 All right being 6 p.m. On Monday August 19th. I'd like to call to order the regular meeting of the Winnieski City Council We will begin with the please join me. Please join us in the Pledge of Allegiance led by Councilor Mike Myers First up we have a gender review this is a chance to make an ingest Agenda Next is our public comment This is space to make a comment about anything that is not included on the today's agenda if there's an item on the agenda Please wait until that item comes up Any public? All right? Next we have our consent agenda Up for approval we have our city council minutes from July 15th payroll warrant ending June 30 to July 13th July 14 to July 29 July 28 to August 10 and we're ending August 5th to I'm sorry August 5th 813 and subsequent payout to June a Hickok Street loan documents water and wastewater and town health officer term to expire August 31st Are there any questions about the consent agenda? Any questions from the public I would entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda items Motion by how second by Mike all those in favor, please say aye. Hi motion carries city updates. Great. Thank you It's nice to see you all And just want to friendly Give you a friendly reminder that we will see each other twice this week We're main tonight and then again on Wednesday night with the join me with the school trustees up at the school district at 6 o'clock Couple other updates for today we today we issued Paul Sarn My belief is here issued a press release announcing our official partnership with Park mobile That is the parking app that is used by our neighboring community So UVM the airport and Burlington people are very familiar with using that we use parking apps So we are implementing it here in when you ski as well as part of our customer service improvement Process and excellent job to Heather and Angela and John Audie and Paul for kicking that off as well as public works for Installing all the signage you'll see going up around the city We are also actively recruiting for a part-time and per diem fire fighters Those are folks usually community residents who live in the community or live close to the community and can be on Call to respond to fires typically off hours Chief Audie and Paul Sarn Used a really innovative technique and actually partnered with channel 17 to develop a recruitment video That shows what the experience of being a part-time firefighter in when you ski is like So I encourage people who are interested to go on to the website when you ski vt. Gov check out that video It's also just a really great video and thank you to channel 17 for partnership And if you're interested in serving as a volunteer firefighter, please be in touch with myself or a chief Audie Um tonight on your agenda, we're going to be talking about commission liaison appointments after we Discuss that tonight. You'll be contacted by the staff liaison for each of the commissions We've gotten a great response from folks interested in serving on our revamped commissions So we'll be setting up interviews in the next couple of weeks with candidates and the council liaison and the staff liaison In the hopes of bringing back recommendations to the council for appointment We are continuing to work with Champlain housing trust on a affordable housing home ownership Development down at the front of the O'Brien community center site as you may remember We signed a pre-development agreement with them about that last year So we have been Heather and I have been meeting with CHT and their architects and team and their design team to think about What that product could look like and are excited to bring you Proposals on that over time. We are also working with our architect to ensure that we are Retaining enough space at the front of the OCC if we decide to move City Hall down there in the in the future in the future But we are are figuring out what the square footage for that need to be As you may have heard sister Pat and her wonderful peace initiative group and Counselor Coulson may also be announcing this are Putting together an international day of peace event on Saturday, September 21st from 5 30 to 7 at the Wudewski senior center All are welcome to attend and we thank St. Stephen's church for providing the dinner But certainly the mayor and council are very much encouraged to attend and sister Pat would love to see you that evening As we approach fall and think about kind of re-engaging we do have a number of volunteer opportunities available Certainly serving on one of our boards and commissions. We're also looking for volunteers to support meals on wheels Senior center morning support and nutrition support if you're looking for a way to volunteer at the senior center And then our circles of accountability our support and accountability our COSA circles are looking for volunteers here at City Hall and if you're interested in any of those opportunities feel free to stop into City Hall or Go to our website Wudewski VT.gov and Then just a few fun announcements from community services department reminder about fun upcoming events The next Wudewski Wednesday event will be on September 4th with the Wildeek River group We are we've had a lot of success this summer with some DIY and drop-in Events down at the O'Brien community center. So we're going to continue those into the fall Those are a Tuesday do-it-yourself crafts event from three to five every Tuesday at the O'Brien community center And then we're doing a drop-in youth dance program Thursday afternoons at the OCC at four o'clock for young people and that will run through This month actually and next month We have an adult three-on-three basketball tournament happening on September 11th and September 12th If adult three-on-three members are interested in joining Registration deadline for that is September 4th And then of course our football and soccer registration is open and you can register either through City Hall or on our website Thank you very much. Thank you Next up we have council reports. Can I sit down here again? Sure so this month have been primarily focusing on work to Expand on the recommendations of the equity dialogue around expanding one of the goals. We'll be talking about this on Wednesday as well So I'll save a little bit of progress report on that, but that's been both of my time Basically ditto, I've been working on the equity leadership council as it is all the equity summit And we'll be reporting out this Wednesday at the council meeting Definitely look forward to both of those I First want to mention that on Was it Monday Wednesday? Myself Paul Sarn and Heather Carrington traveled to Springfield, Vermont to accept a $450,000 grant from the Northern Borders Regional Commission This money is going to be used to support Infrastructure for underground and utilities in the Main Street project So this gets us closer to being able to achieve that vision while also mitigating the impact on taxpayers So we're very excited about this grant and thank you to our congressional delegation who gave us a definitely give us a hand on winning that I Attended the Housing Commission There's gonna be an update on that today on the agenda so I won't go into detail I also Attended the Vermont Community Leadership Summit and represented our city discussing The revitalization of our downtown and now the work that we are doing in the Main Street project and also Summa Cormac and Kesha Rahm were there presenting on the work that they have done with us with the equity summit and the ongoing dialogue Someone who's he had a good presence there Have also had several meetings with our state senators of Chittenden County as well as our congressional delegation and their staff Just to talk about priorities priorities in our city as they are thinking about the next legislative session You know we have the school project funding for that We've got this Main Street work infrastructure needs the potential the noise mitigation for F-35 so just trying to get the word out about what our needs are what we're kind of focused on right now and Finally I had a nice I Reached out to the mosque over on Malts Bay Avenue and set up a meeting there With some of the elders and had a nice Visit kind of sharing a little bit about how the city council works how you can be engaged in the city of Winnowsky And then heard from them some of their concerns and I You know we've been talking about this via email as a group about how we can do more of this kind of direct outreach to different groups that we have in the community, so If anyone is listening to this and you're like come talk to my whatever organization, please please let me know That's it I will pass to you. Thank you So downtown Winnowsky had French Heritage Day a couple weeks ago at the farmers market and they reported that it was a huge success They had about two thousand people come through the market, which is more than double the normal attendance So they were feeling really good about that Thank you to mayor law for being a judge and passing out meat pie. I heard that that was a Yes, very happy feel-good event They are also starting to gear up for Halloween Which seems you know unbelievable that we're at that point already, but it's true And they are looking for volunteers So if folks are interested you can email info at downtown Winnowsky.org to get involved and Just to mark your calendars Halloween will be the weekend of October 26 I have a couple things to report I stopped by the pool about a month ago to see how the construction was going and I was so surprised to see what I saw they raised the roof about a foot and a half The pools were the pool was taken out and I stopped there this afternoon and they're actually starting to dig into the competition pool 90% of the concrete work on the on the pool house the building will be completed tomorrow if the weather holds out and As far as I know talking to Russell contracting that the schedule is on pace to be completed on time And there have been no major changes or surprises as you know I would Which is a good thing. I also started a conversation with the city Winnowsky housing About the senior center and how we can get the senior center on instead of having missed opportunity there to see if we can Get some more members involved some more newsy housing people involved That's in the very beginning stages. So stay tuned. I have more to report on the senior center in the future. Awesome. Thank you With that let's move into our regular items. The first thing we have on the agenda is a resolution honoring a Long-time member of our community who has just contributed decades of service Rita Martell born and raised in Winnowsky has Well, you'll hear more in a moment We'll be leaving our city soon, but still be involved and we wanted to take some time to recognize you Would you like to come up so I can read your resolution? Whereas the city of Winnowsky is proud to acknowledge the legacy of community service and the leadership of Rita Martell and Whereas Rita Martell served as the president of the Winnowsky Historical Society for over 20 years continues to serve as the vice president and host tours and open houses and Whereas Rita Martell was integrally involved in the publishing of the first formal history devoted solely to Winnowsky The first printed photographic history of Winnowsky a printed English translation of the early history of Winnowsky's Franco-American community and the Winnowsky Historical Society's quarterly newsletter bulletin and Whereas Rita Martell has also volunteered for Meals on Wheels the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging and the Vermont Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired and Whereas Rita Martell has held a number of volunteer positions with the Winnowsky Senior Center and Whereas Rita Martell co-founded Advocates for Better Care an effort for which she was awarded 1999 Vermont Elder of the Year and Whereas Rita Martell has regularly participated in Operation Bloom beautifying city space with bright flowers and Whereas Rita Martell is a consistent participant in public meetings and conversation Gives generously of her historic knowledge and wisdom and is seen as a resource by many Now therefore be it resolved that the residents of Winnowsky have immeasurably benefited from Rita Martell's Contributions to the city and we acknowledge that the city is not only losing a leader, but a beloved neighbor and community member Sign the resolution later we will be presenting you with a copy and I only met you in the last couple of years Rita, but I've been very impressed. I see you around it Just contributing all the time. I'm very happy to have gotten to know you and glad to hear that you'll still be coming around the city Though your residents may not be here and Thank you for folks who came out to Recognize her as well with us Moving on to less exciting things just kidding Joe Our next item is the appointment of Joe Perrin to the Planning Commission. Would you like to come up briefly? So Joe