739 I Will convene the city council with mayor presiding at 740 and Would welcome motion regarding the agenda Councillor Shannon move to adopt the agenda Excellent discussion all those in favor of the motion. Please say aye. Hi. Any opposed. We have an agenda and And now welcome a motion regarding the consent agenda Councillor Shannon move to adopt the consent agenda and take the actions indicated Seconded by councillor roof discussion all those in favor of the motion. Please say aye. Hi Opposed the motion carries unanimously and that brings us to item 3.01 Board of registration of voters For the term ending June 30th 2023 This point I would open the floor to nominations for this appointment Councillor Shannon move to a point Mohammed Jafar Thank you. Are there any other nominations right nominate? Sorry Sorry councillor Shannon when that was a nomination so we have one name Mohammed Ibrahim Jafar has been placed in nomination. Are there any other nominations? Seeing none will close Floor for nominations and we'll go to a vote all those in favor of approving Mr. Jafar. Please say aye Strong majority has it and I want to say congratulations to mr. Jafar. Thank him for his application and his service and With that I will close the City Council with mayor presiding and This is this false to me as well president writes I will So we close that meeting at 742 and we will convene the full board of abatement of taxes at 742 and welcome mr. Vickery to join us and Would welcome a motion on the agenda Councillor Mason, thank you Mayor Weinberg, I'd like to make a motion to adopt or amend and adopt the agenda as follows Remove from the consent agenda item 2.04 request for abatement of taxes Alan Richard Ginzler and Alan Cohen 35 Cherry Street and place it on the deliberative agenda as item 3.02 per Councillor Busher second Thank you Any further discussion of the agenda all those in favor of the motion, please say aye aye opposed Motion carries unanimously and that brings us to the consent agenda the amended consent agenda Are we ready for a motion on the consent agenda Councillor Mason? Thank you mayor Weinberg I'd like to make a motion to take the actions indicated on the consent agenda But noting for the record my recusal from item 2.03 which I did not participate at the subcommittee level either Due to a conflict with my work. Thank you. All right, so we're going to divide the question Thank you appreciate that rare I get to make an Administrative parliamentary decision here We will divide the question and have a vote on the consent agenda without with 2.04 and 2.03 both removed Are we ready for do we I think we need a second for that motion seconded by Councillor Shannon? We ready for a vote on the consent agenda, which is 2.01 through 2.08 with 2.03 and 2.04 removed All those in favor of the motion, please say aye Any opposed motion carries unanimously now we'll go to 2.03 Which Councillor Mason has recused himself from and have a vote on this consent item or a motion on this alone first Councillor Shannon makes Move to take the actions indicated on item 2.03 Seconded by Councillor Nardell discussion all those in favor of the motion, please say aye aye any opposed and that passes unanimously and Now we will start with 3.01 the deliberative agenda 3.01 We go 3.01 3.02 and then we'll deal with the item 2.04 which has been moved so Councilor Mason. Can you Help us. Yes, Mayor Weinberger. I'd like to Although I don't know we've delivered it, but I think the appropriate motion is to deny the abatement requested by Tim Timothy a mirror 52 cove road and I'd like the floor back for a brief explanation of this matter but after a second Sir second second by Councillor Shannon Floor chairs councilmation. Thank you. So for the council's benefit This is the matter that had come up previously. There was a two-member subcommittee There was a split decision among council the two councillor Zhang and I as to whether to grant or deny it came up for consideration by the Board there were some questions and a requested Basically got sent back to the subcommittee to further inquire We did have our meeting the city attorney's office, so this is a home down in the north end on North Cove Road There's a was a requested refund of 3000 I don't have a specific number here with me $3,400 that had been paid the stated basis at the time was zoning dispute That had been a protracted dispute with the city regarding use of another property that this family owned And at in the first application it was also disclosed that that property was under foreclosure So it was sent back to the subcommittee at that hearing we heard from Kim Sturvin and the city's attorney's office a Few things that formed at least the majority. I won't speak for counsel Shannon, but for my opinion The first was that there were continuing disputes with the owner in terms of the use of that property The second was that the foreclosure on the other parcel had been completed and the other piece was in Terms of ability to pay which was something the committee looked at There was evidence that these owners based on their tax returns could afford in fact had already paid these taxes And secondarily and secondarily that they owned other property in the state of Vermont So on that basis the majority of the committee, you know moved forward to deny the abatement request Thank you Thank You counselor Mason floor is open for discussion of the site of counselor pine good pardon me, but I by reading the Decision I actually couldn't decipher on what grounds the applicant thought they were entitled to this abatement Could you just describe that perhaps sure? Unfortunately, the applicant did not elect to come to either of the decision So it was really based on the papers that were submitted and I think the first was I would say a manifest on justness was that if I had to characterize the claim that because They got into financial difficulty in part was the allegation based on the dispute with the city as to the zoning use violation and then the committee of its own volition because of the reference to the foreclosure sort of took up the question about is there an Issue here about inability to pay So those were the two bases that the committee sort of teased out of the paperwork that was submitted So any further discussion? Mr. Vickery Is the applicant here and does he want to speak? Okay? Mr. Muir we welcome your tenants my name's Timothy Muir 68 North Gold Road and yeah finally, I get a chance to address some of this It's been a Fiasco from the beginning Mr. Muir two things mr. Muir hold on one if we're gonna hear you properly you got to hold the mic pretty close to And then I would ask you to speak respectfully to the board. I have okay. I'm irritated because this is the seventh time I've had to come down here, and I haven't accomplished anything. This is the first time. I've got a chance to talk to anybody you guys haven't notified me and Meetings have occurred where I haven't been there and As far as qualifying I land right smack dab in the middle of the Conditions for a refund of the penalties and interest so Anybody got any questions? Yeah, I can clear it up for you. I don't know. Okay. Thank you. Mr. Muir Did you want to address anything further mr. Vickery before we appreciate the counselor questions, you know, okay Counselor jane Thank You mr. Mayor, so mr. Muir. Thank you for coming here today So the question that I have for you looks like you have been paying your taxes. Is that accurate? Yes, and looks like you asked for an abatement of The fees and also interest yes, and do you know In while What happened what happened in those fees and interest been accumulating what happened? What was happening in? 1985 I sat right here and Ken Lerner was a zoning administrator. I applied for the first permit for 68 North Cove Road and At the time I was asked if I planned on running my business out of there and my answer was yes, and The minutes at old meetings mysteriously have disappeared Ken Lerner and myself and others have searched and they're gone and This whole thing stems from that very beginning Where my file was tampered with in the city here, and it's been nothing but a horror show Ever since I paid a ten thousand six hundred dollar fine, which I shouldn't have had to pay zoning You know Lopsided 16 people against one You know I tripped up. I missed one hearing. This is over a 15-year period and As a result of that. Yeah, that's just a tip of the iceberg not to mention the hundred and fifty thousand dollar Elevation grant that the city collected from Vima it was I was the first one to apply and After the money came in it came in too I was told They wouldn't talk with me because I had outstanding zoning violations So I'm sorry if I'm not sounding like I'm off your buddy But looks like also mr. Minio that you are currently not employed or working. I've been disabled for about Nine years and you just stated that you paid over ten thousand dollars in legal fees No, I paid a fine a fine Fees for about eight times that Didn't pay those either Yep And you know looks like also it's not that you don't have the ability to pay and