[0:12] Yes. >> Thank you, Chief. All right. Good

[0:14] evening, everyone, and thank you for uh waiting. I'm sorry that we were late.

[0:18] Um I would like to um call to order our main town meeting. It is June 2nd,

[0:24] Tuesday, June 2nd, 7:18 p.m. Um I'll go ahead and uh do roll call. Um

[0:32] for Ward 1, Councilmember Mendoza isn't here tonight because her sister is

[0:36] currently in labor. So, our prayers are with her and her family as they welcome

[0:41] a beautiful new life into the world. Um I'll go ahead and turn it over to

[0:46] Ward 2.

[0:50] » Al Allison Pages, Ward 2, present. >> Ward 3?

[0:54] » Vivian Jackson, Ward 3. >> Ward 4?

[0:59] » Councilmember Bonnie Wookie. >> Great, thank you. And um I'll now ask

[1:04] everyone to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

[1:28] Awesome, thank you so much. Um on the agenda for our week, we don't actually

[1:32] need to go over that because we did before. So, we have a legislative

[1:35] update. So, I would like to call our um lobbyist to the podium. Thank you so

[1:41] much for being here. Um and uh yeah, just introduce yourself and go on with

[1:47] your update. >> Um and

[1:50] Sorry, just if I can, just before you start, I wanted to let the audience know

[1:54] the presentation will be visible online, uh but we won't be able to show it up

[1:58] here, but the presentation is in the packets that you have in your hands. And

[2:02] that's true for the council as well.

[2:19] » This better? Yes, thank you. Jonathan Carpenter, Green Willow Consulting

[2:23] Group. Just wanted to say it was a pleasure to

[2:26] be here as usual. As I said, Leslie Felice is usually here. She's out on

[2:30] vacation, and a very well-deserved vacation.

[2:34] We had a great session. I want to talk about the session.

[2:38] I'm going to start with if you have our presentation.

[2:42] There were 3,000 bills that were sponsored this this past

[2:46] session, if you can imagine. And of those 3,000, approximately 900 bills

[2:51] were passed. So, we monitored, we always track each bill as they come out,

[2:57] because the devil's in the details, right?

[2:59] But actually, there was a lot of movement and the fact

[3:03] that they had a almost 1,000 pieces of legislation to pass this year at the

[3:07] General Assembly. The major focus areas again was the

[3:12] budget, public safety, education, and

[3:17] immigration was very big this year, as you can imagine from things happening on

[3:21] the federal level. Let's talk about the state budget. We've

[3:27] This has been the focus for the last two to three years.

[3:32] This structural deficit. The The state continues to deal with a

[3:37] structural deficit. While the legislature was able to

[3:42] through not necessarily putting together new programs, and sticking with their

[3:48] core services, and and not making a lot of cuts, but I like to say a maybe a

[3:54] band-aid approach that they were able to reduce the

[3:57] projected short fall of about 3 billion this year down to a billion or billion

[4:02] four, which is very big for them to take the

[4:06] actions that they took. However, if you look at our presentation,

[4:12] those that that structural deficit still sits there,

[4:16] which means we still have to do things in the future that would reduce this

[4:22] budget in a meaningful way because if you look at it by 20

[4:29] 2031, 2029, we're still going to be looking at a $4 billion deficit,

[4:34] structural deficit in the state of Maryland.

[4:37] And what does that mean? How does that affect our municipalities and our

[4:42] county governments? There is this competition for increased funding,

[4:46] competition all over the place. Where the dollars going to come from?

[4:50] The stress is going to come at the local level.

[4:53] And so we will continue to advocate and fight for

[4:57] our fair share, but this budget,

[5:01] let's not sugarcoat it. We have a problem in the state of Maryland

[5:05] with our budget and the structural deficit. It's a very real thing.

[5:09] So moving ahead, that takes us to our advocacy.

[5:16] I am more than elated, excited the success we had this session, but

[5:23] because of the structural deficit, you know,

[5:26] we found out during the session, Les and I had a meeting with General

[5:30] Services and some other folks that there was a a kind of a a

[5:36] a grab at funds that had already been allocated

[5:40] and funds that were sitting out there, authorized

[5:45] LBIs and other initiatives. And there were re-authorizations going on where

[5:51] those funds that had been allocated, if they were beyond that three or five-year

[5:56] window and they were still sitting there,

[5:58] then those funds were being taken and and the awardees were not being

[6:03] notified. So, if you can imagine, if you have X

[6:08] amount of dollars, whether it was a hundred thousand or whether it was a

[6:12] million, and you're going to access those funds

[6:16] and those funds were now gone because they had reached their

[6:20] statutory, uh, limit. Uh, and so, the legislature and legislators in those

[6:26] districts and others are able to re-authorize those funds because they're

[6:29] sitting there and they are beyond the deadline of when they were supposed to

[6:34] be accessing utilized. So, uh, we got a wind of that, of

[6:38] course, and you know, again, it was a big thing to fight for whatever dollars

