04-26-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 12, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 5 of 15 17. LA21-000017 – Joseph & Sara Thull, 480 Big Island, Permit for Dock City on ROW (Bay Place) – Continued dock rights. He thinks everyone now needs to understand that is what the language says. He hopes the solution is to come from the people on Big Island to bring to the Council, rather than the Council imposing something that will impact families that have been there forever. If he were those families that have the dock today but may not tomorrow, the only way they will have permanent potential access it to have a code rewritten that gives everyone in the interior land on Big Island potential access to that dock. He said this is just theoretical but it would be a group application such as on Crystal Bay where people have a license to put a dock every year and they apply for it as it is public land. He believes there is a code issue that needs to be addressed by all of the interiors including the family that has the permit today, because it can be gone tomorrow, which they all found out based on the language. He hopes they can get together and bring something that would work for everyone to the City Council so they do not have to impose something on the families that have been out there for a long time. Crosby asked how many in the audience are in the chambers for this particular issue by raising of hands. Walsh noted it is just about everyone. Crosby thinks Walsh made an excellent suggestion. Johnson was suspicious the reason the permit was written that way is so not one person can control it – just because someone was there first does not entitle one the privilege to what all taxpayers actually own. Walsh noted nobody has rights to City land and that is exactly why it was written that way. It brings up an opportunity as there are just a few parcels that need to solve this. He hopes they can come up with a solution and work together to bring this forward. Johnson replied it was written that way to be sure it was revisited if there was another interested party in using it. Crosby asked what year the permit was granted. Seals replied it was 1986. Johnson likes asking the community to work together to find a solution that works. Walsh would not be in favor of granting any permit tonight – he would either put it off or deny it – and then revisit it knowing the family that has it, the flag has been raised, this is not a permanent dock whether one puts a dock there or not. There is not a permanent right to it and everyone knows it now, so let’s solve it and fix it. He noted the Council is not going to impose something on one person that is not going to work for everyone. Rather, they want it to work for everyone because it is a small community out there.