Ordinance and Administration Committee

By City Clerk at 9:23 am, Jun 16, 2023 City of Amesbury Office of the City Clerk 62 Friend St. Amesbury, MA 01913 City Council Ordinance & Administration Subcommittee Meeting Minutes May 15, 2023, at 7:00 PM Municipal Development Center- 39 South Hunt Road. Chairman Frey called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll call was taken and present were Atty. Johnson, Councilor Lennon, Attorney Raffa, Councilor Rinaldi, and Councilor Frey. Approval of Minutes- April 20, 2023 Councilor Lennon moved to approve the minutes of April 20, 2023 minutes with amendments as presented. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). Public Comment- There were no members who spoke during the general public comment section. Topics for Discussion- 2023-005 An Ordinance to amend the Amesbury Zoning Ordinance and the Amesbury Overlay Zoning Map in order to establish a new Smart Growth Overlay District pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 40R and 760 CMR 59.00 that shall be known as the East End Smart Growth Overlay District. -Mayor Sponsor • Councilor Frey gave a brief update on the bill’s history before the O&A subcommittee, the Planning Board is still reviewing. • Councilor Lennon talked about the Planning Board review timeline and the Council’s summer vacation. She is looking at a continuance to September. The committee discusses the order and timeline for approval. • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey said there would be expected changes from the Planning Board. She talked about the lack of an OCED Director and pb comments, there will need to be more work, and will adhere to the committee’s direction. • Councilor Frey said deliberation could happen in June if progress was made. Councilor Lennon moves to continue 2023-005 to the September 18, 2023 Ordinance & Administration meeting. She was seconded from Rinaldi (AIF) 2023-029 An Ordinance to define and implement civil enforcement procedures for public marijuana (cannabis) consumption. – Mayor, Councilors Stanganelli, Rinaldi, & Deschenes Sponsor  • Councilor Frey gave a brief update on the bill. • Chief of Police, Craig Bailey, gave a brief history of the proposed order. He talked about how this came about through conversations with councilors about the downtown zoning of marijuana. He said if it doesn’t pass, he would not “not” support marijuana downtown, quite the opposite. The Chief said he asked for a public consumption ordinance, not because he is against marijuana, but because not everyone is pro-marijuana legalization, and didn’t want it impacting the community. • Councilor Lennon spoke about the order and her opinion on it. She spoke about public consumption and stop and frisks. She said the state said this is against people’s fourth amendment rights and not defendable in court. She spoke about who this order would affect and that it would cost taxpayer money to support. She said she is not in support of this. • Chief Bailey responded to Councilor Lennon’s comments saying the state left this matter to the individual communities to implement and enforce. He spoke about the definition of community policing and how it works. • The Chief of Police and the committee continued discussion on the order. • Councilor Wheeler asked if the city had the authority to make “no smoking” areas. The chief said he would presume. • Co-Sponsor, Councilor Rinaldi, said it’s a good idea to ask Paul Tucker about other communities and their ordinances. Councilor Lennon moved to continue bill 2023-029 to the September 18, 2023 Ordinance and Administration meeting. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). Councilor Rinaldi moved to take 2023-040 out of order and he was seconded by Councilor Lennon. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting 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 • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey, talked about the redlined version and added language based on feedback and the removal of the Amesbury youth leagues from this order. • Chris Hunt, Dr. Crystal Sorgini, and Michelle LeBlanc from the AGYSL spoke to the revision. They thanked the administration for the red-lined changes, but said there are still issues with the fields, but those are a separate issue. • Ms. Casey would like to have stakeholder meetings with all parties involved to come up with a thoughtful plan. • Councilor Frey said if this permitting is done correctly, it could be beneficial and doesn’t want to see this disappear altogether. • Councilor Lennon talked about the title and asked for the second part of the sentence to be at the beginning. Councilor Lennon moved for the Ordinance & Administration subcommittee to return bill 2023-040 having considered the revised version and requesting the amendment so that the ordinance shall read: An ordinance to amend the Amesbury Code of Ordinances Chapter 396 Special Events to update various special event usage fees to the full City Council with a positive recommendation for the next regularly scheduled meeting on May 23rd. