Good evening, I'd like to convene the regular meeting of the City Council at 712 Would you please rise with me and residing the Pledge of Allegiance first item on the agenda is the agenda counselor Ships update her Rebecca Reese no drawing for consent agenda item 4.4 for communication Jean Richards director of aviation Regarding requests to approve acceptance of the grant with the FAA and the contract with the FAA technical operations section for construction engineering construction oversight and flight check for the installation of new precision approach path indicators Tappies for runway 19 as part of the taxi way G phase 2 reconstruction project for Marie Friedman Add to the consent agenda item 4.54 communication Megan E. Tuttle AICP regarding Notice process for zoning amendments with the action to waive the reading except the communication place it on file per counselor Bush or No, correct a version of agenda item 5.14 resolution reports an ongoing communication on UBM's progress towards housing undergraduates on their Trinity campus and other potential housing sites counselors Paul Shannon per city attorney's office removed from the consent agenda item 4.51 resolution updating and improving city policies related to food trucks and street side bending License committee and place it on the deliberative agenda as agenda item 5.15 per counselor Bush or my soul Thank You cancer busher second to that motion Anybody want to make a second it's counselor pine Any discussion on the amended agenda? Hearing none, please anyone it if you're in favor, please say aye Any opposed that passes unanimously The second item is our annual reports to the city council and the first one is 2.01 Airport Commission director Richards and chair Jeff munger good evening welcome. Thanks for being here You need to pull the microphone and have it right all right good evening. There you go and fellow commissioners and Mr. Mayor I Would love to say you that things couldn't get much better at the airport, but Jean here would remind me that it can always be better I hope you have had a chance to look at The commissioners letter that we sent you it's been an extremely Wonderful year out at the airport. I mean from our financial stability Just to give you an idea At the end of June we were a little over 300 days of cash on hand when I joined the board Sometimes we measured that cash on hand in hours, you know both the credit rating agencies have given us increases and a stable outlook counselor busher was talking about amending the agenda with some of the Money's in the construction the construction that's been going on at the airport is phenomenal Gene and his team have gotten so much money from the FAA for much needed projects from Fixing the aprons in front of the terminal fixing the garage which was had deferred maintenance for years to Completing the biggest important thing is taxiway G which is a safety feature, and you know remember that the FAA They don't really care too much about our implements, but they really care about is The safety of our airfield is it's all about safety with the FAA Speaking of implements, they are Off the charts You know they I don't think they've been this good since well at least 11 years or so and that's because Gene and his team's hard work to get new service more daily service We've added Orlando. We've added Denver with Frontier who jumped on board with us and they they have re-upped and And so we will have Orlando and Denver again and also is it American that is Is also Increased the size of their planes Which is helped with our implements one thing that's little known that I'd like to mention is that the airport and Gene have reached out to nonprofits Giving them space so that they can come and do fundraising and in the last year these organizations One, etc. We're able to raise a hundred and sixty thousand dollars and I think that's a wonderful thing You know the airport is Not considered as a place to hold meetings in public space, but guess what we have the room and We do a good job With that Questions from the city council council Burscher, I don't have a question, but there's something that you didn't State which is that in this coming fiscal year You're going to celebrate the airport's 100 year milestone Which I think is really Significant and I look forward to seeing every month what the celebration will be like And I think we are all very thankful and appreciative that we have access to an airport That can take us places that we need to go And that we don't have to travel to New York Albany or Boston or Montreal We may sometimes select to do that, but we don't always have to do that because we have access directly here And it's really important for our economy for our state So I just wanted to just acknowledge that The other thing I did want to ask just briefly about Was that could could the director just stay I know we're no longer Purchasing homes To deal with the noise issue, but we are now in the process of soundproofing and can you just speak to that initiative just briefly? Sure Was with the mayor's direction one of my first initiatives and the support of the city council to Stop that program, you know using home purchases for noise mitigation So the new program we just as you know probably have read about the new soundmaps That was the purpose for ordering these soundmaps and was to participate in the new sound program Which we're hoping to do we've had extensive Discussions with the FAA about not wanting to purchase and remove homes You know that is their preferred method, but ours at Burlington is to retain housing and We have stressed that so our new goals will be to insulate homes with new windows doors and insulation potentially even air conditioning and We hope to start writing grants and having something within 24 months The program still needs to be worked on with all the surrounding communities to make sure that we have an agreement on The right way to implement this program and make sure it's fair and equitable to all the surrounding communities So that's roughly where we're headed in the roughly the time frame Thank you. Thank you councillor busher councillor Tracy So thank you for the report and all the great work you're doing at the airport One of the things that we've heard increase in concern about I think councillor busher was was playing on that a little bit was this The increase concern around noise around the F-35s and I do appreciate the additional information you provided around the FAA program I'm particularly interested in how the Commission sees its role in in Basically engaging with communities that are going to be impacted by the arrival of the F-35 and how they're going to I'm really be trying to support those who are dealing with What will be allowed or playing over the next year? Well in each of the meetings we've had the open houses both Vice-chair Keo and myself attend those and we're there to lend support to our Consultants as well as jeans team and as well as the FAA So we are there at the the open house meetings. I have met With the folks from Manuski the folks from South Burlington and we're I Forgot to mention that that the community relations has really gotten much better with South Burlington And I think that's because we have better communication You know South Burlington has a seat and We are very fortunate that we have a chair Helen really represents South Burlington on our Commission and it's made 180 degree turn around from what it was a couple of years ago Okay, thank you very much. Thank you councillor Tracy councillor Freeman Thank you president right. Thank you for your report. I had a question. So You know, fortunately, we've come to a point where the growth of the airport is Sort of inversely correlated with reducing greenhouse gas emissions There's a real tension there And so I was wondering what the role of the Commission might be in reviewing that issue and really considering how we can Reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a critical time Sort of in our in our history To address this So first of all the airport doesn't The airport doesn't Decide but we do work with the airlines and what I think you will see moving forward is Much more efficient and larger aircraft which will be going towards that initiative We do When you do you will see, you know our solar panels on the roof We have wind energy. We've done lighting initiatives You know, we are working very hard for the things that we do have control of We have recently put in 12 electric car chargers To attract people to do the right thing and they've been And very popular but those are some of the initiatives that we've done I don't know if that answers your question, but I hope it gets us partly there. Thank you Councillor Hansen Thank you just to brief you briefly follow up on that Can you just talk a little bit about the role you mentioned you have some ability to work with airlines on on this Issue can you speak to that at all? the airlines we meet with twice a year and The key factor for the airport and for the community is to get additional service That's our number number one initiative is to Get affordable and better service and what we've worked on I would say the last seven years is getting competitive service So that the price pointer for the average person who uses our airport is is cheaper as far as Another and another thing that it does by providing More affordable flights as it keeps people from driving to fly so when we have a better more attractive Flight such as frontier, you know Many families will drive to fly so they can afford it We're now offering that venue So instead of people driving to Manchester Boston Albany or Montreal they fly right out of Burlington So I think by having those types of initiatives having a newer aircraft that will be coming in In the next couple years, you know, we met with America in just two weeks ago and talked about that and many of them have many Like 20 to 70 aircraft on order which Burlington will benefit directly from it doesn't mean we will get those But they're working towards that and we're working with them on that service Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Hanson. Councillor Jang Thank you concert president and I have two questions one for each one of you So the first one is a comment to mr. Munger. I just heard that you worked for Bernie a long time ago And impressed that you're still working Serving the city. I worked for Bernie for a little over eight years and before that I worked for Senator Jim Jeffords But my question to you is have you heard of the issue Involved parking for our partners you know people who are Hot hot stress, I believe, you know, they express some concern around the parking that they lost or Relocation of their parking spots and was just wondering from the commissioner perspective Where is that issue right now? Has it been sold? No, it's that's a hard thing, you know, our garage is full and it's full of Passengers I If I understood you you said that there was a concern of people that were losing their parking spaces Well, the airport makes arrangements for that for we have Various lots around the terminal building that Sure That's it easier You know what they say about no good deed goes unpunished So when I first became a the airport director, there was a Big empty garage. It wasn't doing well at all And so I saw employees that were walking, you know Maybe two or three hundred feet to the parking garage that wasn't covered. So I said I have space It's empty come use it for the price that you're using that for so when we did not need that Parking spaces in the garage. We gave it away to the employees. So today we need that space So they now have to walk an expert 200 feet and sometimes deal with the elements And it's about 50 cents a day for them to do that And it's about a dollar a day if they want to park in the garage So if you any of you pay for your parking downtown, you'll know what a great deal that is And so we've tried to make it affordable to them But any kind of change is a shift for somebody and that makes some people not happy but the majority I would say are quite happy and they do have options and Lastly and I think it's about When you lose something somebody else is getting something and you did mention the creation of an Hotel at the Burlington Airport. Do you have any update around it where it stands a lucky night? We actually went to self-proclaimed DRB last week and Approved so they are Anticipating on breaking ground within 60 days and having it finished within nine months And that hotel will be just as you drive into the airport on the left-hand side between the flagpole and the Parking garage that initiative by itself is using land in our current land very efficiently Rather than spreading ourselves out all over the place It also makes it very convenient for customers to utilize the parking garage and to use the term it makes it safer and better for everybody Thank You councillor jane any other questions from the city council Hearing none. Thank you very much for that report Appreciate it great great work keep up the good work David wait just gave this to me. This is the only nice come a long way Thank you, thank thanks for the great work and Thank your team for us With that we'll close item item out and go to the public forum time certain 730 and it's 732 so open the public forum Most of you probably know but there is a time light system in front of you when the middle light goes off And you're winding down to about a minute or so When the red light goes off you need to wrap up your last sentence so that I don't have to cut you off If anybody wants to speak have a number of people already signed up if anyone else wants to sheets are over here in the corner Table bring them up here to the clerk's office, and they'll get them to me with that will open up the public forum With the first beaker being Todd Spellman to be followed by Sabina Haskell Good evening mr. Spellman welcome Can everybody hear me? Okay? Okay, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to speak to my community. I'm gonna read I have a lot to say as I'm gonna read through it real quick, and hopefully I won't get cut off As I said, my name is Todd Husband a father of two boys that go to Edmunds elementary, and I'm a 13-year resident of East Avenue Centennial neighborhood And over those 13 years our quality of life has been significantly impacted by the presence of Trinity campus and Diminished year after year. This isn't a once in a while thing This is an every single weekend week out weekend issue that we have to deal with There isn't a weekend that goes by that I don't have 10 20 30 kids on my front porch walking up and down East Ave Congregating in the parking lot across the street waiting for uber or lifts, okay? This is not something that should be taken lightly by a counselor from another ward who's introducing a resolution tonight Suggesting we put more students at Trinity campus every single weekend. I'm picking up broken bottles used condoms on East Ave Smashed furniture my flower beds are trampled our furniture is stolen off the porch It ends up on Trinity campus the noise volume on Thursday Friday Saturday nights is Unsustainable we've tried everything noise-canceling machines. We've gone so far as to get new windows for thousands of dollars Okay, we've put every penny into this house to make a safe home for our kids and The far reach of UVM and the medical center is having a significant impact on our quality of life UVM's prior studies specifically states in our top 10 finding number five Trinity campus is not an appropriate location for most Undergraduate students, especially first years. These are young kids who've lived at home their whole life And then we cram them off campus in Trinity campus. They have nowhere to go They wander the neighborhood