Item 1 was hearing from visitors, but although there were more than usual in attendance (maybe a dozen or so), no one came forward to speak.
Item 2 was a special use permit for childcare requested by Tiffany Dorman. There had been no complaints and the application was in order. However, only four of the Council were present, and as P&Z had denied the application on a technicality, five votes were required for approval. Mayor Baker asked that the item be deferred until later in the meeting when Dr. Scibielski was expected to be in attendance.
Item #3 was approval of last meeting's minutes.
Item #4 was a discussion of what would be required to allow video conferencing of out-of-town Councilpersons to participate in meetings. The context here is that Councilmember Bill Weber had expressed an interest in participating via video conference. The City staff had explored the various requirements and costs. The reported cost was a lot higher than what I expected, driven largely by certain Open Meeting Act rules. Also, the City appeared to have no other use of such facilities. After probably 30 minutes of discussion, we voted to not proceed with video conferencing at this time.
With Dr. Scibielski now in attendance, we returned to item #2, and approved the special use permit.
Item #5 was a discussion of how the Council would fill any openings. The City Charter requires that the Council appoint a replacement in "a reasonable time" after any opening occurs (see here, thanks to Jennifer Canady for the location of this). The proposed new charter (to be voted on in May) requires a special election, which is expensive and time-consuming. But the proposed 3-year terms may make that necessary (I gather that you can't fill that long of an unexpired term by appointment).
Item #6 was a very lengthy discussion on the parking ordinance that has resulted in 90 or so violations noted in the past year or so, and about 9 cases where the City filed a complaint. Code Enforcement Officer Albert Lopez tries hard to work with residents to bring situations into compliance. Last October the Council approved a change that made RVs "prohibited vehicles" that cannot be simply parked in one's driveway or even on the side of your home unless screened as to be almost invisible from the street, and enforcement of boat, camper and RV parking was stepped up around that time I believe. Assistant Police Chief Robert Smith went over the existing law, complete with photos. Then Robert Humphrey spoke. The Council discussed this for probably 30-40 minutes and concluded that the ordinance should be revisited if only to clarify language. I understand that on-street parking could be a problem, but I have never considered campers, boats and RVs to be unsightly (in general at least). I think parking of these in one's driveway should be permitted, but I sense that most of the Council disagrees.
The Council then went into Executive Session to discuss property until 7:33 pm.
After brief Manager's Report and a little discussion of Council Report stuff, the meeting was adjourned at 7:43 pm. I was impressed by Mayor Baker's handling of the meeting; he was patient to hear everyone out and did an excellent job of managing things.