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting 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 • Councilor Lennon spoke about the certified mail issue raised at the last meeting. Several members and the Chief of Police confirmed it was not necessary. • The Chief of Police talked about the lack of staff to put effort into good traffic enforcement. He said they had been looking first at fifteen minute spots. He said the cameras were more efficient, and putting officers down there would be a waste of taxpayer money. He talked about how they would choose the spots for potential cameras. • The committee talked about posted loading zones downtown. • The Chief of Police and the Parking Clerk talked about some of the concerns around mailings and revenue. Councilor Rinaldi moved to send 2023-034 back to the City Council with a positive recommendation. He was seconded by Councilor Lennon. The motion passed (2-1, Frey opposed). 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 • Chief of Police, Craig Bailey gave a brief history of the harbormaster and lack of fees. He talked about the need to assist the harbormaster financially. • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey, requested an extension due to various questions. The Chief agreed and suggested continuance to September. Councilor Lennon offered to help with revisions. Councilor Lennon moved to continue bill 2023-037 to the September 18th Ordinance and Administration meeting. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2023-038 An Ordinance to update various fees for the Treasurer/Collector Department and adopt a Schedule of Fees. -Mayor Sponsor • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey spoke to the submitted redline order. She said the descriptions came from the DOR and the Treasurer. • The committee had no further questions. Councilor Lennon moved to send bill 2023-038 as revised to the full city council with a positive recommendation. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2023-049 An Ordinance Relative the Office of City Clerk and Assistant City Clerk. -Councilor Wheeler Sponsor • The sponsor of the order, Councilor Wheeler, spoke to the proposed order and his intentions. • The City Clerk, Amanda Haggstrom, spoke to her and her office’s concerns with the order as proposed. She stated that as written, she was not in support for a number of reasons including foreseen human resource issues that may arise, lack of policies and procedures relating to performance reviews, salary adjustments, a potential overreach in codifying duties of a position that is primarily statutorily regulated, and overall vagueness of the order. • The Assistant City Clerk, Jennifer Smith, also spoke to her concerns with the order, stating that she could see uncomfortable situations arising like being given conflicting directions from the Clerk and the Council and also not being comfortable with losing some of the protections that she currently has as an employee that reports to the Mayor. • Both Councilor Wheeler and Lennon stated that they believed that the City Clerk’s upcoming salary increase was tied to the passage of this order. The City Clerk confirmed with them that it was not. Councilor Lennon stated that the council would cut the salary increase out of the budget during the hearing if this was not passed before the end of the fiscal year. Councilor Lennon asked for confirmation from the Human Resources Director on the matter. • The committee, the sponsor, the City Clerk, and Assistant City Clerk engaged in further discussion about the bill. Councilor Lennon moved to continue bill 2023-049 to the June 15, 2023 O&A meeting pursuant to more information. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2023-050 An Ordinance to Establish Increased Salaries for the Positions of Mayor and City Councilors. - Councilor Wheeler Sponsor • Councilor Wheeler spoke to the history of the bill and said that the Mayor emailed him stating that she was not in support of the salary increase. • Chief of Staff, Ann Marie Casey said the Mayor requested that this be stricken from the bill and that she felt strongly based on the fiscal condition. She said that if the order was to be vetoed, it would affect the Councilor’s salaries as well. • Councilor Frey stated that this order referred to Chapter 461 in the e-code, but he could not locate that online. He asked the City Clerk to reach out to General Code, the city’s codification company, to see if they could provide an explanation. Councilor Lennon moved to return 2023-050 back to the council with no recommendation. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). 2023-051 An Order for the Amesbury City Council to vote to accept the provisions of Chapter 329 of the Acts of 1987. -Councilor Wheeler Sponsor • Councilor Wheeler, the sponsor of the order, spoke to the committee about the email sent to the Council by the City Clerk, notifying them of the need to accept the provisions of Chapter 329 of the Acts of 1987, if they intended to increase the school committee’s FY24 budget. He stated that the Council in the past has increased the Mayor’s school budget under the assumption that it was  allowed, but apparently that was not the case. He stated this would require signature by the Mayor to take effect. He also stated that this was very time sensitive. • Councilor Lennon spoke to punctuation in the order. Councilor Wheeler spoke to an extra “the” in the bill and recommended it be changed. Councilor Lennon moved to return 2023-051 back to the full City Council with a positive recommendation pending the striking of the second “the” in the last sentence of the summary. She was seconded by Councilor Rinaldi. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). Councilor Rinaldi moved to adjourn the meeting at 9:00 p.m. He was seconded by Councilor Lennon. The motion passed unanimously (3 voting members present). June 14, 2023