02-13-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, January 23, 2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: Mayor Dennis Walsh, Council Members Richard Crosby, II, Aaron Printup, and Victoria Seals. Representing Staff were City Administrator Jessica Loftus, Finance Director Ron Olson, Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart, Public Works Director/City Engineer Adam Edwards, City Attorney Soren Mattick, and Recorder Jackie Young. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA *1. CONSENT AGENDA Item Nos. 4 and 8 were added to the Consent Agenda. Item No. 13, Appointment of City Prosecutor under City Administrator's Report, was added. Seals moved, Crosby seconded, to approve the Consent Agenda as amended, with the addition of Item No. 13, Appointment of City Prosecutor under City Administrator's Report. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS Greg Coward, 1950 Heritage Drive, stated he is here tonight because he read in the local newspaper that the Planning Commission meetings will now be taped. Coward stated in his view videotaping the Planning Commission meetings is a wonderful idea and that he was struck that one of the Planning Commissioners was against that idea. Coward stated he has attended a number of Planning Commission meetings, and at one of those meetings when the Tufta development was being discussed, he asked the Planning Commission why there had been no comment at all about neighborhood preservation. At that point Commissioner Kevin Landgraver asked if that particular property was in the Fox Hills Association. When he was told no, he said, well, then it is not in the neighborhood. Another commissioner said that all the houses across the street would be torn down anyway. Coward stated that indicated a feeling that it was not important to talk about neighborhood preservation. Coward stated the real reason for some of the Commissioners not wanting the Planning Commission meetings to be videotaped is that they would be on record for that type of comment. Coward noted the paper also mentioned that there was a comment about the expense of the videotaping and that Council Member Printup recognized the fact that there was minimal expense. Coward stated there was also a comment about seeing how many people view the Planning Commission meetings. Coward stated in his view that is not the best criteria for determining whether the meetings should be videotaped but that it is more to keep the Planning Commission itself on track and have them accountable for what they do and what they say. Coward stated as a citizen, it would have been very helpful to have been able to go back to the videotape and watch certain portions. Page 1 of 15