Figured it would be over by the time I arrived about 10 p.m. last night but nope, council was still discussing the solid waste/recycling scheduling issue, with Councilwoman Jane Adams offering an amendment to the ordinance that would limit trash pickup to two cans per household with an additional charge for extra cans. Councilwoman Corine McDaniels came out strongly against this proposal, arguing that such a limit and charge would be unfair to larger households which would conceivably generate a larger quantity of garbage. Adams' amendment lost, 6 to 1 if I remember rightly. Then there was another clarification indicating that 4 apartment multplexes could now participate in the city's recycling program, whereas before no apartments were included. After this, the original ordinance passed.
The chicken ordinance (allowing Carbondale residents to keep up to six chickens, no roosters) came up next with several members of the Sustainability Commission ready and waiting to promote the ordinance to the council. Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance as, after some discussion, council decided to send the ordinance to the Planning Commission for evaluation and recommendation regarding what action the council should take.At least a couple of council members argued for a higher chicken tax than the currently proposed one of $5.
Council comments were enlivened by a brief argument between Councilwoman Adams and Councilman Lance Jack, with Adams taking Jack to task for comments he had made regarding the appropriateness of other councilmenbers, Adams included, to vote on liquor issues since they owned shares in the Neighborhood Food Co-op, which will soon sell beer and wine. Jack retorted that, according to state law, even indirect ownership in an establishment selling liquor was enough to disqualify a member of the council from voting on the issue. Adams then responded that the city attorney had looked into the issue and had said there was no conflict of interest. It looked as if the two of them planned to go back and forth on this for several minutes until Mayor Fritzler stepped in and put a halt to the argument, saying that council comments was not the appropriate place for such a discussion. Council then moved into closed session.
I missed the earlier section of the meeting when the council voted to pull funding for District 95's Summer Math and Reading program but understand that Councilwoman McDaniels and Councilman Chris Wissmann both spoke out in favor of retaining the funding, while Councilwoman Adams, while agreeing the program did show benefits, said the city could not afford funding it at this time. City funding for the program was then cut, with Adams, Fronabarger, Monty and Fritzler voting in favor of the cut, while Jack, Wissmann and McDaniels voted to retain it.
The chicken ordinance (allowing Carbondale residents to keep up to six chickens, no roosters) came up next with several members of the Sustainability Commission ready and waiting to promote the ordinance to the council. Unfortunately, they didn't get the chance as, after some discussion, council decided to send the ordinance to the Planning Commission for evaluation and recommendation regarding what action the council should take.At least a couple of council members argued for a higher chicken tax than the currently proposed one of $5.
Council comments were enlivened by a brief argument between Councilwoman Adams and Councilman Lance Jack, with Adams taking Jack to task for comments he had made regarding the appropriateness of other councilmenbers, Adams included, to vote on liquor issues since they owned shares in the Neighborhood Food Co-op, which will soon sell beer and wine. Jack retorted that, according to state law, even indirect ownership in an establishment selling liquor was enough to disqualify a member of the council from voting on the issue. Adams then responded that the city attorney had looked into the issue and had said there was no conflict of interest. It looked as if the two of them planned to go back and forth on this for several minutes until Mayor Fritzler stepped in and put a halt to the argument, saying that council comments was not the appropriate place for such a discussion. Council then moved into closed session.
I missed the earlier section of the meeting when the council voted to pull funding for District 95's Summer Math and Reading program but understand that Councilwoman McDaniels and Councilman Chris Wissmann both spoke out in favor of retaining the funding, while Councilwoman Adams, while agreeing the program did show benefits, said the city could not afford funding it at this time. City funding for the program was then cut, with Adams, Fronabarger, Monty and Fritzler voting in favor of the cut, while Jack, Wissmann and McDaniels voted to retain it.