Perrin was appointed as an alternate to our Planning Commission last fall I'm not sure how long it's been Yes, and Joe was coming to meetings for a long time anyhow and contributing There have been some changes in membership and the Commission would like to appoint Joe to a instead of alternate to the full-time seat Filling a role that has recently been vacated Joe brings a lot of Historical knowledge of the city of Gnuski and his history in general. Is there anything that you want to share? How has your time been since you officially joined? You know, it's the best hour week I spent As far as the information shared about the city, I walk away from a richer person every time So I'm very grateful to be able to serve with the Planning Commission And it really is wonderful to hear some of the issues that I see in the city being talked about and discussed in a thoughtful way So I'm very grateful for that time Thank you Are there any questions from council? Any questions from the public? All right, we thank you for your service thus far and are excited to have you continue I would entertain a motion to approve the appointment of Joe Perrin to the Planning Commission Motion by Amy second by Mike all those in favor, please say aye. Motion carries. Thank you, Joe Thank you, and thank you for taking the time to honor Rita's wonderful legacy. I really appreciate it We're happy to do so. Can we take just a three-minute recess to congratulate? Yeah, I Will call a three-minute recess. We will reconvene at 621 Motion carries the resolution is approved. Who made the motion you seconded? I made the motion. I was too excited And it's been so long since we had a meeting Yes, okay, I'll call us back to order then we will reconvene the city council meeting now Thank you All right, we are now on to item C Which is approval approval potential approval of appointments to the Green Mountain Transit Board I would like to call up Austin Davis and Mercy Ryan, please Welcome So So thank you for coming The city of Winooski provides a representative to the Green Mountain Transit Board to speak for us on our behalf for public transit in the area Ray and I interviewed a couple of appointees. He's He's on vacation Ray had been serving as the alternate on the commission and knows a lot more about it than I do, but anyhow, we have selected Austin to serve as our Appoint our first appointment and Marcy to serve as our alternate appointment Austin comes to us from the Chamber of Commerce He also resides in Winooski and I think he recently bought a home here, right? Yeah And used to be a daily writer is now a little bit less involved I have some good ideas about how to the future of transit and how to Work within what's going on with the Chamber of Commerce Marcy is a Winooski resident who is a daily writer and also experiences using SSTA and trying to use the system as a disabled user and has a lot of Sounds like a lot of very good connections in the community and does a lot of outreach and community engagement So Ray and I were very excited about both of them and the viewpoints that they could bring What I would give you each a moment to talk about what you're excited about in serving in this role I started working in this in seven days when I was in college, so I'm curious to see how it changed With GMTA instead of being CCTA alone since it's become a combined board and to see how it works Hopefully better with SSTA It's not really functioning that well. Hopefully we can make it work better than it was Yeah, I welcome the opportunity to get more involved in the Winooski community as he said I'm a newer resident I just bought a home on West Spring Street with my wife last April I wrote the Montpilier-Link Express for the first few years of my career Out of college made a huge difference not having to buy or purchase a car Right out of college instead being able to to use that as a resource to get some early internships And then some of my first jobs I still ride it Some will frequently like to ride it more if we can make it more dependable So that'd be something I really am interested in Bringing access and dependability to the service because ultimately that's what keeps people keeps people using it in my previous role and my current role I hear from Employers frequently about issues that they have and issues of dependability that keep their employees from using The bus system so excited to bring that perspective and in my previous employment I worked with a trade association that worked with clean energy in the state solar wind hydro but as well as EV electric vehicle charging of a structure and some of the early electric buses we had Handed so really excited to see how Gt is taking up that that charge that for my voters have brought to them and Thank you Are there any questions from council Leave your applications and such were included in the packet so Any questions from the public? Right Well, I know Ray and I were both excited that you're both vocal and we think you'll do a good job You know advocating for for the needs of our residents so With that, I would entertain a motion to approve the appointments of Austin Davis and Mercy Ryan Motion by Mike second by Jim all those in favor, please say aye. Hi motion carries. You are both our new appointees Thank you. Thank you and Ray will be in touch with you to help get you start Our next item on the agenda is an event permit for West Street block party Heather will join us for I'm also inviting Dakota Brisen Dean up as she is the one who runs this and is the brains behind it So staff has received an event permit application for the sixth annual West Street block party And this event includes a street closure on West Street between River and Elm Street So that's why we require city council approval that closure will be from 11 a.m. To 1 p.m. On Saturday August 31st And this event is done in partnership with the Winooski police department who comes out and they grill burgers And all of the neighbors come out and they do a meet and greet So it's been a great community building event in the past and staff recommends approval for the event And is there anything new this year Dakota? No, nothing new just a yeah, we partnered the Winooski police and Rick typically gets a bouncy house for the old kids and they grow out neighbors bring food I've heard I've heard much about this over the years. I'm excited to actually attend this year I'm curious how you how this like how this got started how you pulled it together like I feel like other Could learn I think it really came together just initially You know folks I grew up in Winooski But we bought a house on West Street in my adult life with my two kids And I sort of see people around and everyone says like oh we should get together sometime or you know You see your neighbors in the summer, but you don't really connect and then years would go by and no one would connect and so Finally one year. We said let's do a block party. Let's make this happen And so a few of us sort of just got together and figured out what was required I don't even know how we got involved with the police I think Rick heard about it and reached out and said he'd be willing to donate like hamburgers and hot dogs For the event which was great. And so the first year was a little you know quiet and rickety But then we kind of pulled it together and each year it's kind of grown and last year We had a fantastic turnout and a lot of people brought food and there was like flower crowns being made and all kinds of fun stuff So yeah, it's just kind of growing over the years And I just have my kids like hand out flyers along the street to let people know that it's happening and People kind of show up with what they show up with Yeah, and just for the public's information, it's not just for West Street residents Yeah, open to the open everyone Yeah Any questions from council To most of your neighbors from West Street, do most people attend it or is it more from other places? I would say a majority of our neighbors attend. I think Yeah, I don't know how to like calculate it in a number I'm not even sure how many people live on the street, but I would say the more attend than don't probably And it is a little bit of an inconvenience shutting down the street for the folks that live on the street But we have it open for people to get in and out if they need to and it's never seemed to be an issue in the past So I'm gonna say there's nothing negative that's been from it either. So This is the fifth year Well, good job, that's that's good to see people doing like that stuff in our in our city because Not every neighbor knows every neighbor. It's a great way to introduce people or just get together. So thank you Any questions from the public All right So I would entertain a motion to approve the event permit for the West Street block party Motion by Amy second by Hal all those in favor, please say aye. I motion carries. Thank you Yes The next item for our agenda is discussion of year in reporting from our treasurer Alex Anastasi Hill Just on a kind of a very light overview The city when you see I can report confidently that the city Through the 2018 2019 fiscal year retains its healthy financial size with a little bit of luck will be there for another 88 and a half years Kind of you know, though the operating revenue accounts are continuing to drip a little bit lower The expenses across all departments were oppressively under budget So it's something that all the department heads and the city staff should be proud of It was just generally across the board along with that all deficits have In quarter two and quarter three were already recognized or there are no sudden changes in quarter four that the city council or staff should be concerned about Reviewing to the general fund initially appears that there is a deficit of $181,000 But 259,000 was invested back into the city including costs for the equity summit fire department equipment So really at an operational level the general fund Operated a surplus of seventy eight thousand and then reviewing enterprise funds kind of as a whole There's a lot of non operational activity going on related to the spinner play settlement and so forth There's a lot of up and downs, but across the board They kind of operated a break-even level, which I think is a good as a good goal for the city because we're not really trying to Accrue revenue from the city or trying to return it back into the into the citizens Does the council have any questions? There's a lot of little in and outs and if there's any details that need to be investigated I'm happy to do so I Had a question about the parking tickets and this is probably not necessarily for you But just the city in general one of the things that popped out to me was that parking tickets are down 17,000 Just was curious if we think that's a good thing or not so good thing and why that is so Off from where we projected we would be I had I had noted it. I am typically within one Within one quarter of it suddenly a surprise. I don't raise it is a concern I'm parking in general has been down the past couple quarters, but not significantly enough for me to Some say something needs to change room. This is something that's under control I think naturally you're gonna have ebbs and flows throughout the year But it is I have noted it and it's something that in the next report I will follow up on that as well and see if something has changed drastically, but if Jesse has any other Yeah, so from an operation perspective We had a vacancy in one of our parking enforcement officers for about three months over the winter So there were there are a number of hours each week that were not covered by Enforcement so you do see some ticket issuance decline during those kinds of staffing vacancies We're full fully staffed down. In fact, we have Slightly adjusted how we staffed to cover more hours of the enforcement week So I anticipate that that will take back up, but I do think for Alex's suggestion It's a good thing to look at seasonally In the new year as compared to the the past year to see how that to get issuance Proceeds forward. I also, you know, if Chief Audie were here What he would say is that we really do focus more on education than enforcement So the tickets that are issued are clearly people who are in knowingly in violation But we also issue a fair amount of warnings and educational material on first and second offenses to ensure that people understand Our systems before we kind of take that heavy-handed enforcement approach additionally with some of the you know with the park mobile implementation and Chief Audie and Angela are working on Upgrading our kiosks to touch screens. We believe that we have some really good customer service improvements coming So hopefully the whole system will be more user-friendly and if that is true in theory We should see ticket issuance continue to decrease with parking revenues increase Any other questions from council any questions from the public all right, well, thank you For