Speakers labeled via automated voice-based diarization + AI name-matching against the city's official roster. Automated transcription can still mis-hear a name during fast speech (e.g. a rapid roll-call vote) -- clear near-misses are auto-corrected, but this is not manually verified line-by-line. Treat names as a strong best guess, not an official record.
[9:48] Mark O'Brien: Hello, good evening. This is a business meeting of the Augusta City Council, and today is September 17, 2026. Let us begin our meeting tonight with a Pledge of Allegiance followed by a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic of the United States, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. Tonight, Councillor Austin could not be here with us tonight. Councillor Gary Allen is with us via Zoom, and that will mean that when we vote tonight, we'll be doing it via roll call. So I'm likely to forget that once or twice, so Councillor Lynn, nudge me if I miss that out. I'd like to begin tonight's meeting with a recognition, Mr. Manager. Well, thank you, Your Honor. It is with great pride that I would like to let everybody know, I kind of alluded to it last week at the informational meeting, but our clerk Kelly Goldrup is here with us tonight, and a week from yesterday, last two Wednesdays ago, she was recognized at the Maine Town County Clerks Association at their annual meeting, and she was named the Clerk of the Year for the whole state of Maine for 2026. Congratulations, Kelly. Well deserved. Thank you. The whole state of Maine, all of them, whole state, very great, excellent. We're proud of you, and you give us great service here in Augusta, so I'm, well deserved. The second thing I'd like to do, not on your agenda, but I'd like to do it anyway, and I've, I've prepared a proclamation that the Daughters of the American Revolution are going to be using at an event later this week, and I thought it would be appropriate to read it tonight for everybody here and listening, and it goes like this. Whereas September 17, 2026, marks the 239th anniversary of the drafting of the Constitution of the United States of America by the Constitutional Convention, and whereas the Constitution of the United States of America, the guardian of our liberties, embodies the principles of limited government in a republic dedicated to the rule of law, and whereas Public Law 915 guarantees the issuing of a proclamation each year by the President of the United States of America, designating the week beginning September 17 and ending September 23 of each year as Constitution Week, and whereas Constitution Week represents, presents for all Americans an opportunity to reflect on the principles of liberty, justice, and the rule of law enshrined in this historic document. It is a time to remember the responsibilities that come with our rights and to honor the foresight of the framers who created a government designed by the people, for the people. And whereas it is fitting and proper to accord official recognition to this magnificent document and its memorable anniversary, and to the patriotic celebrations which will commemorate the occasion. Now, therefore, I, Marcus O'Brien, Mayor of the City of Augusta, Maine, do hereby proclaim the week of September 13 through 2030 as Constitution Week, and urge all citizens to study the Constitution, to reflect upon the privilege of being an American with all the rights and responsibilities which that privilege involves, and to reaffirm the ideals of the framers of the Constitution had in 1887 by vigilantly protecting the freedoms guaranteed to us through this guardian of our liberties. So I thought that was a worthy note to begin our meeting with tonight, so thank
Consent Agenda
[14:26] Mark O'Brien: you for that. Then we'll move now to the consent agenda. Madam Clerk, 26-149, City Manager Jared J. Mills of City Clerk. Be it ordered that the minutes of the City Council regular business meeting held September 3, 2026, submitted by the City Clerk's office, be hereby approved. Thank you. Is there any public comment? Next is 26-150. 26-150, City Manager Jared J. Mills of Audit. Be it ordered that the role of accounts for August 2026 in the amount of six million eight hundred sixty three thousand nine hundred eighty two dollars sixty seven cents be hereby approved. Thank you. Is there any public comment? The next order is 26 151. 26-151, Mayor O'Brien. Be it ordered that Samantha Garlock be hereby appointed to the Historic Preservation Commission, said term to expire September 3, 2029. Thank you. Samantha is here with us tonight, as is pretty routine for new appointments. Would you care to join us at the podium, please? Hi,
[15:48] Samantha Garlock: my name is Samantha Garlock. Thank you for having me. I'm a special collections librarian. I am relatively new to Maine. I was born in Boston, but we moved around a lot, so it's nice to be back in New England. I work at Colby College, and I am a first-time homeowner of a historic home here in Augusta, which is how I found out about the Historic Preservation Commission. Being a special collections librarian, I naturally did a lot of research about my own historic home. And when I found out that I could apply to be part of the commission and lend my research skills and interest in historic buildings, I thought that would be a great opportunity to get involved and give back to my new community, since I am going to be here for a while. So thank you for having me and
[16:43] Mark O'Brien: considering my application. Thank you. I'm wondering whether counselors have any questions. Thank you for being here, and thank you for joining the Historic Preservation Commission. I had the opportunity to spend time in the special collections at Colby while I was there, and it is gorgeous and well-maintained, so thank you for doing that. Many an author reading and talk happened in there that it's just a wonderful place. place. The skills that you bring are so necessary for this commission and I think we will all benefit from it. Many of my friends own homes in the historic district and there is so much life and history there to be maintained and lived in now, and the balance of those two things is what we're trying to achieve. So thank you very much for putting your skills and talents toward
[17:38] Kevin Judkins: this council Jenkins. Good evening. Thank you for so quickly embracing your new community and getting involved in lending your skills. It sounds like you're gonna be a real asset, so don't go into this timidly. Be a strong voice because that particular board could use a strong voice. Thank you. Thank you all right.