UVM wants to get students on campus where they can be held accountable Putting undergrad students on Trinity campus is not the answer if you want to put graduate students there medical students International students. I'll help you dig the hole. That's great. I'd love to see something happen there But building a bunch of towers or whatever that's some people plan to do and cramming in first-year students is not the answer And I respect Karen Paul for putting this resolution forward, but she lives in the Hill section in another ward She has no idea what goes on in our neighborhood How many nights a week does she have to clean up broken bottles or call the police or have to step over use condoms on Crescent Street? I don't think that happens as often as it does in our neighborhood and right in her own resolution. It says Right here. I'll read it Be it further resolved that the city council acknowledges that the Trinity campus may be one of several sites under consideration That are appropriate for student housing It's not within the purview nor should it be of the council to be involved in the university internal discussion About the location of future on campus housing. So if it's not the council's business, why am I here tonight? Why am I holding a resolution that's making it their business? Why am I not home playing catch with my kids instead? I'm sitting here petrified that I'm gonna have to sell my house because of our quality of life Just can't go on like this anymore And I really need all the members of the council to think of that think about the future Okay, I understand UVM needs more housing do it the appropriate way Thank you very much Sabina Haskell is up next to be followed by Mark Hughes Good evening miss Haskell welcome here tonight because I've been a very happy member of the Burlington Electric Department Commission the Electric Light Commission. I put in an application to be reappointed and Between the time that I did that I did make an offer on a house to move out of town And I pulled out of it because I don't want to move So I'm here to respectfully ask you to consider continue to serve on me the Commission I Feel like I've done a good job and I really enjoyed it and I don't really have any Interest in leaving the city at just as an aside. I have lived in Burlington for eight years It's the longest I've ever lived in the same place in my entire life And I'm not a young person So it's a big deal to me to stay and I love being a part of the community I have two minutes and some second slide. Don't feel like you have to use it all All right, thank you Mark Hughes is up next to be followed by Mary Fillmore Good evening, mr. Hughes welcome Mr. Mayor I Come to thank the the console for taking me into consideration For me and member of the police commission There's there's been a lot of excuse me She was could you pull the microphone in closer and just as a reminder for everybody these mics don't seem to work great So he really got to be right on them Thank you. Thanks. This is better. Yes. I'm usually not accused of being too quiet I Came to thank the entire console for considering me for a commission to be a police commission commissioner It's been an arduous process. It's been Extremely trying I haven't gotten a lot of sleep in the last couple of days but I think it's It's definitely an endeavor that I think it's it's worth It's worth every minute of it So I wanted to thank you all personally for taking the time to consider me and putting this much effort Investment in me mr. Mayor and console The other thing I wanted to just make very clear is is that just for the record? I want to just state as strongly as possible That contrary to popular opinion the relationship that I have with the chief of police is not adversarial in fact Brandon is one of the smartest people I know and he's also one of the six most successful the most successful chief in In the state and I can speak qualified on that because I deal with a lot of chiefs across the state And I see a lot of departments and I know what I'm saying doesn't come to you mr. Mayor is a surprise because we've had this conversation on multiple occasions If Brandon were here, I'm sure he would be nodding his head as well So I just wanted to clear the air on that as a as a point. I know that There is some concern amongst council members and if I were you I would also be concerned given the fact that what what's happening right now is that I made a Community organizer and I've most times you see me come before you We're having conversations about things that need to improve One thing I can say hands-down is you know, and I say this unflinchingly is there is no better Department in the state it doesn't mean that we don't have a lot of challenges It doesn't mean that they're not things that we can still address because if we are leading it's good to lead, you know Just with with no with no I Guess doubt that we will ever not be leading I guess for lack of better terms And I think in my last a few seconds. I would just say again, thank you and I Just want to leave the comments that I'm going to provide the leadership to ensure appropriate transparency and accountability To restore a community trust to the department I'm going to work to ensure that the commission review with that commission to ensure a full Commission review with the intention of validating or improving processes and ensuring that the commission is working to serve as a bridge and To meet the needs of both the community as well as the department. I'm going to introduce best practices such as the President's final report on 21st century policing and the National Association civilian oversight of law enforcement and to ensure data-driven and results-based outcomes and Finally, I'm going to seek to ensure that processes are in place for the commission to have Visibility into the department to create the requisite feedback making issues to ensure witnesses To wellness rather for officers. So again, I thank you for your time and I thank you Thank you for your consideration Thank you, excuse Mary Fillmore is up next Good evening. Welcome. I'm Mary I've lived in Burlington since 1994 and I now live a little more than a mile from the airport So it won't be a mystery to you that I'm here to talk about the f-35 I was looking today at some of the industry publications, especially defense weekly and this month They are saying now that there are 17 Category one flaws in this aircraft These are things like not being able to see at night if there's a little bit of starlight These are things like not being able to fly the plane at full speed because it might affect the stealth coating So these are pretty basic things that are still Un-unaddressed with this plane and they say the Pentagon is trying to get these things resolved before going into production mode But it's not sounding great. I think to I was very unsettled Having lived in Washington for 10 years and feeling that the what was then called the general accounting office now the government accounting office But they issued a report in April that said that half of the f-35s Worldwide were not able to fly during an eight-month period in 2018 because they couldn't get spare parts This does not speak to the competence of Lockheed Martin and indeed the Pentagon's chief weapons tester Said in January There's no way this software is performing as intended So I'm concerned both about the everyday threat of the f-35 I'm concerned about more rattling in my China cabinets But I'm even more concerned about the long-term health effects Not just for adults, but particularly for children of the level of noise that we'll have and of course as Someone who knows people in South Carolina who live near the rural area where the f-35 crashed I'm also very concerned about what an accident would mean in our community, which is not rural So I'm hoping that as the owners of the airport that the council will consider Re-evaluating whether we want this in our very liveable city Because this would be a turning away From the quality of life that I think a lot of us really appreciate about being in Burlington So thank you for listening. Thank you very much Roberts and Diane Sullivan are coming up to speak together next and We'll give them the additional time Good evening. Welcome Thank you Matthew Thorson was a photographer who lived and worked in this community for the better part of 30 years on New Year's Day of this year Matt passed away after a two-year battle of cancer Matt's work hung in the walls of this building at the BCA Center at the Tarrant Gallery and countless other Businesses and galleries around the city in the state Matt Matt's worked helped to tell the stories of thousands of Vermonters Politicians some of who are in this room rock stars artists farmers regular people If you if you picked up a copy of seven days over the past 24 years, you will have almost exclusively seen Matt's work and for any of you who knew him he was an incredibly unique individual And that is why we are proposing that the name of Mechanics Lane be changed to Thorson Way We have received the enthusiastic support of the property owners that a but the the street the local property owners and Thank you so much for your consideration. Thank you very much James Mark Lee's is up next Mr. Lee's welcome last Thursday Donald Trump Aborted the plan To launch an attack on Iran after the Pentagon lawyers Told him that a hundred and fifty Iranian casualties Would be expected and that that number would violate a law of war principle called proportionality The law of war principles are part of US law and they must be followed by all military forces under all circumstances Whether overseas or at home whether amidst of shooting war or during peacetime Here in Vermont our National Guard must observe these military more principles to Last week I talked about one of them military Necessity and how there isn't any military necessity to base F-35 jets in a city as Compared with basing it remote from populated areas and the principle of distinction is another one and it requires Separating dangerous military equipment from populated areas to avoid harming civilians We don't have that required separation here The Air Force admitted that the F-35 based at the airport will be so Intermingled with civilians in a city that 3,000 Vermont families will be exposed to such extreme noise as Condamnage hearing and impair the learning of children Jean Richards also admits this violation of distinction with this plan to insulate houses Wouldn't be needed if there wasn't going to be But he didn't mention that the insulation does not protect when windows are open or When citizens go for a walk with their dog Also distinction is violated because a crash in a city is a catastrophe compared to a crash in a remote area and it's also Human shielding of nuclear bomb delivery vehicles with several cities and towns filled with civilians violates distinction and That's a war This is the moment for counsel and mail To press the military to uphold its own laws by aborting the plan for basing F-35s at a city location And instead for a mission for our air guard call for a mission that meets Requirements of the law in a city location because it does not harm Thousands of civilians. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Lees Carrie Kara Montague is to be followed by Robin Lloyd. Good evening. Welcome. Talk about the F-35s as well Thank you for your resolution last year against the basing of the F-35s at the Burlington Airport I urge you to please continue to fight for the majority of residents who do not want these planes at the airport I live in Winooski Just a minute to gather myself. Okay, I live in Winooski We live under the flight path of the F-16s and the potential flight path of the F-35s. I Have great concern that the arrival Watching my clock that the arrival of the F-35s will have a deeply negative impact on my town and my neighbors because of massive noise pollution and This safety risks associated with crashes In addition to the well-documented negative impacts that will come to Winooski from the F-35s We have now learned that they will bring a new and greater threat Last year the Air Force revealed through the 2018 nuclear posture review that the F-35s would be made nuclear capable And would carry a nuclear mission. I know we've been told that the F-35s They're scheduled to arrive in Burlington will not have the wiring to carry nuclear bombs But we've also been told that they will be upgraded possibly sooner than we thought and when they are Upgraded we probably won't be told and if nuclear bombs are ever stored in Vermont as they were in the 1960s We certainly won't be told and when the nuclear upgrades happen the airport and all of us could become targets of a nuclear strike We would become a target because during war you target the bombers not the bombs I know in the coming weeks there will be a resolution brought to you guys asking you to stand up against This nuclear weapons system, and I urge you to pass it I Firmly believe that the F-35s are not a jobs program They are a Weapon system of mass destruction Thank You robin Lloyd is up next to be followed by Casey Sears Good evening miss Lloyd welcome Well, thank you, I'd like to especially thank a Joan Shannon for iPhone for the first time I'd like to thank Joan for responding to my concern last at the last meeting about firefighting foam and the poly fluoride Substances or PFAS is that have been found at the Burlington International Airport Joan asked for advice from Jean Richards, and he provided responses from Colonel David Smith who is commander of the 158th fighter wing. He says there is a new EPA approved firefighting foam in 2016 that will be replacing the legacy foam But is this any real improvement or is this just another member of a family of toxins? For cleanup and mitigation of the legacy foam Smith assures us that an expanded site inspection is in process in coordination with the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation The Air National Guard readiness center and the defense contractor Parsons we need to insist on Public access to this report Also of concern does the stealth F 35 have to be washed down After each sortie and repainted with the stealth formula paint According to some sources, this is a very arduous effort and there again one wonders what happens to the waste chemicals washed off the plane The foam issue predates the F 35 But the F 35 will bring new problems Wouldn't it be better to look for a different and healthier mission for our boys and for our community? Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Lloyd Casey Sears is up next may have the name pronouncing it wrong Casey You gotta you have to you have to speak on the microphone for the channel 17 in the audience That's not me miss Lachman For some I've been homeless I presented every case Everybody's laughed at me. Hopefully everything's just funny Every time I dropped information. That's what there's a phone call me I have to make phone calls. What's gonna happen? Is that so basically a messenger see all this information here? This is over the illegal and we're gonna hit me I Don't need to worry about These documents is that's it right here See now I'm so retired on the street, and I will say thank you I just pulled out another tooth the other night with no Medicaid. I really appreciate it. Thank you And I really say thank you. I just crapped myself. It was out of seizure. Guess what? I don't have a job. You guys have made it that bad me on top of nothing You have trashed my way so bad Right now I'm seeing somebody else's house. Guess what?  See his documents.   