City Council

Minutes were approved by the Government Operations & Ordinances Committee on May 22, 2024. CITY OF LACONIA - CITY COUNCIL SUBCOMMITTEE MEETING GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES City Hall - Armand A. Bolduc City Council Chamber 4:00 P.M. 12/1/2023 - Minutes 1. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Soucy called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM 2. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chairman Soucy led the salute to the flag. 3. RECORDING SECRETARY Katie Gargano, City Clerk 4. ROLL CALL Clerk Gargano called the role of the following Committee Members: Councilor Cheney, Chairman Soucy and Councilor Felch. Chairman Soucy noted that all committee members were in attendance and a quorum was established. 5. STAFF IN ATTENDANCE None. 6. ACCEPTANCE OF MINUTES FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 6.A. Approval of Subcommittee Meeting Minutes of September 22, 2023 and October 13, 2023 Minutes of the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee meetings of September 22, 2023, and October 13, 2023 were distributed to members of the Subcommittee on November 29, 2023. With no corrections or changes submitted to the Clerk, the minutes were accepted as distributed. 7. GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS & ORDINANCES (Soucy (Chair), Felch, Cheney) 7.A. City of Laconia Flag Policy In March of this year the Laconia City Council initially discussed implementation of a flag policy for the City. Further review of this item was referred to the Government Operations and Ordinances Subcommittee and discussed during previous meetings. A copy of a the most current version of the draft flag policy is attached to the agenda. Human Relations Committee members present were: Carrie Chandler, David Osmond, and Patrick Wood. The conversation began with Councilor Cheney and Councilor Soucy discussing the proposed Flag  draft flag policy is attached to the agenda. Human Relations Committee members present were: Carrie Chandler, David Osmond, and Patrick Wood. The conversation began with Councilor Cheney and Councilor Soucy discussing the proposed Flag Policy with the members of the Human Relations Committee. Councilor Cheney brought up several concerns within the policy that he is worried would reflect poorly against the City. He thinks that anything that is hung on City Flag Poles and on City Property reflects City endorsement. The Human Relations Committee is open to making changes to reflect what the Councilors want. Mr. Osmond said in section 1: The purpose in the policy separates out the flags and banners and states that these don’t reflect government endorsement. Mr. Wood stated in the next section it clearly states that no flag or banner shall be hung on any city owned property without first being approved through the application process. The most recent change that was made was for the banners that go on light poles rather than flag poles. Which is in section 3. Councilor Soucy stated he is still not comfortable with the banners section. Mr. Wood then talked about the application process is laid out in section 6. There are regulations laid out and no one will be able to fly just anything, it has to be approved by the City Manager and if they’d like to get additional backing, they could bring it to the City Council for the final approval. One of the requirements is that the applicants follow the purpose and mission of the Human Relations Committee. The human relations committee will not bring forth any applications that don’t follow that purpose or mission. Mr. Osmond said that in this policy all City flag poles have been made sacred to only fly the United States Flag, the State Flag, the City Flag and the MIA/POW Flag which is listed in Section 5. Chairman Soucy said that he believes what Councilor Lipman said is correct, if we pass a policy like this, it is going to create the great divide and make a lot of people unhappy. Ms. Chandler gave the example of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus which probably made a lot of people unhappy too. Councilor Felch agreed with Ms. Chandler. Chairman Soucy called upon Councilor Bogert who had a question to the committee. He asked where in the policy does it state that City Buildings are exempt. Councilor Cheney does not want future councils to have the authority to change this policy to expand the flags allowed to be flown on City property. Councilor Felch told him that any future council can change any policy at any time. We cannot limit it and that goes for all policies and ordinances that are put into place. There was a discussion about the fees that are proposed in the policy as well. If this policy gets passed by the City Council, Councilor Soucy wants to bring the policy back to the committee to review in 1 year. Mr. Wood stated that they would make the changes noted today and will send out another draft to the committee members by the beginning of next week. Chairman Soucy said he’d like to schedule another meeting either later in December or the beginning of January. Councilor Felch said that it is possible to get this to the council in December to schedule a public hearing. Mr. Wood will work on getting the revised draft submitted to the Manager’s office. 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS None. 9. Any other business that may come before the Council 8. CITIZENS REQUESTS TO COMMENT ON CURRENT AGENDA ITEMS None. 9. Any other business that may come before the Council Chairman Soucy mentioned at their next meeting he’d like to discuss casinos, extra garbage cans and private roads. 10. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Soucy adjourned the meeting at 4:50 PM. Respectfully Submitted, Katie Gargano, City Clerk