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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-02-01 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee Minutes Monday, February 1, 2021 Meeting City Hall Council Chambers Council Members in Attendance: Committee Chair Nichols Committee Member Schaefer Committee Member Okafor Committee Member Dubay Committee Member Hawes Councilor Sprague Councilor Davitt Councilor Tremble Councilor Fournier Staff in Attendance: City Manager Conlow Assistant City Manager Cromwell Parks and Recreation Director Willette Agenda: 1) Request to Support a Feasibility Study, Extending Passenger Rail Service from Brunswick through Augusta and Waterville to Bangor City Staff has been contacted by Richard Rudolph, Maine Rail Group Director, regarding Legislative Document No. 227. This document is regarding a feasibility study for extending passenger rail service from Brunswick through Augusta and Waterville to Bangor. The Maine Rail Group is asking the councils of these cities to pass resolutions supporting the bill. The agenda packet includes materials supplied by the Maine Rail Group, providing information on reasons to support the passenger rail services in the above named city's as well as a copy of LD 227. A member of the Maine Rail Group will be present for the discussion to provide detail regarding this item. Additionally, Senator Baldacci (presenter of the bill) will be present for the discussion. Senator Baldacci opened the discussion regarding the history behind Legislative Document No. 227 and the potential for rail throughout the state. Richard Rudolph and Peter Cole, members of the Maine Rail Group, provided information regarding the benefits of rail, including the connectivity to Central Maine that this could provide. Additionally, they provided information regarding the cost of the feasibility study and the ask for federal funding to support the project. A motion to support a resolve supporting LD 227 was made by Councilor Schaefer and seconded by Councilor Oakafor. 2) Council Resolve— Nuclear Proliferation During the January 25t" Council Workshop, Geoff Gratwick approached Council regarding support for prevention of nuclear war through a Resolve that would be provided to the President of the United States and each member of Maine's congressional delegation. The draft resolve was provided for committee review and approval to move forward for a full council vote on February gt" A motion to move the Resolve to full council was made by Councilor Schaefer and seconded by Councilor Oakafor. 3) Council Order-Authorizing an application for an AmeriCorps NCCC Team for trail related work. The city last worked with Americorps in 2012, providing maintenance to the many park trails throughout Bangor. This application provides a plan requesting AmeriCorps services to provide various types of trail maintenance, sign installation, and a small bridge build in Roland Perry City Forest, Essex Woods, and Prentiss Woods. A motion supporting this item was made by Councilor Schaefer and seconded by Councilor Dubay. 4) Ordinance Amendment to Chapter 9, Appointing Council Committees and Committee Chairs. At the Council meeting on January 25, the Council considered Ordinance 21-070. This ordinance would have made a number of procedural and other modifications to Chapter 9 of the Bangor Code, including clarifying that the Council Chair is responsible for appointing members of standing Council committees, and allowing the Chair to pick members of the Personnel Committee from the Council membership. The Ordinance would also have required each committee chair to have at least one year of experience as a member of the Council. The Ordinance failed to pass the Council, with some Council members expressing concern about this requirement for a year of experience Staff seeks direction as to whether the Council wishes to move forward with the other portions of the ordinance, or to proceed in some other manner. A copy of the rejected ordinance was attached to the committee meeting agenda. Councilors Fournier, Dubay, Hawes, Davitt, and Sprague were in favor of supporting the all changes previously made to the ordinance except for the 1 year of council experience. Councilors Schaefer, Nichols, and Oakafor were in favor of supporting the all changes previously made to the ordinance including the 1 year of council experience. A motion was made by Schaefer to move the ordinance change forward with all changes except for the 1 year of council experience. Dubay seconded the motion. 5) Extension of an Agreement with Hero's Bar and Grill Currently the City has an Agreement with Hero's Bar and Grill to provide the concessions at the Bangor Municipal Golf Course. This Agreement has been in place since 2015 and in that time Hero's has been a great partner to the city and have provided a great service to the customers. Staff recommended that based on the history the city has with Hero's and the negative impact the pandemic has provided that in lieu of staring an RFP process for a prospective concessionaire that the city extend the agreement with Hero's for another 3 years. A motion was made by Schaefer to extend the agreement with Hero's Bar and Grill and Councilor Dubay seconded the motion.