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CC MTG MINUTES JANUARY 17 2017 J ' REGULAR MEETING OF THE AGAWAM CITY COUNCIL Minutes dated January 17, 2017 ' Meeting was called to order by Council President Cichetti at 7:00pm in the Auditorium of the Roberta G. Doering School, 68 Main Street,Agawam. •� Item A.Roll Call ROLL CALL—9 PRESENT,2 ABSENT Roll Call was taken with the following councilors present: George Bitzas, Cecilia Calabrese, Council President James Cichetti, Christopher Johnson, Council Vice President Joseph Mineo, Donald Rheault, Robert Rossi, Anthony Suff iti • and Richard Theroux. Councilors Gina Letellier and Paul Cavallo were absent. With nine present,there was a quorum. Item B. Moment o Silence and the Pled e of Alle lance. Council President Cichetti asked for a moment of silence and the Pledge of Allegiance. Item C. Citizens Speak Time None. Item D. Minutes 1. Regular Council Meeting—January 3,2017 Motion to approve made by Councilor Suffriti and seconded by Councilor Johnson. Voice vote approved. Item E. Declaration from Council President •' None. Item F. Presentation of Petitions,Memorials&Remonstrances * 1. TR-2017-1 - A Resolution confirming the appointment of Charles Elfman, 46 Barden Street, ' Agawam,MA to the Planning Board to an unexpired term expiring January 1,2018 (Mayor) Motion to approve made by Councilor Bitzas and seconded by Councilor Calabrese. ' The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. • Council President Cichetti thanked Mr. Elfinan for his service. 2. TR-2017-2 - A Resolution requesting the Agawam State Legislative Delegation file legislation amending M.G.L. Chapter 44B (Councilor Theroux) (Referred to Legislative Committee) [allow a percentage of CPA funds to be used for maintenance or upkeep of CPA projects] • Motion to approve made by Councilor Calabrese and seconded by Councilor Bitzas. As Chair of the Legislative ' Committee, Councilor Theroux provided his report stating that the thought of this resolution was that CPA, having funded so many worthwhile projects, should be able to fund the maintenance of these projects as well. His hope was to encourage the state legislators to come up with a percentage of CPA funds to be used for this reason. The •1 1 i committee voted 5 YES, 0 NO to send a positive recommendation to the Full Council. Councilor Calabrese supported this resolution stating it seems to make sense to allow more flexibility to maintain these CPA projects. Councilor Johnson supports the concept but thought the Council should be more specific in the percentage amount in order to get this item passed and that the resolution needed more teeth in in to have a shot at getting the state to pass it. He agreed that the CPA Committee has done tremendous enhancements throughout the town but also felt there needed to be more attention towards the drafting of this resolution. Councilor Rossi agreed with Councilor Johnson stating it needed to be more specific as in where (within the CPA funds)the money should come from and the specific percentage and how the funds are to be used. Historically he said the legislators have not been in favor of passing any type of CPA maintenance allowances. Councilor Theroux said he specifically had the Law Department not include the percentage as he felt this resolution was more of a concept piece of legislation. It should be the state's legislation not ours and it's part of the process. There was some back and forth of the requirement of the percentage and the writing of our resolution The vote was 4 YES (Councilors Bitzas, Calabrese, Mineo and Theroux), 5 NO (Councilors Cichetti, Johnson, Rheault, Rossi and Suffriti),2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)defeating the item. i 3. TR-2017-3 - A Resolution Accepting a FFY 2017 Enforcement Grant in the amount of $7,500.00 from the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security (EOPPS) to the Town of Agawam Police Department (Mayor) (Referred to Finance Committee) [accept of grant for the Drive Sober or Get Pulled ' Over FFY 2017 mobilization] • Motion to approve made by Councilor Johnson and seconded by Councilors Suffriti and Rossi. As Chair of the Finance Committee, Councilor Johnson provided the report stating that after a brief discussion regarding the purpose of the state grant,there was a motion made to send a positive recommendation to the Council. The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. Item G. Report of Council Camttees None, Item H. Elections •� None. Item I. Public Hearings None. Item J. Old Business 1. TO-2017-1 - An Order granting or renewing a Class 2 Dealer's LICENSE to Paul J. Lapointe d/b/a The Car Connection,820 Springfield Street,Feeding Hills,MA(Clerk) Motion to approve made by Councilor Johnson and seconded by Councilor Suffriti. As Vice Chair of the Administrative Committee, Councilor Suffriti provided the report stating that the committee sent a positive recommendation for passage to the Full Council. The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. i� 2 ' 2. TO-2017-2 - An Order granting or renewing a PERMIT for Weekly Amusement for OMS Hospitality Group d/b/a Chez Josef, 176 Shoemaker Lane,Agawam,MA. (Clerk) Motion to approve made by Councilor Suffriti and seconded by Councilor Johnson. As Vice Chair of the Administrative Committee, Councilor Suffriti provided the report stating that the committee sent a positive recommendation for passage to the Full Council. The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. 