05-11-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 11, 2015 7:00 o'clock p.m. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT (continued) To accuse Mayor McMillan and I of lack of transparency flies in the face of the facts. The two of us are responsible for securing funding for our new camera equipment and software to better tape, live stream, and archive our meetings. In doing so, we now have live streaming of our City Council meetings, something few cities have, and our on -demand viewing is significantly faster and more effective. We are also responsible for the creation of a Communications Committee and the publication of three newsletters per year. New content has been added to our website because of our efforts, and I worked to institute an anonymous on-line complaint form for residents. Where is the transparency of this person or group who put out this flyer? If transparency was so important, why did they not walk the talk?" McMillan stated she also received some citizen calls regarding the wellhead article that was in the flyer. The calls did not come from citizens who had private wells and were not located in the City water district, nor will they likely ever be given their location. McMillan indicated she reassured them that if their well was not functioning, that they would be able to drill a new well and that the ordinance would not affect them. McMillan stated she is deeply concerned that Orono citizens were unjustly scared by a poorly written flyer that was designed to fear monger rather than explain the details of the wellhead ordinance. McMillan stated Staff was kind to quickly respond by displaying on the website the clarification of the well situation so that citizens would not be confused. McMillan stated she did have some citizens who were really upset and called immediately. McMillan stated they took time out of their day to raise their concerns and she took time out of her day to explain to them clearly the situation because of a concern about the residents receiving misinformation. McMillan noted she also received three calls in support of the Council decision on the wellhead protection ordinance and one call was from a plumber located in Long Lake who felt the City was doing the right thing in protecting Orono's municipal well water. McMillan stated as it relates to the other misconceptions regarding the deck permit, she does not want to go into that tonight. McMillan stated those comments were in addition to the negative casting of an area retailer talking about building in Orono. McMillan stated in her view the flyer was not productive to the community and was written to intimidate and bully Orono's citizens and Staff with demeaning speech and misconceptions. McMillan stated it was very unfortunate to have that happen two weeks ago and that she hopes the citizens will be able to get clarification on some of the facts of the flyer. McMillan stated on a more positive note, she had a wonderful evening at Navarre Night. There were approximately 85 people in attendance at the Freshwater Institute to hear stories about Navarre and two Casco Point citizens. McMillan stated the new banner was also on display and people indicated they liked it. McMillan stated Joan Wolfe did an excellent job along with the Historical Society and that she is hopeful there is another similar event. Page 21 of 25