[6:42] we wanted. And so, it is extremely, extremely, uh,

[6:47] uh, pleasing to be able to report the, uh, efforts that we put in. And this And

[6:52] this goes to your advocacy, right? I I always say this. We're in Annapolis,

[6:57] we're there every day, where they see us, they know us, but if you can make it

[7:03] down to Annapolis, come on down. Advocate for your community. Mayor, you

[7:07] are excellent in coming down, you're excellent in lending your voice to

[7:10] Annapolis and it makes a difference. And in this case, uh, our advocacy work last

[7:17] summer led to our success this past session

[7:20] despite the structural deficit. We worked with the delegation members. We

[7:24] were, uh, insistent to a point to have, uh, Senator Augustine and and the

[7:30] delegation members visit Comer Manor. Um, we wanted to them see the facility.

[7:36] Um, we asked them to stay and walk the facility. We showed them the things that

[7:39] were going on in the in the in the, uh, funds that were needed for some

[7:43] improvements here at community uh, to the center and the and town hall and we

[7:47] were successful. Initially we we we looked at maybe a

[7:51] hundred thousand etc. And we walked away with a commitment of secured in the in

[7:57] the budget of seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars

[8:00] for Colmar Manor. That was major.

[8:04] And trust me there are communities five times the size which that which

[8:09] that they could talk about getting a seven hundred fifty thousand dollar

[8:14] commitment from the state and getting passed in the budget. So you are to be

[8:18] commended for your work mayor and council and your assistant in working

[8:22] with your delegation and saying we really need this.

[8:25] So it makes a difference what we do in the interim

[8:29] for the pending session. So I'm proud to say that and again congratulations to

[8:34] you for your hard work in bringing those funds and securing those funds

[8:39] for the town hall. I'll talk a little bit about some of the and you have our

[8:45] presentation some of the legislation that we were

[8:48] able to fight for and advance. There was a bill

[8:52] that was very important talk Senate Bill 1. Again this goes to the

[8:59] immigration things on the federal level and so in the state of Maryland Senate

[9:03] Bill 1 was about the face coverings for law enforcement the prohibition of face

[9:09] coverings so folks could know who you were dealing with in terms of law

[9:13] enforcement and that bill was passed again

[9:18] through heavy advocacy throughout the state and again in this community.

[9:22] Senate Bill 1 passed requiring that law enforcement not have on face coverings.

[9:27] That was a very big bill this year. Um the beverage container recycling refund

[9:33] program Uh, that bill did not

[9:38] However, it was about very highly debated throughout the municipalities

[9:42] and a lot of work, but the industry took notice.

[9:46] And so, something we will expect to come back again next year.

[9:52] Something we will look at. Um,

[9:56] HB 1178. Um, this is the municipal annexation

[10:02] bill, annexation bill. The importance of this legislation. This

[10:05] bill has been brought forth for the last, I would say, 3 years.

[10:11] So, the legislators who brought this forward was very

[10:14] persistent and insistent. The original legislation would have required another

[10:21] um If you wanted to annex as a

[10:24] municipality, you would have to get permission.

[10:27] A new process, a new step in annexation. You would have had to get permission

[10:32] from the legislators that were affected within those

[10:35] annexation properties. Those you would have to get permission from the

[10:39] legislators to even annex the properties.

[10:44] And so, again, because of your advocacy and fighting back and saying we already

[10:51] have enough of steps we have to go through for annexation. Why should we

[10:56] have to go to the General Assembly, two specific legislators, and get

[11:00] permission? Again, it takes away from your local

[11:03] autonomy and things that you already have to do, the hoops you have to jump

[11:06] through in order to annex. And so, we were able to modify that legislation and

[11:13] it becomes now it became a notification process and not a permission process.

[11:19] Very big deal that we were able to get that

[11:21] legislation in terms of a notification and not

[11:27] permission. So, if you want to annex, you must notify the legislators in that

[11:32] district and not get permission. That was a very big win.

[11:37] Again, we brought this to the attention of organizations like MML and others

[11:43] and we stood we stood strong. So again, thank you again for the work that you've

[11:47] done and able to put that legislation and make it notification and not

[11:52] permission. Very big. There are some new requirements

[11:57] Senate Bill 848 municipal election reporting

[12:01] requirements. There will be certain things and we'll

[12:05] we'll bring this forward a new report. There are specific things that you must

[12:10] notify now the Board of Education what are your

[12:14] what are your requirements for elections for candidates? This is something that's

[12:18] being required. It did pass. So we want to keep the Board of Education in the

[12:24] state. In other words, they want to know what

[12:27] are your requirements. Not anybody should be able to just run

[12:31] for office and what are the requirements to run for office. And so we want to

[12:35] keep an eye on that moving forward and make sure you're abreast to the new

[12:39] rules and notification for municipal elections and your requirements for

[12:45] those electors, okay? For yourselves. So that's another piece of legislation

[12:50] that passed. This this bill was big. This was a

[12:56] the administration has had a really big emphasis on

[13:02] uh their zoning laws and being able to

[13:06] bring fair housing and equitable housing to the state. There was a bill that's

[13:11] called the Starter and Still Silver Homes Act

[13:15] Senate Bill 36 and HB 239. This bill would have

[13:21] and again, this was a governor's priority.