your continued diligent reporting for us Alex. Thank you. I know I'm usually kind of on the back end but kind of certify that Things are boring So our next item on the agenda will be commissioned liaison appointments Jesse you put together a nice chart for us sure. So the mayor and I were interested in just we had made liaison assignments with the old commission structure, but with the Revamped commission structure. We want to give you an opportunity to just revisit those liaison assignments And clarify them. So as we move forward into this new model Everyone's on the same page So I guess my first question would be for folks who are already assigned if you are looking to stick with Where you're at or if you're looking for a change I think I would say if you And how would you want to maintain the safe healthy connected one I'm interested in the charter And like I'm good with public works. I think that's municipal And Amy You're not really a commission liaison, but right you're downtown and administrator holes. Yeah Yeah, so I'd be happy to hop on any of these that need a liaison I Obviously will be sticking with planning commission that is per the charter How I would like to see you on the charter commission I think given your experience already in that work and in your role as rep. Yep I think that would that would work for me. Sure I personally would like to take on the finance commission Are there any is anyone Itching to get at that I Would say though that because of my commission load I think that there is an opportunity for someone else to step in on the housing commission I might pump that to either of you given the safety connected Yeah, I would be interested in the housing commission Do you feel that having To that you can do to commission Yeah, and I've been on Reconfigure safe healthy for you know, a couple years Yeah Did we just slot them all of them? So can I repeat them to put yeah Make sure I'm planning commission the mayor safe healthy connected people how municipal infrastructure Mike finance the mayor Housing Jim charter how downtown when you ski Amy administrative Lee is on Amy That sounds right that we want to agree Thank you While we're on this topic though, I need to bring up that we had discussed previously about sending somebody to represent us at the Airport commission meetings, even though we don't have an official role there right now These meetings take place the third Wednesday of the month at 4 p.m So I think there's one this Wednesday, but we will all be at the school We don't need to make a commitment at the moment But I wanted to so this could be a role that one of us feels we could also look for an interested community member So I want to put it out there to see if anybody is particularly interested in following the airport happenings or If you know someone in the community that you think is And then we can talk about It's not really an appointment because we don't have an official role, but we could kind of firm that up at the next meeting we have Actually, I'm interested. I've had a long-term relationship with Jean Richards. Oh, interesting. Okay. I would be yeah Happy to serve that way. Does anyone else love airport information? And I'd certainly be happy to be a backup if you aren't able to make it or share information if that helps Cool Let's talk more about that and I can get more information to you about Those meetings it did look like looking at their previous agendas. They only last about an hour usually so That's exciting Yes Jesse you had mentioned that the after this assignment that the staff liaisons would be in touch with us about new membership, I Think the other thing to consider is as we have discussed since the Strategy and policy meeting that we had about creating kind of work plans to give these commissions goals for the year I have actually worked with planning commission and housing already on theirs Staff is prepared to so it's the the staff and council liaison supporting the chair of each commission So as the membership is firmed up You'll have an opportunity to help support The commission chair create that rule all staff will be there to support you And I would also just like to offer myself as well to help but you might not be taking that on quite immediately as we Should be doing more appointments at our next meeting. I imagine yeah, how has that you said earlier that it's been a They've they've been coming in strongly is that I mean Numbers there for each for each commission or is there one leaning more for one or So they're all a little different in that they're for the commissions that have previous commissions so Public works for example, there's a pretty strong membership already and people who are interested in continuing to serve So we know who of each of those of current commission commissioners are interested in being re-appointed And then there are some new applicants as well So I think the staff's idea is to bring you new applicants to interview And then to take into consideration new applicants and those currently serving who are interested in continuing For I think from the staff perspective There is some interest in having some continuity where people have been serving in our interest in continuing to serve For the Charter Commission, I believe we have about Seven applicants for finance do we have we have two applicants for finance? So that is somewhere where We would seek your help and you know getting the word out about that commission and that opportunity I think for all the other commissions We have at least enough to fill a commission with a few more applicants in some cases Does that answer your question like it does now The other thing is if we have say for example the seven for the Charter if we we pick our is there's five members and two Alternates, so all of them possibly come on Charter Commission if we get no more applicants If we don't and if we approve it now Would it make sense to see if they want to if they if we're not gonna pick them for that one commission If they would be interested in going to another commission Yeah, yeah, we actually did that with another candidate for GMT that we didn't select as a finalist And I think she ended up applying for one of our other commissions So it's absolutely a good idea if somebody's interested in serving. Well, I just don't want to miss any opportunity with volunteers Yeah, some of volunteers it's Yeah, and we'll have and the liaisons and the staff will have opportunities have conversations with everyone who's applied and To send exactly that message of you know If this isn't right for you of is there another commission But I do encourage you especially for finance I guess You know, these are policy extension arms of of you all So if there are folks in the community who you often, you know We know in the social science research that people Especially women and people of color don't apply for things unless they're directly invited to participate So if you know people in the community who you think would be good voices at our shared tables I'd really encourage you to do some direct outreach. We don't on the staff side We do that when we're kind of having active conversations, but we don't see it as We see it as a little bit intruding into your policy world to recruit heavily like that Whereas it really is your your policy role to you know, pull the voices in that you want to see at those tables Yes, if you know that's super in the finance or any of these other I'm thinking of Alex or Angela have friends at Any questions from the public on commission these are appointments Robert Do we have to go down that? Yeah, we haven't had a meeting in a month, and I have really gotten to see Well, that's true see I Have a question before we get in yeah, yeah, the airport Appointment we're not really voting on that one. No, but do you think it makes sense to do it like that? One month one person does it next month Just so we all kind of get involved with the airport would that make sense or just you want one No, you know, we could try that as a new approach because it's not an appointment, right right now We're just sending a person what just because you know, I don't want to put too much on someone's plate either Mm-hmm. I like that idea Mike. I will get the schedule and Get you all looped in and then whoever whoever goes that month can bring the update back to Then it takes some off someone's playing like Same James so likes to likes to serve on I love I Any other any other Comments questions I just was wondering if there's been any more discussion about Moving the night of the Commission meetings, and then we talked about that a while ago. I don't remember the disposition of that We haven't Would that be kind of up to the Commission's Yeah, I feel like that's some that's a conversation. We'll want to re-engage in as they become established So like finance and charter obviously don't have a night yet We do have nights that these other commissions have been meeting But they can also vote to change that which has happened in the past as like member schedules have changed I Think that You know something I've been thinking about is approaching that by first doing Like trying one meeting like trying it once seeing how it goes like maybe it's a Biannual or quarterly approach at first just to feel it out before we commit to trying to make that work What are you all thoughts? Well, I wonder if if we were to be Proactive and have a Suggestive way to do this it could attract Commission members who might benefit from childcare or whatever if we're able to have a Benefit like that because we have everybody together. So I wonder if that could have an impact on who actually steps up Could but we haven't actually allocated any funding to do right at this point, right, but it's something we talked about in terms of having an equitable participation in it for folks who might not consider it because they have challenges around those issues, so Yeah, I just wonder what if After Like the new commissions are established. What if we have an initial meeting? with all of them Like maybe their first one their orientation was like a whole meeting with everyone here, and then we can kind of discuss each commission Maybe No, maybe just go with the schedule that we have and then we meet and just See if that works for everyone at that particular meeting night, you know like the charter Say it's the Second Monday of the month. They have their meeting business work for everybody. Well, you know, I have baseball practice We're talking can we do on Tuesdays? Or my child like, you know, my partner isn't home on Mondays We do it Tuesdays We can get a consensus that way by having our meetings our first meetings and making sure everyone can make it because I I've only been to a few public works meetings, but partly because some of them that hasn't been a quorum and I think it plus it was middle of summer to China. It's hard to get everyone together at a particular night But I think if we set a schedule have our first meetings I think it's up to the the chair to say does this night work for everyone if it does boom It's done and I don't know if we need to have it I could see having the existing schedule available and saying There is there is value if we can get some of these on the same night Does that work for you? But that is a good point to you like the flip side. There's no there's no winning We have the specific volunteers we have and then what if the one night we pick doesn't work for them That's also a Maybe it comes down to like two nights or like there's a couple that can meet at the same time I mean if you sign up for something, I think that first initial meeting you need to be there regardless Yeah, I mean you signed up for it. This is the night It is doesn't mean it needs to be set in stone I mean we're all adults we can make or you know, we can make a schedule and I don't I think that's up to the chair to the kind of To do at the meeting. Is this a good night on the month for everyone? And then I think whoever either with it's a mayor or the city comes up with a date for the finance and Charter Then have that first initial meeting and see what happens If it doesn't work, then that's the time for the chair to To huddle up and make that schedule work. We also have to consider the City city staff liaison and council And that's that's can all happen to see me in two way I like the idea of a pilot at some point in the next year before the next round of work planning and Reappointments or payments would happen. It would be a good at least to try it out to see if there's value and see Maybe it would be a more intentional event where you are doing some cross-commission sharing But then also some individual work. I think would be nice to create those connections But I also like you we've actually posted dates that these we commissions me People may be applying because they can do those dates and we don't want to jeopardize Participation at this point, but if with enough warning that if it happens in the winter