City Council Minutes September 6, 2006
Office of the Council Clerk Wednesday, September 6, 2006
placeCityCity of Gardiner, StateMaine Regular Session 7:00 pm
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Rines called the meeting to order at 7:09 PM.
2. ROLL CALL
PersonNameJean Dellert, District 3 Philip Hart, District 4
PersonNameDennis Doiron, At-Large Rebecca Colwell, At-Large
Lewis Benner, At-Large Richard Rambo, District 2
Richard Nickless, District 1
Mayor PersonNameBrian Rines
Jeffrey Kobrock, City Manager
Molly Gallant, Council Clerk
3. PETITIONS, COMMUNICATIONS, RESOLUTIONS, & PUBLIC HEARINGS
3.1 Public Hearing for Liquor License Renewal for PlaceNameplaceCanton PlaceTypeVillage.
Public Hearing opened at 7:10 pm and closed without public comment.
3.2 Consideration of Comments from the Public on Issues that
Do Not Appear Elsewhere on the Agenda (Please limit comments
to five minutes.)
Dorothy Washburn spoke to the Council with concerns about the up keep of addressStreetSteamboat Lane, saying that over the summer it has been over run with weeds. Ms. Washburn also voiced concern over the replacement trees on addressStreetWater Street, in replacing the trees the cobblestones were not put back in place correctly, now making it unsafe. Mayor Rines asked Manager Kobrock to look into the matters.
Anne Davis, Library Director passed out the new E.A. Robinson rack cards to the Council stating that they will be distributed to all the visitor centers in Maine.
4. CONSENT AGENDA
4.1 Consideration of Accepting July/August 2006 Warrants
#3 |
07/20/06 |
01592-01639 |
$ 54993.49 |
#4 |
07/27/06 |
01640-01725 |
$ 575417.59 |
#5 |
08/03/06 |
01726-01777 |
$ 132801.79 |
#6 |
08/10/06 |
01778-01840 |
$ 289823.96 |
#7 |
08/17/06 |
01841-01879 |
$ 220904.33 |
#8 |
08/24/06 |
01880-01935 |
$ 679726.10 |
#9 |
08/31/06 |
01936-02036 |
$ 154223.81 |
4.2 Consideration of Appointing Councilor Hart to sign August 2006 Warrants.
4.3 Consideration of Liquor License Renewal for PlaceNameplaceCanton PlaceTypeVillage.
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Dellert to Accept Consent Agenda Items 4.1-4.3.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
5. NEW BUSINESS
5.1 Consideration of Order 06-27, Declaring a Dangerous Property.
Postponed
5.2 Review of FY 07 Council Goal Statement.
Pam Plumb met with the City Council; notes below.
Workshop Purpose: to summarize the work done at the 7/19/06 Workshop and review and update the status of the remaining FY2007 Goals
Desired Outcomes:
· Report on the 7/19/06 Workshop
· Update on Goals #2, #4, #7 and #9
· A sense of the Council’s direction on Goals #2, #4, #7 and #9 for the rest of FY2007
· A list of next steps
Agenda:
7:15 pm Meeting Introduction: introductions; review purpose, outcomes, agenda and ground rules
7:25 Brief summary of the July 19 Workshop
7:45 Review and update on FY2007 goals #2, #4, #7 and #9
8:00 What is the Council’s sense of direction on what it would like to see for goals #2, #4, #7 and #9?
8:45 Wrap up: review of what has been accomplished; next steps; meeting evaluation
9:00 Adjourn
Present: Mayor Rines, Councilors Benner, Colwell, Dellert, Doiron, Hart, Nickless, and Rambo
Meeting Ground Rules
· One person talks at a time; no side conversations
· Disagree without being disagreeable
· Stick to the subject
· Recap and summarize as needed to make sure we are all on the same page
· Be clear about the facts before starting the discussion
Brief summary of the July 19 Workshop
Pam Plumb gave a brief summary of the work done at the July 19, 2006 workshop on goals. A discussion of the section of the 9/19 meeting notes on General agreements on the Council’s role, generated an agreement to hold a session after the new councilors are elected on appropriate communication among councilors and between councilors and staff. That agreement was put in the Basket (see that section of the notes).
Review and update on FY2007 goals #2, #4, #7 and #9
Jeff Kobrock reviewed the work to date on goals #2,4,7 and 9 as outlined in his Scorecard Issued July 19, 2006.
Council’s sense of direction on what it would like to see for goals #2, #4, #7 and #9
Goal #2
The Council agreed to keep the mind set of the goal, but recognized that accomplishing the bullets under the goal depended on the finalization of the reorganization.
TEXT CHANGE: The Council agreed to change the text of the second bullet to encourage cooperation other districts (such as the school district) and governmental entities (such as other towns) as well as the Water District with the goal of reducing redundancy and maximizing efficiency.
Goal #4
The Council agreed on the value of doing another project like the Northwest Quadrant, but expressed concern that it couldn’t really be accomplished in a year. Therefore, the Council agreed to the following text changes to the goal statement and to add a bullet.