[13:26] So this bill had a lot of behind it. It was sponsored by the president of the

[13:30] Senate and the House Speaker. So, you know it's a very important bill

[13:34] and it was very important to the governor.

[13:36] However, once you again, I always say the devil's

[13:40] in the details and as we started to look at the legislation, it would have taken

[13:45] away a what we consider a lot of local autonomy and your own development,

[13:51] especially on the county level. And so, there was a lot of pushback. In fact,

[13:56] the initial bill after debate in the committee, the bill had over 36

[14:01] amendments to one piece of legislation. And for that reason, the bill, I would

[14:06] imagine, did not pass. It was not successful.

[14:11] Um we expected to come back, but they took notice of what are the concerns of

[14:16] the local municipalities in the county, okay? But it was a very big bill and the

[14:20] way that the bill was initially entered and they tried to pass

[14:25] it, it just took away a lot of local autonomy in terms of zoning and putting

[14:30] together your comprehensive plans and what you put in place. So, we were able

[14:34] to fight to repeal that bill so that it did not pass.

[14:39] Um one of the one of the following bills I'd like to

[14:43] talk about is the speed monitoring systems bill.

[14:47] Um Uh there was a bill put in this year

[14:51] that would have allowed municipalities to put speed cameras in corridors where

[14:59] they're 35 mph and below and you would be able to put

[15:04] this cameras up without permission from the state.

[15:10] This was a very good bill. Um The bill did not pass because of just

[15:18] more or less it got caught behind other pieces of legislation because there was

[15:22] a major push for this legislation um instead of keep going back and getting

[15:27] permission from the state when we know in fact we want to make our town safer

[15:32] and that why wouldn't we be able to put a camera uh in a congested municipality

[15:37] wants to put a camera in a place and this bill will allow you to do that. So

[15:41] we expect that bill to come back next year. Um it would be again a lot of the

[15:45] municipalities in MML were very supportive of this legislation and

[15:49] something that has been pushed and we expect it to come back next year and so

[15:53] we will keep a eye out and keep you abreast to when that legislation drops

[15:58] uh at the beginning of session. Okay. Um that's most of what I wanted to talk

[16:03] about in terms cuz I don't want to bore you again. Um

[16:06] I always emphasize the best thing that we do as a

[16:10] organization is communicate, communicate, communicate. So I hope that

[16:14] you read at least browse through our weekly updates, right? And our bill

[16:19] trackers because we just want you to know what's going on. And if you ever

[16:23] have a question, you ever see something or if you see something that's not a

[16:27] part of it just reach out to Leslie or I and we

[16:30] will gladly work with you and find out what the answers are or keep you abreast

[16:34] of pieces of legislation. And again that could be personal. Just let us know. Uh

[16:39] the most important thing we could do and what we're hired to do is represent you

[16:42] and bring that information and make sure you're educated what's going on in

[16:46] Annapolis. So I'll take uh any questions at this

[16:49] time. >> Well, Mr. Carpenter, I just want to say

[16:52] your updates are appreciated. >> Thank you. Thank you.

[16:56] » I I wanted to reiterate that point by saying expressly when we were in

[17:00] communication with Leslie about the potential for uh the the bond bill that

[17:06] helped support the town hall. Um she was very communicative, very helpful and we

[17:10] were in the loop and engaged on that thanks to her. Um so thanks for to you

[17:15] and your firm for that. >> Excellent. Thank you.

[17:18] » Yeah, and I obviously want to say that it's just it's really been a pleasure

[17:21] working with you guys for these past 4 years. Look forward to continuing

[17:26] our relationship and we really appreciate Leslie. Appreciate you.

[17:40] » Thank you, Mayor. Thank you.

[17:48] Thank you.

[17:51] » All right, next item on the agenda is our consent agenda which include

[17:59] Oh, because it was facing well, whatever.

[18:03] Cuz it's kind of still doing the feedbacks thing.

[18:06] Okay. The consent agenda includes approval of

[18:10] the minutes from May 19th and the council meeting sorry, the council

[18:14] meeting for May 19th and the April 7th work session.

[18:18] Department operation reports, town administrator and public works reports.

[18:23] Treasurer's report is not in in this packet because it is too early in the

[18:27] month. And then we have the public safety code compliance.

[18:32] Is there anything that anybody wants to pull out

[18:34] from any of those from from the consent agenda that they have questions on?

[18:39] Oh, yes. >> And just a reminder to the council. So

[18:42] in your packets you have both on the May 19th meeting that was both

[18:49] the public forum for the budget hearing as well as the regular council meeting.

