City of Bristol
Office of Town/City Clerk
Bristol, Connecticut
City Council Members
City Hall
Bristol, Connecticut
NOTICE OF SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING
There will be a Special Meeting of the Bristol City Council to be held on Thursday,
September 27, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 111 North Main Street, Bristol, Connecticut.
AGENDA
1. To introduce and discuss proposed ordinances to establish a City cemetery commission and to schedule a date for a public hearing thereon, and to take any action as necessary.
2. Authorization for Mayor or Acting Mayor to execute contract with Charles B. Feldman & Associates, LLC for personal property audit services in the Assessor’s Office in the amount of $10,000, and to take any action as necessary.
3. Recommendation from West Bristol School Building Committee for the City Council to take appropriate action to acquire the Scalia Site A property, and to take any action as necessary.
4. Recommendation from Forestville School Building Committee for the City Council to take appropriate action to acquire the Crowley properties adjacent to Greene-Hills School which would include the vacant dealership, the vacant lot, the existing body shop and the residence on the property, and to take any action as necessary.
5. To award Contract #2008-012 – Renovations of Rockwell Park Phase I, including Alternate 1 for granite curbing to Schultz Corporation in the amount of $1,586,400, and to take any action as necessary.
6. To discuss the current status of the matter of City of Bristol vs. Ocean State Job Lot Stores of Connecticut, Inc. SC 17819, and to take any action as necessary.
7. To convene into anticipated Executive Session to discuss the matter of City of Bristol vs. Ocean State Job Lot Stores of Connecticut, Inc. SC 17819, and to take any action as necessary.
8. To reconvene into Public Session regarding the matter of City of Bristol vs. Ocean State Job Lot Stores of Connecticut, Inc. SC 17819, and to take any action as necessary.
9. To discuss the current status of the Centre Mall demolition, and to take any action as necessary.
10. To adjourn.
Per Order Mayor William T. Stortz, Chairman
DATED this 26th day of September, 2007.
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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
10 comments:
Shame on Stortz. By using special council sessions for these matters he is avoiding public comment.
I don't believe that's accurate.
Here's Section 49 of the City Charter,in its entirety:
"Sec. 49. Boards and commissions. Meetings.
All board meetings shall be public and all meetings of boards or commissions whose duties involve the transaction of public business shall be held at accessible stated public places and all meetings and the minutes thereof shall be open to the public. Any elector shall have the right to appear and be heard at any such meeting as to any business proper to come before said board or commission.
Legislative history--Sp. No. 434, § 131, 1931; Sp. No. 489, § 51, 1939."
That seems crystal clear that any resident "shall have the right to appear and be heard" at any city meeting on "any business proper to come before" that particular board.
That would mean residents should have the right to speak on any matter that is on the agenda for the meeting.
I know some lawyers have tried to make it seem like state open government laws supercede the provision, but it makes absolutely no sense that laws aimed at increasing public participation and awareness should be interpreted to mean that residents cannot speak at a public meeting.
They try to skirt this by not putting Public Participation as an agenda item.
Interesting. Then why has Stortz (and maybe Couture, I don't remember) prevented public participation during previous special council sessions?
I would argue that it doesn't matter whether public participation is on the agenda or not. The charter is clear that people always have a right to be heard at every municipal meeting.
It was Stortz' MO to conduct as many special meetings as possible, possibly to prevent public participation but also to avoid conducting business under the gaze of Nutmeg TV. He procrastinated for months on posting the monthly meeting schedules for his Memorial Boulevard Theater Committee and the Erosion Control Board, which resulted in each meeting being a "special meeting" and therefore exempt (in his opinion) from public participation. It also made it impossible for a committee member to add anything to the agenda the night of the meeting.
The Mayor indicated that he would have a Special City Council Meeting the evening of the Scalia site selection. He said that it would occur quickly.
Goodness gracious, criticize him for sitting on the dime and criticize him for moving off the dime.
After reading this little blog item, Mayor William Stortz gave me a call.
He said that he wants to make it clear that the public can speak on any item that is on the meeting agenda, even for special meetings.
What can’t be done, by the public or by the council, is to bring up new items that are not on the agenda, the mayor said.
Stortz said that the items most likely to be interesting to the public are the two proposed school sites.
But, he said, the council won’t make a yes or no decision at the Thursday meeting. Instead, he said, it will send the issues to the Real Estate Committee, which will review the recommendations and report back to the council later.
I don't think the Park Board voted to give the contract to the Shultz Co. so how can the city council be approving it?
I think there's a special Park Board meeting before the City Council session tonight.
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