Codes and Ordinances Committee

City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 Members Present Councilor Walker, Chair Councilor Fontneau, Vice Chair Councilor Gianotti Councilor Rice Councilor Richardson Mayor Grassie Others Present Councilor Horne Gretchen Young, Deputy Director of Public Works CODES AND ORDINANCES COMMITTEE of the Rochester City Council Thursday, May 7, 2026 Council Chambers 6:00 PM Minutes 1. Call to Order Councilor Walker called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. 2. Roll Call Austin Leavitt, Deputy City Clerk, took the roll call attendance. All regular members and Mayor Grassie were present. Councilor Horne was also in attendance. 4. Acceptance of the Minutes 4.1. Acceptance of the Minutes: April 2, 2026, Codes and Ordinances Committee Councilor Walker stated that this item would be moved forward on the agenda if there were no objections. None were stated. Councilor Fontneau MOVED to ACCEPT the minutes of the April 2, 2026 Codes and Ordinances Committee meeting. Councilor Richardson seconded the motion. The MOTION CARRIED by a unanimous voice vote. 1 City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 3. Public Input Ray Wayman, resident, spoke regarding issues related to unclear language in the stormwater management ordinance. Lisa Willey, resident, spoke regarding issues related to negligently installed or poorly maintained stormwater drainage systems. Councilor Rice requested for Ms. Willey to share documentation she had referenced regarding plans for the Carole Court subdivision for the Council to review. Kevin Willey, resident, also spoke regarding issues related to negligently installed or poorly maintained drainage systems as well as complications related to unclear language in the stormwater management ordinance. Councilor Fontneau requested for Mr. Willey to share a copy of the points he had made in writing for the Council to review. Councilor Rice requested for Councilor Walker, Chair of the Committee, to compile testimony received from the public related to stormwater issues to distribute among the Council. 5. Building & Licensing Services 5.1. Compliance Update and Data Review No update was provided at this time. 6. Discussions 6.1. Presentation (DPW): City Ordinances Chapter 218, Stormwater Management and Erosion Control Gretchen Young, Deputy Director of Public Works, briefly reviewed the proposed revisions to City Ordinances Chapter 218. Mayor Grassie inquired about potential changes to state law regarding inspection requirements for drainage systems. Deputy Director Young responded that the changes were complicated, and she would prefer to provide a more detailed explanation at a later time. 2 City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 Mayor Grassie suggested that new construction should be mandated to include plans for how drainage maintenance will be financed. Councilor Fontneau noted that making HOAs solely responsible for drainage system maintenance is an unreliable solution to stormwater management. He highlighted the potential for these arrangements to ultimately leave the City liable for failing infrastructure. He suggested that the ordinances need stronger language to encourage sustainable development. Further, he suggested the City should consider ways that it can work to better inform home-buyers and hold developers accountable. Councilor Rice asked about holding inspectors or engineers responsible for negligent work. Councilor Walker raised the question of who is ultimately responsible: the designer, the builder, the developer? Mayor Grassie noted that the City is also not performing due diligence on these developments. There was a brief discussion of the state of the Carole Court subdivision and other areas impacted by poor stormwater management. Mayor Grassie suggested that this City needed to increase its staff to carry out more inspections. Deputy Director Young noted that City staff is looking for guidance on how involved the City should be in mediating private developments. Councilor Walker expressed dissatisfaction with the current reliance on HOAs. Councilor Rice suggested gathering information on how other communities are approaching these problems. Deputy Director Young noted that Dover has taken the stance of not accepting any new infrastructure as a public responsibility: HOAs are entirely responsible for street maintenance, snow plowing, trash collection, etc. Whether or not this system works, she noted that Rochester HOAs tend to be less active or less involved. Mayor Grassie suggested the City could maintain easements on some of these properties as an alternative to leaving HOAs responsible. Deputy Director Young noted that easements demand more detailed planning and are not always agreeable to property owners. 3 City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 Councilor Walker suggested that the Planning Board should exercise more controls, possibly mandating independent lots for infrastructure purposes. Deputy Director Young noted that more controls could limit construction. Councilor Walker suggested that this should not be the deciding factor of the changes are necessary for the health of new developments. Councilor Fontneau noted that the current system of offloading responsibility to HOAs creates an antagonistic, not a cooperative, relationship to enforcement and maintenance. Councilor Richardson noted that the prevalence of wetlands in Rochester means that most future construction is likely to be connected to some kind of water-management complication; therefore, it will be important to have clear regulations in place. Ultimately, it was determined that the Council had insufficient information to approve any changes to the ordinance at this time. Councilor Walker requested that the Department of Public Works return at the next meeting with a redlined draft for further discussion and declared that the matter would be kept in committee. 6.2. City Ordinances Chapter 7 Article XI, Code of Ethics and Conduct for Elected and Appointed Officials Councilor Walker read through the new draft of Ordinances Chapter 7 Article XI. Mayor Grassie suggested that members of the Board of Ethics (BoE) should not be “appointed by” but instead “confirmed by” the City Council. Councilor Walker agreed with the change in wording, to conform with previous changes to how BoE appointments are made. Councilor Fontneau asked how the two (2) City Councilors to serve on the BoE would be appointed. Councilor Walker responded that it could be any Councilor without a conflict of interest, excluding any Councilor who is the accuser or the accused in an ethics complaint. He further clarified that the specific Councilors would be chosen by lottery. 4 City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 Councilor Rice objected to City employees being allowed to identify and report ethics violations. She additionally asked why individual citizens could not file ethics complaints. Councilor Walker responded that the proper course would be for any citizen to approach the City Manager with a complaint about a City official. Mayor Grassie additionally noted that a citizen does not have the same power dynamic with a City official as a City employee does. Councilor Rice suggested that City employees should be required to make their ethics complaints through their chain of command. Councilor Fontneau suggested that such complaints should be directed to the employee’s department head and from there to the City Manager. Mayor Grassie suggested that the complaint should not be considered the City Manger’s responsibility, but that it should be their duty to convey the complaint to the BoE. There was a brief discussion about the proper means for Councilors to interface with City staff. There was a brief discussion about the proper wording of the ordinance regarding who can make ethics complaints and how those complaints are made, to reflect the previous discussion. Mayor Grassie suggested that ethics complaints made by employees should be directed through and possibly reviewed by the City’s Human Resources (HR) Department. Councilor Walker rejected this suggestion, indicating the ethics complaints should always be forwarded to the BoE, as it is the BoE’s role to review complaints for sufficiency. There was further discussion on interfacing with City staff and the precise wording of the ordinance. Mayor Grassie suggested that two (2) “City Councilors” should instead be “members of the City Council,” to include the Mayor as eligible to serve on the BoE. Councilor Walker asked how to handle the Mayor’s appointment to the BoE if the Mayor is deemed to have a conflict of interest in an ethics case. Mayor Grassie suggested that the Deputy Mayor would take the Mayor’s place in making that appointment. 5 City of Rochester Codes and Ordinances Committee Draft May 7, 2026 The Council discussed whether to keep the matter under discussion or refer the revised article to the full Council. Ultimately, it was agreed that the Legal Department should review the revised draft before any action was taken on the matter. Councilor Walker declared that the matter would be kept in committee until that time. 7. Other There was no other business brought before the Committee. 8. Adjournment Councilor Fontneau MOVED to ADJOURN the Codes and Ordinances Committee meeting at 7:54 PM. Mayor Grassie seconded the motion. The MOTION CARRIED by a unanimous voice vote. Respectfully submitted, Austin S. Leavitt, Deputy City Clerk 6