instead of the summer We might be able to get good attendance that across commission meeting That's a good point to summer versus winter Yeah Well, that could be that could be noted too at the interview process that these nights aren't set in stone Or we can put it on the application saying this is the schedule for the first meeting And I think you need to get the people together and see what schedule works for everyone And I mean the second like municipal second Thursday amount might not work very well You know I might not work for the chair or myself We but that first meeting I think and everyone should be able to make a first meeting Especially if you applied for something you get accepted. So you have that first meeting Then the people organize themselves let them it's their commission. Let them let them make their own schedule if they want Yeah, I think that just Being able to have the information that these are the other scheduled meetings and maybe you want to consider that is But we could come back with a go on I Some and I think one of you just had a good eye Lots of good ideas in there, but I want to pull out a specific idea, which is a group orientation So if we if we went off the pilot idea sometime Into they were into the new commission structure structure So the war plans were developed and they had some kind of group cohesion and we're often running and then Somewhere a midpoint kind of check-in to the master plan Implementation point, but if we could preface that for me it would be easier to preface that piloting with Offering a group orientation opportunity So not necessarily all of the commissions meeting together, but saying, you know, we've revamped the commission structure You've been appointed We'd love to have you come in under get a briefing on the master plan get a briefing on the council staff Relationship get a briefing on some of these major projects that cross commissions, you know the the CIP planning the pool Main Street obviously sits municipal infrastructure, but also is going to touch finance The charter is going to I think touch all of the other commissions That that might be a good opportunity not necessarily to have a joint meeting do work But here's the same information and set some kind of group Larger group dynamics. So if that's something you all if we think about it as a pilot year where we do a whole all commissions orientation say in the end of September middle of October as an orientation and then in six months do it But I think Jim you are suggesting an all-in meeting kind of halfway through before we get to Renewing the work plans or updating the work plans that that might be a good way to kind of pilot this concept in the first year Thanks, Jesse. Sure. Any other questions or comments on a commission? Liaison assignments. I'm moving to that Thank you for bringing that up though that we have been having this conversation for a while and Need to make some progress here. Thanks for the discussion So on that note, I would entertain a motion to approve the commission liaison appointments as Jesse stated them earlier Motion by Jim second by Mike all those in favor, please say aye. Aye motion carries. Thank you Next item is a discussion item This is a recommendation from the housing commission on Structures for an affordable housing trust fund. So Heather will be joining along with some of our housing commission members Jessica and Robert Thank you for coming So I'm bringing up a couple members of the housing question because this is about six months of work that we'll be talking about And I can't guarantee that I will remember every discussion that we had so well I will introduce it. We're all here to answer questions, and I'm sure there are many questions Just for background An affordable housing trust fund was established by the city by a city council resolution on Monday, January 7th of this year And as written and approved the resolution allocated the full amount of a pre-existing housing improvement loan program About 348 thousand dollars to the housing trust fund with the housing improvement program to continue operating with a portion of the Funds under the umbrella of the housing trust fund So over their last six meetings the housing commission has been developing the policies and procedures for the housing trust fund and A draft of that is in your packet So we can take input and discuss what we have there Just for people who are not familiar with the housing trust fund The purpose of the housing trust fund is to promote create retain and improve affordable housing options for low and moderate income Households and the structure is an umbrella fund that provides loans and grants through three distinct programs Those are our construction and rehabilitation program, which we're referring to as the core program And that program is available to professional real estate developers both for-profit and non-profit and public housing agencies Are also encouraged to apply for this program when they're constructing or substantially Rehabilitating housing for low-income persons including home ownership and rental properties The second piece of the program is the housing improvement program that pre-existed although we've substantially rewritten the program guidelines for that That's for moderate income owner occupants of single family homes and multi-family properties They're encouraged to apply for this program when Rehabilitating properties providing homes for low to moderate income Households and the third piece is a down payment assistance program That's for loaded moderate income first-time home buyers And they're encouraged to apply for this program for assistance with a down payment or a closing cost of a first-time home purchase in So I'm going to leave it there That's just the basic background and I'm sure there are a lot of questions I'm sure there are little pieces that we've taken on faith in six months of discussions That I noticed what actually Jim brought to my attention And I also noticed today that we hadn't mentioned that the housing improvement program is for moderate income or below Owner occupants, but it's something we've been discussing all along. So I'm sure there are many pieces in here that we can improve upon So I would be happy to take question so Looks like the initial amount for the fund will be 348,000 correct So what would be the ideal amount in order to be as effective as possible to carry out the mission hundred million I Didn't bring all of that. I brought some of that So an ideal amount would be a lot more than what we have I mean I'd love to see this in the millions and one of the pieces of our work plan over for the housing Commission over the next year Which we approved at our last meeting is to look at potential funding sources and potential funding models For the housing trust fund so that could be grants that could be an annual allocation That could be a penny for housing on the tax rate There are a wide variety of different ways that we could do that So we will certainly be looking at ways to expand that We've done some in our last meeting we looked at some preliminary modeling of What some of the decisions we've made in this document mean in terms of how much funding is available and how many units we could cover with it? So some of those different models showed with the initial funds We could cover depending on the structure 21 initial units Up to I believe those 33 units was the highest number of units that we could potentially find with that initial Before it involves sir. I would just say having been a part of most of this process. There's a there's a lot in here there's a lot of numbers and criteria I Think it's probably a lot to take in at your first viewing But I know From having sat in on these discussions. I've seen the commission members Spend a lot of time being thoughtful about what these criteria mean and how you know the What the real impact could be? We never know all the possible outcomes, but there's been a lot of discussion about Trying to make sure that those priorities are always in mind that We are helping You know, we haven't lost the initial intent of the home improvement program. We're helping folks with affordability issues We're trying to add affordable housing as well as improve existing housing stock and Help increase home ownership There's also I can't remember how this specifically plays out, but I know there's been some discussion about how This program can also help support socio-economic integration. I know that's something that has come up in discussions as well Yeah, that's in the pride to the priority criteria We have a point scale which gives higher point values on page three for putting affordable housing in Block groups within the city that don't have as much affordable housing So we've done an analysis of that and come up with you get higher point scores Along those lines Because I know it was specifically called out the block groups and I was wondering if that's something that could be converted to kind of a project the goal is to Have some target for the highest median income with lowest affordability because that could shift in five years So rather than having our block groups explicitly called out if that could be done by kind of what the intent is Behind this that if it changes that those block groups, we don't have to update the whole Policy to do that. It's our intention to review this on an annual basis Because part of our work plan is also to be tracking outcomes And so we'll be looking at it annually and coming back with any changes that we may need to make to this document in order To improve those outcomes So I think at least for the first few years until we're sure of in what's coming in what our actual Applicant pool looks like and whether the funds are performing. I think we'll have to be adjusting a This might be getting a little bit ahead, but Are there any best practices or have you all thought about how we will verify folks income to meet those thresholds so that we're not putting a Burden on someone that does have income sensitivity. So it's our intention We have previously had a memorandum of understanding with Champlain Housing Trust to do Compliance monitoring on our previous home improvement program We'll have to do that was quite some time ago that we put that MOU in place. I think it was Geez the opportunities credit union one is from 2008. I think CHT is from maybe 2012 So we'll have to do as next steps on this an attorney review of the entire thing a new memorandum of understanding with opportunities credit union and a new memorandum of understanding with Champlain Housing Trust But they do offer for a small fee Compliance monitoring that they will do for landlords and so will require that as part of this so more to come So with regards to the review process looks like the Housing Commission will be serving as the loan committee review committee and Any thoughts about how you might Try to mitigate implicit bias is any training that you might consider So folks are all on the same page to be fair and equitable I think that's a really good idea in part having the evaluation criteria is about Removing that implicit bias so we strictly go by these point scales and we've already different before we're ever looking at any applicant We've already determined what are the things that score highest so that helps with it But I also think the trainings would be a useful piece and certainly we're open to Involving our housing commission in those trainings and then there's a second level with us making recommendations to city council So again the equity lens that we are trying to develop as the city as a whole Is also important at the council Yeah, thank you on that note the way this is set up are are you able to go through this review process without having The personal information of the applicant in front of you Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, exactly Yeah, I think there's I think there's a way to redact that Certainly I Think we would have to develop a system for how we would do that, but yes I think that's something worth consideration one thing I was thinking in terms of access on this or two questions I had one is on The requirement that the applicant attend the city council meeting in order to apply for this loan And if that if the kind of the real expertise is going to be in the housing commission to vet the applicant an application I Guess I'm wondering what a what the value is of having them attend this meeting and then be if it makes it harder for that person to Consider applying because they know they have to come to a Monday night meeting and if I knew they may not be familiar Comfortable with so if you thought about is that possible to move that in person meeting to the housing commission? What would be the downside of doing that? I don't think there is a downside on doing that personally. I feel like Probably we came up with it. I will say that that came up Mainly thinking of the larger developers coming in and doing that