you have your own or the properties in the state of Vermont I Paid that fine with some money I Was awarded and I got rent somebody ran into me and I was sitting at a red light and I blew out my shoulders and that was a Personal injury collection. I mean payment that I got that's what I paid it was I Don't yeah, I'm I did ten million dollars in 20 years 500,000 a year gross receipts 20% profit on that and for the last eight nine years I'm living on a thousand dollars a month my social security. That's like a thousand dollars a day The thousand dollars a month Can't say no. I don't have any money I just have a question about the the amount requested is $3,702.05 is that correct? I guess I'm looking for the chair or someone who knows this Yeah, it's interesting penalties is what I was asking Okay, can I just have an understanding of how we got to this number is this has this something that's been I'm asking the chair or Staff or mr. Vickery. Is this a number? Is this the interest in penalties that have accumulated over many years on an unpaid balance or? How did we get to this number? Yes, that's exactly what that is that we've made it My understanding is that it has been paid and it's asking for reimbursement It is the penalties in interest of unpaid taxes separate over what period of time Oh seven years that's a problem like that seven years. I might add there's one more thing Hold on one second. We'll come back in a second You've had you can't your questions answered Councilor Nodell or Councilor Mason was anything you want to add that? Mr. May I'd like to add that Sorry, what was that? Okay Mr. Muir go ahead you can add the the point you would like well There was one Comment and a letter that we received that we hadn't paid the last installment of those taxes do and in fact We actually we paid those we included those we meant we borrowed nine thousand something dollars to pay that off We're not going to exclude the last one for any reason at all as a matter of fact they The city sent me two hundred and fifty nine dollars back Instead of applying it like it should have been and that clouded the decision From at some point, I don't know when All right, thank you councillor Shannon Thank you in response to Councilor Nodell's question There is a letter in the packet and it states in that letter city treasurer's office calculated penalties in interest of three thousand one hundred and eighty six dollars and twenty eight cents and Immediately following that is the tax abatement request form requesting three thousand seven hundred and two dollars and five cents, so I Am not sure that it's clear What that additional amount? Includes because the request for thirty seven hundred was made received by the city on August 18th and this letter with the 3186 is dated March 12th of 2018. I would also note that the specific claim By the taxpayer in the letter was that it was manifestly unjust Councilor Hardin, thanks. Thanks for coming tonight. It's not easy to do I appreciate it and that's I think we have a have to have a conversation about this process in general. I may be going forward, but so Is is The issue really that I mean you asked for this and it is a hardship for to come up with the $3,400 is what you're saying because it would be for me. Oh, yes, and so have we country have we talked to I mean has city made any Engagement with you or talk to you about any payment plan or I don't think the yes Oh, yeah, yeah, but payment plan what we paid the whole thing off at the On the on the fees on the late fees in the penalty at once In one shot. We borrowed the money to do it $9,000. Okay. Yeah, I got now. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah All right, so we have motion Before us with the chair or Mr. Vickery like to add anything or doing We're ready for action So I just want to speak to process for a second Mr. Muir, I'm not entirely sure what happened relating to notice, you know, certainly my Understanding this that you know there has been there was an attempt to reach out to you There were it's been over a year. No understood sir But there were at least two separate hearings, you know, where a subcommittee met and invited. How was I notified? Mr. Murray, let me just finish please. I Thought you were telling me I didn't show up for me I'm just questioning how I'm addressing a question on process. These are unfortunately not they're difficult things I appreciate certainly for you, but also for us because you know now, excuse me. This is the first opportunity. We've had to speak to you Ideally it would have been you know in a less, you know formal setting intimate We're presented, you know letters did go out informing you. I appreciate you may have not received them It sounds like of those two subcommittees The the hearings that we held The difficulty without getting into too much is, you know, we're struggle there There are limited bases upon which we as a board are supposed to be able to obey taxes One of them is manifest on justice. I appreciate the argument on that the other is hardship and I'm a little confused Exactly, I appreciate what you're saying in terms of hardship But there was also we were presented with Evidence at the subcommittee hearing that there were other properties or there were other assets that could be, you know That you had if true For me at least that spoke to your ability to pay above and beyond the tax return, which was you know Provided to us if that's not true There is not other property that I guess now would be the time to alert us as to what I have for other property consists of a wood lot out in Enosburg up on the mountain and You know, I paid a hundred and forty two dollars an acre for it and the other parcel is in Colchester I'm Valakette court. I paid off the taxes on it thirty two hundred dollars and You know, it's a swamp Valakette court check it out. I got nothing dude. I Did I would I would have used it that last bit of land is that's that's it understood Thank you cancer pain so mayor there's There's enough confusion here that I'm just feeling that we have a We owe it to the process to figure out some stuff here. I feel like there's a bunch of unanswered questions and Sources of confusion. I'm not sure what the next step is but perhaps a five-minute recess to Confer with the couple committee members and I'm not sure what I don't know what the next step I had granted five minute recess. So let's let's do that and reconvene. Thank you one minute We're waiting for Okay, thank you, we're gonna reconvene the board of take a payment of taxes at 813 My counselors would like to be recognized Counselor Harden I Do you have a question and it's someone related other than this issue with the tax evasion are You know as far as Your property down there. Are you in good standing with the city? Do you have any current violations? No, you have none pending. No I'm out of there. I'm done. I come I completed the bill ward came down to the final inspection right before Christmas It's been a year Over a year now and he said he couldn't give me the paperwork. I paid him I gave him the check for the fine and he they checked all the work made sure everything was right. Everything was good He said y'all get it to you next week everybody's on the Christmas vacation and I'm sorry Councilor mason Thayer. Thank you. May I windbreaker may I ask the city attorney to maybe weigh in on this that? Mr. Mears response is inconsistent with what we were informed at the subcommittee, which was that there remained a Continuing violation at this property and that although an enforcement action had not been yet brought There were discussions about how to resolve that issue Correct. That's the city's the city's belief is that there are continuing violations and That we have not yet initiated a public action, but are doing the preliminary steps Towards that councillor Jang Thank You mr. Mayor and city attorney again Can you please explain to us what type of violations we talking about not current but maybe the past? Yes, the prior violations involved storage of property Outdoor having a lot of things outside on the property around the property that had to get cleaned up and moved and eventually were And after we went to court and a and Fine was imposed He did clean it up for a while Councillor shannon it was reported to us in the committee that the zoning that there were zoning violations that they were rectified and the property was cleaned up as Attorney Blackwood said but then All of All of this stuff came back and there are ongoing zoning violations That my recollection is that's been going on for a year or more. I don't know if you Excuse me. I can't I can't take that is not you have no proof of anything like that I mean I have not been I haven't brought anything back to that property everything that's there now was there when bill ward did his final Inspection and left. I don't know what you're talking about. I Don't I there's no I haven't gotten any notices or anything If you're gonna tell me I'm in violation and talk about it here It'd be nice if I'd been notified about being in violation because at this point I haven't been notified