That seems kind of funny. Why am I because one of the other maces that is a judge It just happens to be let's see judge goldmounds Well, just that's what judge goldmounds is near to doctor who home as I had to do my dad back in the day My life history has been living hell since I've been in the state of law I've been trying to get out. Why are you didn't do your job? You couldn't do your job in you I already have you on every other document. He's just saying hey because My uncle is so cold for a senator that means I got to pay for Every criminal act that sits underneath the state of Vermont in just two nights go enough They think you're very much two nights. I have carried on me. I had a Somali and come up and swan to attack me You're going to police department says who has been attacking the homeless? Okay, well have a Somali come up hit me in the head And when I come up that because I got dramatic brain injury in the state of law already knows it or if I have a seizure Somebody else's house. I'm supposed to clean up after You contact the human society because you guys are treating like an animal. I've been forced out of the streets I've been having to sleep in times in my federal files in my documentations by cops by themselves Mr.. Sears is not to be in a tank. He's not supposed to be served hard and receive our services He is not supposed to be here because of this medical and mental health conditions That means that anybody lays a figure on a my pot that I'm supposed to mentally have guess what I don't have any medical pot In indoctrination by my mother Betty Sears.   I got to name it a little criminal strong through the Your court Tom.  They're right here every time I walk in here.  Thank you. Thank you Our final speaker is I can't read the first name the last name is a little difficult to broslin It's all right. Thank you. Good evening But I also want to provide some reasoning as to why I see my application to this board I've been a resident of Burlington. I'm bored to For ten years and prior to this I lived in larger cities One thing I love about Burlington is we do quiteness to quiteness to us, but we also do embrace Progressing and growing and that's exactly what we're doing But I have a lot of concerns for what's being taken into consideration for a lot of developments occurring here in Burlington, especially considering it appears our sewage system is Quite outdated at least outdated to the size that we are starting to grow to from my understanding millions of gallons of untreated sewage has been poured into the lake at least yearly or from what I have heard we have a lot of Pollution occurring within the lake. There's a lot of pressure onto our sewage system I know that we're getting more rain than usual considering that is a direct result of climate change But with this pressure that we're continuing to put on to a sewage system That does seem a little bit outdated with all of the growth that we are seeing I have concern for the general environment not only in the city, but Also in our lake That's essentially why I wanted to get more involved I guess maybe to gather a better understanding of the developments occurring it's effect on the environment but also to To really have a say as well into it So thank you all for your consideration in your time. Thank you We have one more person signing up to speak president right Mr. Mayor just thought it might be helpful to that when we get to the appointments part of the evening Candidates who are here would like to speak to the body why not continue to speak then as well great Wait, okay with that. We will conclude tonight's public forum back to the agenda For item number 2.02 which is a report from the police commission. Good evening Commissioners ash and commissioner Hart welcome. Thank you. Good evening counselors and mr. Mayor Um Chief del pozo will not be joining us tonight He's on a much needed vacation that was planned a while ago, but we figured you'd heard a lot from him So we could still continue with our Before we get started There's two things I just want to say in case we run out of time one is that I know there's a Big decision for all of you tonight as far as commission appointments I've looked at all the applicants. We have a really good pool of really qualified applicants and I am speaking for myself and I know Vice chair Hart and also commissioner done that we trust your decision and whoever is Nominated we will work wholeheartedly with to continue to move the police department forward So I just wanted to say that I know it's a tough decision, but we're looking forward to seeing who it is I am fortunate to have a really competent vice chair Commissioner Hart she really did the heavy lifting for doing this annual report. So I'm going to pass it over to her So we're not adding anything to the report I just want to introduce or explain why it looks a little different from past years and When we went first of all we Learned in May that this was due at the end of May and I'm not sure why that was different because we've always approached it That it's a report that goes from July 1st to June 30th, so I Guess that's my way of saying this might have been a little more robust if we Have the time that we were anticipating Anyway, when it came time to do the report We I thought you know we should go back to what our directives are for these reports instead of just Doing what has been done in years past What is really what are these reports supposed to look like and that's where we found at? 2011 resolution as to what is expected in annual reports And so we did that we the headings are verbatim. I believe from that resolution So I wanted to explain why it looks different. It's because we went back and Wanted to make sure that we were actually doing what is charged of us in the annual report I think the past reports for more of a chief's report where really we wanted this to be from the council Our voice so at this point we are prepared to answer questions, but don't have anything to add to the report that we're presenting All right. Thank you questions for commissioners Councillor Busher So hi, thank you. Thank you for being here tonight So I found it informative and interesting that you included the language from the city charter regarding some of the Functions that you oversee or work with the police department to accomplish And I wasn't quite sure I mean you you you start off with the fact that you continue to struggle with the exact purpose of the Commission and I think that I think that the community all of us have have added to that confusion because I think we've it was more narrow in scope Before and we've broadened it because we feel like I think over time I know I and the people I represent are expecting different things from you and And you realize that also But the points the bullets that you include here I just wondered do you have issues with some of these and if you do? I'm trying to figure out how does the Commission present to the community and to the council Changes in what your Direction is or your mission is because I feel like I Don't always benefit from hearing that directly and I think that that communication would strengthen us also as we move forward So could you just speak to are you highlighting these because you agree with them or that you think they need greater clarity?  So truly what we wanted was for this report Which is the first that goes back to what we understood our task to be is to put in one spot Really more for use going forward everything that we could find Okay, that speaks to what we are supposed to be doing But I will tell you that we do have an issue and I shouldn't say we I'll speak for myself But what we struggle with is bullet two and the board of police commissioners shall hear any appeal filed in a timely manner So it's a really a struggle if we are the if we are overseeing complaints Then an appeal comes to us, you know, so let's say in appeal let's say we oversee a complaint about a an officer and Then action is taken and the officer appeals it comes back to the very same group that was providing input So that's one thing we struggle with and we and so that's why we've made some of the decisions we've made about Limiting how many commissioners review a certain investigation so that others so yeah There are concerns about it, but that wasn't why these are This is meant to be Inclusive of everything we could find so that it's easier for new commissioners We know we're gonna have at least one new commissioner And so I think this part of this is hoping to make it easier for new commissioners coming on To really have a better overview because for a lot of us we joined the commission And didn't have any guidance as to really what are we supposed to be doing? Thank you. I just want to make one statement for me And at some point it would been it would be interesting to know if you think these bullets are complete or whether they need to be modified because I Modified them for myself when I read them because I thought oh, I think I would prefer to have it this way or that way So I think that that's the kind of dialogue that I was trying to understand But I appreciate you putting it all on one page and For me, I'll keep it. So thank you. Thank you. Councilor busher other questions for the police commission Hearing none, I think I have one comment to make and it's regarding The and the members of public safety will know what I'm talking about There is the role we have been piloting a project the role of the police commission in citizen complaints and And we've piloted that we asked for an extension because we had commissioner harp joined and he wanted to actually participate in that So he could give feedback And then we've been twice back to public safety with some revisions We're ready to go back to public safety But that said we've still been actively doing the pilot and part of what we've indicated in the pilot I think to commissioner busher's point is that twice a year we will come to you and discuss the number of complaints Where we can the nature of the complaints and how we think the process is going It's from fiscal year. So I anticipate us coming back at the end of this fiscal year with some more detail around that and The public safety committee has requested that we do that twice a year not just once a year. Thank you counselor Tracy then council Freeman So under point number five you talk about reviewing steps to increase transparency around the department as a commission And it just sort of talks about it in generalities I'm wondering the degree to which you've gotten specific at the commission so far And if so what that what that looks like and then also what ideas you have for the commission To be more transparent with the public specifically about cases of excessive force So I'll give that one to go We just want clarity. There's a little bit of We feel that or I feel Everybody can speak for themselves that in executive session. There's full transparency Any videos that we want to look at any questions that we have any experts that we think that we should be talking to Everything has been wide open where it comes to transparency with the public We just need some clarity around the labor laws because it's been we've been You know where our sometimes hands are held tight because of labor laws with city employees and and not wanting to mess up in investigation, so I know the public wants more transparency. There's just I Guess we just are look we need a little bit more clarity on what we can talk about what we can't talk about But I will tell you in executive session I haven't felt that there's been any holding back by the leadership of the police department Thank you. My other question is that is with regards to discipline. It says in the report you referenced providing advice on disciplinary matters In a number of cases That have been in the news recently I've heard from community members that they feel that the discipline that was Given to officers who had used excessive force was not commensurate with the harm that they caused and I'm wondering if you feel that the that the disciplinary standards and the disciplinary Punishments that are needed out are commensurate with the harms that we've been seeing and if that needs to be revisited in the Union contract So we won't speak about any specifics. I think we would all agree that we can't get into specific cases In terms of the discipline that has been met it out There are so many factors in that and we are advisory, right? So I think I don't think we can speak for the council on this because in that room There are so many different opinions on what is appropriate So that's the difficulty here is as individuals we could we could speak to that But as a commission in in our executive sessions, there are Seven different voices with seven different opinions advising the chief and the deputies on What we think is appropriate? Okay? Well, would you be willing to at least share your own each of your own perspectives on that question? Although we had seven different opinions We really spent hours and hours and hours look, you know discussing them and Can't discuss all the facts so it's it's really difficult when you see a smidgen of the details But don't have the whole picture in making decisions. So I Am comfortable with the level of discipline based on the information that we shared and shoot on in that meeting and I Can tell you there was not a one descending voice that was really against it during those meetings At least that anybody that spoke up But there's just I think honestly if I had seen the videos I'd be thinking the same thing that a lot of people are thinking I really would But I have I don't know if it's a privilege the burden of really digging in deep and understanding and digging into it and I I say I can say personally I was Comfortable with the discipline that was given And I think precedent plays into it. So As Commissioner ashes implying on the surface it might seem a certain way, but when you've got precedent and Previous actions those have to go into consideration too with what we what we are recommended and And that's Considering that these what well, I won't speak to the specific cases, but okay. Thank you. Thank you cancer Tracy Councillor Freeman Thank you. I had a question sort of in a similar vein to you councillor busher I did you know the the language of you know We continue to struggle with the exact purpose of the Commission did stand out to me in terms of the report And so I was hoping if you could further elaborate on how And I know you've spoken to this a little bit so far, but to me it's like a little unclear how What's your feedback in terms of the best way to really? clarify and truly Secure that scope in the directives that you will have as a commission So the one of the biggest struggles is what is advisory, right? And I think that the struggle for us is is the expectation from the public that we aren't necessarily advisory, but that we Have more say than that, but I think that's a struggle as folks who Come on to the council learning that it's an advisory Role and so that is some of what we are expressing is for the council as a whole individuals who are Struggling with what that means to be advisory Because you can advise and that's this is not based on any particular cases or anything But people can disagree with what you advise so in in theory it could be Toophilus commission, I'm not I don't think for a second that we are that dialogue with the chiefs Doesn't reflect that at all, but that's what's the difficulty with advisory Think of course for me. Oh, I had one more question And then the other question sort of similar to councillor Tracy's questions about certain departmental Directives and policies and procedures. I saw in the report that certain Directives were Taken under review by the commission and I'm wondering what the process is for Those directives to be taken under review. I think you know, there were certain ones that I was particularly interested in looking at regarding