[18:05] Mark O'Brien: All right, yours will be among those that we consider when we come back around for council action. Is there any other public comment with respect to this prospective appointment? All right, hearing none, 26152, please. 26-152, Mayor O'Brien, be it ordered that Jennifer Bichard be hereby reappointed to the Lithgow Library Board of Trustees, said term to expire September 21, 2029. Any public comment? You're done. 26153 please. 26-153, Mayor O'Brien, be it ordered that Thomas Dore be hereby reappointed to the Old Fort Western Board of Trustees, said term to expire October 31 Is there any public comment? No. So 26154 please. 26-154, Mayor O'Brien, be it ordered that Stephanie Tibideau be hereby reappointed to the Old Fort Western Board of Trustees, said term to expire October 31, 2029. Thank you for that. Any public comment? No. 26155 please. 26-155, Mayor O'Brien, be it ordered that Kirsten Brewer be hereby reappointed to the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Safety Committee, said term to expire September 18, 2029. Thank you. Is there any public comment? Next is 26156. 26-156 Mayor O'Brien, be it ordered that Parker O'Brien be hereby reappointed to the Bicyclist and Pedestrian Safety Committee said term to expire September 18, 2029. Thank you the nine the name sounds familiar it should Parker is my son it is a reappointment to that committee and of course this committee nobody receives compensation for their work for their volunteer work so I'm happy to reappoint him is there any public comment all right let's move top of the next page
New Business
[20:26] Mark O'Brien: New business orders and resolves 26157 please 26-157 City Manager whereas in accordance with Article 5a of the City Charter on August 11, 2026 10 qualified voters of the City of Augusta signed an application for initiative before the City Clerk proposing the initiation of the attached ordinance entitled an ordinance to end the distribution of harm reduction materials including syringes and drug use paraphernalia within the City of Augusta and to prioritize public resources for treatment recovery Prevention and public safety the proposed ordinance and whereas pursuant to Article 5a Section 6 of the City Charter Corporation Council prepared and submitted to the City Council the attached legal opinion dated August 21, 2026 that identified conflicts between the proposed ordinance and the City Charter the state and federal constitutions and state and federal law and whereas under Article 5a Section 6 of the City Charter the City Council is obligated to review and either accept or reject the Legal opinion of Corporation Council now therefore be it ordered that the City Council hereby accepts the legal opinion of Corporation Council dated August 21, 2026 and conclusions reached therein respecting The proposed ordinance thank you is there any public comment all right the process as suggested by the order as well is set out in our City Charter so we're following that as best as we should. And that'll, we'll take action on that later, too. 26158. 26-158, Mayor O'Brien, Councilors Austin, Judkins, Mischu, Lind, Morris, Pauley, and Lilly. Whereas recent changes to federal drug enforcement agency regulations require local emergency medical services agencies to procure their own controlled substances and medications, and whereas increased standards governing the storage, delivery, and record-keeping requirements for controlled substances, including the use of approved secure storage systems, are necessary to comply with federal regulations and to protect against the misuse, diversion, or theft of controlled substances, now, Therefore, be it ordered that the city manager be hereby authorized to expend up to $50,000 of the city's opioid settlement funds for the purposes of purchasing a secure medication storage system for Hartford Station, DEA-approved narcotics safes for installation in fire department vehicles and related systems and equipment. Very good. Thank you. I invite any public comment on 26158. Right, coming down with the next part of the agenda is old business, ordinances being read for the second time, so there'll be a vote required, and that takes us to 26 146, 26-146, mayor and council. Whereas the city council finds that a licensing system for indoor shooting ranges is necessary to protect the health, safety, and general welfare of both users of the facility and the public, and whereas the city council has adopted regulations on where such facilities may be allowed in the city, now therefore be it ordained by the city council of the city of Augusta that the code of ordinance be amended to add a new section 190-101 regarding licensing of businesses entitled indoor shooting ranges. The new section shall include all text shown in the attached Cashed Ordinance entitled Chapter 190, Licensed Businesses, Part 9, Indoor Shooting Ranges, Article 12, Licensing, 190-101, Indoor Shooting Ranges. All right. Is there any public comment? Yes. Please join us at the podium and introduce yourself and where you're from. Good