that I'm in violation Other than to hear you say it as I said, this is what was reported to the subcommittee and this is this was part of our consideration my understanding and I understand The taxpayer has a has a different view on this and I respect that I but the The city has been working with him to try and get it cleaned up and has been giving leniency if he were notified I think that that the The fines would start accruing so I think that the city has been trying to work with him to get it cleaned up, but if The committee needs if this committee needs more information That's your word needs to be in this conversation. We have sorry, but that's complete miss ball Bill Ward is the one that needs to be involved in this conversation and Ken Lerner, too But bill Ward is the one that did the final inspection and There's nothing new today. Mr. Mirror. Mr. Mirror. I Think part of the competition is I haven't been notified I haven't been you know notified that I've got a violation, but now you're talking to me like I'm in violation My understanding is you have not been notified of a violation there my understanding also is there were attempts I think one of the things we're struggling with here is there attempts to handle this at a subcommittee level that Mailings were made to your formal address and that you do not respond to Can you so from now on if you're gonna notify me certify it, please I'm not gonna take Courier, you know mail. I want a certified letter. You can prove that you sent it to me because statements are made by The city count city employees all the time that just not true. I'm sorry So are you are you saying? That you you did receive them, but because they weren't certified you just ignored them No, no what letters I was set Why don't you take those letters out right now and look at the dates? And read the letters and see what dates they were sent to me. When did I get the letters? How about we take this into executive session, huh? How about we do that because I can't I can't take it This is ridiculous. This is wrong I'm requesting it That's not I don't think it's available to us unless someone has a motion otherwise All right, so If you can't answer Mason sure I Just want to sort of bring us back to focus and I Under our under our code excuse me another city charter There are three bases upon which we can abate taxes first is their illegal which is not a question here Second is they are judged to be Uncollectible or third that they're manifestly unjust I appreciate there's a lot of facts and tension here because of issues that have nothing to do with the request before us The committee looking at those the uncollectible and the manifestly unjust made a right You know the majority of the committee felt that neither of those criteria had been hit if this You know full board of tax abatement feels differently that would be the basis to me all the other stuff Unfortunately, it's just noise. I appreciate there's a lot of emotion around that But from my perspective those factors are not relevant for purposes of our determination tonight. Thank you Thank you, Councilor Mason When any other council like to speak we have a motion we're ready for an action, I appreciate councilor Mason's point of someone I've not heard either an argument as to that meets one of those criteria against the motion when I would like to make that at this point Councilor Jang. Yes, I think in this particular case. It is manifestly unjust For very many different reasons one of them is currently We know that this person is disabled. We know that this person is in fixed income New information did come to us saying that he has all the properties and in front of us I think he explained that those properties don't have much of the value Which I think he could sell as well, right? But at the same time if we look at the issue the main issue It's not about him paying his taxes, but it's about the fees and interests that been accumulating While he was under litigation with the city Right. I think that is enough is enough to abate his taxes And it will be considered as manifestly unjust and he doesn't even leave in the property hints his own home Looks like he explained to us that He been foreclosed and foreclosed meaning you don't have enough money to pay your your mortgage and the bank will take it back I think that would be enough for a person who is fixed income. Thank you Thank You Councillor Jang Just consulted with a city attorney and do you believe that the same standard applies to penalties and interests as applied to the underlying? There isn't some distinction between the penalties and interest and the underlying taxes taxes in terms of the rationale that must be found for waving them councillor Nodell I'm sorry, Mary, but I still have the same question I had before Which is how did this many this much penalties and interest accrue? Did it accrue because there was litigation? Between the city can we just I just need to understand that thank you Counselor Mason sure if I may feel that no councillor Nodell The these were unpaid because he did not pay property taxes on this parcel penalties and interest accrued The stated justification in the writing was I didn't pay them Because I was fighting with the city on another parcel. No, that's the same parcel Don't say it if it isn't true Forgive me if I mischaracterize what I read that's not true Fair fair enough My understanding is the penalties and interest excuse me accrued because of non-payment of property taxes on the parcel that we're talking about tonight Mr. Frick, do you know what what is the breakdown between is this is there a lot of like compound interest in this number? It's accrued over time. So I would say so yes So of the amount is the bulk of it is the interest versus the penalties. I don't have the separation I Consulting to see if we can find the answer I mean, I don't want to kick the can down the road but for me to to to vote on this either deny it or not It would be help me to know how we got to this number I don't understand where this number comes from The three thousand seven hundred and two dollars and five cents. I I get it that they were supporting I don't think we have that calculation anywhere in the backup paperwork Mr.. Mayor may I speak for a moment? Is it on this point or okay? Go ahead councillor shun The the thirty seven hundred number came from the taxpayer the number that the city has which I agree We don't have the breakdown of how they came to it was the thirty one I think thirty one eighty six just to be clear okay president right can mr. Vickery shed any further light on this I mean I think it's I think the difficulty here is that I would love to have seen The taxpayer have been at the committee Level and had this vetted out and had some of the answers obviously mr. Muir is claiming things are not what the committee thinks they are and I don't know what But I wish this had been and I understand that the committee certainly Attempted to reach mr. Muir, but can hold on can mr. Vickery is there anything else you can shed on light on this What I do know is that there were several attempts to contact mr. Muir by letter not certified letter Just in the same manner that occurs with everybody else And there was two meetings missed the first meeting and then it came to the council and the council moved it back so the committee would meet again and There was no meeting until now, so this is his opportunity to speak Unfortunately, it would have been better to have spoken more informally in a smaller group And how our taxpayers attempted to be contacted. There's calls letters Usually just the letter and then if they call will give information Thank you Councilor, I Guess would be for attorney blackwell. Is it going to be impossible tonight to find that breakdown of between Interest and pound. I mean it can we get that there's Can we get that tonight? Yes, I Think that's really a question for mr. Vickery. Can you get that tonight? I don't know if I can the reason I'm asking not that we need to I'm not saying that we need to but You know it might be Proving on our part to postpone action until we do get that number. I Yeah, I would put that out there. So I'm not would you like to make a motion to postpone or I think I would I'll make a motion that we postpone until we get clarification of the breakdown of really the 3,000 and 3100 amount and Figure out which is penalties which is interesting and then make we can make a better decision And I think we can all feel better about that In the meantime though, I would encourage you to have a better relationship with the city And I and I know it's been unfortunate We haven't been able to contact you by my mail But maybe before you leave tonight You'll give us some information where it's best able to contact you or how to contact you Because nobody likes to be in these situations. We it makes us uncomfortable. I think it makes you uncomfortable, obviously and And nobody wants to be in that spot and that's that's not the purpose of How we you know how we do business here at the city council, right? We don't we don't want this and so I think lack of