use of force Various other policies around how we respond to certain populations in the city. And so I'm just wondering what the process is is that For taking up specific directives is that's something that's been determined by the commission on a case case basis so our experience has been when it when a directive is going to be amended or Adopted we are asked to review it and sometimes that has required it to go back To the department for further drafting or revision Over multiple months and other times we are comfortable With the and these are during these are open meetings. So these are during our monthly meetings We have to dialogue about the directives And so if we're comfortable with it, it gets adopted. Otherwise it goes back and forth With revision based on our input So those are new directives. Those are not creates it would be both It would be both. Yeah, so amendments or review of existing directives and new directives as well So if it comes to our attention for example, one of the things we have thought is if the city adopts the social media policy we would want to review the police department social media policy because we already know that it needs updating so we but we don't want to do that Well, the city's social media policy is under review, but we anticipate that that would be something that will come up In front of the Commission for review is that directive on social media? Okay, thank you. Thank you. Councilor Freeman. Councilor Pye The question I have is related to one server even asked so I apologize if it sounds a little redundant, but I think there's a number of issues that the council and the Commission still have to figure out and your report really highlighted that for me I guess what I'm saying is just thought it'd be good opportunity to just name it that we don't We have not provided perhaps the clearest sense of direction and guidance to the Commission and the Commission maybe hasn't been as Transparent with us all that or hasn't been communicating with us at the level that we need to to have this relationship work better So I think just going forward I'd like us to develop a closer relationship between the council and the Commission I'm not exactly sure how but I think we need a focused work session or Retreat or something that we really make this a priority because I don't think anyone would disagree with that And I think it's historical so no one's pointing the finger at this council And I know no one's pointing the finger at this Commission, but I certainly agree with you Thank you councillor. Thank you councillor Pye anyone else Hearing none. Thank you very much for that report and councillor ash and councillor heart We all appreciate your service on the Commission very much. Thank you Moving back to the agenda for the consent agenda councillor busher Councillor busher has moved adoption is there a second second by councillor Paulino any discussion hearing none all those in favor of Adoption and taking the actions indicated on the consent agenda. Please say aye Opposed that passes unanimously We are now going to Recess the regular city council meeting to convene the liquor control Commission meeting at 8 19 First item on the agenda is the agenda commissioner roof to adopt the agenda seconded by councillor Tracy Any discussion hearing none all those in favor of adopting the agenda please yeah Opposed we have the agenda item number two is the consent agenda commissioner roof I moved to adopt the consent agenda taking the actions as indicated Seconded by councillor Tracy all those in favor of passage of the consent agenda. Please say aye Any opposed we have passed the consent agenda item number 2.03 is an application for a festival permit Commissioner roof Thank you. I'm sorry. That is that is wrong. That's on the consent agenda Item number three is the deliberative agenda and 3.01 is the first class restaurant bar liquor license application for the boardroom Commissioner roof I will move 3.01 Approval of a 2019-2020 first-class restaurant bar liquor license application for the boardroom LLC DBA as the boardroom located at 3 Mill Street Second by councillor Tracy any discussion hearing none all those in favor please say aye any opposed Passes unanimously Item number four is adjournment some moves second by councillor Tracy all those in favor of adjournment. Please say aye Any opposed hearing none we have adjourned the liquor control commission and I Am now going to reconvene the regular city council meeting at 8 20 for the purposes actually of recessing it in order to allow the mayor to convene the City council with mayor presiding mr. Mayor Thank You president right. I will convene the city council mayor presiding at 8 21 and Immediately going to call for a very short recess. So we'll be back in two minutes All right All the meeting back in order 8 26 p.m. And The first item on the agenda is the agenda welcome motion Move to approve the agenda second Second by councillor Paulino discussion all those in favor of the agenda. You say aye. I Be opposed motion carries unanimously next item on the agenda is a consent agenda and welcome Move Move to approve the consent agenda take the actions indicated. Thank you president right second by Councillor Paulino any discussion all those in favor of the motion, please say aye. I Any opposed motion carries unanimously and Now this brings us to a long list of board and commission appointments, and I know a number of Applicants have taken the time to join us tonight. No, we've heard from a couple of them already I'd like to welcome any other applicants who would like to address the city council before Before the voting tonight, you're invited now to come join us at the at the table. I know We'll let you guys work out the order Informally here. So thank you. What was accurate? And we're gonna just in the interest time if you keep your marks under three minutes Hi, everyone. My name is Zachary York. If you don't know me I don't know where you've been. I had signs everywhere one point I'm applying to be on the police commission. I'm just looking for a way to serve the city I understand it's very hotly contested thing, and I just appreciate your consideration Thank you, Zachary Hello, my name is a Jabalani Gamash, and I thank you for let me speak here I'll get right to it while most people sleep in Burlington I am bartending on the corner of church and Main Street. I get done work about three in the morning So I've seen either good the bad and the cars in front of the courthouse from time to time With that from what I see out there. I think I'd be a great I can't be on the commission Because it's good to have a well-rounded Voice that sees it all downtown and now thank you Skyler Nash a junior at the University of Vermont Been a resident now in Burlington for two years. I grew up on the south side of Chicago I'm looking for different ways to get involved with the community I think I bring an interesting perspective on policing growing up in the south side of Chicago coming from a city That obviously is dealing with some of the same problems that we are facing here in Burlington But a lot of different problems on a different scale I'd want to bring that unique perspective and experience to the Commission and also help to serve as a conduit for Conversations with communities and in parts of our communities where people are feeling underrepresented and not heard I think building trust between the department and the communities that they're serving is of the utmost importance For our city because you can't protect and serve people that don't trust you And it's vital to the safety of our community and to our officers that that trust be repaired and worked on I'd just be incredibly gracious for the opportunity to work on that. Thank you Thank you Good evening. My name is Jim Dunn. I currently do serve on the Commission I was appointed three years ago to fill an expired term. So I think really completed half of a full term and You know when I went on the Commission three years ago I thought that I have a relatively unique experience here in the city Some of you know I spent ten years as a labor attorney for the city as they achieve labor negotiator all through the 80s And including negotiating contracts with the police union and the firefighters of the city employees I was the personnel director during some of that time in the 1980s I then went on to become a labor attorney representing labor unions including the Burlington police offices for many years Including state police. So I've seen the I've seen the department from both perspectives And you know when I came they came an opportunity to serve on the Commission I thought well, this was really a perfect opportunity to bring You know what I felt was a fairly balanced look at you know, how this works how it should work You know and some of my experience to this to this commission Yeah, and I think to a large extent that's been true This has been a trying time in the sense that we've been given some significant issues to deal with and that's been good You know when I first got appointed I was leery as to just how effective, you know The Commission government can be just how useful we can be but what I saw was that we actually were Brought into many of these decisions in a way that I had not anticipated You know and one of the unique things about the way our Commission form of government works And it's a relatively unique form is that the citizen input that goes into police decisions or you know the way that the police operate in this city it happens uniquely before Decisions by the department get made because we are Connected to the department the chief will bring us into as it's been described bring us into these deliberations And receive the input of these seven citizens before Decisions get made and I think ideally that system works in a way that then eliminates hopefully a lot of the Poor decisions to get made and that and that the community finds unacceptable And for the most part I think it's worked well You know we were charged last year with looking at creating some kind of oversight And you know the question I had was well, can we be can we function as an oversight? Body if you will and still be engaged in helping the department make good decisions and and manage it from the inside And I think that's a very still a legitimate question And now that we've reached this point in the city where we have this commission or this task force I think one of the really key issues is This true transparency that we desire in this community How can it be structured either within the form of government that we have using the commission? Or leaving the commission as it is and creating perhaps another oversight arrangement? I mean it's open for debate But this has raised that issue and there is clearly I think the need for transparency And for confidence, you know, I heard I've come to several of the hearings as this this The issues around this Were brought to the commission and and I I can tell you that hearing and Sensing the the fear that people in this community have for the police is totally unacceptable And it's something that I look forward on this task force to To to to remedy. So thank you very much. Appreciate your support Great. Thank you to all the applicants. Is there anyone else who wishes, uh Main application wishes to speak Okay, I'm going to close this session then and and um in a moment, uh Just a quick Quick kind of summary explanation for the public at home and here what we're going to do next This process is a process that we've followed for the last, I don't know four or five years now, which Was different than prior years where we've tried to really open up this process and make it A transparent and public process as as much as as possible. And so there have been leading up until tonight. There have been three meetings of a committee that has representatives from Each of the parties. I believe the representatives on this year's committee were counselor mason president right counselor pine and the chief of staff from the mayor's office jordan redal and that group met on three occasions and applicants for all of the commission seats and I think there's about 30 that we are appointing tonight. Maybe that's a little high Are we're all invited to come and speak to the committee If they were interested and and that was really an addition in just the last few years to have that step in the process where We weren't simply looking at these written applications that came in but that people had an opportunity to come and speak to the committee That the committee had has met and Attempted to and what has been successful in the other years is for the majority of the seats Find come up with a slate that a slate that has broad consensus within the council For action all at once and so with that I'd look to Counselor mason for a motion regarding the slate. Thank you. Mayor wideburger. I'd like to make a motion to Advance the slate as is up on board docks and then ask for a floor back second after or after a second second Thank you. Counselor mason. I think in past years. We've actually read the names No, we're going to read the names. Okay, so I would advance the following slate to the following positions And then if there's a second ask for the floor black Airport commission jeff shulman cemetery commission jennifer deans cemetery commission second seat alexandra malar conservation board rebecca roman conservation board term ending 2023 hannah brislin conservation board 2023 miles weight design advisory board matthew bushey second d.a.b. seat ronald Wanamaker d.l.b. alternate The slate recommended re-advertising that position d.r.b. term ending 2020 brooks mccarthur second seat ending 2020 keenan christensen d.r.b. Seat ending 2022 jeff hand second seat 2022 soraya high tower final seat ending 2022 brad robinowitz electric lake commission bob herrington second seat Re-advertise we'll revisit that in a second fire commission linda sheehy second fire commission seat scott sweeney Board of Health mary hart second board of health seat julie hathaway library commission seat hem and gissing parks and rec commission john bosange second seat vincent pierce third seat to the parks and rec commission ben travers Sorry third and then the fourth seat to the open seat to the parks and rec commission recommendations that be filled by andrea todd planning commission The incumbent alexander friend police commission To be discussed three open seats public works commission Bob robert alberry second public works commission seat peggy o'neill vivanko The retirement board seat bob hooper Board of tax appeals term ending 2020 re-advertise we have no applicants board of tax appeals second seat ending 2022 peter dang Final board of tax appeal seat ending 2022 re-advertise the vehicle for hire board for term ending 2022 jeff munger Second seat to be vehicle for hire board bill keo Board of registration for voters term ending 2024 lennor brotten and the final seat is uh board of registration of voters annis schneider Thank you. Councillor mason. Um I can go I believe President rey second Point of clarification before the second I believe isn't that I don't believe you read the There's one police commission name that I believe is on the slate and I think Correct one of the thank you One of there are three four vacancies on police commission the slate recommended advancing charine heart to one of those four seats With the three to be determined on the floor Thank you for that clarification second by president rey Um discussion about the slate council find So can I have the floor back just for a second? I'm sorry. I apologize. I said I would recognize Go ahead council. Thank you for that introduction. Um mayor. I want to thank the members that were on the committee and um, lori alberg for doing yeoman's work and scheduling, you