Ordinance and Administration Committee

City of Amesbury By City Clerk at 5:45 pm, Feb 16, 2023 Office of the City Clerk 62 Friend St. Amesbury, MA 01913 City Council Ordinance & Administration Subcommittee Meeting Minutes October 17, 2022, at 7:00 PM City Hall Auditorium, 62 Friend Street. Chairman Frey called the meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. Roll call was taken and present were Councilor Lennon, Atty. Raffa, Councilor Rinaldi, and Councilor Frey. Minutes for approval- September 19, 2022 Councilor Lennon moved to approve the minutes of September 19, 20022 as presented. She was seconded by Councilor Frey. The motion passed unanimously (3 present). Public Comment- There was no public comment. 2022-130 An Ordinance to amend City Code, Chapter 158 “Reports”- Councilor Wheeler Sponsor • The sponsor of the bill, Councilor Wheeler spoke to the committee about bill 2022-130. He said he’s been going through the code of ordinances for outdated references and this one has been bugging him for a while. Councilor Wheeler said he’s proposing to change this as it relates to the Administration submitting the annual report. He gave a brief history on the ordinance and the charter changes as it related to this bill. He said there is one typo in the summary of the bill and asked the committee to recommend that change to the Council. • The committee had no questions, and thanked Councilor Wheeler. Councilor Lennon moved to return bill 2022-130 back to the City Council meeting on October 25th with a positive recommendation and to strike the word “by” in the summary of the ordinance. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2022-131 An Ordinance to amend City Code, Chapter 118 “Meetings”- Councilor Wheeler Sponsor • The sponsor of the bill, Councilor Wheeler said that this ordinance is related to the City Council rules change. He said that there was old language about when the committees met, this updates the ordinance to reflect when the City Council and their subcommittees meet. He also said there was a section referencing a signal/alarm that went off to signal that the Council meetings would start. He said there is one typo in the summary of the bill and asked the committee to recommend that change to the Council.  • Councilor Frey asked if they need to reference other amendments to this ordinance because it has come up with other items. Councilor Wheeler mentioned the last time if it was edited which was in 2006. **Attorney Johnson joined the meeting at 7:13 p.m. • Councilor Lennon suggested that they could edit it with a redline. The committee and Councilor Wheeler discussed further. Councilor Lennon moved to return bill 2022-131 back to the full City Council for their regularly scheduled meeting of October 25th with a positive recommendation pursuant to the redline notes. Specifically, that the summary in the fourth and fifth line should read “as adopted in the City Charter amendments approved in November of 2011”, which is to strike the word “by” and to also include reference to previous amendments of Article 1, Chapter 118, under regular meetings. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. • Attorney Raffa said that in 118-2, she thinks that the 2-A still needs to be kept, which had to do with if a meeting fell on a Saturday. Councilor Wheeler explained his reasoning and talked about the subcommittee language. Councilor Lennon suggested that it should include language to say that if it falls on a holiday, The City Council President/Subcommittee Chair shall reschedule. They discuss the changes and whether it needs to be changed further. Councilor Lennon amended her motion to include all the previously stated recommendations to the Council sponsor, and also under 118-2 Committee meetings, City Council shall reserve Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings during the third week of each month for City Council committee meetings as needed; provided, however, that the City Council President may cancel or suspend such meetings during the months of July and/or August, to include a subsection that says if a meeting date falls on a solemn or legal holiday, the Subcommittee Chairman shall reschedule such a meeting to a more appropriate date. Councilor Lennon’s amendment to her motion was seconded again by Councilor Rinaldi. • Councilor Stanganelli spoke to bill and said it doesn’t see appropriate to codify the schedule of the Council Rules. He said its not up to the City Council President to decide on the dates for the subcommittee meetings. He said things could change and this could open us up to restrictions. He thinks the language could be broader instead of references to the third week of each month. • Councilor Wheeler responded to Councilor Stanganelli’ s comments. • Councilor Frey said that one less restrictive thing they could do would be to not specify Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and just say the third week. He further said that there is a lot of flexibility with Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesdays and that multiple subcommittees could meet the same night at different times. • Councilor Lennon suggested adding the verbiage “Thursdays”. Councilor Wheeler said he was open to adding Thursday. Councilor Lennon made a second amendment to her motion which was to include all her previous recommendations for the redline and to also include the addition under 118-2 Committee Meetings, so that it shall read City Council shall reserve Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings during the third week of each month etc... Councilor Rinaldi seconded the second amended motion. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2022-134 An Order for the Amesbury City Council to vote to accept Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 41, section 110A: Office hours on Saturday. -Mayor Sponsor • City Clerk Amanda Haggstrom explained the ordinance to the Committee and how it would relate to the voter registration deadlines. • Councilor Lennon said she had no questions on this. • Councilor Frey asked if this was a provision provided by the State for communities to adopt to get around the requirement. Councilor Lennon said yes, • Attorney Johnson asked if this would affect anything else, for example appeal periods and counting of the days for Planning Board and Zoning Board decisions. City Clerk, Amanda Haggstrom said she was not aware, but would check on the matter. Councilor Rinaldi moved to send bill 2022-134 back to the City Council with a positive recommendation for the October 25th meeting. He was seconded by Councilor Lennon. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2022-138 An Order to fund the employment agreement between the City of Amesbury and the Amesbury Superior Officers Union, I.B.P.O., Local 99-629 dated July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025. -Mayor Sponsor • Councilor Lennon said she spoke with the Chief of Staff on this and that she was wondering why the union contracts were sent to the committee. She said that the Police union contracts have been very well worked over by KP Law and they were written by the Attorneys. • Councilor Rinaldi also asked why this was sent here. Councilor Lennon said that the Committee would only be fixing clerical errors only. He said that they just have the responsibility to fund/approve the contract. Councilor Lennon moved to send bill 2022-138 back to the full City Council to the regular meeting on October 25th with a positive recommendation. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2022-139 An Order to fund the employment agreement between the City of Amesbury and the Amesbury Patrol Officers Union, I.B.P.O., Local 629 dated July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2025. -Mayor Sponsor Councilor Lennon moved to send bill 2022-139 back to the full City Council to the regular meeting on October 25th with a positive recommendation. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). Councilor Lennon moved to adjourn the meeting at 7:30 p.m. and she was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). Respectfully submitted, October 17, 2022