and having skin in the game and meeting with Council it's very different when you're looking to do an improvement to your home and certainly it feels much more Vulnerable and confidential to have that conversation. So I see no Benefit of having a homeowner come to council specifically Yeah, I think we could split that And then similarly on access it has there been any discussion about support services again I'm thinking for the HIP and the DPA loans to support translation services language barriers anything that might Make it easier for people to apply that aren't kind of corporate developers Yeah, I mean, I think primarily you're looking at it I think that I will be providing that support support as much as possible But certainly as we develop application materials, which again is another of the next steps. We will have very simplified Promotional and application materials for each of these programs completely separate application materials and promotional materials And they will be at a minimum There will be the bigger points will be translated on those Just to draw people in and give them a name to talk to from there. I think you're looking at Can I ask another question? The one and I think Heather and you and I talked about this a little bit is the affordability terms on the home improvement loan program Are limited to two years no matter what so someone borrows the money for five years They have to or forever long they have to keep the unit or their house affordable for two years and then they can Change the rental rate I guess I'm just curious what the Because I know the core program is tied to the length of the loan So they have to maintain the affordability as long as the loan is out So why that wouldn't be translated to the HIP the home improvement loan on why that two-year extent is called out Yeah, I think when we had the discussions that I will turn it over to the two of you to discuss as well But when we had the discussion that was specifically discussed and one of the issues that we were looking at was The affordability for the homeowner because we're also looking at we're trying to maintain affordability for the 42% of our Duplex units that are owner occupied So it's also about creating on Ongoing affordability for that not just for the person who's renting and we didn't want to Disincentivize people from making those improvements to their properties and wanted to allow them to maintain their own affordability So I certainly think that could be tied to the length of the loan and it's a reasonable approach That would on average the loans that have been made through the HIP program in the past are paid back The ones that have been paid back and they haven't all been paid back But in looking at that was about eight years So that would be probably the period that we'd be looking at other thoughts from that discussion Because the the housing commission did specifically say they wanted to keep it at the two years Because that was three months long and so I and I'm almost positive that I was because I don't recall why We limited that to two years. So I don't feel like it's fair for me to answer The end result of the discussion of this trial to avoid the disincentivizing, you know the improvement is still something that we want to see in a lot of these these rental units you know, tying it back to the rental registry and things of that nature and not giving a landlord another reason not to fix the property but It's difficult Yeah, I guess I would say that I feel is uncomfortable to me because I could see a Situation where someone takes a loan out and does the improvements. It's an eight-year loan and they're Basically benefiting from city dollars that then takes the unit out of affordability after two years and leaves it Unaffordable for six years and that those medium income levels So I think it's it'd be I would be interested to see that kind of gamed out in a couple different scenarios to know that that whether the disincentive would be strong enough to Be worth the risk that we would lose that affordability basically while we're still have money out on the table to try and promote it I think if there's any Standards or what you've seen demonstrated in other communities with this kind of program. It varies wide Wildly. Yeah wildly. Yeah, we've looked at a lot of precedents and across the board There's huge variation so We tried to base it on existing precedent the two years was pretty short What else Jim? I have one more question Just thinking about implementation kind of the feasibility of being the loan review committee Being the housing commission. I know some of the things in there like standards that Determinates that something's about to fail within five years without an improvement will provide an accommodation for someone with a disability Do you anticipate any challenges and having the? The technical expertise to know someone shows you a picture and says this is going to fail in five years I need a loan to fix it that that's for verifying the statements of the applicant or that you can I guess do you see anticipating problems that you think that the Commissions have to do that. Well, you need any support in order to be able to make those determinations is it coming primarily from the rental registry just kind of curious about some of those Kind of verification and kind of assessment pieces that would go into that review I think we'll be working very closely with the rental registry and code enforcement So specifically I expect that we will be giving out flyers to people when code enforcement comes and says look You know, this is failing. You have to do something about it. Hey, here's the home improvement program So making ourselves a resource to people who are receiving that kind of code compliance issue I think that's primarily what how we're trying to target our efforts and certainly With a small staff like we have it's very easy for me to confirm With code enforcement, you know, what level of concern something Because I'm thinking more from the other direction where my garage Door isn't up to my liking anymore and I think that's about to fall down and break something because it's gonna fail Like it I'm more worried about that side of things that people co-op in the program for Issues that may not come up in the rental registry because they're single-family homeowner. They aren't showing up in the rental registry at all Yeah, so it's that is that something more similarly to reach out to code enforcement and say hey someone said this Does that say reasonable certainly certainly there are resources to talk to I would not bill us as experts in this But I think there are reasonable expectations that we can do due diligence I got one thing actually since you brought the code up I didn't see anything in here as if someone goes and gets along gets approved for home improvement And they start ripping into their house But and they have a permit they have a duplex. They have a full permit Code enforcement code inspector comes in and says well, this isn't up to code There's no code update section in this. Is there a room for that? Just I mean that that would be Especially someone owns it if someone's trying to make a triplex safer older one and then Spectre comes in says well This isn't up to code needs to be fixed and you have to fix it for them in order then close the permit out I didn't see Anything in this set in this draft I don't know if there's room for that. I think of course there's always room for that, but I guess I Would leave code enforcement to code enforcement and the policy for that the housing trust fund To being policy and I maybe I'm not understanding completely They go in so can I sure are you asking if so they get a home improvement loan say for $10,000 and then they Start the work and then they realize it's going to cost $20,000 Is there an opportunity to go back and apply for additional funds for code updates that are stuff That's unforeseen you started doing renovation that as a contractor you hope that always Well that that's a huge issue too well Yeah, that is not something that we've written in here But we certainly could come up with some kind of policy to address that specifically Just to help cover them because they can't finish them Yeah, they might be Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I think there's room for us to write something in about that Yeah, I think it's something that we can look at I think the other issue that could come up with that is Yes Oh No, not something we can commit to but I think something that we could look at having some sort of policy. Yeah What it makes sense and this may be Discuss one of our meetings not here but to have a member of code enforcement Potentially preemptively visit the property Mm-hmm. That's a good idea. I mean, it's not like we have so many of these that we're giving out because of our limited funds right and certainly I wouldn't want it to Seem to the member of the public that code enforcement was overstepping or trying to dictate it would be you know purely to inform us if There was going to be some sort of obvious Something walk to them getting through their renovation the previous home improvement program had some pretty extensive staff involvement Doing and it's something that we've peeled back But it was the person in my position and it basically is different incarnation Going out and doing that and I certainly don't have that expertise. So I think it's I think that's something we could investigate One more thing on that piece You know, if they're if someone is coming in to apply for a permit They obviously know the work that they're going to have done. There's typically a scope of work You know Contractor will usually build in some buffer if it's if it's a contractor. It's not just a homeowner improvement contractor will typically built in some buffer for overages and and I think that Potentially as part of the review process and and again, this may very likely land in the lack of code enforcement, but If when they are filling out the permit for that project You know, the estimate can be reviewed the permit fee, I believe is tied to the cost of the improvement So at least it is in other municipalities. I don't I don't recall the last time I made an improvement that I needed a permit for I'm gonna do this. But anyway, I Yeah, I think that maybe that's a simpler way to have a contingency built in. Yeah, exactly just so that when the member of code enforcement Reviews the the estimate for example and even if it isn't a homeowner improvement that you know, they've built in a little bit of a buffer So, okay, if something because it did sideways do we have a little bit of a question because I think it is important that we leave that on the The homeowner should take some responsibility if in fact, you know, we're gonna run into problems. Yeah And then it's not just all okay. Let's come back and get more money because our funds are limited That's a good suggestion and good for housing commission to discuss. Yeah I'd like one more quick question the money that's gonna be allocated if there's a home for sale And someone wants to come in and buy that home and they say, you know, we'll see you give them out loans to help Help me buy a home. Are we gonna hold? Is there There's no language in here if the person buys a home and then decides to rent it out Are we gonna kind of tie in if someone buys a home and has this one? It's not gonna be a rental. It's gonna be a single-family home Occupant that's a requirement It is your right that it is difficult to track that It's I think it's it's difficult to verify that it's easier because we do have the rental registry and we do have some Information that comes in through that. So but not with a single-family home with an owner occupied multi-unit We do have some information that we can work from But it is that is one of the difficulties with the STECO program Well, I have a real simple minor Feedback on page 6 of the guidelines and 3d There's a typo Should be authority to give permission as opposed to Sure, I Do feel the need to just call this out Well one this is only here for discussion tonight We're not asking you to to approve anything But I think the Health and Commission was interested in making sure we're going down the right path and you know, it's Approvalable shortly. I Think this is really exciting work at work that we've been you guys have been working on for a long time It is to your to a lot of the questions you've been asking tonight It is a new service delivery arm that we are standing up That's going to take staff time that previously has been allocated to other things I think it's the right thing to do and very much in in Alignment to your priorities into this to the strategic vision But I think it's always something we need to remind ourselves as we stand up a new initiative like this that as we do that and add Requirements to Heather's play and to code enforcement's play There are either things that are going to get bumped off or other