know, all those large group of people coming in Um, I just wanted to for the public's benefit. Um Thank you, you know the applicants we we are blessed every year with A pool that just has qualifications that that exceed Um, unfortunately and sometimes, you know, the city's capacity to get all these people plugged in Um, I also wanted to sort of it's not always I think people sometimes are mistaken that it's just a qualifications based system Um, the committee looks at a number of factors including incumbency Um, and also looks for diversity. I would say, you know, not just racial diversity as well as gender diversity, but also geographic Um, you know, we are seven or you know, we have So we sort of the committee looks at sort of who's on the commission Uh and tries to ensure that, you know, all areas of the city are adequately represented It is not an easy task. I I don't know, you know I don't get every single person that I want and I'm not sure that anyone at this table does Um, and our advice always is to those who are unfortunately not put on a commission to keep trying Oftentimes it's, you know, more than than one You know Run through before you're able to serve on a commission But again, thank you to everyone that takes time and shows up You know, this is the list of and the applicants that we got, you know It's not an insignificant Bunch and thank you to the public for that with that before we go when I wanted to make one amendment I didn't want to amend this late because that had been approved I would like to make the first amendment to add Sabina Haskell to that vacant electric commission seat as opposed to re-advertising Thank you Councilor Mason seconded by Councillor Polino. So On the floor now is the amendment And I anyone would like to speak to the amendment It doesn't appear so so we will go to a vote on the amendment All those in favor of the amendment, please say aye Aye Any opposed The motion carries unanimously. We're back to the underlying Motion of the full slate Would any councilor like to speak before a vote? Councilor Hanson I'd like to make an additional amendment to Appoint Michael Long to the DRB alternate commission rather than re-advertise Is there a second for that motion? Seconded by Councillor Tracy Okay discussion of the amendment Councilor Hanson So this was a this was an open seat. There was one applicant Michael Long who has served on the commission in the past and Is well qualified for for the position. So I Don't see why we would re-advertise that position. So I'm hoping we can Advance him as part of the slate Thank you. Councilor Hanson any further discussion Okay, we will go to a vote All those in favor of the amendment, please say aye Aye Let's do a show of hands all those in favor of the amendment Raise your hands Two three four five six all opposed Seven motion fails Go to back to the underlying motion Is there any further discussion on the line motion council point? Yeah, mr. Mayor the um process that we now use is has some advantages and I think it has some real disadvantages To me the disadvantages we don't get the opportunity to um essentially engage in a Give and take and right now it feels like um, we've gotten to this point where we have Not able to reach agreement on the police commission and um I'll be blunt about it This side of the table has a candidate that we support and we have virtually no leverage in this process at this point as a as a as a group that is caucus of um of elected officials We're at this point I don't I don't know any other way to get any leverage in this process because the way we've approached this Other than to say that um the slate needs to now be entirely on the table I think is the only way to do it. Maybe i'm wrong But if if I am I'd like to hear somebody explain to me how to do that I don't know how else to go through this process because it's i'm new to this way of doing it and um, It feels like the slate is Essentially a way to try to get consensus But when you don't reach consensus you then are essentially giving up your entire leverage in the process I think thank you councillor planer council formation So, uh, I can only speak as someone who's been through this process, you know, this is consistent with the way that we've done I'm not suggesting, you know, every councilor has the right to pull off every piece of the slate But the way the committee has acted in the past is exactly as we did here Which is try to reach consensus, you know on those candidates that we felt we could move forward Historically speaking there have always been one or two stragglers, you know that have not been agreed to and the discussion has been on the floor So just for what it's worth. This has been consistent with our historical practice But acknowledging that, you know, we have also said any individual councillor has the right to pull off any or all candidates from the slate Councillor pine I could just an ask for somebody to explain to me how those remaining seats on the police commission how the Candidates will be nominated and voted on I don't I don't have a clear picture on that So if you could walk us through that sure I'd be happy to speak to that councillor pine Um The So the My expectation is the way we have long handled it is I will open the floor for nominations and We will nominate we'll go seat by seat And we'll vote on each seat and someone will need to get a majority vote We'll keep voting on that seat until there is a majority of seven votes and And that that's really the I think I think that's the the full process. They're you know, they're an alternative That's a process. I'm anticipating councillor councillor shannon Thank you, mayor Weinberger I think our thinking in the past in the in the process of Having the panel and having the negotiations and developing a slate Was that anybody that you want? I understand, you know, none of us have a majority on you know in our caucuses and Everybody is at the table and anybody can keep somebody off The slate as their leverage in the process But I don't think that and I didn't attend the meeting So perhaps there's something that I missed but I think at the end of these meetings Everybody knew that there was an agreement on the police commission and that was the one thing that People wanted to keep off the slate if you wanted to keep someone else off the slate for leverage You certainly could have done so But um, I'm not sure that keeping you know Voting on all of these positions where there was consensus in any way moves forward The disagreement on the police commission Where there was disagreement before I expect there will continue to be so I think those negotiations hopefully are happening in the subcommittee because that's why we have the subcommittee And just one quick clarification the the account the my understanding is the idea of having a slate to move these nominations forward Is a long-standing precedent? It's what is new what I meant to indicate was new was Simply that there were was an open meetings with interviews with each of the candidates leading up to I think the slate process has been going on for very many years president right. Thank you There's no question that this process has been going on for a number of years. It actually originated with counselor seagull She began that process and to find a more transparent process This is the process. We unanimously agreed with this all four members of the committee agreed with it unanimously But nobody here has any more leverage than anybody else As we go forward I have commissioners that are my favorite choices and I don't have any more leverage than anybody else has in winning that vote So the the argument of we don't have any leverage if we don't break up all the The slate I think this would be really creating a very bad and destructive process And precedent and I hope that we go forward with the agreement that we made It's not going to make any difference in terms of leverage I don't have any more leverage with the commissioners that I want than you do or anybody else does So I hope that we can go forward now and move forward and make some decisions here. Thank you Any further discussion I see Councillor busher and then Councillor tracy is there anyone else who wants to be in the queue Going to councillor busher then tracy then roof So mr. Mayor, um, the one disadvantage with this when when the slate hasn't been decided by the subcommittee is that um The subcommittee has had the opportunity to interview the candidates and Those of us who weren't part of it or didn't have the opportunity didn't take the opportunity or have the opportunity to go To hear the candidates now are reduced to Looking at the applications and some of them are more complete than others And I feel that That brings us to a challenging point so uh, I I really think that We need to think about How we Make it a better process When you when we're faced with this problem To me It and this is not for tonight, but to me it would have been better if we had all of the People who aren't being appointed If they were willing come so that we could ask questions and then make that determination Because as I said some of the applications were more complete than others As an independent I find it really Awkward I tried to find out from others what their thoughts were about these various candidates and read all the resumes, but um It's it's really hard And I don't think I think everybody is putting a lot of emphasis on police because we have to get it right We want it to be a diverse commission. We want it to be the right commission to move us in the right direction And I I think everybody feels the same way about it and but we are not in agreement as to who should be there To bring us to the same endpoint Councillor Tracy, I'd like to call for a five minute recess Okay, we will recess 851 and we'll be back at 856 It's 855. Let's resume City council with mayor presiding City council mayor presiding 855. We have a motion on the table The slate is on the table um Councillor tracy I move to amend that we consider each application applicant individually I should say each position individually So I'm sorry Point of order. Yes, I made a motion and it has not been seconded Okay, is there a second before? Is there a second? Well, I made I made the motion sorry before we're actually the On the advice of the council, I I don't the City attorney, would you like to speak to sure? I think Rarely do we turn down? amendments But if it totally guts the entire substance of the motion that it's not An amendment that's in order in here. I don't know how you would amend an order for the slate to say let's break it up into multiple Votes because that requires new motions for each one So I think what you have to do is if you want to Decide on them individually is that you vote no on the slate And then you have a chance to then if that motion is successful, then you put each one up individually Attorney blackwood may may I then divide the question? I think that probably works So how do you to divide the question you want to divide into However, any questions are yeah, I would like to move to divide the question into each to vote on each individual Position before us on the slate Okay, is there a second for that motion? Seconded by councillor Freeman any discussion?  I'm not I'm just I'm literally talking through Is to sort of vote yes on this amendment is to Go into a process of going commission by commission and voting on every single scene by my understanding the the premise for that is Concern around a lack of leverage or what have you for the police commission? That's really what we're talking about And so I'm going to just offer this as an idea here because I think that there is concern over Um Over the police that if we were voting the police first And get it out of the damn way. Maybe we could be more A little bit better in and moving through this process because this is I think an issue So I'm not I'm not amending the motion and getting further down to the rabbit hole, but my goodness Councillor mason. Thank you, mayor Weinberger. So, uh, I will be voting. No I'm perplexed because the whole point of the nominating committee was to come to consensus And you know looking at this list of individuals I can honestly say from having served on that committee There were none of these that were contentious. So it is I'm a little Astounded about what's the intention of delaying the process and making us look a little foolish to the public because we don't know What we're doing here. So I would be voting no President right I heard the council vote no on this this I'm echoing what Chair mason of the committee said but if this is what we're going to do if this is that There's a lot of discussion. I came here myself talk if this is what we're going to do in the future Then we're creating a precedent that we may as well blow this subcommittee up in the future It does not make any sense to go forward with this in the future. We've never done this before We're talking about leverage. Nobody has any more leverage than anybody else here does I am beyond perplexed about this Um, let's vote on the slate Or let's just vote on this and move on Okay, I think Important city attorney makes important clarification by dividing the question We are then going to have a series of questions on the slate still Slate still exists right now. We will be dividing that slate into however many different votes. It is and then just be moving forward We will not it will not be a new chance for Nominations on each of them. It will be you would have to vote down the person And then I suppose if an individual was voted down then We'd be a little bit uncharted territory But I think we would then come back to try to fill that after we've gone through each of the question items Is that clear on what this vote is? Point of information So understanding that as it is City attorney blackwood, uh council roof made a point with regards to Moving dealing with the police commission first. We have a motion an amendment on the floor We also have another thing if we wanted to to do what council roof is I would be willing to if we move up the police commission to deal with that first I'd be willing to withdraw my my amendment But I don't think but then we that would bring us back to the slate so I'm guess i'm wondering what the procedural element is nasa's needed in order to Councilor tracy, I think um You either now or after withdrawing this would make um, I think Make an amendment to change the order of the agenda Make a motion to change the order agenda Well, I think there's There's everything's been seconded. So there's nothing to be withdrawn at this point I think what you would have to do is to say make a motion to postpone action on this question which is currently um the The question to divide the question and on the and in and the underlying and move to a different agenda item To come back to this item later So you have to move to postpone move to another agenda item and come back to this item later Okay, so there's a motion on the floor If there's no other councillors, we should be recognized. We're gonna have a vote councillor tracy So I move to to I make the motion that councillor blackwood just stated to postpone action on this item Okay, sir to postpone action on the dividing of the question No on the entire matter The question I suggested that he could make if he wanted to do what councillor rufus said is to postpone action On this item on the agenda And when you come back to it, it's going to be at the same place it is now But postpone action on it and move to another agenda item and you should say what which item you want to move to Item I would like to move to deal with item. I believe it's 3.2 6 The appointment of the police commission Okay, does this motion have a second second by councillor hanson Is everyone