[18:54] So both of those are in there along with the work session and those are all part

[18:59] of what you would hopefully be approving tonight.

[19:14] » Okay.

[19:20] » Does anybody want to pull anything out? Have any questions on anything?

[19:33] The treasurer's report is not in the packet because it's too soon too early

[19:36] in the month for that. All right. So, if there are no questions

[19:41] or anything that wants to be pulled, I'd like to request a motion to approve the

[19:45] consent agenda.

[19:52] » Council member Fanny, make the motion to approve the consent

[19:55] agenda.

[20:06] » To approve May the 19th and April the 7th?

[20:10] So, I was not here. Yeah, I'm a council Yeah, so I won't be approving April the

[20:14] 7th.

[20:18] » Well, she gives me the motion, so we need a second.

[20:20] » Okay. >> So, is there is there a

[20:22] » Second.

[20:25] » Allison Pages were two I'll second the motion.

[20:29] » Okay, and then the discussion is that you're not going to approve the April

[20:32] because you weren't here. >> Right.

[20:34] » Okay. Um any other comments? Any other

[20:37] discussion items? >> Um just on um May the 19th.

[20:42] Um where the presentation was uh the

[20:46] delegates came to give a presentation to the mayor her re-election. Um I also got

[20:51] a presentation.

[20:55] » Thank you. I will make that amendment to the minutes.

[20:58] » Um that was that was the only comment I

[21:01] had. >> All right. Thank you.

[21:04] Um Great. If there are no um, discussion items, uh uh, are there any,

[21:10] I'll take a vote, any nays, abstentions?

[21:15] Okay. Um, all in favor say I. I. Thank you.

[21:20] All right, next item on the agenda are the mayor's report and council member

[21:24] reporting concerns. We don't have the screen up and running and I don't have

[21:29] everyone's, uh, report, which is fine because I was going to go over how

[21:34] council rules during our retreat. Um, I did get yours, but we we can't really

[21:42] Yeah. Um, the only thing that I have in regards to the mayor's report was, uh,

[21:48] we attended a breakfast with, um, our county councilperson,

[21:55] uh, Sheila Stafford Adams. Uh, she had a meeting at this really awesome bakery

[22:00] that's not far from us and she brought up some very interesting discussion

[22:05] items. Uh, some of them really were, um, were regarding data and how data is

[22:11] being used to, uh, show the viability of, um,

[22:17] economic development in our community simply by showing how many people are

[22:21] coming into our community, but we don't necessarily have the, what, you know,

[22:25] storefronts or those points of interest for them to spend money. Uh, so that's

[22:29] something that she's looking into. Um, I'm not really sure, uh, I know that

[22:34] she they just opened up a food pantry in Fairmont Heights

[22:38] through an organization called Gooder, um, and it's at the Fairmont Heights

[22:41] library. It looks absolutely beautiful and it's very exciting.

[22:46] Um, and then other than that, um, we are getting ready for the summer

[22:51] conference, uh, through MML, uh, PGCMA. I'll be the incoming

[22:56] president of PGCMA and I'm looking forward to that. Um, and just to

[23:00] expanding training opportunities for municipalities in Prince George's

[23:04] County. And, um, I think that's, uh, oh, and we have Marilyn Black Mary's who's

[23:10] having an awesome event in Ocean City as well.

[23:12] And I think that's about it on my end. Oh, uh, sorry, I did receive some

[23:16] complaints in regards to, well, I reported, uh, to park police, uh, some

[23:22] drag racing that I heard in the ball fields on Friday night. And then I know

[23:26] that some residents had reached out, um, through the WhatsApp groups and some

[23:31] people called me in regards to, uh, cars racing up and down in town and then

[23:36] fireworks. Uh, so as I was riding my bicycle yesterday, I think it was, I saw

[23:41] all of the fireworks shells on the, on the trail next to the waterfront. So,

[23:47] um, yeah, I'm aware and, um,

[23:51] and I think moving forward in regards to our town committees, which include the

[23:55] neighborhood watch, the animal welfare committee,

[23:59] um, our green team, I'm going to be talking to a lot of people over the

[24:03] summer to get those, um, strengthened and up and running again.

[24:08] Uh, Ward 2?

[24:12] » Well, Mayor, I'm happy you mentioned Gooder. That made the news

[24:16] and they were interviewing the people there and it's amazing because you can

[24:21] shop with dignity and they have a lot of fresh vegetables. I hope we could look

[24:25] into that. Okay.

[24:27] So, first of all, I want to say thank you for letting me have the opportunity

[24:31] to go to MML, the Maryland Municipal League, and guess

[24:36] what? This summer at Ocean City, I will be taking the

[24:40] last class before I can graduate. But, that doesn't mean I will, I will

[24:45] stop taking classes. There's so much to learn

[24:48] if you really want to be, um, try to be the best you can at council.