other priorities that may be shifted around So I don't we don't have any concerns about that right now, but I feel it's my obligation to kind of flag that for you Especially with you know, half a million dollar grants Heather's been writing and and what not It's also going to take more of that housing commission this time So as they're so they won't be able to produce as much policy if we're considering, you know 21 to 33 applications in a year that will be One hour of every meeting for the year, so at least which is the best case scenario. Yes. Yes. Yeah And it's also been part of the discussion that this is sort of the The basket where the eggs are going like that the commission thinks that this is the Best tool we have right now to get at some of these housing goals. I Think it's a great idea. I think you guys have a lot of great work. Just hope there's no loopholes at some Some what can find and really kind of put the screws to the city or to taxpayer I think we've we found out on some other occasions about that the loopholes so the Tighter we can make this document. I think better off We've put quality time into looking for loopholes. I mean, yeah And the fact that it's gonna be reviewed by the city attorney and opportunities Credit Union will handle the lending arm and CHT will help us with confluence I mean we because we've had all those discussions like well, what if this and To your point, what if somebody turns this under occupied purchase into an investment? Yeah, you know And they're getting dollars that should really be going towards a homeowner. Exactly. So we we have We don't think that we are experts and so we're going to rely on them Very I think you just got to make sure it's all as amazing Any other questions or feedback? I mean, I would say that it's it was really Fun to try and find holes and they couldn't find money So thanks for all the great work that went into it. And I think that the three programs Really are clear and they meet very different but Complementary goals. So I think it's great to see that one kind of home improvement program be brought into these three different Buckets that really kind of address different needs in our prompt is focusing on the development of big scale that we are Providing these buckets for smaller. So thanks for making that work so well Any questions from the public? Well, as Jesse mentioned, this was a chance of just a discussion opportunity for feedback for our local commission So thank you for coming in to present this Our next item is also an item for discussion It is a goal update on infrastructure from John. I didn't mean to say So this is the first We have 16 main tasks During that policy and priorities strategy review Three of the 16 are associated with construction So Myers-Pool, which you mentioned the waste work tree line headworks project and Replacement projects so that that's a total about five and a half million dollar investment in the city this season and then the other two projects that are will be kicking off after After these get constructed would be the Main Street project and potentially the last seven degree development so The other sort of tasks and priorities involve planning budgetary improvements that you'll see for the FY 21 budgets some new revised ordinance so that will be coming your way and Implementation of some internal process That's our for example our water quality industrial waste water But just overall I think you know, we're pretty on target with completing these goals for FY 20 And I think what I'll do is just kind of run through the main projects And then if you guys have particular questions on any of the items we can go through them So Main Street As you're aware, we're in design phase right now So we back in June we approve the VHB proposal for 1.4 million for them to kind of start that work We anticipate this fall will be presenting That sort of first final design phase project for you all so that's where you'll really look and look at You know, what are the updated project costs? What hopefully more grant money's we will receive And You know what kind of phasing options You'd like to pursue based on you know all the the financials all the updated financials Myers pool so I'm looking at this charts and nothing's in red, which is good, but the complete final engineering Why is that going slower than plan because we've had a few meetings on that. Yeah, so The Main Street project I think One of the reasons we've it's a little slower than we expected was getting financing in place So as you can imagine getting financing for even the final design work, which is you know, a million and a half It's a little difficult because now we have all these funding partners that have come along So if USDA we have to satisfy DC we have to satisfy so In a sense, it's good because we've got more pure view and they've been Looking at the proposal work and we've actually been able to bring that engineering cost down, but you know just getting everyone to sign off So no major stamp still makes that now and I mean overall project was yeah, we're still we're still targeting next season for a project for a construction project so in the grand scheme of You know delivering the project Doesn't hurt us. It's just we're hoping to be able further along this point Any other questions on Main Street? And again, we'll be talking about that more in the fall Myers-Pool Like it mentioned that project is is doing well. It's on schedule. So it's within budget lanes Yeah, not gonna win late May next season is the right now the schedule So the right now what they're planning to do is complete the building the new pool facility by winter shutdown And as Mike mentioned, they're starting on the actual excavation work for the two pools. So That that project is going really well The treatment plant headworks project That project is in construction I added a couple photos if if anyone ever wants to go down visit these projects you more We have extra hard hats and high-vis gear. So feel free But that project is slated to be completed by mid-November And actually there's some contract terms in there that they have to be done So that one will be wrapping up late this fall and then Hickok Street That project's going going well again mid-November construction schedule to complete the water portion And the good thing about this project is we received a pretty significant Subsidy for DC through financing. So we are right now. We're we're slated to get 30% grants for that project and with the bidding the favorable bidding received we're looking at, you know, approximately $740,000 actual construction costs. We originally estimated it at 1.4 million So pretty significant savings. So 737 includes the subsidy Any questions on current projects and then just to give you kind of a heads up what you will be seeing next couple months So next month where we will be presenting With the HB and CCRPC the East Island scoping study the final results of that so you'll be You'll be presented with different alternatives on how that corridor can be reshaped Transportation-wise so that's coming September 16th. So that will with with your sort of Recommendations on the alternatives that will complete that project and that gives us kind of go ahead to move forward more in the planning phase and looking for grant funding So that will complete that task Utility-undergrounding ordinance. So we've had we've cleared that through the public works former public works commission They've reviewed that ordinance previously. So we expect that's gonna be coming to you all in September as well Also, we are we partnered with the CCRPC on a transportation impact fee study So we expect also in September to give a presentation with selected consultant RSG Kind of how that work. What's the framework of a transportation impact fee what that means and then From there, we'll we'll be discussing if it's appropriate to move forward with it or not The other item Actually, thanks to Jim because I could put two completes on the checklist for the tree ordinance and the Municipal infrastructure listed as the tree committee because that's in the ordinance. So thank you Tree City USA application. I think that's due late September. So I'm sure we'll be touching base on that So those are kind of the upcoming items That you'll be seeing on the structure side Any Questions comments Impact fee recommendation also slower than expected. Yeah, mainly due to other projects Taking up basically being on the front burner. This one we could kind of push the back burner But that one we're trying to ramp back up Where do I see it? Oh, yes Can you tell us so for the purdy five about upgrades to existing sidewalks is the FY 21 plan To complete the inventory or is there actual work potentially coming? So Actual work, but it wasn't really planned to be actual work. So the Hickok Street project So next season that's when we'll be doing the stream restoration that includes sidewalk restoration There is a section of sidewalk that is in very poor condition that was previously in the inventory So good news is that would be one that we would replace or would have replaced Targeted anyways as part of the sidewalk replacement program. So But what we're doing now is updating our inventory For 2019 so that we can discuss it during FY 21 budget to see if there's You know, what keep what capacity do we have to do some sidewalk programs next year? And so to just say that a slightly different way in the past Two years capital improvement plan that you adopt as part of the budget process We have prioritized other infrastructure work over sidewalks And I think what we heard from you quite clearly during the priority session was ensure that the CIP we bring to you in 2021 For FY 21 increases the amount we're spending annually on sidewalks within that CIP. So it's not necessarily new money It's just reallocating money within the CIP and and John's inventory that he's completed will help inform the recommendations We make to you about where those sidewalks will be prioritized That'd be good to hear because there's been some chatter about poor sidewalks and people falling And I think that If one resident falls on a sidewalk the city owns and gets hurt. I think it makes a priority to fix the sidewalk We live in a Great city. I don't think I think it's unfair to residents to have poor sidewalks They can't walk their dogs or walk their children safely or walk in the road because Of sidewalk pads that are just dangerous and I don't know if this Belongs in the sidewalk conversation, but there's been a lot of chatter on big front porch one lately about the bridge And how poor the sidewalk is on the bridge. I don't know if that's How far responsibility Bronson's responsibility or if that's even it's a Share responsibility between us and Burlington and the state Okay, we have to wait for the state to prioritize it. There are alternatives that have already been worked out It's just a matter of them deciding that it's Time to prioritize that bridge over others because the article today I read a biker actually fell into the road off the sidewalk And I tell you a bus or a truck or car was going by that person and I'll be here with us. So And then then the bike couple bikers that we're talking about it The road is just in that bad shape. They can't ride on the road either because of the This the space of the cracks in the road on the bridge. It just makes it dangerous for bikers But we're gonna have a discussion I would say too that when it comes to the CIP and budget planning We've only got so much money and we have so many infrastructure needs like we're gonna have to make decisions about what can and can't be done, right? right Yeah, just the bridge so there has been some work on the What the proposed bridge replacement would look like so we went through a whole scoping study with CCRPC and with Burlington since they're 50% owner and V-trans is also in those discussions, but we so we do have a programmed Sort of Corvore for that bridge which includes multi-use paths on either side 12-foot wide to accommodate What the actual users of that bridge right now? Okay? The next phase would be working with V-trans to look at you know, scheduling and potential grant funding to make that project a reality Because that I mean roughly it's 18 million dollar projects Split in two, you know, and hopefully we can get some V-trans support to make it economically feasible is it possible for the public's work department to fix sidewalks on their own if if If they're out of action whether whatever reason groups frosties from them won't up and down year after year You don't have to necessarily put all the sidewalk But just make sure that the the safety of the pattern of the sidewalk isn't dangerous for Children or for our seniors. I mean is there a plan in place for that because there has been a lot of talk about the sidewalk You know not to mention pop-hole, but the sidewalks have been something that I've been hearing a lot about Yeah, so we do spot repairs. So