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Home My WebLink About2001-01-02 Municipal Operations Committee Minutes Municipal Operations Committee Meeting Minutes • January 2, 2001 Councilors Attending: Nichi Farnham, Pat Blanchette, John Rohman Staff Attending: Edward Barrett, Jim Ring, Chief Cammack, Arthur Stockus, Roland Perry 1. Consent Agenda: a. Mutual Aid Agreement of Organized Fire Departments for Penobscot County b. Statement of Understanding with Pine Tree Chapter, American Red Cross Approved items a and b of the Consent Agenda. 2. Dangerous Trees — Prentiss Woods Roland Perry indicates that there are approximately 30 trees in Prentiss Woods . which are dead and present a hazard to the many people using the woods trails. Several are adjacent to the trail system. He is recommending the immediate removal of these trees to protect the public and prevent additional tress from potential infection in the event the cause of the dying was a disease that could spread. StafF will put up information signs to inform anyone using the trails what is being done. No action is required on this item. 3. Ordinance, Amendina Chapter 291, Vehicles & Traffic, §291-43A, On- Street and Off-Street Parking Areas; Winter Parkinq When Public Works picks up snow in the downtown area, there are two crews that come in. One comes in at 10:00 p.m. and the second comes in an hour later. Prohibiting nighttime parking on Central and Columbia Streets during the winter months beginning at 10:00 p.m. rather than midnight will allow public works to keep the downtown area cleared of snow during storms. The question was raised whether to look at a parking ban. Several other cities in the State put parking bans in effect during snowstorms. When these cities issue snow bans, they do tow cars that are in violation. There are areas in Bangor that can be designated for parking in case of a large snowstorm. � Councilor Farnham questioned whether this should include the entire downtown area. Ed commented that this is not so much needed during a storm, but when � cars need to be removed for snow removal in the downtown area. Approved staff recommendation to full Council. 4. Council Com�ensation Ed Barrett explained that there are a couple of options to look at. The current Charter provision can be followed which is that the Council adopts an ordinance setting its compensation. It is then placed on the next municipal election and if it passes, it goes into efFect three years after the Council adopts it. The idea is that no currently sitting Council member can increase their own salaries. The difficulties with this Charter provision is that once it is set, it will be in effect for another several years and a future Council will be looking at the same issue. There is no system built in for adjustments. The other alternative, which is what the Committee recommended, is that the Charter be changed to set salaries, set an effective date for those new salaries and to establish a mechanism for annually adjusting those salaries. The mechanism suggested is the CPI (Consumer Price Index). This creates issues because there are a number of difFerent versions of the CPI. Ed suggested either a specified CPI measure or the adjustment provided to Social Security recipients for the last prior year. The committee came up with four recommendations based on different measures or averages. Ed's suggestion would be to keep something divisible by 4 (quarterly). • such as $2,000 a year with an additional $400 stipend for the Council Chair. To change the charter, you'll have to advertise for 7 days before the hearing. Within 7 days following the hearing, you must pass an order placing the proposed amendment on the ballot at the next special municipal election. This could not be placed on the upcoming March election. The majority of the votes cast must be in favor of the change and at least 30% of the number of votes case in the last gubernatorial election must be cast. Councilor Farnham commented that this should be supported or perhaps Coucnil service should be considered a non-paying position. Councilor Rohman commented that he would agree to the $2,000 per year and something extra for the chair. Councilor Blanchette commented that she would agree to this increase. It is recommended to go to $2,000 per year and an additional $500 for the chair. It is suggested to go through a charter change and put in an automatic adjustment so that future Councils will not have to revisit this issue. Legal will draft something up with detail and will look at possible effective dates. Once written, it will come before the Strategic Issues Committee. � 2 __ _ _- -