clear on On this motion Okay, I see some So Does that need to be postponed to move to agenda items 3.26 through 3.29 is that sort is it's the entirety of the four police commission agenda items? That's correct, right? That's what we're attempting. That's what we're voting on. That's the that's my intent. I'm sorry Okay I just want to make sure there was full clarity. Yes, so I believe so let me See a train will correct me if I get this wrong again, but this motion would delay action on the slate it would postpone action on the slate and move us to and they would We would go immediately to 3.26 And we would Move through 3.26 3.27 3.28 3.29 And then this slate would be back In front of us again. Yes. Okay. Thank you. Is everyone clear now? I want the motion is Okay, it looks like we are we'll go You may just want to clarify amir that The if everyone would just look at your agenda for a second the police commission items are numbered 3.26 789 and 3 I'm sorry, and my understanding is one of them's already before you on the slate Correct, right. So I most spoke there. So the slate includes three items Essentially, I'm interpreting as the slate includes item 3.26 already. So we would move That would remain on the slate. We would move to 3.27 3.28 and 3.29 Per the motion that's currently on the floor and has been seconded All right with that, um, if there's no one else who wishes to speak about the motion postpone counselor Roof, forget it. You know what? Okay, counselor Hanson Yeah, I would just say that I think um, counselor roof raised a good point here. I think this is kind of the crux of The issue tonight and where disagreement lies. So I think it makes sense to To sort this out before before moving forward. Okay. I've got counselor macy and then counselor roof Then hopefully we're gonna go to a vote here. Thank you, mayor Weinberger So I'm still intellectually trying to wrap my head around this if what what I'm hearing is if we don't get what we want We're gonna throw out all the work that you guys did including our elected representative on that commission Just so the public is clear about what's going on right now We all have been talking. We've known police commission was not settled since our last meeting We've all I mean, I can't count the amount of time conversations that have gone on We're now in the meeting And the message is vote for this if you want to We don't get our way. So we're gonna kick and scream and blow up all the work that everyone's done Thank you counselor roof What this does what this motion does and I'll be supporting it is it keeps the slate intact For now it takes the slate as a piece of leverage one way or the other Off the table if folks all around this table don't get what they want in the the process That's about to ensue with the police commission They will then have no other chance to say I did not get what I want therefore I will not be supporting the slate right now A motion to split the question could be looked at as they don't know what they're gonna get And so if we set that question aside Vote on what's actually contentious get it out of the way and then vote on what can be considered a slate by consensus of that committee This can go a whole lot easier. So I'll be supporting it president right I urge a no vote This would be the best thing to for us to do instead of just going around with this game would have been to just simply defeat this And move forward because what counselor and the chair of the subcommittee counselor mason said is exactly correct We went through this I asked counselor pine in the subcommittee if if he had any room to negotiate on a police commission in any way other than the One candidate that they were behind and he said no there is no negotiation. We have to have the one thing that we want At that point. We all agreed. Okay, then we'll keep these off the slate and we'll move forward Now to reverse the order is as counselor mason said If we don't get what we want then apparently we're going to go why a why other Why else would we change this around? Because it's now going to be held out there hostage as counselor mason to say if we don't get what we want now Then we're going to go back and divide these all up again I Agree, I hope that the public is paying attention. This is not good government. We should defeat this motion now and move on I do not think that we should hold the slate hostage over the positions that we don't agree on I have been on this council for a very long time um 16 years And every year we have a slate and every year We have some seats that we can't figure out and we can't agree to as a slate And then we vote on those and sometimes we win and sometimes we lose and we have the blessing of having wonderful candidates And then we all move on and particularly for this police commission, which is the controversial item at hand We have so many qualified candidates for that commission. We can't put them all on So how about we all just agree to put on a selection of our very qualified candidates And let not hold the the slate hostage hostage and use the good citizens of berlington Who are putting in their time to volunteer as pawns in this debate? Over which candidate we absolutely must have for any one position Okay, um anyone else like to speak to the motion postpone Looks like you're ready for vote. Um all those in favor of the motion, please raise your hand You should raise your hand if you're voting to postpone two three four five six The next is a vote against postpone one four five six seven the motion to postpone fails on a vote of six to seven We're now back to the underlying motion, which is a vote on the uh on the slate I apologize. We're voting on now to divide the question All those is there any further discussion of dividing the question? All those in favor of dividing the question, please raise your hand three votes to divide the question All those against dividing the question, please raise your hand. I believe it Fails on a vote of three to ten We are now Back to the underlying motion, which is the slate anyone like to make discuss further the slate Seeing no hands. We'll go to a vote. We are now voting a vote. Yes vote is a vote To approve all the candidates on the slate and no vote is to vote against the candidates on the slate All those in favor of the slate, please raise your hand Okay Does anyone oppose this slate doesn't appear so After that we have a unanimous passage of the slate Excellent. So that brings us now to item. I believe 3.27 We have appointed one police commissioner and we are now at the police commissioner for the term expiring They are all they all expire the same term june 30th 22. I'd like to recognize councilor paul Thank you. Mr. Mayor. I'd like to nominate You all are joke who is here with us this evening for a seat on the police commission Thank you. Is there any other nominations? The way for people who haven't been through this process before we will now be voting We will the floor for nominations remains open until No one has wants to make any additional nominations and we will close and vote on the candidates are nominated Is any of any additional nominations? councilor hanson Yeah, I'd like to nominate marcus. It's the commission Okay, any additional nominations? President right. I'd like to nominate scholar nash Any additional nominations? Adam rift councilor rift like to nominate jubalani gemash Okay, any further nominations? Frank councilor polina, I like to nominate peter barrenberg additional nominations President right just a clarification this needs a majority vote. So you're turning black would correct It's not most votes wins. It's a majority Seven votes required to win you need seven votes to win. This is all for seat one. We are on 3.27 There will be two more votes after we result after someone gets to 50 percent Seven votes on this on this first matter councilor shannon I didn't think we were putting everything in the hat at once, but I guess we are so I will nominate jim dunne Are there any additional nominations? okay So i'm going to close the florida nominations and we will vote in the order of the the nominations if if the clerk could read back the The names that have been nominated so You want the names of the applicant in the order they were nominated? Yes. So the first one is yule or joke The next one is marquee's third is skylar nash fourth is jambalani gemash fifth is peter barrenberg and sixth is jib dunne Point of information mr. Mayor Yes, council. Okay, sorry. I miss this but I wanted to nominate zack york who is sitting right here Okay, I closed the nominations. So you'll have an opportunity at the next seat Councillor pine Just procedurally We're not a House is going to work whoever gets whoever gets seven votes for this seat is chosen. Correct. Is that how this work? Correct We are going to have a first vote we're going to go through each of the candidates that's just been nominated If no one receives seven votes this first time We Will vote we will go through the names again until we until yeah, we are okay And we will have I will allow some time for Discussion in between votes if this desire for discussion Okay, so I see a couple hands. I've got council Hanson and then councillor busher and then councillor paul so sorry if I Miss understood that but if if multiple of these nominees receive seven votes that can't happen you get one vote You get one vote Got it. Got it Thank you Councillor busher mr. Mayor if any of the people that are nominated are present and haven't had an opportunity to introduce themselves Is it okay for them to I think that's an excellent suggestion Councillor busher since it does appear that um, one of the nominees did not have an opportunity to speak before so if If they want to I just yes, if there are any other nominees that would like to come speak to the To the council My name is Do you need to speak right into the microphone? It's uh, it's it's You have to get very close to it. Let's be great. My name is you are yuck. Um, I grew up in brown I spent I've been here for 14 14 years and I'm running for the police commission because I feel that there's The the gap between the police and the community is very wide and I want to help To shorten that gap and to And bring the trust back to the community and that's uh, I feel like It's you know, I was I was never real a person who get involved this type this type of work, but um, obviously the The latest incident uh in the city, um, definitely made me, um I know I had to step up because I do this type of work with the youth around Burlington and I think it's you know, my time is now to step up and to Help the city as a whole. Thank you Thank you Okay, is there anyone else who'd like to address the council?  We will um Read the names raise your hand for the and again, we will be you can only vote for one candidate in each round. Okay um, so The first candidate is uh, is yule I'm sorry. I feel like I will not get the last name correct. So I'll just leave it that All all counselors wishing to vote uh for you'll please raise your hand. Okay one two three four five six seven eight nine 10 I believe That is a majority and we will stop the voting uh there and congratulations. Uh, yule you have been appointed to a term To the police commission expiring june 30th 22, uh, thank you for for your interest in coming out tonight So Item 3.27 is now done and we are now at 3.28 And the floor is open for nominations. I recognize council roof I will once again nominate jubalonic mash Are there any additional nominations? I'm going to mark youth Are there any additional nominations? I would like to nominate zack york. Okay. Are there any additional nominations? Okay. I think we will close that with those three nominees. So there is taboo gommash mark hughes and zackery york We will again do the vote in the order of the nominations And again the rule is someone needs to get to seven votes. Uh before we move on all those in Favor of appointing jaboo gommash, please raise your hand and that I am counting eight votes. So congratulations jaboo And thank you for your interest and Desire to serve barlinton. I appreciate you coming out and being part of this tonight That now brings us to the final seat 3.29 again term expiring june 30th 2022 and The floor is open for nominations. I recognize councilor shannon I'd like to nominate jim dun I first uh new jim dun when I got on the council and he was the union representative and And I think he's been a long time Progressive and worked for the administration for a while. I believe but I've also come to know jim as a neighbor And have met and talked with him about his service on the police commission One of the reasons I supported jaboo is because I really appreciate his varied perspectives on On policing as as a bartender And I think that jim dun brings the same type of thing To the table when he is doing his work on the police commission He has served on the police commission for three years He has been completely engaged. He has I think really pushed back at times On some issues that have been happening with policing He is not afraid to challenge the chief while at the same time not being adversarial and I think that that is really important Jim has served well, and I think that we need to While we need new blood we also need some continuity And I feel strongly that we Should reappoint jim dun to the police commission. Thank you. Thank you councillor shen councillor pines I place and name the nomination of mark hughes and I'd like to just make a Quick comment on mark. But before I do that Let you know how difficult this process is jim dun is actually somebody who I've known Probably longer than most people in this room tonight And I've had conversations with jim several weeks ago about My goal with this police commission is to bring New perspectives new voices and a new approach to being a police commissioner As he came in here tonight, I planned on supporting jim for this seat but after This the voting the way it has occurred Right now I'd like to explain why I'm going to be supporting mark hughes instead I'm going to quote a friend who sent me an email today saying All the people in the police commission are wonderful people. They give of their time. They love this community. We're trying to do the best they can However, the police commission right now in our history as a city needs new voices and stronger voices Mark hughes has the ability to represent personal lived experiences and perspectives that are not being heard at the commission He's not afraid to speak up which I get can actually annoy some people There's a certain level of discomfort when some people speak up and push the envelope I think that is exactly what is needed right now There's a huge racial divide in our city. We might not see it because those of us who are not a person of people of color Do not experience it daily. We do not drive down the street looking in our rear view mirror Worrying about a police officer being behind us. We do not get followed in the stores of berlington The lived experience that mark brings to this as a military veteran as a person who understands law enforcement Understands chain of command, but also understands what it's like to be a black man in this society Is exactly what we need today mark will bring the persistence the tenacity, but he will do it With respect and and as a gentleman that he is and I really hope you'll all join me in supporting him Thank you. Councillor pine. Are there any other nominations president right? I'm not going to put another name in nomination, but I want to give a brief remark as to why I'm supporting jim done We just added great diversity to the police commission with our previous votes I have respect for all the candidates But I'm already disappointed in something that's going to happen tonight And that is a removal of an incumbent