[24:52] I do appreciate that. Um,

[24:57] oh, two upcoming events. Steak night at the

[25:02] American Legion. It's what? $25? They have the best steaks ever. And there's a

[25:07] community job fair. And um it's Wednesday, June 17th, from

[25:12] 10:00 a.m. to noon at the Second Baptist Church of District Heights. So, it's not

[25:16] far away. The address is 5501 Silver Hill Road in District Heights.

[25:23] And it's for people not only looking to jump-start their careers, but also if

[25:28] you want to transition to a new field. And then I have one last thing to ask.

[25:33] Please, please, if you would like to receive text

[25:37] updates, please send me your name and phone number.

[25:41] Because I only have six people, six residents of Ward 2 that let me have

[25:45] their email. And it'd be much easier because I'm getting too old to go

[25:49] door-to-door in 95° heat. You have my email address as

[25:55] A.Pages@ColmarManor.org. And once again, my phone number is 301

[26:01] 461 9122.

[26:05] And have a great summer.

[26:08] » Thank you. Ward 3? >> Good evening. I apologize. I had my mic

[26:13] on. I was wondering what that sound was, but it was coming from me.

[26:17] Um good evening. I'm Council Member Jackson. I just want to say June is

[26:21] Pride Month. I want to say happy Pride Month.

[26:23] Um love is love. Um I am glad to be back in this seat. This

[26:28] is my second time being back this um on the council seat. Um if you don't know,

[26:33] previously I served 10 years on this at the same seat, but I'm back. Um

[26:38] just for my ward, I just want to um the residents to be mindful.

[26:42] This is the time of year that people are doing cookouts, graduations, and

[26:45] parties. Just be mindful of your neighbors. Let them know you're having a

[26:49] party. Um invite them.

[26:53] Um, just let them know so they're they're

[26:55] aware that you're having a parties and also abide by the rules as far as with

[27:00] the music. Um, also if you can tell your residents to really abide by the rules

[27:05] of parking, um, that would be greatly appreciated.

[27:09] Thank you.

[27:12] That's it. That's it for me.

[27:15] » Thank you, Councilmember Ward 4. >> Councilmember Fanny, um, I just just

[27:20] want to say, um, uh, thank you to everyone everyone. Um,

[27:25] I know we're going to a mail this year. I'm going to be there this year. I

[27:29] couldn't go last year, but like as the council as

[27:32] Councilmember Allison was saying, I think I had two more class to attend

[27:37] and also it'll be my last one. But, you know, it's not like you going

[27:41] to stop and learn. You have to keep go keep going continue for that. Okay. So,

[27:47] I just, um, my last two activity that I did, uh,

[27:51] last May in May, the first one was on May 23rd. The, um,

[27:57] I attend the, um, community coffee in conversation with Councilmember

[28:04] Sheila Adams, you know, and as May was saying it was very interesting

[28:09] everything that she was, um, talking about. So, that's good, you know, every

[28:14] um, it's good to attend to those, um, activity, too.

[28:18] Um, also I participate not participate, but I also went to the Memorial Day,

[28:23] which it was nice, too. Uh, I appreciate all the, um,

[28:28] um, people who serve our country, the one

[28:32] who died and the one who are continuing there. Because like they were saying the

[28:38] this country's there were people who paid for this

[28:42] country, you know, and we are in this country and we have to recognize them.

[28:47] So, I just want to say thank you to all of them.

[28:50] That's it.

[28:53] Thank you. Go ahead, Councilmember Peters.

[28:56] » The job fair that I talked about, that's June 17th. I'll leave the paper in the

[29:00] office if you want to look at it. It has a QR code.

[29:06] » Thank you. And yeah, also I wanted to thank you for saying that, Councilmember

[29:11] Jackson. It is Pride Month, and I'm really surprised that we haven't done

[29:15] our pride flag raising. So, I think we need to figure out when we're going to

[29:18] do that. And if you don't feel comfortable having

[29:22] the pride flag in your photo, please make sure to let me know, and we won't

[29:25] place one in your photo. But that's normally what we've done in

[29:29] the past. We've recognized that, and we're very proud of

[29:33] it. The other thing that I wanted to also

[29:37] bring up is congratulations to all the graduates that have graduated. We are so

[29:41] proud of you. Continue going forward with your studies and achieving your

[29:45] dreams. This is a reminder, we have a town scholarship. So, please make sure

[29:50] to apply. As of I believe this morning or yesterday, no one had applied. So,

[29:55] there's money that we put aside in our budget to help students. It's not a lot,

[30:00] but trust me, I was a student myself. Every little penny counts, so make sure

[30:05] to apply. Other than that, I think that that's also it. I'll go ahead and open

[30:09] it up for resident comments. If you're here, just come up to the podium, give

[30:13] your name, the street you live on. If you you get 3 minutes, if you're

[30:18] online, just raise your hand, name, street you live on.

[30:54] » James Thomas, 42nd Avenue. Uh I would like to know what the um

[31:00] current status of the parking situation now.

[31:05] When are they going to uh start their uh deliberations,

[31:10] meetings, and what what not?

