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MINUTES OF THE
<br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING
<br /> JANUARY 23, 2023
<br />6:00 o’clock p.m.
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<br />Page 9 of 12
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<br />the time, there was a lot of focus in that meeting. And I know because I've listened to the audio recording,
<br />there wasn't a video, but I've listened to and actually transcribed the audio recording from that meeting.
<br />And I, in seeing it now, can recognize that attorney Mattick did leave open an option for abstention. At
<br />the time I was in that meeting, listening to the discussion from our city attorney, I felt that there was a lot
<br />of focus on financial conflict, which there was none, or an option to, as I think attorney Mattick had said,
<br />well, if you just don't want to vote, and it was neither a financial conflict or a lack of desire to vote out of
<br />any lack of preparation, on my part. It was a third category, which was not feeling that it was a vote that I
<br />could do well, in an informed way, which is what I pledged to do for this city. So that's why I asked for
<br />the abstention. The discussion that followed did not leave me to feel that the abstention was a viable
<br />option, because I didn't have a financial conflict. And essentially, as it was explained again, that it would
<br />essentially count as a no. Well, I didn't want it to count as a no, I wanted it to count as an abstention,
<br />which is what it was, I've contacted or I did contact the League of Cities about this. And it's clear after
<br />talking to or hearing from our city attorney today that abstentions are viable options, and that they will be
<br />counted as such. So in the future, that's very helpful information to have. And I just wanted to clarify this
<br />because it's very important that I communicate clearly in meetings and communicate clearly with our staff
<br />and our city attorney. Because these issues are not insignificant, they are complex and fire, in particular,
<br />as we heard again tonight, is one that is has gained a lot of public interest and attention for good reason.
<br />And I don't take any vote as something that is simple, or without significance. I also want to say that I'm
<br />incredibly supportive of all of our emergency services, and that goes for fire and police. And that no vote
<br />on January 9 had nothing to do with a lack of support for our first responders. It had to do with my feeling
<br />at the time that I need to be informed about issues, especially ones that involve large financial outlays
<br />before I make them. So that's all I want to say about that. And if at any time anybody has any questions
<br />for me or concerns about that you're welcome to contact me. On a different note, I also attended the first
<br />open house for the proposal, the US sports grant proposal, to look at building some pickleball courts and
<br />hockey infrastructure at the Orono Golf Course. I attended the first one and I will also be attending the
<br />second one tomorrow night here at City Hall at six o'clock. And I found that it was a really good
<br />opportunity to meet community members, residents, members of the public and hear from them directly,
<br />which is really important. In city governance we have the ability as residents and community members to
<br />affect a lot of change in our communities. And I really appreciate people showing up for these events and
<br />talking to staff and elected and appointed officials, regardless of your views on the issue. I always
<br />appreciate feedback.
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<br />Johnson said Long Lake has their city council meeting tomorrow. As of last night, their agenda was on
<br />there, but not their packet. But the fire services is on there and they're having a closed session to talk
<br />about it. I think once we hear back from Long Lake and their decision based on our proposal, which we
<br />have not received that feedback, then we'll have more to share. It’s clear the residents want to hear more
<br />about that when we have more to share. That should be short coming here, hopefully. We've been saying
<br />that for a while, but that's what they've told us, Victoria and I, that after this meeting, they're going to
<br />hopefully send us a response to our proposal.
<br />
<br />Seals said not be redundant, but we are having another open house tomorrow, so if you can come, come.
<br />It’d be great to hear everyone's thoughts on the golf course. I think the one thing going into it, I do think
<br />it's important to look at, and Ron would be better at this, is that prior to COVID the golf course was in the
<br />red, so we were keeping it alive through general funds. If you had to look at like, one of the benefits of
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