Ordinance and Administration Committee

By City Clerk at 11:52 am, May 16, 2023 City of Amesbury Office of the City Clerk 62 Friend St. Amesbury, MA 01913 City Council Ordinance & Administration Subcommittee Meeting Minutes April 20, 2023, at 7:30 PM City Hall- 62 Friend Street Chairman Frey called the meeting to order at 7:36 p.m. Roll call was taken and present were Councilor Lennon, Attorney Raffa, Councilor Rinaldi, and Councilor Frey. Attorney Johnson was absent. Approval of Minutes- March 20, 2023 Councilor Lennon moved to approve the March 20, 2023 meeting minutes. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed (2 in favor, Frey abstained). Public Comment- -Dr. Crystal Sorgini, 82 Prospect Street- Spoke on council bill 2023-040 and her concerns with the bill as it currently stands. She submitted photos of the softball field (see attached). -Jeff Delong, 7 Amidon Avenue- Spoke on council bill 2023-040 and urged the committee to look at the softball field. -Craig Pouliot, 63 Madison Street- - Spoke on council bill 2023-040 and his concerns. -Chris Hunt, 12 Perkins Street- Spoke on council bill 2023-040 and the fee structure. -Roger Deschenes, 16 Winter Street.- Spoke on council bill 2023-040, the state of the softball field, and praised the Amesbury Girls Softball team/staff. Topics for Discussion- 2023-029 An Ordinance to define and implement civil enforcement procedures for public marijuana (cannabis) consumption. – Mayor, Councilors Stanganelli, Rinaldi, & Deschenes Sponsor • Councilor Rinaldi said this has been in the works for a while. He said this is similar to public intoxication. • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey said this ordinance was reviewed by KP Law and explained the order briefly. • Councilor Lennon said does not agree with the philosophy and doesn’t know how it can be enforced or adjudicated in the court of law. She said its borderline violating the fourth amendment. She said it sounds like an opportunity to escalate a situation rather than community policing, which the Chief has been on record supporting. She spoke more about the cost to  taxpayers to enforce this and asked what the end goal was. • Councilor Frey asked if there was any data to back up the need for the order. Ms. Casey said she did not have any readily available but could provide. • Councilor Wheeler said this doesn’t specify where in the city code that this ordinance would live. • Councilor Frey said this could possibly be located where the public consumption of alcoholic beverages is in the code. • The committee engaged in more discussion about the bill. Councilor Rinaldi moved to continue 2023-029 to the May 15th Ordinance and Administration meeting. He was seconded by Councilor Lennon. The motion passed unanimously (3 members present). 2023-034 An Order to rescind the City’s acceptance of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 90, section 20A ½ and in its place, accept Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 90, section 20, relating to parking violations. -Mayor Sponsor • City Clerk, Amanda Haggstrom briefed the committee on the bill and why it was being presented to the Council. • Councilor Lennon expressed her concerns with the order and the legality of mailing citations. • Atty. Raffa stated that the sentence of the order should read: "That the Amesbury City Council vote to rescind the City's acceptance of Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 90 Section 20A1/2..." • Atty. Raffa also said the second reference to the Massachusetts General Laws should be Chapter 90 Section 20A not Section 20. She mentioned that this revised version was not online. The Clerk mentioned that the revised version was not referred to the O&A subcommittee. Councilor Lennon moved to continue 2023-034 to the May 15th Ordinance and Administration meeting. She was seconded by Councilor Frey. The motion passed unanimously (3 members present). 2023-037 An Ordinance to adopt a Schedule of Fees for the Harbormaster’s Office, which is a function of the Amesbury Police Department. -Mayor Sponsor • Councilor Lennon said there are no existing fees and asked if the bill could say that this is a new fee schedule. She asked who the administrator of the fees will be and if this was going to be implemented on opengov. • Ms. Casey said she will revise the bill per comment. • Atty. Raffa said in the second line of the summary it should say “serve to”. • Councilor Wheeler asked for some clarification about some of the fees and permits. • Councilor Lennon asked to include the free boat ramp sticker in the order for the public’s edification. Councilor Lennon moved to continue 2023-037 to the May 15th Ordinance and Administration meeting. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 members present). 2023-038 An Ordinance to update various fees for the Treasurer/Collector Department and adopt a Schedule of Fees. -Mayor Sponsor • Ms. Casey talked about the Treasure/Collector fees and how it is unknown when the last time the fees were updated but has confirmed with the Treasurer that they have not changed in 30 years. This will align us with other communities. • Councilor Lennon said there should be clarification for what the fees are for. Ms. Casey said that she can get clarification for what the fees are and include that in the order. • Councilor Frey pointed out that there were two bullet points #4 and no #3. The first #4 refers to inserting section 334-5 into the city code but there is already a section 334-5 so this should be 334-6. • Councilor Wheeler provided some clarification to the committee on the warrant and demand fees/procedure. Councilor Lennon moved to continue 2022-038 to the May 15th Ordinance and Administration meeting. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 members present). 2023-040 An Ordinance to update various Special Event usage fees and amend the Amesbury Code of Ordinances Chapter 396 Special Events. -Mayor Sponsor • Mayor Gove talked about the history of the fields and how they arrived at the submittal of bill 2023-040. She spoke about field usage fees in other surrounding communities and spoke to their plans to maintain the fields in the future. • Councilor Lennon asked if we have an index of applicants who would be subject to fees, if not, that we should find out. She talked about the issues around the dates of the fee implementation, and would like to see a fund established for this use, with specific planned use for the funds, and exit clause. • Mayor Gove responded to many of Councilor Lennon’s concerns/questions and stated that she’d be happy to include time implementation in the order. She said the fees the city collects now for special events are put in the general fund as revenue but does not cover the cost for maintaining the fields. • Councilor Lennon said she’d like to see these fees on Open Gov and managed by DPW personnel. She asked the Mayor how much money she certified as free cash last year, the Mayor said over $4,000,000. • Councilor Frey asked about the $5 and $10 fee and how that was structured. The Mayor talked about discouraging overuse of the field. He talked about the softball field and the need to address the issues with the use of the field before collecting fees. He also asked if there is a plan to roll this out to additional fields in the future. The Mayor said only if the City invests in the fields or pays to maintain them, which is the goal. • The committee discussed continuance dates for this bill and asked the Mayor for her opinion.  • Councilor Wheeler spoke about the exit clause and the history of the special events permitting which was in 2015. He said the previous bill from 2014 should be mentioned in this bill and talked about some of the language being differentiated for clarity purposes. Councilor Rinaldi moved to continue this to the May 15th 2023 Ordinance and Administration meeting. He was seconded by Councilor Frey. The motion passed (2-1 Lennon). Councilor Lennon moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:35 p.m. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 members present). April 20, 2023