[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