General Meeting Minutes 5-12-2005

General Meeting

May 12, 2005

7:00pm

Call to Order

Roll Call

Reading of Minutes

Public comment on Non-agenda Items

    Comments:

        1. Paul Barnes

        2. Judy Brakel

Public Comment on:

        1.  GVFD Report

New Business

        1.  State Monies to Lower Electrical Costs

        2.  Publish GCN Ordinance

 Committee Reports

Call to Order at 7:01pm

Roll Call: Sandi Marchbanks, Martha Romero, Tim Gibson, Wayne Howell, Becky King, Kim Heacox

Reading of Minutes: The City Clerk read minutes. Minutes approved.

Public Comment on:

Paul Barnes read from a prepared statement addressing his concerns about the IFQ resolution. He started by giving a brief history of charter fishing in the area. He then stated that this process had been going on for about 8 years. He then said that he personally felt that charter fishing was an important part of the community but that he would encourage charter fisherman to accept limitations to help elongate the life of their industry.

Sandi thanked Paul.

Wayne thanked Paul and said that both he and Forrest  had given excellent presentations. He then stated that the Council did not have time to research all the information that had been given to them and said we should consider creating a policy for matters like this and limit what the Council would hear.

Sandi then read the IFQ resolution as it had been amended.

More discussion followed and Paul again stated his concerns about the GHL.

Judy Brakel said that she appreciated Wayne’s comments. She said that she had worked in this field and that she thought there should have been more public notice before this matter was acted upon. She went onto say that she saw an opportunity for rapid growth in the charter industry which could affect local fisherman filling their freezers. She then proposed that the Council reconsider and withdraw the resolution concerning the IFQ’s.

Kim reiterated what Wayne said about limiting what the Council would hear and act upon and again suggested that the charter fisherman hold an open house.

GVFD Report

Tom Berner stated that he had received a letter that the Council had sent to Bill Kruger asking for his help in conducting an investigation into the 911 call incident. He said that he had asked Pedr Turner if they could talk and that Pedr had said no, and that he would only do so under his terms. Tom then said that after that Bill had come and told him to disregard the letter.

Sandi thanked Tom and asked if Bill had anything he would like to say.

Bill started by saying that he thought the whole investigation had been handled improperly. He said that he thought it should have been done by someone outside the fire department. He suggested that an outside agency like CISD would have been more objective. He then stated that he thought that he had resolved the situation prior to the Councils letter.

He went on to say that he thought the issue was not the 911 call, but the issue should have been how everyone found out about it. He said that he thought there should have been an investigation into that.

He then talked briefly about the progress the fire department was making and said that he deeply regretted having to inform the Council that he was resigning as fire chief. He then said that he wanted to point out that the fire fighters served at the discretion of the fire chief, not the pleasure of the Council.

Ken Klawunder said that there was a chain of command and that the GVFD fell under the City Council and that he thought it was unacceptable for Bill to have told Tom to disregard the letter.

Bill made a few more comments and said that he thought the fire fighter who leaked the call to the public was much worse than the original mistake made by Pedr.

 Wayne questioned why, if Bill thought the CISD team would have been the way to go, this had not happened.

Bill said that he did not think it was that big of a deal.

Wayne motioned that City Council accept Bill Kruger’s resignation. Motion passed 4/0.

Wayne then motioned that the City Council suspend Pedr turner until a time when Pedr (agreed to give a full report to the Council.)  Motion passed 4/0.

Sandi then thanked Bill for his service to the community.

Wayne thanked Tom for his help.

New Business

State Monies to lower electrical rates.

Sandi explained that the State had money that it was giving to small communities to help with high fuel and electricity rates. She went over the different ideas that had been presented for using it and asked that the community send letters with any comments that they might have.

Ken commented on Martha’s plan and the Library boards letter and said that if we did not give this money back to the community, they would basically be paying for the City’s utilities twice. First with their tax dollars and again by not receiving any of this money.

Kim pointed out that at present, this was a one time deal.

Publish GCN Ordinance

Sandi explained that the Ordinance would be out the next day for anyone to look at. She the made a motion to publish Title 6.05, GCN Ordinance. Motion passed 4/0.