you'll see some in front of the Windows housing authority we did a couple this year So as we get requests and we put them into our sort of asset management system And and then we'll go out and do, you know 5-foot 5-foot flag placements or we'll do asphalt transitions if it's like a lip tripping hazard. So, you know, if if folks Do you know where or if they have feedback on where the sidewalks are? Call my office. We'll note it You know where we're walking the streets to trying to find those locations as well Not to put you on the spot, but one has been on Roger Street I mean get up on Roger Street, and then one has been down. What's that West Canal where the brewery is? Yeah, West Canal, I don't know if anyone has actually I know a resident touch base with us and she emailed Jesse I don't know if you guys have had time yet to go down there. It says that But there's an opportunity there for some safety issues to be rectified. I think right So I just want to say that this update is full of exciting stuff And a lot of news that I think residents would like to hear So now that Mike you are again officially the municipal infrastructure liaison Well, there hasn't been a meeting it could be a good time to pull from this memo to do it an update Yeah You got any other questions for Or John But the you're replacing the poor section of Peckock Remember what the section between Ellen and Pine is like is there a reason that you're only doing since you're already doing Rehabilitation is there a reason only to do that red section? Given the So so that's actually the worst case This section on the north side that's those exerted the important issue We may extend that to do more pending More estimates construction estimates come out to be but that's just a section. We've identified that we know we're gonna replace I think there'll be room based on the numbers we're seeing right now to Extend that to other sections of pick up okay, and Include like installation of green belt Yeah, so we exist it'll be maintained existing that so there's currently some green belt Believe there's the section on the north side the main issue is There's a lot of drainage problems, so it's like it's it's lower than the curb line I There may be sections that are up against a curb, but it's a really narrow right-of-way So if we can get green belt in if there isn't any then We'll try but that's not making any drain issues Well, thank you for this update and please stay with us for the next Capital improvement budget reassignment for Main Street concrete repairs, which is an item for potential approval Yes, so we as we were putting together our Transportation payment Paving work this year. We've we've kind of adjusted some of our scope of work, so partially in due because of We were we were looking at a v-trans grant for East Spring Street that it did not come through so we had to adjust our payment program Slightly so this year. We're doing with Claire Streets, Burling and Richards, which is less than what we originally program for And we also are looking at doing some crack ceiling work for roadway repairs As we got into the crack ceiling work We were also we also received some estimates for Main Street concrete repair work So if I'm sure you're all familiar about the hill over here just to the bridge There's concrete road surface with joints there Have a poor ride quality Probably one of the most common Yeah, yeah, so that whole section we We reached out to V-trans originally and thank you to hell who's been bugging the stage often we met with represent representative McCormick to look at if there's a way to expedite state repairs for that route Unfortunately, there is not But there's an FY 21 project where V-trans is looking to permanently do a permanent repair for that Concrete section along with West Allen and the circulator section of concrete So a little long-winded, but we're looking to do a temporary fix basically to get us to that FY 21 Project it's it's in the amount of approximately 32,000 dollars so what we're requesting is not additional money from fund balance, but just Adjusting what we already have our transportation CIP To do that work So the proposed scope of work would be probably a three-year fix It's using cementous material to fill in the joints To improve ride quality It's meant to be a temporary repair And when is the FY 21 work scheduled for? So, you know, it's it's going to be two years out basically and that's Scheduled It's not set in stone. It'll say so yeah, it's not a work plan for V-trans but Things do happen Um So there is that risk that it doesn't actually come in two years, but it is currently on a work plan Is there You know, you've made the decision like you think this is the best way to use that money. Is there something else that you considered? Or you think this, you know, what is your your logic that this is the this temporary fix is the right way to Use that money that we're not no longer using on the other street. Yep. So we looked at a couple different options We looked at using something similar to like an asphalt pavement, but the bonding doesn't work for concrete So we started looking at Airports so airports have concrete tarmacs. This is typically their low-cost repair option that they used There's really only one There's only one contractor in This area that kind of does this work as we found when we went out to bid And we also worked with them had that had them come up from massachusetts to Take a look at the joints with us. Um, and this was their kind of low-cost repair option Do you mean other projects in the city though? Like if we weren't going to do this mainstream? Yeah, yeah, like so you decided that you have some extra money. You want to use it for this like why this over other things? Yeah, so I mean and this is a council question So I mean 30 grand could go towards milling and filling asphalt pavement could go towards sidewalks. Um, this is just the the most Complained about It's it's completely up to you all if this is a propane or not But I'm recommending yes just to improve the ride quality Um, you know, there's There's a vehicle. I've heard complaints of potential vehicle damage with suspension So And it's just the northbound not the southbound lanes both lanes. Oh both lanes. Okay. Oh, it says the northbound the color Strip was a little uh, I apologize. Yeah, it's it's both driving lanes. Okay. Yeah What sort of impact do you anticipate on track if we if you were to do that repair? So that was our main concern with this section of roadway. Um, this is a pretty I would say quick repair. So what they'll end up doing is there's enough room with the parking The parking located along the bridge that they can maintain two Two lanes and just temporarily remove the parking and let that Mastic kind of cure and then the more healer side. So relatively low impact Um for Eagles traveling Let me ask you this john the the project that we agreed on they'll clear East spring repave. What what project is that the the repaying of those roads to that area? So this year we're doing with claire street the entire section Along with burling and richard which can connect to that Oh Well, what spring street spring street? So what spring spring spring street and spring street are class two And they're eligible for retransference. So we've decided to Wait and reapply next year to try to take advantage of retransference for those So using city funds because we're Spring street in Hood or franklin There is some major road issues there And what i'm concerned about spending this thirty two thousand dollars on something that's going to be torn up It says fiscal year 21. So we're actually a year and a half away from that They're not going to start a project like that redoing main street in the fall. So it's going to be But it's minor sorry to interpret you mike minor sanades. It's on the f y 21 state work plan Which means planning for the project starts in f y 21 and then likely will be done in like the summer of 22 Is that correct? So that's yeah, it's it's because you have to With the way the state lays out their plans you have to incorporate that like planning and engineering It's not the one it starts in f y 21. It's start There's a shot on this. Yeah, sorry. It's a little confusing. Well, it says road repair in f y 21 So it it says permanent concrete road repair in f y 21. So they're saying that they're not in repair at 21 It's in me 22 most likely 22. Okay Well, that's different then That's i'm trying to wrap my head around spending 32 000 dollars if it's just a year away ripping it up It's like throwing money out the window. Yeah, if it was a year away, I would Not put this fork But especially when there's other issues around muski where people are complaining about spring street just poppoles everywhere And I don't know how much that 32 000 dollars to go fixing the rest of the streets That people are complaining about When there's a road that's going to be redone a year or two But I think the volume that that road has is just significant and If we prolong this we're going to lose cars. I mean, it's just getting worse Well, so isn't spring street though. Have you been on spring street? Yeah, I've been there too, but I think that intersection This is a corridor that really is a lot of traffic. So Get a lot of complaints You'd ask how far 26 000 dollars goes for remilling like how much of spring street could you do for 26 000 dollars? Probably a block. I mean so all of all of um, west spring street was like 150 000 dollars and that's just uh a mill mill one layer inch and a half and put down inch and a half so I live on west spring street and sorry to my neighbors But that doesn't feel like a priority road to me compared to some of these other problems The intersection you're referring to mic is pretty rough. No, that's interesting the spring east spring street is I mean, someone's gonna lose a tire there. It's it's just it's awful and I think I think that I think public parks needs to address it sooner than later in my opinion I mean a quick fix for now until like you said, we're gonna do the replanting next year on that road And that whole section right there is it has that's has a lot of traffic too because people bypass the rotary And go down east spring street to get the main. So that that also has a lot of significant amount of traffic as well I'm just But It makes sense now if you're saying it's going to be in the year 22 You know as I'm reading here. It says concrete road repair in 21. So that's why when I read it initially I'm like, well, why are we doing that if it's a year away? I will say on East spring street one the worst intersections is right at flair street and that is part of our Project this year because That whole like intersection It's it's great problem that word. I think it's where franklin franklin street is Right across from the courtyard that whole stop sign section is pretty pretty bad as well but So the strategy is Trying in next year to get the spring east spring street done through a grant program And this year repair for three years the main street Or so that's one option of the other options that do one block of spring street now and then apply for grants to Basically patch around it next year Yeah, I mean from that perspective it seems that the that provided that Because I also presume it will reduce or just delay the further degradation of The the bridge because I think that's the other question is how bad will it be in three years? And for not doing any sort of in-term repair now is I mean, I think east spring street because I don't want to go down main street into the rotary so I think it would be from a priority perspective that seems to make sense to me The other question I have if we fix main street With this temporary fix for three years Is that plan that the v-trans is going to have is are we going to get put On the bottom of the docket then since we've temporary fixed it or is it going to be in the same scope Of planning are they going to is it going to be in the forefront? Probably not either. So that's the other thing I want to be cautious about You know because that's that whole road needs to be repaired. It's just not temporarily I mean, it's all in there Yeah, it wouldn't change the priority status, especially given that this is the type of work we're doing is a temporary repair. It's just a joint. Basically, it's like crack ceiling on an asphalt road It's not meant to be any sort of permanent fix and what they're looking at doing is actually diamond grinding The whole surface down a couple inches and In doing some type of surface treatment. We don't we don't know what yet if it's going to be concrete or Asphalt top surface. So what they're proposing is, you know, a pretty substantial repair And it would also include this section. We're not even talking about The circulator that's the section that is still concrete. That's part of this v-transcope of work So this yeah, the scope is bigger. So there's more at play that we are not touching that Right. All