TEXT CHANGE: The Council agreed to add to the beginning of the goal statement the words “Begin to”. In addition The Council agreed to add a bullet stating that the Manager would prepare an outline of the process for initiating and doing such a project.
As part of the additional bullet on the process outline, the Council suggested that the process include bringing the question of the feasibility of such a project back to the Council after the reorganization is completed and a recommendation on when or if to set up a Committee of citizens to help decide the appropriate area of Gardiner for the project.
Goal # 7
The Council agreed that the goal on a healthy organizational culture was important to continue working on, especially after the reorganization settles down.
Goal #9
TEXT CHANGE: The Council agreed to change the wording of the goal to “Reinforce, assure our success at finding non-property tax funds for the city.”
Basket [ It was agreed that all three basket items would be put into a meeting including the new Councilors in November. Mayor Rines and the manager will take responsibility for setting up the meeting. ]
· Clarification on communication among Councilors and between Councilors and staff; after the next election
· Find ways to get more, appropriate input from Department heads
· Keep the manager’s 360 review in our mind
Next Steps
What |
Who |
By when |
Arrange a workshop including the newly elected councilors to clarify communications, engage the department heads and look at the process for the manager’s 360 review, among other things |
Mayor Rines and the manager |
November, after elections |
5.3 Consideration of Proclamation 06-26, Recognizing Constitution Week as September 17-23, 2006.
Motion by Councilor Dellert and seconded by Councilor Rambo to Accept Proclamation 06-26, Recognizing Constitution Week as September 17-23, 2006.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
5.4 Consideration of First placeCityReading of Order 06-25, Libby Hill Financing.
Manager Kobrock stated that there was as typo in the Order 06-25, the amount should be $946,200.
Motion by Councilor Benner and seconded by Councilor Nickless to Accept Amended Order 06-25, Libby Hill Financing.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
Mayor Rines asked if there were any objections to adding Addendum Items, there were none.
1. Consideration of Order 06-23, Setting the Maximum Interest Rate for Calendar Year.
The maximum rate set by the State is 11%. Councilor Hart stated that he would feel more comfortable with setting the interest rate at 9%.
Motion by Councilor Dellert and seconded by Councilor Benner to Accept Order 06-23, Setting the Maximum Interest Rate for Calendar Year.
Vote: 6 in favor 2 opposed (Hart, Rambo) Motion: passes
2. Consideration of Order 06-24, Authorizing Tax Collection Dates.
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Colwell to Accept Order 06-24, Authorizing Tax Collection Dates.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
6. CITY MANAGER REPORT
Manager Kobrock stated that there will work done on the placePlaceNamePearl Harbor PlaceNameMemorial PlaceTypeBridge on Thursday, September 8th starting at 8:00 pm and ending in the early morning.
The City was not able to complete the paving projects this year because of problems on Libby Hill and addressStreetCostello Road, the project ended up costing more than anticipated. Manager Kobrock asked the Council if there was interest in discussing at the next meeting about using money from the surplus account to finish the project, the Council asked to have the item put on the next agenda.
The City has been experiencing problems with the Rapid Renewal program, it is a problem with the vendor and our software, some of the second time renewals are not working, it is being worked on to be resolved.
An update in the Regional Dispatch is going to be discussed in an upcoming meeting.
Organizational Grow Smart in StateMaine, is releasing a report in early October about how placeStateMaine be sustainable in a growing economy, it will be fascinating for those in state and local government.
7. COUNCIL DISCUSSION
Councilor Nickless stated that he is getting favorable remarks on the Northwest Quadrant.
Councilor Rambo stated that the corner of Oak and addressStreetHigh Holborn Street is under construction, a building permit was issued by an interim Code Enforcement Officer, which probably shouldn’t have been. Councilor Rambo asked that the Council look at the process and possibly follow more closely. Councilor Rambo also asked if the City could look into contracting outside for cleaning services so that the Building and Grounds Crew could be more available for projects like addressStreetSteamboat Lane up keep. Councilor Rambo recently read two newspaper articles one on neighborhoods banning together to find lower pricing on fuel, the second on info structure.
Councilor Benner stated that the new Housing Packet that was put together for new homeowners is a wonderful idea, perhaps if should be done for new businesses as well. Councilor Benner also stated that in a Council Meeting 6-8 weeks ago he spoke to the Council about having divers inspect the new waterfront construction. In a recent inspection it was discovered a form was flapping, by finding it now it was a big cost savings.
Councilor Hart asked if Brown’s Exit 27 has been keeping up with the goals set for inspections. Manager Kobrock stated that they have surpassed their goals, David Cichowski has been working closely with them. Councilor Hart asked if the goals were not met, could the City revoke the license, Manager Kobrock stated that the City could not make the decision; it would be a Council decision. It will be a Council discussion item in October.
Motion by Councilor Rambo and seconded by Councilor Colwell to go into Executive Session at 10:00 pm.
Vote: 8 in favor 0 – opposed Motion: passes
8. EXECUTIVE SESSION per MRSA, Title 1, Chapter 13, Section 405 (6) (A)
Personnel
9. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Rines adjourned the meeting at 11:00 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Molly Gallant
Council Clerk
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