communication Seems to be front and center here And I'm not pointing the blame at either party, but I think we need to address that as well And the amount as well, so I will make a motion to postpone Councillor harnett, do you want to include in that motion date certain for return or our next one's our next city council meeting 12 no It's a Tuesday, so November 13. Okay great. Is there a second for that motion second by Councillor pine discussion Councillor nodel just for clarification. We are looking for a breakdown on the Treasurer's office calculated penalties and interests of three thousand one hundred eighty six dollars and twenty-eight cents And I would also like a breakdown on the request of them out Which is the different number three thousand seven hundred and two dollars and five cents Did get some sense of what what is where did that number come from? maybe from the materials that the that our Taxpayer has provided Is that consistent with your motion councillor harnett? Yes? Absolutely, okay, thank you Councillor Shannon had a hand up Yes, I think just to be clear. I think the only way to Provide the answer to the thirty seven hundred dollar request is if mr. Muir can give us that breakdown and If mr. Muir could provide and I would just note that the address that we've been sending to is 68 North Cove Road and if he can provide a Formal address or formally communicate with the city if there's some address that we should be mailing to other than 68 North Cove Road. I think the city is obligated to Send to that official address, but you can certainly change that official address with this with the city if that's not the appropriate address Thank You councillor shannon councillor jane. Would you like to be recognized? Yes, I wanted to also add to the motion to also have the breakdown when exactly Those interests and fees been accumulating was it during the litigation against the city or not? Thank you. Okay, I'll take that not as a formal addition to the motion, but a request for information that was related to the motion president right Just to agree with councillor shannon and mr. Muir now There is some onus on you as councillor shannon indicated for you to make sure you work with the city to get us Whatever information we can have so we can make as fair a decision as possible. Thank you excellent Mr. Muir, would you like to that? I'm It's in the original packet and but I will copy that and I will show it to you And I'll show you what I mean by information not getting to where it's supposed to go when I drop it off down here I'm sorry, but I have to do this again, but it's a fact Okay, very good. How come any other councillors like to be recognized All right, we've got a motion on the floor to postpone until the November 13 Meeting all councillors in favor of the motion, please say aye Any opposed motion carries unanimously this this item is postponed until Tuesday November 13th Point of point of clarification mayor So it's a motion to postpone with a request to the city assessor to provide the requested information. Yes. Thank you To to the best of his abilities there's a lot of good things that came in there, but I think the sense of it was clear So, okay, that brings us to 3.02, which is a request for abatement of taxes Allen and Richard Gensler and Ellen Cohen at 35 Cherry Street Again, why don't we have the chair kick this off and then if the if the taxpayer is with us Happy to hear from them as well. So councilor Mason. Thank you mayor Weinberger. I'd like to make a motion to grant the Excuse me the abatement request I'm trying to find the number In the amount of four hundred and fifty three dollars fifty eight cents and ask for a floor back briefly after a second Okay, I second by councillor now. Thank you mayor Weinberger Sorry That's a shame. So this got had this got pulled off Consent I think for a discussion This was a taxpayer that we often as which is an excuse or a justification. We often hear that You know, I put it in the mail and it didn't get to you However, what was unique and this was the first time during my tenure was that there was an acknowledgement by the clerk Treasurer's office that lost mail, you know was an issue one to our news new system And based upon that the committee felt that granting an abatement request was appropriate. Thank you councillor busher Yes, so I did ask to move this to the deliberative Because as the chair of the committee stated This is the first time that I've ever seen Us grant or recommend granting an abatement Because something was lost in the mail But it also is the first time that I've seen And which upsets me somewhat that the city treasurer's office recognized lost mail happens to be an issue That was news to me. I don't know how frequently this happens Up until this point, it was the responsibility of the taxpayer to get their payment in on time And even though you had documentation from your checkbook or whatever That was inadequate So the documentation I understand the rationale from the committee based on the the department the city saying that they That we're vulnerable that lost mail is an issue and so I find that Disturbing that we haven't that hasn't been shared with the full council I find that disturbing that that's a rather large loophole for allowing anybody to potentially not meet a deadline and I guess I would like some clarification regarding that statement Council busher today was the first time I'd heard that raised and so I don't have an answer for you But accept a promise to look into it and find out what's going on So I I just wanted to end with the fact that Because the city acknowledges that that the city or that the system that we've put in place Could allow this to happen and that we acknowledge it has happened in the past I am going to break from my hardcore tradition of saying no And I feel lousy about it when I have to say no But I will support the recommendation that the committee has put forward to abate based on the statement that the city made Thank you Councillor Hartner I Would like just to bring some attention at the committee level we have done this before actually on With proven documentation from the post office for the correct postmark we we have so It is but you saying lost mail and so we have granted on lost mail before right that you might have not have been Courts treasurer's issue right it was an issue at the post office But it's lost mail however you want to look at it and so for me lost mail is lost mail And unfortunately if it was you know, it's a problem the clerk's office this time We have granted in baitments on lost mail before with documentation from post office and would And and would feedback from the post office So I don't think it's actually really fair to say that we haven't Obey in the past based on lost mail. I think we have I've been on the I was on the committee when we did it and So I I I think we're kind of You know in the middle here a little bit. I don't I think it is kind of the same thing lost mail is lost mail And so I don't think this is something new Councillor shana Thank you in the committee discussion It was acknowledged by the clerk treasurer's office that that there has been some problems with lost mail But part of that conversation was also that I know in the south end On our front porch forums We have had chronic reports of people not getting their mail in my own neighborhood Mail is only being delivered four days a week at one point We I have called senator Leahy's office and been working with them to try and figure out What is the problem with our mail I? myself had a Self-addressed registered letter that didn't get to me and I finally called down to the post office to find that my Registered letter addressed to me, and I know my zip code Was in the dead letter office so that experience and has affected My thinking about lost mail and I do think that the taxpayer has to meet a threshold of Persuading us that that's really what happened and we tried to do that But I I do think we have a a problem in the last two years that we haven't seen much before Councillor jane Thank you So I think for this specific issue If I remember correctly this house owner also owns a property in New York or she lives there And I do believe that we did ask to to provide a proof That he did actually send it in the mail We did not take action or we did it like Temporarily until we received that proof and she sent it to the office reason why it was abated So I think for this one she provided a proof, but I do agree Anyone can say I lost a man Anyone can say but until you provide a proof that you did send a check to the city or to Albany Then I think we need to be flexible a little bit. Thank you Okay Catherine it up May I ask the committee how they were convinced that this individual did send the check in the mail? Because you can afterwards change your check register Yes, you're sorry Kessler Mason Thank you, mr. Why are mayor Wang, but you're correct I mean there had to be a semblance of trust and you know We did ask for a check register and we'll provide a one with an appropriate date So do we know for sure that she didn't