[31:14] » Um we have already um determined who is

[31:18] going to be on the committee, and those people were advised. We're not sure yet

[31:22] when they're going to meet, but they uh we're we're trying to figure out with

[31:25] them what their availability is, and uh we'll be scheduling that with them. As

[31:29] soon as we have that information, we'll make sure to share it with everyone.

[31:35] » Thank you.

[31:41] » Are there any other comments, anyone online?

[31:48] Okay. All right. Um next item up on the agenda

[31:53] is under action unfinished business, approval of ethics committee bylaws.

[31:58] Do you want to take that, Mr. Spielman? >> Sure. Um and I'll I'll try to be brief.

[32:03] Um the ethics committee is required to

[32:05] establish bylaws that govern how it will act uh and the proce- procedures that

[32:10] that will follow. Um these bylaws were reviewed by our lawyer. Um he made some

[32:17] slight modifications, which are now included, as I understand it. Um and so

[32:22] uh hopefully, if the council has had a chance to review,

[32:25] um you'll be able to approve the bylaws uh as approved by the town's lawyer, and

[32:30] by the ethics committee themselves. >> Do you have any additional context you

[32:35] want to add? Okay. >> No, they're perfect.

[32:39] All right.

[32:43] » Um actually I'd like to request um Commissioner Wagner if you could just

[32:47] come to the podium. And then if we have any questions at least we'll have you

[32:51] there. Um and then people can hear you on the

[32:54] Zoom call as well through the mic. Um so the question that I Thank you for

[32:59] obvious Thank you for all the work that you and

[33:02] the other commissioners have put into this.

[33:05] Um I read over the uh bylaws and I'm very happy to see that there is a term

[33:11] limit which is under uh number one officers uh letter D.

[33:17] There is a question that I have in regards to um

[33:22] removing someone from the ethics uh commission.

[33:26] There is a let's see conflicts of interest of commission members.

[33:34] If an ethics commission It's uh number six under B.

[33:44] I wanted to actually ask um it says that if uh if there's a conflict

[33:50] of interest then that person would recuse themself from all commission

[33:54] discussions about the matter. Um or if there is like a conflict or the

[33:57] appearance of a conflict the member shall state this conflict before any

[34:00] proceeding and physically remove themselves

[34:03] from the room and avoid the discussion of the matter until the commission

[34:06] renders a decision. But I thought that there was something else in here that

[34:09] talked about um

[34:11] removing someone. And I wanted it didn't it wasn't clear

[34:15] to me as to who removes that person.

[34:20] Does that make sense?

[34:23] » I am recalling the conflicts of interest. I don't remember anything

[34:29] about removing someone.

[34:33] » That was really the only question I had. I thought that it that was interesting

[34:37] and you know,

[34:39] obviously you all came up with these bylaws, but it wasn't clear as to like

[34:45] who um

[34:54] » I'm thinking in section one, in the event of a vacancy or

[35:01] » So, it's under to the mic, please. >> I was speaking to the mic. Oh, yes,

[35:06] sorry. Yes. >> Were you asking about section one

[35:11] um C in the event of a vacancy?

[35:15] Um

[35:27] » No, it was under

[35:31] six. So, under six A it says an ethics

[35:35] commission member who will be unable to render a fair and impartial decision

[35:40] based on the facts presented in a matter due to a financial or personal conflict

[35:43] in a case or is the subject of a complaint before the commission shall

[35:47] recuse themself from all commission discussions about the matter.

[35:51] And then under six B it says if an ethics commission member recognizes a

[35:55] conflict or the appearance of a conflict, the member shall state this

[35:59] conflict before any proceeding and physically remove themself from the room

[36:03] and avoid discussion of the matter until the commission renders a decision.

[36:07] So, um maybe when I read it I I was confused because I'm like, okay,

[36:11] well this in a perfect world it would be

[36:14] someone that would be kind of, you know, have that type of integrity to say I'm

[36:18] recusing myself, but in the case that they don't

[36:21] um like who does the commission kind of I I I understand that it's kind of like

[36:28] a an entity in and of itself.

[36:31] So, who kind of would they

[36:35] report to or in that situation, like how would that be decided?

[36:39] » Who polices us? That is a great question.

[36:43] So, in the event that a member of the Ethics Commission fails to recuse

[36:48] themselves from the matter in which they have a conflict of interest,

[36:55] you think we should put in something that says that

[37:02] we would get reported on or that that members of the town would have

[37:07] an opportunity to ask us to recuse her?

[37:13] » I think so. I mean, you could stipulate a Councilmember Page has just said

[37:18] council, but we're also residents, so we don't hold any greater authority than a

[37:24] than a resident does in this type of a situation, I don't believe. But, I just

[37:30] I'm wondering like who then is the Ethics Committee

[37:33] beholden to? >> Who's policing us?

[37:37] » Yes, who's policing the Ethics Committee? Uh commission.