right. Let's keep us in the We're just trying to do the worst case No public comments Any other questions or concerns from the console? So this item is on for approval. I would entertain a motion to approve the Kevin improvement budget reassignment for Main Street concrete repairs Second motion by Jim second by how all those in favor, please say aye. Aye Motion carries. Thank you All right So on to our final item. This is another item for discussion About a personnel hearing process. I'm going to call up Matthew Shadam and attorney For the supporting us. I believe Jesse will be I'm just going to go into the audience because I cannot advise you on this. Yes So for some context, we have a personnel matter It is our role as city council to be kind of the end of the appeals process. So we have an employee who is I'm not sure how much I can say An employee who Has been terminated and is appealing that decision. We are the last step of approval or of appeal And I have invited an attorney here to describe that process to us. What is so we're not going to talk about the actual decision The employee any of the details about it Tonight, we are just going to learn What does this process look like? What is our role in it? We're going to have this an open session because we are just discussing process If however, our attorney or someone here Must have discussed that has questions that maybe you should move to an executive session then we can change but For now, while we're just discussing the process itself Welcome Matthew and thank you for coming tonight and for sitting through The rest of the meeting. Thank you very much. It's my pleasure to be here Um and basically I'm happy to answer any general questions But what I will start off with is that When you're terminating in a public employee The first question is generally speaking. Are they covered by some kind of collective bargaining agreement? If they are not covered by a collective bargaining agreement, then generally their employment status is the same as Most private employees. They are going to be at will employees and any termination rights that they may have Are essentially going to be procedural Aside from the general protected categories. So no discharges for race gender disability that sort of a thing Um, and so in terms of the procedural requirements, they're fairly straightforward. They are what are contained in your handbook Um, and of course the city of Winooski does have a policies and procedures guideline for this matter Or this kind of matter. Um, I have it up on my computer I assume that um Yourselves are able to access it and have copies available to you and that lays out most of the steps Excuse me all of the steps that are involved Generally speaking though, um The kinds of considerations that are play are fairly straightforward. They're due process considerations And at the heart of due process and the employment arena is that the employee knows If this is a termination for cause or if there is grounds for the termination And there does not have to be but presumably the employee is informed why they are being terminated They're given some meaningful opportunity to rebut the allegations against them Some ability to present their own evidence. It's not the same as a courtroom necessarily You don't get to subpoena witnesses, but if there are witnesses who are able to attend And who are able to speak on the employee's behalf It's generally considered a wise idea to allow them to do that as long as it's relevant to the grounds for termination And that ultimately the decision is made by a neutral body of an open mind And so that is probably the biggest sort of consideration generally speaking Um, it's generally considered um wise to Basically at the hearing to ask questions to allow both the people who are presenting In favor of the employee's termination and the employee themselves To have their say to ask questions about what has happened And then generally speaking most public bodies go into executive session to be able to deliberate What it is that they have just heard and make a final determination about the employment of that employee Um, it is generally fairly straightforward if it does take some time to do properly though um Any questions about that? my understanding, um And let me actually hold off on that because I don't want to speak to process that may be involved here Unless the committee would like to go into executive session. Um, if they have any more particular questions about the upcoming termination hearing So I should apologize. I didn't explicitly share We do all have access to the handbook, but I did not in advance share with you the section on our, um Policy and procedure process You have it there. Would you be able to give a quick recap to us? Yeah, if you'd give me just a few moments to get to the correct section here And so I actually do have one hard copy. Yes, actually I have a hard copy with me if the council would like to have a copy And it's section 3.5 And so this is a little bit With anyone other committee like copy Yeah, sure. Oh sure. So This is basically Like we are in this step three section Yes, so terminations at section 3.5 and then by the time that the the city council is brought on board That's going to be in the grievance procedures at section 4.3 and When the matter reaches the city commission or sorry the city council You can see what the steps laid out in that handbook are And so at step three if the grievance is not resolved at step two The grievance may within five working days of receipt of the city manager's response issue a letter addressed to the mayor Outlining the sections of the human resource manual that he or she believes was violated and the resolution He or she wishes to have regarding the grievance The council shall at its next meeting hear the grievance in open session or an executive session at the request of the grievance At such hearing the council may be advised by an attorney of their choice The city manager may be represented by an attorney or the city's choice The city council may find for either party in the grievance request professional advice in the form of a qualified attorney to advise them of their options Or send the parties to a mediator to attempt to find a suitable resolution to the dispute ultimately the decision of the council is final and Just read a little bit more there Otherwise, that's pretty much most of it at any step the division director city manager The council may invite witnesses or hold meetings to determine the facts of the case or to hear from different perspectives on an issue Um, and then failure by the grievance to adhere to the specified time period shall render the grievance null and void Failure of the appropriate party on management side to render a decision within the specified time shall cause said grievance to advance the next Step in the procedure and then probationary employees don't have grievance rights And that is essentially what is laid out in the handbook And so I would just return to the general principles a duplex process when you're Considering terminating an at-will employee, which is again that the employee has been provided some meaningful notice of the reasons for their discharge They have an opportunity to respond to that in a meaningful way And um, there's some flex there but generally speaking they have the ability to speak on their own behalf And then call any witnesses who may want to speak to the relevant facts And then the decision is pretty much taken by neutrals. Um, don't really have anything in one way or the other as an interest and That it's made after a deliberation where the matters have been put forward Um, thank you for that. So You'll notice you've never met Matthew here before because we do not use the city's attorney to advise us on this matter Since they will be using their own attorney So I've engaged his law firm to be our advisor as he described in the process so that when This hearing takes place Um, you know, we hear from the grievance Also from staff whoever has brought his witnesses Then we would take our attorney Go into executive session and deliberate on what we've heard receiving advice from the attorney to make sure that we make a decision that is um Legal and you know, we've been fair and That sort of thing. Um, we don't know yet. We are still working out the schedule for the hearing. So I don't know I don't believe it's going to be in our next meeting. Well, it's not on Wednesday. I'll tell you that We are still working on the schedule. So I don't know what the date of that will be But we wanted to have an introductory session just to get let you get familiar with the process Before we actually Before the you know, we actually have this hearing And I believe it will actually be my boss rich Cassidy who will be attending and providing counsel to yourselves and He sends his regards. Unfortunately. He is in canada on business. Um, but otherwise Would be here tonight except for the distance involved and I think that's about it unless there's any questions from the council Are we able to contact your firm directly if we have questions? Yes, we have Does it have to be more in the minutes if we if we uh, no, you could Yeah, because it's legal advice can be legal advice I can call you if I want you would be able to go into executive session for what I've said here today Under the open meeting statute because you are able to go into executive session as to questions So you would have attorney client privilege as to especially as to general questions. Um, more specific ones, um I would hold off discussing right here in this form at this moment I I would also say that when it comes to Like we should not discuss anything about the grievance itself or the actual situation until we have that hearing because we need to approach that hearing as a A neutral party who you know, you're hearing things at that time How long are these types of hearings typically? Well, it depends on the nature of the violation And generally speaking as you would imagine Something for an egregious abuse of a position probably not long Something that has to do with long term sustained underperformance of a given performance standard You know, you're late every day by 10 minutes for a month There may be a lengthier hearing involved because it may be more each case is going to have somebody some Justification some rationale. So it's hard to say on a case by case. It's a case by case decision It's hard to say generally would that be our only agenda item potentially or Depends how it plays out. So we have to make sure that probably should be the grievance Um, that the date works for the grievance. Um, any representation they bring as well as Our schedule and staff that need to be there. Um, so There is potential that it could be the only item on that meeting I think Jesse and I have also discussed if it is not if this occurs at a regular meeting where we have other things We have to do being really thoughtful about Only including items that you know Need to happen on that date so that we warrants warrants and stuff that yeah, that has to happen That has to happen probably putting the grievance first Yeah, to make sure we can get that process taken care of for all parties involved Can I ask what determines whether the hearing is conductive and open or executive session? So because this is an employment matter, it may be conducted in executive session So it would be up to the discretion of the council whether to hold the hearing in open or whether to hold it in executive session I thought that the grievant got to make that decision That is correct. I excuse me The open meeting statute does call for that but the procedures in the handbook Essentially make that the choice of the grievance. So it's um, you're entitled by statute But the procedures in the handbook are that the grievance has the choice Any other questions about this process? Is anyone having questions that they That are burning that they feel like they would like to take some time in an executive session Keeping in mind that we are trying to cover just the process today and not the actual grievance No public questions Um, I will I have our manual in a electronic file I'll make sure to get that out to all of you and let you know what page this information is on If you have any questions in the meantime Please let me know we could also field questions to the attorney's office If there's something we need to sort out beforehand before this comes to us on an agenda Do you have any cards with you? Um, I'm afraid I do not um, and I'd be happy to uh, email you my contact afterwards. However, I I can pass it along Okay, very good. Thank you Thank you If there are no further questions then we can close out this item. Thank you so much for coming in Would you like this back? Oh Um, that is our final item for tonight's agenda as such I would entertain a motion to adjourn Second motion by mike second by how all those in favor, please say aye. Hi meeting adjourned. Thank you We are