 |
Democracy on the Front Lines
City Administrator’s Blog
Walter Denton
August 23, 2012
Here is a summary of Monday’s City Council meeting agenda items. The items are listed in the order as they appeared in the agenda. Click here to see the full texts of the resolutions, ordinances, and staff reports. As a reminder, resolutions, motions, and special event permits only need to be approved once to become official. Ordinances are required to be approved in two readings (over two meetings) before they become official.
Here are the items that were approved by the City Council:
Resolution to place a referendum for municipal electrical aggregation: The state government recently allowed cities to aggregate electric customers to negotiate lower electric generation rates than is possible individually. However, the City must first submit a referendum to its residents to determine whether or not citizens want to participate in the program. If approved by voters, people would have the ability to opt-out of the aggregation program. The referendum will appear on the November 6 ballot.
Ordinance amending regulations regarding solicitation (First Reading): The City’s current ordinance prohibits all solicitation, but the City Attorney has determined that state law requires cities to allow some kind of solicitation. As a result, this ordinance allows commercial solicitation under stricter guidelines, including an enhanced application process, photos IDs of permitted solicitors, $10,000 Surety Bond, and the creation of a “no-knock” list that will allow residents to register their address as a “no-knock” residence. “Road Blocks” and other charitable soliciting are still allowed.
Ordinances regarding Special Service Areas (First and Second Readings): In 2006 and 2007, the City sold Special Service Area Bonds for the Newbold BMW and Frieze Harley Davidson expansions. The City acts as a conduit only, collecting the bond payment through a separate property tax and makes the bond payments. Advantage to the business is the bonds do not show on the company books as debt load and as they are paid through the county property tax system, they are tax exempt on Federal income Taxes. In December 2011, these bonds became defeasible (eligible for refinance), allowing each business to save between $400,000-$450,000 over the remaining life of the bonds. There is no cost to the City and the cost to the business is far offset by the reduction in interest rate. The Council originally passed these ordinances on April 16 but
changes require approval again. Due to the time sensitivity in the selling of the bonds, the ordinances were approved on emergency reading.
Special Event Permit for the Global Brew Oktoberfest: The event will occur on September 29 from 11:00 a.m.-2:00 a.m., and will feature live music and an outdoor patio.
Special Event Permit for the Frieze Harley-Davidson Open House: This is a change from a previously approved event. The original event was to be held on September 8 10:00 am-4:00 pm, and now the event will be held on September 8-9 from 9:00 am-5:00 pm.
Now you’re up to date. Next Monday’s committee meetings are Finance and Administration at 5:30 p.m., Community Development at 6:00 p.m., and Public Works at 6:30 p.m.
| |