[37:41] » Maybe the >> That is a wonderful question. I would

[37:44] love to talk to the town administrator about that

[37:47] and maybe get back to you and

[37:54] » Yeah, I it might be something that we could take up to the lawyer and ask

[37:57] them. Um there are broader rules and regulations that must

[38:02] be followed, including the town's own code. Um you're right to point out that

[38:05] this is a a self-enforcing mechanism and as far within the bylaws themselves,

[38:10] there is not a mechanism to deal with that particular challenge. But, um one

[38:16] could imagine that that issue being brought up before the Ethics Committee,

[38:20] but then that person refusing to recuse

[38:23] themselves about the investigation into a conflict of interest. So, um I think

[38:27] it might be best to consult with the lawyer about how to handle that

[38:30] situation. Um and it may very well be that there is a county or state board

[38:34] that it could be brought to as well. So, um I think it's best if I consult on

[38:39] that and get back to you. >> All right. And we feel like that's

[38:43] something that should be addressed within our bylaws or is that something

[38:47] that would be addressed in the town code itself or something larger than us?

[38:52] » I mean, it may very well be and I I I wish that I knew the answer offhand and

[38:56] I don't, that there is already a broader mechanism that we can that we are

[39:01] already um subject to that would deal with that particular issue.

[39:06] Um so, the council could decide to accept these bylaws with the

[39:10] understanding that there would be a broader mechanism uh and we would verify

[39:15] what that is, or the council could put off accepting the bylaws for now.

[39:20] Um the ethics commission doesn't meet again until July 1st. Um so, we could

[39:25] potentially have a brief meeting online to review um these uh these guidelines

[39:31] one more time before they meet. Um and get those approved with with any

[39:37] additions that the is are recommended by the lawyer.

[39:41] » Well, Allison Pages ward two, I move to accept the bylaws as they are written

[39:47] now with the um note that if they will be

[39:53] there will be a um an amendment. >> That that's another possibility of

[39:57] course as well is that you could amend it later um if that was found that there

[40:02] was a gap in what needed to be done there. Yeah.

[40:08] » Council member Jackson, I'll second. >> Okay, so we'll open it up for a

[40:13] discussion. So, we're saying that we're going to um approve the bylaws

[40:17] um and request that an amendment or clarification in regards to

[40:22] uh six in the bylaws.

[40:28] Is that what we all agreed to? Okay.

[40:31] » Well, I think that it comes down to two things. There's either a county or state

[40:36] law, or if there's a conflict and you don't want to be self-reporting, then

[40:40] you can bring it to the council. >> There There isn't a county or state law,

[40:44] because honestly, like even when it comes to like the mayor, like let's say

[40:49] I'm doing something, whatever. I've I've seen situations in other

[40:53] municipalities where you have an unscrupulous mayor, and there's nothing

[40:57] that people can do. You can't report them to the state. You can't There isn't

[41:01] like an ethics commission either that you can report them to.

[41:03] » option is council. They just bring it to the council.

[41:06] » Well, it depends also on the council, right? So, I don't know. But anyways, I

[41:10] think that that that's that's that's a it's a good discussion.

[41:13] » we have to look into. >> Yeah.

[41:15] Okay. >> So, as I understand it, the motion is to

[41:18] approve with the stipulation that the town administrator will get

[41:22] clarification from the lawyer as to whether or not there is a mechanism

[41:25] already in place to deal with that potential failure to recuse.

[41:31] Um and if not, we'll come back with a recommendation to make an amendment to

[41:34] the code. >> Yeah.

[41:37] Okay, great. Um all in favor, say I. I. Any

[41:43] abstentions or nays? None. Okay.

[41:46] » Thanks, everybody. >> Thank you.

[41:48] » Thank you. >> Thank you.

[41:51] » Okay. Next item on the agenda uh

[41:56] Oh, yes, is um unfinished business, uh which includes

[42:03] Oh, no, sorry, new business, which includes a stop sign at

[42:08] uh on 42nd Avenue at 3604. Um do you want to go ahead and uh take

[42:15] this, Mr. Schilling? >> Yeah, I can introduce this briefly.

[42:18] Thank you, Mayor. Um, basically, if you look in your packets,

[42:23] you can see on the map, I plotted out all of the stop signs in the area, and

[42:27] there is one place, for whatever reason, that does not have

[42:31] a stop sign, um, which is both seems strange, uh, and

[42:35] also potentially dangerous, because if people are in the habit of expecting a

[42:41] car to stop at every intersection, and then there is one particular place where

[42:44] a car does not have to stop, um, you might have a pedestrian come into

[42:48] conflict with a with a car that they don't expect to be moving towards them.