Committee Reports

Parks & Recreation Committee

Diana Berry read from a prepared statement. She said that the committee was coming up with a 5 year plan for the Salmon River Park. She said that they would like $2000 for fixing the equipment, $800 to repair the picnic tables, up to $3000 for the 4^th of July T-shirts and $150 for a bullhorn. she then spoke briefly about the 5 year plan and the history of the T- shirt money.

Sandi asked who was on the Committee. Diana said it was herself, Denise Healy, Jozee Archambault, Andrea Burns and Mary Hervin.

Strategic Planning Committee

Diane Klawunder explained that the Committee had recently been changed from a special committee to a standing committee and that they planned on working with the Council wherever they were needed. She explained who had been on the committee and who was on the committee now. She requested that the Council look into getting a new copier for the office. She stated that she felt that the current copier could not handle the City’s needs. She then said that she would look into getting a mini grant from the State to pay for some of the committees minor expenses.

Maine Facilities Committee

Mike Halbert stated that not much had changed on the dock situation. He said that he had spoken with different agencies about getting funding but that it always got shifted back to the DOT. He said that most of the Committee would be starting work again soon and that there probably would not be a lot of time over the next five months for committee meetings.

Ken asked if there were any temporary solutions. Mike said not really.

Wayne asked if Mike or the committee could come and talk to the Council at their next work session to discuss the issue.

DRC Committee

Kim Ney thanked Paul Berry for his 11 year service. She then read from a prepared statement. She talked about all of the improvements that have been made to the Landfill in the last year and stated that some of their future plans included finding a new site and planting trees around the existing site.

Library Board

Davita Marchbanks said that the board approved of Kathy’s Budget and that the board asked that the State money for high electrical and fuel costs be used for City functions and not given back to the community. She then talked about the library volunteers and said that they were the foundation of the library. She then spoke about the different programs and explained who was on the Library Board. She then stated that the board would be willing to work with the Council to help find a replacement for Kathy.

Sandi thanked Davita.

Land Acquisition Committee

Ken Klawunder pointed out what land we could choose from and talked about land other than our 28 acre allotment we would be able to get in the future. He then talked about the landfill conveyance and the options there. He explained that the process was would be a slow one and that it might take several years to complete the mission of the committee.

Bill Brown commented that there were restrictions placed on lands by DNR stating that they should retain their natural beauty.

Road Committee

Richard Sirstad reported that the road maintenance was costing about $5000 a month. He said that Rink Creek Road was being built up and that they were looking at other bad areas. He then stated that people should call him at 697-2461 with any complaints between the hours of 5pm and 8pm.

Investment Advisory Committee

Bruce Tedtsen said that the market was down about ½%. He said that this would take us down to about $950,000 to $960,000 from the original $998,000.

Kim asked about where the interest money would be going.

Bruce said that the Council would allocate money that the different committees could compete for. He then reminded everyone that we need a 11% increase to get the 5% that is expected.

Wayne asked about withdrawals. Bruce said withdrawals should be made in March so that the committees can make their bids in May.

GCN Report

Ben explained that the committee had just been formed and that they were looking into an automatic fee collection system. He said that they had been speaking with a company about bringing broadband internet service to the whole community but that it was not economically feasible. He said that they were however buying new receivers and that they expanding the current broadband service. He then said that after the GCN ordinance had been passed that GCN would be turning over $19000 to the City and that they hoped to use this money for their capitol purchases and other improvements to the network.

Arts Council

Carol Dejka requested funding for housing and transportation and needs for a guest artist for their fundraiser. Carol said she thought they would need about $200 to $400.

Sandi asked who was on the Arts Council. Carol said there four members, herself, Ben Stroeker, Kate Boesser, and Heidi Robichaud.

Sandi then asked what the fundraiser was for. Carol said she wasn’t sure what Sandi was asking. Sandi asked what they were raising funds for if this was a fundraiser. Carol didn’t have an answer.

Ken commented on the fire department and what had happened during the meeting. He then asked that the fire fighters hang in there and said that he thought the fire department was a real asset to this community.

The Council went into executive session at 9:20pm to discuss hiring for the Library positions.

Returned from executive session at 9:47pm.

Ken motioned to accept the recommendations of the library board and hire Sylvia Martinez and Carolyn Elder. Motion passed 4/0.

Wayne asked about selecting a new fire chief. More discussion followed.

Adjournment @ 10:21pm.