SOUTH PORTLAND – The South Portland City Council recently set the agenda for its workshop sessions through March 11, with additional issues penciled in as far out as this summer.
During a recent goal-setting session, Councilor Jerry Jalbert has complained that too much time was wasted during 2012 on issues championed by a single councilor. The council’s standing rules bar an item from going to vote before being workshopped, and, with any one councilor able to request an agenda item, the result was often wasted time, said Jalbert.
After debating several options, including Jalbert’s rejected idea of requiring councilors to convince at least two peers to co-sponsor an agenda item, Mayor Tom Blake opted for the process employed Monday, under which the entire council will periodically decide by consensus which items it wants to hear, and in what order.
The slate for upcoming workshops was set as follows:
Jan. 28
• Farmers market ordinance amendments – To decide when, where and under what conditions the market will operate in 2013, including what types of vendors may participate and what role, if any, the largely defunct advisory committee will continue to have.
• East Broadway resurfacing – To include a stripping plan for adding a permanent bicycle lane.
• Wilkinson Park report – A report from the parks and recreation department on what to do with the dilapidated public clubhouse at the park, and how to replace it, if at all.
Feb. 11
• Endowment program – The council will work on plans to create an endowment fund to help maintain city parks and fields and monuments.
• Committee review – Blake said this session is designed to give the council face-time with various boards and committees, with whom it rarely interacts but to appoint members.
Feb. 25
• Public works garage – The council will begin laying the groundwork for plans to build a new facility on Highland Avenue.
March 11
• Tar sands – The council will entertain presentation from those for and against a proposed tar sands pipeline that could terminate in South Portland.
Feb. 27 has been provisionally set as the next joint meeting between the council and the South Portland Board of Education. Meanwhile, an “early spring” field trip is slated for the council to tour the regional dispatch center and crime lab.
Future workshops set for “this winter” include Buy Local purchasing, a sustainability resolve on climate issues, and a discussion on economic development.
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