[42:52] So, um, this was pointed out to us by the I

[42:56] believe it was by the resident who lives there. Um, I think part of the challenge

[43:00] with putting a stop sign there is that there is no public property on which to

[43:05] put the stop sign in our own right-of-way. Um, uh, but the resident

[43:10] at that location indicated that they would be willing to sign an agreement to

[43:13] let the town install a stop sign on their private property. So, the, um,

[43:18] town council is given the authority, um, under the, um, the charter and the code

[43:24] to, uh, to place stop signs in town, and so the,

[43:29] uh, action before the council is to find out if you think that particular

[43:34] location should have a stop sign, uh, and if so, then, uh, uh,

[43:39] you could authorize me to assign, uh, to negotiate and sign an agreement with

[43:43] that resident, um, and then have public works install that sign.

[43:48] » Okay, Allison Pages were two. I move to authorize the town administrator to

[43:52] secure written permission from the homeowner at 3604 42nd Ave to install a

[43:58] stop sign on their property to create a stoppage point going eastbound on Newark

[44:04] Road at 42nd Avenue, and to coordinate with public works to install the said

[44:08] sign.

[44:11] » Council member Council member Jackson second that.

[44:14] » I'll open it up for discussion. Is there any discussion on this?

[44:17] » Um yes. Council member Jackson. Um what if the residents decide to move

[44:22] to move if someone else buys that property?

[44:27] Are we >> That wouldn't be a problem.

[44:33] » What do you mean that wouldn't be a problem?

[44:36] If if if someone buys that property and know

[44:39] that that stop sign was not part of it, it was something that was grandfathered

[44:42] in from the previous resident, and they decide they don't want that on their

[44:45] property, how do we address that going forward?

[44:48] » Well, it's a resale, so they could put that in the contract of sale, and then

[44:52] that would be fine. They do that with a lot of things, even those propane tanks.

[44:56] I mean Yeah, they do that with propane tanks,

[44:59] with everything. They can do it with a stop sign. Because it's a resale and not

[45:03] a new build, I don't think that would be an issue.

[45:05] » Okay. All right. Um I just want to >> I can certainly check into that um with

[45:10] the lawyer. Um I discussed it with the town clerk. He

[45:13] felt that a signed agreement would be sufficient. I would suspect that uh once

[45:18] the stop sign is in place, it would then be grandfathered in. Um but uh I could

[45:22] further investigate that. >> Um also, before we um before the stop

[45:27] sign is um at their location, will letters go out

[45:31] or notifications for the community be residents because

[45:35] um a lot of people has been living here for a long time, and they know there's

[45:37] never been a stop sign at that location, and I can see

[45:42] I can see it happening. So, I just think that's something that

[45:45] before we even install, even having it on the billboard, let people know,

[45:50] Council member let your residents know a stop sign is coming, so everybody is

[45:53] aware that stop sign is going to be there.

[45:56] » Yes, uh absolutely, and and thanks for pointing that out. That would be a very

[46:00] important part of the process, and I've already talked with the chief about

[46:05] making sure that our mobile sign is nearby indicating that a stop is ahead.

[46:10] We could put other signage up. We could definitely communicate that

[46:13] very clearly to the residents and we would before actually putting that in

[46:18] place for sure. >> Last last discussion, I just want to say

[46:21] thank you to the resident at 3604 42nd Avenue cuz clearly it had to be a

[46:27] problem for you to allow a stop sign going on your property. I know people

[46:31] just really needs to slow down and safety is first. So thank you so much.

[46:36] That's all I have.

[46:40] » If there is no further discussion, I'll go ahead and request a vote. Any nays or

[46:45] abstentions? All in favor say I.

[46:48] » I. >> Thank you.

[46:52] Uh I know that this isn't on the agenda,

[46:55] but I just wanted to say I get requests for stop signs and speed bumps all the

[47:02] time. Uh I got one this afternoon. Uh somebody

[47:06] wants a speed bump on Lawrence. There is a large number of people that want more

[47:11] speed bumps. Another group of people that don't want any more speed bumps

[47:14] aren't aren't happy with the current speed bumps.

[47:17] Um in the coming months we will have a community um walk where we

[47:24] all walk together and um it's a community vision walk where we

[47:28] talk about what we want to see in our community. And I've been thinking about

[47:32] this for some time. If you want a stop sign, if you want a speed bump, if you

[47:38] don't want a stop sign, if you don't want a speed bump, you need to let us

[47:41] know. Uh for the resident that called me today, I said if you get me 10 10 people

[47:46] that sign on to to your petition for a stop sign and you bring it over to me,

[47:50] we'll we'll we'll talk about it. So um that's just to say that these are some

[47:54] of the things that that thinking through that we'll we'll we'll do in the next

[47:57] coming months uh because this is our community and so we need to hear from

[48:01] you what you want to see in your community. Um so I think that's it. Do

[48:05] you have anything you want to add? No? All right, great. So, that is it for our

[48:10] meeting this evening. I'd like to request a motion to adjourn.

[48:14] » I'll make the motion as stated. >> I'll second that.

[48:18] » All in favor say I. I. We are adjourned. Thank you.

[48:22] » I will always

Town of Colmar Manor Council Meeting - June 2, 2026

Transcript