HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-09-20 Government Operations Committee Minutes Government Operations Committee Minutes
Monday, September 20, 2021
City Council Chambers & via Zoom
Councilors in Attendance: Nichols, Dubay,Okafor,Schaefer
Non-Committee Member Councilors: Fournier,Sprague
Staff in Attendance: C.O'Donnell, D. Laurie,J. Comstock, R. Fogler,T.Willette,A. Huotari
The meeting was held both in-person and remotely via ZOOM and was called to order by Committee
Chair Nichols at 5:33 pm.
1. Council Resolve—Accept and Appropriate 804,967.00 for the Women, Infants and Children
(WIC) Program 3 Month Grant Extension
Rindy Fogler of Bangor Public Health &Community Services gave an overview of this item. She
mentioned the State was late with releasing an RFP and so they granted an extension to the
existing grant.
A motion to approve and move to full Council was made by Councilor Schaefer,seconded by
Councilor Dubay, no doubts.
2. Council Resolve—Accept and Appropriate$564,834 in Public Health Infrastructure
Enhancement Grant Funds from Maine Center for Disease Control (MeCDC)
Rindy Fogler gave an overview of this item. She stated it would fund one full time position for a
grant writer/accreditation process coordinator. It was explained that this would be beneficial to
the department creating more resources to assist Public Health with their work.There were a
couple questions from Council that resulted in some discussion.
A motion to approve and move to full Council was made by Councilor Schaefer,seconded by
Councilor Okafor, no doubts.
3. Donation of a bench to be placed in the Roland Perry City Forest
Tracy Willette, Parks & Recreation Director,gave overview of this item. It is in line with past
practice and staff recommended approval.
A motion to approve was made by Councilor Schaefer,seconded by Councilor Okafor, no doubts.
4. Discussion regarding a Board of Director seat on the Municipal Review Committee (MRC)
Aaron Huotari, Public Works Director,gave overview of the MRC and expressed interest in being
nominated to the board and would ask for the Council's support in seeking that nomination.
A motion to support Aaron Huotari for the MRC board was made by Councilor Schaefer,
seconded by Councilor Okafor, no doubts.
5. Discussion on Potential Maine Legislative Bill Submissions.
Debbie Laurie, Interim City Manager,gave an overview of concept bills for the short session to
be submitted for consideration.They included a state-wide approach to homelessness,
substance use disorder, and syringe waste.There was extensive discussion over this item. It was
recommended that the Advisory Committee on Racial Equity, Inclusion, and Human Rights be
allowed to review and provide input to the list.
Meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.