fill it in after we don't know that but it was our belief that taxpayer was accurate I'm not gonna be voting for this Thank you Okay, are we ready for the vote Looks like we are we'll We'll go to vote all so the motion again is to Grant the abatement correct So a yes results in the abatement and no Stops it all those in favor of the motion, please say aye all those opposed say nay All right, we'll go show hands all those in favor of the abatement, please raise your hand And opposed raise your hands believe the motion fails on a vote of 95 Passes on 95 Okay, thank you we'll move to item 2.04 Which was pulled from the consent agenda This is a request for abatement of taxes Alan and so sorry, is this the same think we just did that okay? So we're done. All right Didn't realize it was already met it so thankfully the board of abatement of taxes is adjourned at 841 p.m. I believe President right I've completed my chairing duties You ready to turn it back over mr. Mayor. I am I am more than ready All right, so we are back on Reconvening the regular city council meeting at 842 what we count And we are back in the Liberty of Agenda item 4.01 is an indoor entertainment permit application for Orlando's bar and lounge Counselor chair of the licensed committee counselor Dean Thank You president right I would move the approval of the 2018-2019 indoor entertainment permit application for BDM enterprises Doing businesses Orlando's bar and lounge with the following conditions all city permits need to be closed out contingent upon fire Marshall approval with all standard conditions and No partner on the license shall be convicted of a misdemeanor or felony criminal charge of any partner of the licenses convicted of a misdemeanor or felony Criminal charge BDM shall be subject to an immediate suspension or revocation hearing Before the local control subcommittee if any partner on the license receives a misdemeanor or felony charge BDM enterprise must disclose the criminal charge to the local control subcommittee within 14 days of that charge These conditions apply to their first-class restaurant bar Liquor license application their outside consumption permit application and their indoor entertainment permit application Moved by councillor Dean seconded by councillor Roof any discussion So we have the application with the conditions all those in favor, please say aye They opposed Passes unanimously councillor Dean Motions No 4.02 Yes, that's the motion to yeah, that's right. We're done We are thank you we're concluding that item and item number four point oh two is a report from CCRPC Good to see you. Good evening. I'm Andy Montrell. I'm your representative to the regional planning Commission And we're pleased to be here tonight to present our annual port I'm here with Charlie Baker who's our executive director and In our report we provide a lot of information for you and Charlie. I think we'll be going into some a Little bit more detail on some of the provisions that are in there But before I turn the microphone over to Charlie I just want to say that our regional planning Commission. It's a it's a Body that's made up of a number of different members municipalities in Chinton County and a few other partners and We're really fortunate on the on the Commission to have such a strong staff that we have Charlie's here You know representing the staff, but he's one of many people there And we couldn't do the work on the Commission without the kind of support that they provide to us And I think we are all the whole community all of the county Benefits greatly by the support that we get from our really outstanding staff So I mean I sit here and say thank you to Charlie and and the rest of them But there's a Commission. I think we have a really strong group of people who Really look out for the best interests of our county of our region It's a balance of the needs of all the different municipalities in the county Which sometimes there are conflicts between them, but I think as a board overall We work really hard to get those resolved and I think just about all of our actions are almost always unanimous and With that I will turn it over to Charlie to go over some details He may have and then welcome any questions that you may have Thanks Andy, and I hope I don't owe you any money for that compliment. Thank you So in the report we try to check in with every municipality Every year usually in the fall when you're starting to think about budget cycles So but very much as a customer service call I want to this is a great time for me to get any feedback about how we're doing any things We could do better and providing service to the city I go to every select board in the county and have this conversation So this one's a little more formal in circumstance and bigger But but the conversations are always good and I welcome any feedback that you have The first page gives you some background about what the Regional Planning Commission is As Andy said it is a board made up of all the municipalities of the county plus other Representatives from different sectors including primarily transportation where we get a lot of our funding We our budget is almost or mostly federal and state dollars You'll see there's a little discussion about how much the municipalities kick in for dues and The amount that we are able to leverage that a 14 to 1 return on the local investment Down at the bottom you see your representatives on our committees, and I do want to thank you for having Andy Sorry, Andy. This goes the other way to for appointing Andy to the board It's been really important for our board to have either sitting or former members of the city council or select boards just to have that that relationship and knowledge of the kinds of things that You think about and how you think and the and the relationships And so it's very important and we appreciate it and he's our past chair And so I'm chairs the nominating committee and other services, so I appreciate that very much the second third and going on to the fourth page Because you have the longest list of services we provide Is the things that we did specifically with the city? and so those include Projects that you probably have heard updates from time to time mostly from Chapin probably but the rail yard enterprise project The Winooski Avenue quarter studies in its early stages We did some work with traffic signal timing on Shelburne Street Finish scoping the Winooski River Bridge Hopefully you have heard or will hear about that very soon with the city of Winooski I think we have a good strategy there the Colchester Ave. Riverside Barrett Mill Street intersection Thank you to those of you that participated in that process I'm not going to read all these But Burlington Amtrak overnight storage working on finalizing that report brown fields pre-disaster mitigation stormwater planning the byways program You did some GIS story mapping work with your parks and rec department Happy to just take a pause because there's a lot of different projects listed there many of which I didn't touch on any questions feedback for us on those specific projects that we work City on I don't care for what I asked for I know Council council pride. I'd like to hear about how you keep up to date the documents which In planning there's a tendency at some places to plan and then move on to the next plan And I want to know how you're keeping this live like the ECOS plan that that's an example of something that I want to make sure that those Analyses are being updated and brought into real time so that there's some recognition that the needs change and we need to we need to be informing the Municipality member municipalities about those changing needs and how their policies can advance those goals or not Yeah, a couple thoughts on that one is your plan Documents get updated every five years. We just updated the ECOS plan this past spring Actually, I think that's in the next section. I'll talk about but You know and we kind of have those conversations Many of those conversations are with municipal staff about you know things that are changing and The priorities the big picture vision stuff. I would say is primarily not changing, you know, we're I think There's a very strong support in the county for smart growth efforts For multimodal transportation, I mean a lot of the things I think the city talks about here clean water issues energy Getting to the energy goals And so I think a lot of our focus has also been not just on updating the plans, but how do we actually implement those plans? And so we're trying to do what we can to support implementation activities as well And I'll spend all of our time updating plans. I don't know if that's fair Okay, thank you councillor pye councillor busher So, um, thank you. I was looking forward to this report and I have a question for you So it's going to be specific to one Project that I've been involved with Which is the Colchester Avenue Riverside Barrett mill intersection So we've spent a lot of time on that scoping study and there were long-term as you've stated in short-term Alternatives and one of the things that came out of that