commissioner for no apparent reason Who has been on for a short amount of time? This is this is discouraging to citizens who apply to a commission And are put on by this body Only to be removed a year and a half later Who attends every single meeting? Goes to every meeting But he's told We're moving in a different direction It's happened before A few times I've had a citizen come up to me and said I am embarrassed and humiliated to be removed from this commission by the council that asked me to put me on here For no apparent reason for nothing. I did wrong with no explanation But I'm being removed and we're doing it again tonight And yes, the police commission needs change and I need and we we're doing that. We've just added significant diversity Really significant diversity So If we do not put Jim Dunn now back on this commission, then we've done that twice tonight Not just once so I urge this can this body to support Jim Dunn. Thank you Okay, um, are there any are there any I just want to make sure there's not any additional nominations That people want to get on the floor and then we'll have some further discussion if that's desired Are there any any additional nominations? I'm not seeing anyone interested in additional nominations. We'll close the round for nominations and go to councillor Tracy if you still wish to speak Uh, I would just like to say that I think that mark uses a fantastic applicant someone who has tremendous expertise Especially, you know in in terms of the legal system mark has been someone who has been A wonderful collaborator with me of Layton as dove in headfirst To helping us sort out the the the really challenging issues that we have facing our community around police accountability And developing new policies. I think that um, I would really like to see mark mark on the commission and I I view Some of the opposition To mark as coming from a place of being afraid Of being concerned that mark is someone who will be Um, who will who will ask tough questions and basically not wanting to ask those questions So I really think that we should have someone who has shown themselves to be reasonable But tough and also incredibly knowledgeable and qualified So I will be supporting mark on on this and hope that we can can bring a voice with As as well experienced and as strong as marks to the table when the commission next convenes Okay, I've got councillor Freeman, councillor Hansen, is there any other councillor wish to read and councillor Mason? I just wanted to caution this body from using language that I feel tokenizes our candidates There's not a diversity quotient that we meet when we When we appoint people of certain backgrounds, I think mark is incredibly qualified And I'm really excited to support him on this commission councillor Hansen Thank you. Um, I'm I'm really proud to support mark Hughes for this seat. I've gotten to know mark pretty well over the past couple of years, um Working in the state house working, um For v perk as I did um in 2016 2017. I got to get familiar with Mark's work. He was incredibly Incredibly fierce and well researched and really successful advocate in the state state house Advancing two of the most substantial Uh pieces of legislation that we've we've ever had on issues of policing and Um and and racism in the state. Um, and I would just say, you know, it sounds like Folks understand his his expertise in his background. It sounds like that's not Um, that's not the concerns. I've been hearing the concerns. I've been hearing more have to do with his style Um, I've I've interacted with him a lot and I and I think his style is Firm, but it is very certainly very collaborative and you don't pass legislation through the state house without the ability to collaborate and work with others and I think he's shown that to a tremendous degree both in that work and um More locally, um working on these issues and pushing in in his time since he's moved to burlington. I think he's Incredibly qualified and and we're very fortunate to to have this opportunity to to put someone with his level of expertise um And um tenacity onto this commission. I think it'll really bring the change that that is so needed in this community. Thank you So I've got councillor mason and then councillor paul Thank you. Mayor Weinberger. Um, I will be supporting jib done Not because my vote is one in opposition, but rather one in support of my assessment of what I feel the skill set that's necessary Are missing uh at the commission Mr. Dunn alluded to and this council has spent a fair amount of time concerned with the police contracts You know, that's come up time and time again. In fact last meeting it was pointed out, you know that The contract needed to be revisited, you know I envisioned the ad hoc committee, which is going to be digging pretty deep into this including how that contract works with our policies um, there will be significant work for the commission to do and I feel that you know Replacing jim at this time would be a missed opportunity uh on our part So I will be supporting mr. Dunn. Thank you Thank you, uh, councillor paul. Thank you I just have a request if we might be able to take a one minute break, please Um, okay. I will grant a brief recess. We are adjourned at 9 31. Let's try to be back in a few minutes Thank you The agenda or another recess, please Okay, we will have an initial We are ready to resume. Um, any further councillor like to Uh, say anything any further discussion Okay, I think we are Um ready for vote. We'll first vote for jim dunn and then we'll vote for mark Hughes All of those in favor of appointing jim dunn to the commission Please raise your hand All those in favor of mark Hughes, please raise your hand And pierce mark Hughes has been, uh, elected congratulations mark Thank you jim for your service Um, and thank you to the huge number of, uh, other candidates who are interested in this, uh, very important commission as well as all the other candidates who are not successful tonight for the other appointments it truly is, uh, You know, we here I talked to my mayoral colleagues and colleagues from around the state and most Communities struggle to populate their commissions and boards and are unable to find people willing to come forward and it is we are very fortunate as a community that We have quite the opposite here that these are, um, intensely competitive, uh, seats and that, um, we have such a high caliber of people who come forward So, um, with that I believe The city council with mayor presiding Well, so I'm forgetting something I believe we're ready to adjourn We are we are adjourned at 942 at the city council mayor preside Thank you, mr. Mayor. I will now reconvene the regular city council meeting at 942 also and move back to item number five Which is a deliberative agenda. I'll recognize Councilor mason for a motion Thank you president right, uh, I would like to move the following slate to the following positions Chitton county regional planning commission anti-montral chitton county regional planning commission alternate re-advertise Chitton solid waste district, uh, joseph lee perry and I would note for a term beginning 6 29 19 because I understand There's an important meeting this week Church Street marketplace commission jeff nick second church street marketplace commission seat linda magoon third Church Street marketplace commission seat lori tucker and the final church street marketplace commission mark boucher fence viewer vikas magipudi The other two fence viewer positions will be readvertised The seat on the green mountain transit board in shape and spencer housing board of review joseph josh o'hara The second housing board of review seat olivia panya And the final housing board of review seat betsy magavik magav sick And that's it council right. I don't need the floor back if there's a second Seconded by councilor jane Any discussion on the slate? Hearing none all those in favor of the slate as proposed by councillor mason, please point of order. I think what you're councillor mason The perry needs to his term needs to be effective tiddly. I I didn't know it in the motion I'm sorry. I spoke 20 6 24. Thank you. Uh, lori are we all set? All those in favor of approval of the slate, please say aye all right any opposed That slate passes unanimously and congratulations to every candidate who has now been appointed and congratulations as has been said earlier For everybody that has applied. We appreciate it very much We'll now move to item 5 point 1 2 an indoor entertainment permit application for 2019 20 councillor roof Thank you president right. I'll move to approve the 2019 and 2020 Indoor entertainment permit application for the board room llc doing business as the board room located at 3 mil street with all standard conditions seconded by second please from someone councillor tracy councillor roof you have the floor back if you want it Uh, it's relatively self-explanatory under entertainment permit. I'm happy to answer any questions if there aren't any questions out of the motion Hearing none all those in favor, please say aye Any opposed that passes unanimously item number 5.13 is a resolution amendment to appendix b rules of the city council councillor Who's moving this councillor hanson? Yeah, I'll move to waive the reading and adopt the resolution And ask for a second seconded by councillor polino Any discussion? I can speak briefly. Um, this is It's a little bit in the weeds for folks of the public, but uh, basically all city councillors have Five thousand dollars a year that they can use for to support their role their council role either by hiring staff or hosting events or However, they want to spend that money to to better perform their services as a city councillor Unfortunately because the budget year doesn't align Uh with the beginning of a term there is a window at the beginning of a newly elected councillors terms where they don't have access to the those funds, which is something that uh, I don't think The three new councillors here actually even realized at the outset But it does put you in a difficult position as a new councillor to to be able to um Take on what is what is a new role with the steep learning curve? So I think That is almost the most critical time to have that additional support. Um, And so this would this would correct that both For um for right now and also going forward. Um, so that's the the spirit of the um Resolution and I hope that that others will support it Any further discussion councillor busher? so I'll be supporting this as a change, but I did mention to the sponsors that council funds If they're not utilized Go roll back into the general fund as of june 30th And so I wasn't quite sure About maybe this would be president right. Maybe this would be for the city attorney Um, I wasn't quite sure if we adopt this resolution And um, the intent is to free up some funds for this fiscal year if indeed The councillors who might have some Bills that they wanted to present the city would have time enough to do that before june 30th City attorney blackwood. I wanted to make sure no one was misled by by this Expecting to be able to access funds and maybe and I wasn't sure if they could or they couldn't I'm going to answer for her We have 30 days after the fiscal year end to submit invoices for payment for the fiscal year I can't hear you. I'm sorry. There are 30 days after fiscal year end So if they're submitted in july for expenses in this fiscal year, we can still pay them Okay, so they would be able to okay. That's good to know. Thank you so much Further discussion Hearing none all those in favor, please say aye Any opposed? That passes unanimously Item 5.15 is a resolution updating and improving city policies related to food trucks and street side vendors 5.14 Yes Excuse me a resolution report and ongoing communications on uvm's progress toward housing undergraduates counselor paul Thank you president right. I'd like to move the resolution wave the reading Ask for a second and the floor back briefly after a second seconded by Councillor pipe. Councillor paul you have the floor. Thanks very much So as stewards of the city I think this resolution that we have before us is of great importance to all of us around the table because what we're talking about here Is the issue that has long been identified as one of our most significant challenges, which is our housing supply and affordability And to try to address this Mayor Weinberger shortly after Took office had a has as well had identified this as one of our most significant challenges and The council and the administration collaboratively worked to create the housing action plan Which was signed which was passed by the council. I believe in 2015 and one of the action steps in that was the neighborhood project On the report that we have on the neighborhood project Which was a a long time in coming Was accepted and voted on this year by the council It was a vote of 11 to 1 And in the neighborhood report and this was you know that the neighborhood project Was based on input from Mostly from city counselors that were in the affected wards in the middle of the city But also there were a number of community members The administration there was also direct input from uvm preservation burlington and champlain college concluded that The lack of sufficient housing is exacerbating Quality of life issues in the city's historic neighborhoods particularly near uvm and champlain Students are competing with residents for rental units and the volume of demand encourages some landlords To allow the quality of their housing units to deteriorate It recommended that Along with uvm's master Campus master plan that uvm developed more on campus purpose-built student housing to attract more juniors and seniors back to campus So the reason why The reason why we're having this before us tonight and it's been brought forward is that You know there is There's going to be in the next month or so Uvm is going to be releasing an updated housing plan that they've been working on for the past Year or so And all of that is great We also Should note that next week There's going to be a change in leadership at the university of vermont and the last time that there was a change in leadership There was a delay of several years before really substantive agreements were developed We effectively were just passing the same agreement and there wasn't a lot of change made Now that is a real concern to a lot of people that perhaps despite all of this work There could be a stall And and I will also say that there are some of the variables are different this time around the last time When president sullivan came in that was Um, uh, that was exactly the same time that we had a new mayor But I think it's important to recognize what this resolution is doing and what it's not doing What are the one of the goals of the resolution is really accountability? It's to hold the parties accountable to the mission of realizing more housing in our community And what the resolution asks is for the administration In consultation with the university's leadership to provide us a report as soon after the release of the housing plan Being done by the university is practicable. So there's no date But hopefully it will be soon Which will update the council on the progress that's being made with the university of vermont to establish more housing and the While the neighborhood project and the 10-year capital plan both mentioned Trinity the trinity campus as a possible site um The resolution specifically notes that and I believe this is really just a fact that It's not within our purview Or the purview of the council to be involved with the university's internal discussions about the location of future on campus housing Where where it should go? But what this is doing is expressing our support for additional student