The Common Council will consider several controversial issues at its next meeting, Monday, April 1st, 7PM in the Council Chambers in City Hall.
Appointing a new Council member
The death of Tom Serra created a vacancy on the Common Council. The City Charter specifies that after the Mayor declares a vacancy, the Common Council has the authority to appoint a replacement who will fill out the remainder of the term.
Bishop W. Vance Cotton, Sr. has been suggested to fill this vacancy. Cotton serves the congregation of Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church. He gave the orison at the 2015 swearing in of the Mayor and Council members, praising God for giving us Dan Drew (An Interventionist God Invoked At Inauguration).
Bobbye Knoll Peterson has been suggested as an alternate to Cotton. Peterson has been active in the community for many years, and is currently the vice-chair of the Democratic Town Committee. Many of those advocating for her have praised her extensive involvement and dedication to improving our city, and also pointed out that women are significantly under-represented in leadership positions at city hall and on the council, women comprise only 3 of the 12 council members, and only 1 of the 8 Democrats.
Fields use ordinance
The priority given to different athletic teams for use of city fields for practices and games is regulated by an ordinance, and administered by the Public Works Department. A proposed new ordinance was considered at the March Council meeting and after considerable public objections, the council postponed its decision. The same ordinance will be considered anew Monday.
A separate ordinance, also on the agenda for Monday, would set the fees that teams and leagues would pay to use each field.
The primary concern about the proposed ordinance is that it enshrines inequity. It grants the highest priority to teams that are not required to have a minimum proportion of players who are Middletown residents, solely because of historical relationship between some leagues and the city. Lower priority teams are required to include a minimum of 60% of city residents as players.
The priorities determine not only field access, but also the fees that teams must pay for each league.
Plastic bags ban
The Council will consider an ordinance that would ban the use of plastic bags for retail checkout of purchased goods, and require use of reusable checkout bags. Its purpose is to improve the city's environment, by reducing the presence of plastic bags in our local streams and rivers.
The full text of the ordinance is HERE.
Towards a plastic fields ban
The current installation of artificial turf in a city park was a surprise to those who understood that city leaders had clearly voted to oppose this. Residents were further surprised to learn that this had been facilitated by decisions made in the Public Works and City Attorney office, and overseen by Councilmen serving on the Public Works Commission. These men realized that when the city leaders voted to oppose artificial turf, they had technically only prevented the use of city money on the fields. They used this as an opening to give a private club artificial turf in a city park.
The private organization Middletown Youth Soccer has an exclusive lease of two fields on Country Club Road, the lease includes a commitment to make substantial improvements to the soccer complex. The Public Works Commission has taken steps towards spending $1,000,000 on doing the improvements that the lease specifies are the responsibility of MYS, leaving MYS free to spend its money (approximately $750,000) on the installation of artificial turf (more here: Soccer Fields: I've got questions).
The resolution submitted by Council members Mary Bartolotta and Gene Nocera calls for the city to take steps towards closing the loophole, "Approving that ... the Office of General Counsel draft an Ordinance to [ensure] that any new athletic fields constructed on City-owned property ... shall be limited exclusively to natural grass."
The full text of the resolution is HERE.
Middletown Youth Soccer, Family Members
ReplyDeleteREC / MAGIC / SPORTING CT
We are proud to announce that after providing the City of Middletown all requested documents,on Monday March 25th, 2019
we have started the conversion of our existing soccer field #1 in to a much needed 24/7 field.
The construction will take approximate two months,we will monitor the work as progresses day by day.
Many of our members have helped in various capacities, from attending meetings with the city, to prepare documents, updating maps,etc.etc..
Also thanks to many of our members for helping in fundraising events, thanks to our sponsors and our directors for providing a downpayment and a suitable financing for the project that we funding 100%.
When we build the Country Club facility, years ago, we dreamed to have a 24/7 field for our members, well, dream is coming true !!
Regards
MYS
Hmmm... the comment here from MYS seems to be a direct contradiction to what is stated in the ordinance: https://middletown.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&event_id=1060&meta_id=64578
ReplyDelete'The resolution ... calls for the city to take steps towards closing the loophole, "Approving that ... the Office of General Counsel draft an Ordinance to [ensure] that any new athletic fields constructed on City-owned property ... shall be limited exclusively to natural grass."'
The Public Works and City Attorney offices seem to be involved in several ordinance and ethics violations this year.