short term was that because of the safety issue There should be a pedestrian crossing at Barrett. So this is a specific item and I'm just not clear. I Felt that I was I'm not clear how that's handed off to get Implemented from regional planning even though I'm a part of that committee. I Guess I thought it had life from that committee But it has really we've had to really stay on top of that and really work with the Department of Public Works to Actually make that happen even though this was identified a long time ago as a Priority because someone was actually killed at that intersection. So I'm not sure about that. Can you just add some clarity because I think that would really help us Understand how regional planning and the committees and the the groups that all of us get to participate in Depending on where we live how how those short-term Agree agreed Improvements get passed off to the community and who's supposed to watch dog and make sure they happen Could you touch upon that, please? Could so I think that's that's the biggest challenge with our work to be honest And I think it's it's some of why I maybe had a little bit of reaction to counselor pines question about I'll call it over planning and over promising and under delivering So that's a concern that I have generally So I've been you're trying to coach and work with staff of like let's make sure particularly when we say their short-term Recommendations, is there somebody to hand them off to it's typically either the municipality and sometimes it's v-trans When we're talking about these transportation projects, but is there really ownership and The ability to carry through on that I'm not going to say that system works perfectly all the time and you know There's certainly a lot of competing demands for implementation dollars that I know you're all too familiar with So it's a question of even though locally that may be the number one thing to do as that gets mixed into the pot of what gets done Citywide, I'm sure there's a lot of competing interests that that may not be We thought it was gonna happen in a year or two it may not happen for three four or five years so I think that's just a reality of Scarce resources to address priorities that come out of very localized projects It doesn't I guess my only comment is that I Would request that when you form a new committee that you make sure that people like me who? Who are maybe aren't on committees all the time? Become aware of their responsibility to kind of oversee those short-term Recommendations in their own community. So there's more ownership and more eyes trying to get that job done But thank you. Yeah, no, we could probably do a better job of watch dog, you know, too Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Bush your councilor jang Thank you president Thank you for being here. Thank you mr. Montrell and my question is very specific is about the public health, you know Based on my understanding all your work was about, you know, the roads and bridges But looks like you guys go above and beyond of that and I wanted to you to please explain if it's possible to tell me specifics here in Burlington and maybe in wintersky about drug use prevention as well as if any you have any connection with Community sat comm sat comm sats in in Burlington, you know, and how do you guys work together around the opiate addiction? So the let me talk about the opioid and comm sat first I think And I've been Participant in the Jandy County Opioid Alliance and you know, I think working with the city and the mayor very closely in the chief on those efforts I Think largely we were playing a little bit of facilitation and fiscal management role and not not a direct service role in that work So a little bit more of a support role In terms of broader prevention issues and I'm gonna forget the name of the organization But you have a partnership for prevention Yeah, partnership for prevention. Thank you. I should know that and the There's a contract from the health department in Chinden County And They've contracted with us. They've turned us the lead agency. We then subcontract out to those partnerships So there's one in Burlington one in Milton And provide funding and some oversight of their work and some assistance Mostly the assistance has been in the form of G is Mapping and analysis work. So they've been mapping like where are the liquor stores or the stores that sell cigarettes And trying to help that that local partnership address issues around advertising to kids and things like that So those are kind of the two areas specifically where we've been focused on public health I think there's a lot more conversations we have there about how the transportation integrates with public health, etc And also when we talk about public health, it's not necessarily all the time about drugs and substance abuse But it's more also about sugar about Health about, you know, healthy lifestyle But do you see a correlation about more biking into the cities and also Just promoting active lifestyle. Yeah, sorry That's and that's where I was really going with that conversation is I think we do have a greater role in the public health Conversation, which is really about community design and designing healthy communities with sidewalks and bike paths and safe bicycling Access to transit. I mean again all those things that we talked about when we talk about housing policy and good community development But then we have other things, you know where there are food deserts, you know How far away does somebody have to go to access healthy food? I think those are all you know questions of community development that you know, we could are glad to help with Thank you. Thank you councillor jang other questions from the city council Hearing none. Thank you very much. Mr. Baker and shaman trough for that report from the CCRPC Appreciate and sorry you had to wait It's a long Hearing no objection, we will waive the reading except the report in place of the file Moving ahead now to item number five, which is committee reports any committee chair who would like to report to us on committee activity Councillor pine I just wanted to report that the community development and neighborhood revitalization committee Was in planning to meet jointly with the ordinance committee tomorrow, but in light of the Recent events in Pittsburgh and the community vigil that will happen That we decided to postpone that meeting So folks could attend that Encourage folks to attend thank you councillor pine make sense councillor Tracy and then councillor Dean Thank you very much president right as part of the motion that was sent to the Tuke regarding the reuse sites. We had a meeting last week and discussed the reopening of the reuse sites potentially some strategies to Hopefully deal with that need here in Burlington one idea that I thought was particularly good that councillor busher Brought to the table was that of doing so on a volunteer basis or having volunteers staff those sites Other issues that were explored were issues of how we communicate to the public Around availability of those resources and how they might be able to do that. We also directed the CSWD Representative mr. Green to bring that feedback and the strong desire of Burlington to see those sites Reopened to the CSWD and what we're working on now is to understand accurately what Actually happened at the subsequent CSWD meeting that night such that we can Understand what exactly has has happened at that committee level. Thank you Thank you for that update councillor Tracy councillor Dean and then councillor Hartnett. Thank you president right I would just like to Make the council aware of the fact that the licensing committee Has been addressing and beginning to address the issue of the central peddling district in the downtown specifically we had a Suggestion for providing additional food truck options for food trucks within the central peddling district. I think this excited some concern on the part of The council so they're at our last meeting I shared a resolution with the other members of the licensing committee which discusses a A process to actually look at their central peddling district which has not been touched in 20 years With a special ad hoc committee suggested ad hoc committee. We're still Investigating and I'm getting input from my fellow committee members, but we're hoping to bring this before The council at our next Meeting on the 13th. I did share that with councillor the text of that with the president right as well for his input Yes, thank you. Thank you councillor Dean councillor Hartnett. Yeah update from the pack We actually got a lot going on I first want to touch on a town hall meeting which will be here on December 6th And it's probably the second step in the auditorium and so where we're at there What the process looks like and more community input so that will be December 6th A town hall style meeting that will be the next pack meeting and that will be the only Item on the agenda that night, so it'll be right here in con toys so I would encourage everybody to come to that and See where our see where we're