housing The resolution is not meant to interfere with the university's process for pursuing housing It is really about housing and finding solutions to our housing challenges I'd like to thank the university's joe spidel and lisa kingsbury who are both here this evening if people have any questions for them They offered direct input to the resolution One thing I also do want to note is that the university has been A wonderful partner in many ways in having housing they The resolution states the number of house of new housing units that have come on over the last 10 years And that number is significant but also Like to acknowledge also That's what I believe is the support of the administration for this resolution And hope that it will receive our unanimous support. Thank you very much Thank you councilor paul discussion on the resolution councilor busher Thank you The topic about providing on On campus housing is certainly one that the community shares As a representative of board one I do find it odd that if the intent From the sponsors is not to subliminally Mention or plant the seed of trinity campus multiple times Then i'm not quite sure why it's referenced so many times in the resolution I do feel that it is inconsistent with the Lines that are stated for Um Lines 53 through 56 where it says it is not within the purview nor should it be Nor should it be of the council to be involved in the university's internal discussions about the location of future On campus housing for students So I I do take issue with the title and with the reference of Even in the final be it for the resolve clause It really didn't have to state that it'd be on the trinity campus or other sites It could have just Said to develop student housing period um It has created a stir this resolution You know was posted a A different form of this resolution was posted on board docs earlier And it certainly got the attention of a number of Ward 1 residents One of whom came tonight to speak to the council Who feels targeted and I think that the intent for this council is to unify with the new UVM administration around this issue and to not pit war Ward against ward. I think that's very unfortunate when something like this Begins to rear its head For example, it is referenced that there were 308 new beds added those were added in ward 1 If in 2018 So I do believe that you know ward 1 is home to a number of our of students trinity campus is referenced once again in line 22 that the um In the agreement it says to begin to explore ways to modernize and improve uvm's trinity campus Well, I think everyone agrees that that campus was trinity college and the housing that Those students occupied is antiquated and it certainly needs to be modernized But it doesn't say to expand or add students to that campus It says modernize and improve if if the intent was to expand it would have said to expand I'm not saying that that couldn't be one of the outcomes, but it is very clear in its language and specific I feel that as far as the neighborhood project certainly when we're talking about moving students out of Ward 1 out of the neighborhood you look around and say where could you put them? Well, you could put them In on trinity campus just like if you looked in ward 6 you would say you could put them on the other residential Campus redstone campus That's not referenced here at all and yet I went to uvm and redstone was the residential campus So for me as a counselor I take issue with this I would like to support the concept, but I don't support this in the way it's stated because it targets once again trinity campus I think that um, some of you around the table know that when the first draft appeared I was very concerned and I wanted to get clarity about where uvm was with Their housing draft And their plan and I also went to joe's fidel I have and said I would like to To suggest that the university found find a place That could provide on campus housing that would work for the students and work for the city That so that it wouldn't impact any neighborhood. I'm not pitting award against award I was suggesting places that would be in close proximity to davis close proximity to the library And I was suggesting that could they look at could they consider some of these housing sites? I know that I used to can't you know go door to door until uvm's restrictions about you know Accessing door to door at living and learning and those dorms they've talked about for quite a while improving That's one place right across from main street right across from davis right across from the library right across from the newly renovated dairy bar Where students would like and all the classrooms where they would be in a place where they wouldn't impact Any residential neighborhood There are also one of their land bank plans talked about putting Building above parking lots not eliminating the parking but building above surface parking lots So there are other opportunities also in that location to accomplish Additional on-campus housing So i'm hoping that uvm will look at all of that and look at how they can do what we want Which is create on-campus housing, but also minimally impact the residential neighborhoods in burlington That are dealing with a lot of issues already quality of life issues already so Reluctantly i will not be supporting this because i feel that It if indeed trinity campus could have been eliminated not from the factual aspect of line 22 But in some of the other sections it would have been a more generic resolution and and i'm I'm sad to say that even at the the housing summit that i attended and went all day The mayor made the statement about once again looking at housing at trinity campus And that's really sad for me. We know the mayor lives in ward six also So it was just really sad that that ward one's Campus was identified as the only place that people are focusing on this And so i'm sad to say that I won't be supporting this. Thank you councillor busher councillor paul Thank you very much. Um, so i'll address my comments to you president, right? Um, so uh, I sent the resolution particularly to those Counselors who are directly, you know around the uvm campus about a week and a half ago I asked and it was the updated version. I asked if there were any If if there were any comments any suggestions any I tried to go over what the what the resolution was saying and what it wasn't saying I asked if there were any suggestions that people had for edits or changes And I did not hear from anyone um I would be happy to entertain as I was then To um, you know changes that people might have to the resolution I I'm sorry if people if if there's anyone who feels they can't support it because of you know one word or another I I do feel that I I did all that I could do to reach out to people Well in advance of the resolution coming to the floor And if if people feel I didn't they have my apology. Thank you Thank you. Councillor paul. Any other councillor councillor hanson Thank you. Um So I I'm very I mean this is this is a big issue for me, uh, representing the area surrounding Surrounding uvm and in very student-heavy District I I it is a huge priority For me to to build more student housing and especially to create more opportunities that are realistic for juniors and seniors at uvm to To live on campus To to alleviate some of the pressures that we are we are seeing and to to build some more density in our community I So and after hearing the the last couple of councillors speak I I do kind of Zone in here on the The third resolved clause It's a bit strange of a clause to me. I'm I'm not completely sure What the intention is but one thing that strikes me about it is That it would the council would not be involved in discussions Around the location it does say internal discussions. So that makes sense to me, but but I do think it's important that That the city and then the council Are involved in those discussions because they do have a pretty significant impact On the city and I I think it's good to have you know open open communication and dialogue with the university and really To to have those conversations and I think So that for me is is a bit of um A concern with that resolved clause and it also sounds like there may be concerns Um within that resolve clause Uh around the mention of of trinity campus there. So Because I really do support The overall idea of this resolution and I I do want to Support it and really want to see it go forward and would like it to if possible Be supported unanimously um I would move that we strike the Third be it further resolved clause. So lines 50 2 to 56 Um amend the resolution to to actually strike that that section council hanson has Move to amend the resolution to strike out the third resolved clause lines 52 through 56, correct? Correct and is there a second to that? Second by councillor freeman discussion on the amendment Councillor paul, thank you. So we no longer have friendly amendments, right? So that's right to vote on everything, right? Okay, all right. Um, I'm I'm I'm I'm supportive of that if that's what if that's what you would like and that would get you Um, make you feel more comfortable with the resolution. I'm fine with that. Thank you Mr. Mayor Sorry for sorry, I Had hoped to be recognized before there was a no, I'm sorry. Do you want to wait? I would wait till after the amendments resolved Uh, anyone else on the amendment? Councillor hanson just just real briefly I meant to say this but didn't mention I actually and I I want to actually acknowledge I I am actually Very open to building more housing on trinity, although I think it should be focused on Upper classmen or graduate students and I think a lot of the concerns that we heard earlier From one of the members of the public who came up. Um, and I had the opportunity to speak with him and others and I think a lot of the issues we're seeing and this is Talking to students as well trinity doesn't seem to be It's not considered a great place For underclassmen. It's because it is somewhat isolated from the rest of campus So I've heard both from students and residents that there is a conflict there But I am actually very open to to building more there just focusing it more on upperclassmen or graduate Students so I did want to acknowledge that but I really do appreciate The openness to to removing this clause for for the reasons that we did discuss Thank you, councillor hanson councillor paul Thank you. I apologize. Um, I just wanted to Focus everyone's attention for just a moment on line 35 the the uvm master plan is not about underclassmen It is about juniors and seniors. So just wanted to mention that thank you For the discussion by the council We all sat ready to vote I guess we are all those in favor of the resolution. Please say Oh on the amendment all those in favor of the amendment. Please say I Can post One no vote tuna tuna votes Uh, that passes by a vote of 10 to 2 We're now back on the resolution and Mr. Mayor Point of information. I'm sorry. Can what what councillor hanson councillor hanson? Oh pointed information You get recognized What is your point of information? Um, I didn't catch who the two Council members opposing the two opposing were councillor busher and councillor polina. Is that correct? Yes, thank you. Sorry about that Mr. Mayer, thank you president right. Um, I just Reference was made to um My comments at the housing summit. I just wanted to clarify. Um, I Hope My position is clear to the council Certainly people attended the housing summit as well as my positions over the years um, I am directionally in favor of More housing throughout the city And I think the model that we heard from that day From Minneapolis city council president lisa bender was one of the ways they had Successfully moved the community forward was that the council came together and didn't say as I think if you really think about it We have too often done in the past We're gonna put housing here, but we're we're we're not gonna put it in this part of the city has led to Some real disparities in the way The city is settled and the way in which affordable housing is distributed around the city and So yes, I I am I do think trinity campus is Ununderutilized Part of the city that could be improved and could be there could be additional homes there But I think the same could be said for Many many parts of the city could be said about an innovation district in the south end. It could be said About other parts of the campus particular perhaps And I do think we should Through the adu reform that's being discussed and perhaps others look at what additional homes being created in What has up until now been very low density neighborhoods in the city. So I just want to make sure that that that point is clear and then while we're talking about trinity campus I also I have you know We heard from Mr. Spellman earlier and I heard his concerns while knocking on doors in the past campaign And I do think I don't think it is My hope is if there is that if uvm Is interested in upgrading the trinity campus that some of the Having more people there that does not necessarily need more impacts if the design can be improved if there are things about access and Links to the rest of the campus and changes perhaps in the way Some of the street design is laid out and the way in which traffic patterns are encouraged You could actually have more homes and have less impacts. I believe through good planning and good design on Some of the neighborhoods along east avenue. So that's my hope Where this conversation is going and so if this resolution does pass i'll be signing it within that sphere Councillor shannon Thank you. I just for the record. I Want to say I support building on campus housing in ward six in ward eight and in ward one um, I Not uh, truck trying to target ward one particularly, but I think that the full campus needs to be considered for campus housing um, what i'm not supportive of Is that neighbors have to tolerate what was described to us tonight, which is shameful and in ward six we have lots of We have uvm students. We have Champlain college purpose-built housing and I have long heard that that living next to champlain college's housing That it's well managed and that it doesn't create the nuisances in the neighborhood um, and I hope that uvm heard what we all heard tonight and Is going to address that Because nobody should have to live next door to that and I don't think we should assume that student housing is just going to mean May lay in the in the neighborhoods because that's not right for anybody and I certainly don't wish that on any ward in this city Thank you. Councillor shannon any council busher Yes, I do want to Make a couple of other comments President right if I can just Explain a little bit about The walk by noise If you have a an isolated campus and students want to get to the main campus Davis or the library Or to other people at redstone or m at the These large groups of students walk by And in that process they because I live on east avenue also They litter they vandalize Because sometimes they're not always they're sometimes intoxicated and um And that body of people are very disruptive to a neighborhood And walk by noise is one of the hardest things to really get a handle on we all know that The the reality is that it's fine to say We'll deal with it, but the infrastructure is you know, they're supposed to be that green mountain pathway or whatever it is through campus, but It's you have to you can't funnel people To walkways that don't work for them. They're going to take the shortest distance to where they're going and so I feel that I feel like my ward sometimes is under siege And that it is not acknowledged um, and I am frustrated because I Care about where I live and I care about the little neighborhoods that surround the university And the hos