3. TO-2011-3 - An Order granting or renewing a PERMIT for Weekly Amusement for American Legion Post 185 Wilson-Thompson,478 Springfield Street,Feeding Hills,MA. (Clerk) Motion to approve made by Councilor Suffriti and seconded by Councilor Johnson. As Vice Chair of the Administrative Committee, Councilor Suffriti provided the report stating that the committee sent a positive recommendation for passage to the Full Council. The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. 4. TO-2017-4 - An Order granting or renewing a LICENSE for an Automatic Amusement Device(s) ' for American Legion Post 185 Wilson-Thompson,478 Springfield Street,Feeding Hills,MA. (Clerk) Motion to approve made by Councilor Suffriti and seconded by Councilor Johnson. As Vice Chair of the Administrative Committee, Councilor Suffriti provided the report stating that there was discussion of paperwork submitted by Clerk's Office not being completed by Building Inspector and Police Department and in reviewing documents in file, it was noted that games are not typical video games. i.e. dart board. Committee agreed that the Building Inspector and Police are stilled required to inspect and verify such games and sign off on their paperwork. Because the committee identified that these games are not of video gaming, the committee moved forward to vote on application and send a positive recommendation to the Full Council. The vote was 9 YES,0 NO,2 ABSENT(Councilors Cavallo and Letellier)approving the item. Item K. New Business 1. TOR-2017-1 - An Ordinance to amend Chapter 180 of the Code of the Town of Agawam Temporary Moratorium on Recreational Marijuana Establishments (Co-sponsored by Mayor Cohen and Councilor Theroux) (Two Reading Required) [adding an amendment to place a temporary moratorium through 12131118 to allow town to undertake a planning process related to recreational marijuana] i Council President asked what the Council's pleasure was as this item would require a public hearing and needed to know if the Planning Board would be the petitioner. Councilor Theroux as sponsor of this item stated he thought the Planning Board should be the Petitioner and refer it to the Planning Board to come back to the City Council with their recommendation of zoning. Councilor Johnson stated that the proposed amendment has to be referred to Planning Board for them to hold a public hearing not to come back with their idea of zoning. He also thought that they didn't have to be the Petitioner. Councilor Theroux stated that Councilor Johnson was confused and proceeded to reiterate S his previous comments. Councilor Johnson mentioned that he was not the least bit confused. Ordinances are very specific with very specific guidelines_ Councilor Theroux again stated that Councilor Johnson was confused and said he would make it more clear for him to understand. Through the Chair, Councilor Theroux logic was that while this item is on our Agenda, this item could then go to the Planning Board and they could come up with their own thoughts and maybe this item could be tabled indefinitely. At this point, Councilor Johnson stated the withdrawal of the item would be the proper course of action if the sponsor was looking to merely send this to the Planning Board for their own thoughts. Councilor Theroux said this was not a zoning ordinance to which Councilor Johnson stated that unless his eyesight was going bad, it was indeed a zoning ordinance because the item specifically stated "ordinance to amend Chapter 180 of the Code of the Town of Agawam" which is zoning. He stated that it made sense to withdraw the item and send a memo to the Planning Board after the next meeting. �� 3 Item L, Any other matter that may legally come benre the City Council Councilor Theroux mentioned he sent a letter to Council President and the Mayor regarding an open forum/workshop 44 to be scheduled in early March to review the streets and the budget. He is very aware of the timelines of the budget and the desire to have an open dialogue. Councilor Calabrese mentioned Rosie Robotics build season. Councilor Suffriti mentioned reading an article on front page of AAN stating the town missed out on a one million dollar grant in the Walnut Street area basically because of the Games & Lanes site. This is now interfering with the town receiving grants and needs to stop. Council President Cichetti stated that in the Agenda Review, the Mayor asked to postpone the Feb 6t' workshop until after the completion of the road information. Councilor Johnson agreed that after that information was received, it would be more beneficial to hold our workshop at that point. Item M. Adiournment. i The Motion to adjourn was moved and seconded all around.Meeting was adjourned at 7:36pm. i I• 4 1 r i� 4