at in that process Two other things I'd like to mention We're in as we believe it or not getting close to New Year's Eve and the city arts is kicking off Their New Year's Eve event, which is going to be called highlight You're going to hear a lot more about that in the coming weeks I think there's kind of a grand kickoff on November 15th. Hopefully a big press conference But city arts has worked hard It looks like it's coming together fairly well It should be a pretty exciting night and I think we're very fortunate To have such a great arts Programming in our city and I think highlight Is going to be a big success here on New Year's Eve and I think that's Attribute to our values here in Burlington And the third thing I would like to mention is just at our last pack meeting And then also attended a press conference as well, but oak ledge for all presented also at the pack If you guys aren't familiar with this program And what it's all about I would encourage everybody to take a look at this. It was an exciting day down at oak ledge I haven't been to a press conference like that in a long time. It was it was freezing cold But to hear the speakers that spoke that day from their heart and to hear their personal stories And how it affects their families Was it was something like I haven't heard really in a long long time and it was just Really stuck with me and I and I think it just just another benefit of who we are here in Burlington And I hope that we can all get on board and being engaged in that it was unfortunate that their grand opening was canceled Saturday due to weather But this is a group that is determined. I know the city has partnered with them the parks foundation Is is a kind of partnered with them and it's going to be when they're all completed It's going to be an amazing amazing park that we can all be proud of so thanks Thank you. Councillor Hartnett council roof Thank you president right Public safety committee Has set a date to meet which will be next month on the 15th at 5 30 will probably be in room 12 will take up two items first being the encampment removal policy That was just released by the city attorney's office To me I think today actually or yesterday. So now that that policy is out I'm going to share it widely And we're going to have about a little more than two weeks for that policy to breathe in public and then we'll have Our time with it at the public safety committee. We'll also be looking at a proposal for how to move forward with improving access to public bathrooms in the downtown on that meeting as well Thank you. Councillor roof any other councillor any other committee chair Hearing none we'll close out item number five and item number six is city council on general city affairs Any city councillor councillor hartnett and then councillor busher? Yes A big shout out to the burlington boy soccer team a big game tomorrow at cvu at three o'clock summery finals So we'll be rooting for them I plan on attending and then coming right here afterwards to the vigil and But I do want to recognize they've had a a great season They were the 13th seed in the state And they've knocked off the fourth seed and they've knocked off the fifth seed and tomorrow's big game is against the number one seed cvu And so we're rooting for the bhs boy soccer team and we wish them luck Thank you councillor hartnett councillor busher Thank you. First of all, I wanted to um Note something that was in the consent agenda It was the certificate of achievement for excellence in financial reporting award That went to um our Treasurer's office. And so I wanted to congratulate everyone in that office But certainly the chief administrative officer beth anderson and the director of financial operations rich goodwin um So I just wanted to acknowledge The good work that all of you have done and that um, it must be very satisfying for you to have External eyes recognize that work and um, so anyways, congratulations um, the second thing has nothing to do with Congratulations, it just wants I just want to report something that's going on in in my neighborhood, um And it has to do with um, most of it's going on the community garden that is um in ward one And there's been significant vandalism destructive vandalism We have a shed that has tools in it and someone actually ripped The wooden door and lock off And I don't know how they did this but um and then through that and had access to tools I don't know what was taken but some of those tools were used to dig up people's treasure Really harvest of leaks and things that take forever to grow um, just mean-spirited things breaking plants and and stealing hay and um It's something that's really hard to understand who does this Um, it doesn't seem to come from a point of need It seems to come from a point of greed and destruction and sometimes I I question whether the people that are doing it, um Are intoxicated when it's just vandalism and sometimes when they're taking vegetables I I don't know what their purpose is Um, so I just wanted people to just be aware that people are On my street are trying to watch dog And trying to figure out um Who could possibly be responsible for these acts And if you're watching and you know that you or someone you know has Taken action like this. I just want people to remember that if this was your stuff No matter what it was computer whatever Um, you don't want someone destroying it. So please be considerate. Thank you Thank you councillor busher councillor pine um, just want to point out that the um City has adopted the uh, I believe it's the city perhaps it's the marketplace, but the um, I think they're called green ride bikes They're very green and they have their own Bike racks and as a regular bicyclist I'm really excited to see this service and this this provided as a as a service, but There's 12 racks out there for those bikes and there's three for the rest of us who just ride regular old bikes And so I don't know how we can more equitably distribute But the prime parking in front of city hall is taken entirely by those bikes And I was told by someone while I was putting my regular bike on that rack that it wasn't intended for regular bikes And so it's as though the the one bike is now more important than the other and I think we ought to just be Treat them all the same which is great access to great facilities for everyone and right now it's uh The the latest shiniest object are the green ride share bikes and they're definitely at a higher Higher the hierarchy is suggesting that they're more important than regular bikes We don't need any discrimination or about against real bikes Thank you councillor pine Councillor jay So this is one issue that is happening in the new north end and I'm pretty sure maybe the new north end counselors have heard about it And if you know franklin square Behind franklin square, there is this green area They're very beautiful wetland beautiful trees And we know that the youth conversation corp and also some uvm student did a wonderful job cleaning it up So A constituent of mine gym carrier who's a wonderful guy, you know been putting it on prompt for him and also sent us an email But the issue that I come across is Sometimes you don't know what the city owns and also what Burlington housing authority owns, you know, we know when there were problems about lights It was fixed by Burlington electric department And we know also that road will be but that specific area I don't know where to start Should we talk to Burlington housing authority or should we talk to Prax and rec or I don't I don't know exactly what city department we need to Talk to to try to solve this problem And most importantly for this to not happen again Not only to clean it up, but how do we make sure we monitor that beautiful green area? So that's a question of mine And the second thing that I wanted to talk is November 6. I'm pretty sure we all know Let's all make sure that our constituents will show up strong and vote Yes, let's let's all work together on that. Thank you, councillor jane Councillor paul. No All right, any other city councillor? Hearing none We'll conclude that item and number seven is city council updates not much here just reminding people that there is a Work session plan for our next city council meeting from probably six to seven on the rules issue out of charter change So everybody make sure that you've read the proposed rule changes before we have that work session and be prepared to discuss Lastly, I did plan on mentioning what councillor jane mentioned and so I will just reiterate a week from tomorrow is election day um Please vote number one and also remember if you have absentee ballots mail them in times getting short You can come to city hall and vote in person still right up through this week So we want everybody to take the opportunity to vote and You know do the right thing and vote and there's no subliminal message there either so With that I'll conclude that item and go to item number eight, which is the mayor on general city affairs Mr. Mayor Thank you president right Appreciate the chance to update the council on the public on A number of items. Thank you council hardener for mentioning the oak ledge for all event. It was exciting event marking the Completion of phase one which of what is really envisioned to be a two-phase project. So there are three new pieces of parks Playground equipment that have been installed and that are usable by the public that are fully accessible pieces of of equipment they are certainly usable for children and Individuals with mobility issues, but they're also usable by all members really a universal design and something that Everyone I think would enjoy Encouraged counselors If you're down in that area check it out because I think it is important to see this and understand phase two Is going to be a substantially harder phase. It's coming next. It's going to require it's going to be More expensive phase. It's going to require a substantial amount of private Contributions the way it's been envisioned and good news in response to the press conference last week We got a $50,000 check today. So it seems that that fundraising is Is off to a good start but more more to come on That playground. It really is a unique resource within Really the region's parks offerings at this point. We hope to make it more so Um had the chance to check out the conan maker spaces last week And this is another interesting thing happening in the city, which is quite exciting. I think Often when change comes There's initial concern about it. Um, and I can think of a number of times in the south end where We have had change whether it was specialty filaments closing shop or Resource moving out real questions about what would happen next Steve conan. Um, if you have not had a chance to be in that building yet, I'd encourage people to check it It's really quite a remarkable collection of Organizations and businesses that are there that he is curating very carefully And I think that really has the opportunity to fuel how another generation of innovation down in the south end And it does it just I share with the council it feels to me that this is part of a broader trend that that's Happening where we have a really new and kind of interesting ways of Different types of businesses being collected together and In different types of workspaces and adding value as a result of these configurations What is happening at the former blodgett site? Is on its way to a similar transformation Under the name now of hula burlington, which there is a website up people might want to check out And what is being talked about as part of the cambrian rise project, which is also an accelerator type workspace these feel different to me than A lot of our kind of past Workspaces in burlington and it feels like an interesting and positive economic development trend More good news with the council's support We did announce last week that the low barrier Shelter at the located here in the downtown is opening for a Fourth season and this time it will not close until june, which is a first up until now We have always closed in early to mid april There was concern about that last year and with the additional funds in the city's budget this year That season will be extended. It will also be measured will be Really looking to see whether having this facility open For a longer period of time Is becomes another important tool in the city's offerings when we are engaged with the homeless population and in a variety of ways, so this is a Welcome news. We really appreciate the work of our our partner the community health center of burlington Which has now for this will be the third year of there managing this This effort the atmosphere that they create there the way in which they've managed the program has been extremely effective There is a role for volunteers who would like to help support this effort There are opportunities to help cook Warm meals that are provided throughout the the cold weather season And you can find more information about that online A couple last items, uh, I do want to compliment the parks recreation and waterfront team. They Put a lot of creativity into this weekend event the halloween bike ride, which just took place Yesterday, it's a ninth year that this has happened. Um, large really wouldn't happen I don't think without incredible personal energy put into this by John Adams callets This year was the best edition yet. There may be controversy about bike issues around the city in a variety of ways There is no controversy that the best Costume was a new north end costume. You got to check it out online. Liam Griffin had a scale replica of uh luke skywalkers, um Ship which took down the uh the death the uh Death star, uh, it was quite with a Complete with a r2 dito version of milo in the back seat is it was quite something great event and It's really quite something the way the communities responded the sponsorships felinas Was behind it and helped feed everyone. It was a great event Um, there's another great event happening thursday Up the street up college street if you haven't been by college street recently Next time you go by you'll see a huge change when you get to what used to be the ethan allen club It's not there anymore. It hasn't been there for a few weeks and a new building is beginning to rise from the site The ceremonial groundbreaking Is taking place this thursday at 11 a.m for the new YMCA facility. This is a project decades in the making in many ways Real achievement for the organization that after years of work. They have gotten this project off the ground and uh Anyone who can is is welcome to be part of the event on Thursday morning at 11 a.m at the site the former ethan allen club up on college street And finally, I guess it has been noted a couple times But I do want to add my thanks and appreciation to the clerk treasurer's office, which has been working hard For weeks now to for the upcoming election. It does appear that This has been the trend in recent years more and more people are taking advantage of these early voting opportunities Which is what we hope they would do and what they were designed to do But it takes a lot of work from the clerk treasurer's office for that actually to succeed and We we thank the whole team that's making it happen and and remind everyone they have a week left to come in and vote Here at city hall Up through the monday before the election And then again for just I think the second or third election We will have same day registration at the polls on tuesday again for this election So if you have not registered yet, that is not a problem. You can do so right up through election day That is what I've got president right Thank you, mr. Mayor. Are you sure you don't have one other item you'd like to mention? Well You know you want to Since you mentioned it My congratulations go out to the 2018 boston redsox for their successful run through to play off for those. I think dan shaughnessy really kind of captured it in the article this morning said for for Individuals of a certain age redsox fans of a certain age. This is like being in a an alternate universe For those of us who were formed prior to 2004 this is a welcome change and This this team was really quite quite something special. I think I'd have to say president Right. I think this goes down there as one of the great all-time teams for many franchise Without it. I just said you should mention it mr. Mayor I gave you an opening to mention it Um, yes, it was zero for my lifetime until 15 years ago now. Okay, anyway I know you're at game one and that was exciting. So I wanted to give you the opportunity to mention that Thank you, mr. Mayor. Okay with that we will conclude that and uh item number nine is a communication from city attorney blackwood regarding An executive session on collective bargaining city attorney blackwood Yes, I'd like to give you an update on some collective bargaining and so we could uh, I don't I also have a quick update on a on a one of our litigation matters that I'd like to add at the end of that So we need we can use a motion to Make a finding that premature disclosure of the information that's going to be conveyed and to obtain legal advice Um Would put the city at a disadvantage councillor mason I'd like to make that motion president right Motion made by councillor mason seconded by councillor shannon any discussion All those in favor of the findings, please say aye. I may have posed With that councillor mason the second motion. Thank you president right I'd like to make a motion that based on that finding we go into executive session Is there any action coming out or will this be the end of our no no action expected? So would that council ride will defer to us to whether to let channel 17 go or keep them around Um City attorney blackwood, do you have any expectation of how long this might take is it Is it an update? It's I mean, I know it's probably hard to tell but Um, it it's long. It's it's not like one minute long It's More than it's a longer update than longer than a minute. It's a more substantive. Okay. All right So we'll clear the seconded by councillor shannon and all those in favor, please say aye Opposed we'll move into executive session And uh