[24:48] Jim Buford: evening all, my name is Jim Buford, I'm a resident here in Augusta for the past 56 years, I'm also a member of the Capital City Rifle and Pistol Club, and I'm representing them here tonight. Just for some information, because having read what took place in September, I think we have some lack of understanding of who and what we are out there. We are a main registered non-profit corporation, I have been so for the past 62 years, we provide a shooting facilities both outdoors and an indoor shooting range. We are the only one in the city that has one like that, and we've had that indoor range for over 50 years. So we're not new to this and not new to the city. We're very proud to be part of the city. Excuse me, we, the facility, the land and the buildings are owned by the corporation. So what we have is somewhere between six and seven hundred members at the moment. Those members by defect will become the owners of the corporation and of the facility itself. We do not, let's put it this way, we only allow members and their personal guests to actually be on the property, except when we're holding public events, competitions where people come in, but they are under the guidance and direction of the members who are the owners. We have no customers. There is no public access whatsoever. Whatsoever. We do not make a profit. Any funds that we get from the members who are running the rangers for competitions go into just a maintenance fund. We are non-profit. To get physical access, the members have to go through not only being accepted by the members that are already existing, but they have to go through an orientation to learn the rules and know what they're supposed to be doing at the range when they're there, which includes informing anybody if they're breaking the rules or making sure everything is done correctly. If they use the indoor range, they have to go through a more severe orientation, which a lot of requires them to actually perform, make sure they can understand and actually have the ability to perform form adequately in shooting in the indoor range. If not, they're restricted to the outdoor ranges. We have a record, I think a very nice record, one we're very proud of, having no gun accidents in the 62 years that we have been out there. We are located up Route 27 right against the sydneytown line, so that identifies where we are. We're 600 feet, the indoor range is 600 feet from the nearest, and that's the closest that we have for any of our facilities to anybody, 600 feet to the nearest residence or dwelling, and 600 plus feet from route 27, so we're back in off the road. We have had some accidents out there, but mostly with handling the equipment and materials. Probably the worst case is like a paper cut that we've had, and we're very happy that 's all that's been existing out there we have had noise complaints in the past from the outdoor ranges and we've worked very closely with the city the Planning Department and some of the officials in the city at the time that goes back say 40 years the last one was that they had a noise complaint was about six years ago and i spent three years working with your folks to correct that and take care of the neighbors but we've never had a problem with noise within this indoor range or outside the indoor range. It's enclosed, that's why. So I have, first of all, I've got a question and some other things, and I'll skip that for the clock. Does this ordinance apply to? indoor rangers Not operated as a business Those that have no customers no public access whatsoever No sales No rentals no employees everything that's done there is done by volunteers we have no employees and no profits or from the title is it only to license businesses under 190 which is licensing businesses we're not a business at all now I'll make that point And hopefully, we can get an answer on that, but there are a few other things. In applying for a license, they want the legal name, address, contact information. That's under D1C, so you can turn to that and find out what it's all about, that I'm not lying to you, I hope. Contact information for any individual or entity that it has or will have. an ownership interest or control over the range. Well, two things. We've got 600 members plus that have an interest because they are owners of the corporation. The second thing where it says we'll have requires us to predict who else might come in and be a member and be an owner. Doesn't work very well. It's not just us. It would be anybody who has an indoor range attached to their gun shop will have an interest Don't know how you do that in d4 a I there's a that looks at the Information of the range and what the information needed of the range and then there that's a shot fall zone. Now this comes in because I recognize that you folks, somebody who put this together had to get it from some other entity, some other city and modified it for the use here in Augusta. A shot fall zone, just to make sure you understand what it is, the area where shotgun pellets will fall as they disperse in either trap or skeet shooting into an area that is more difficult to recover the lead from because they're small pellets spread everywhere. And so they want to know what that area is to make sure it's not going into a place where it's going to cause a hazard to wildlife or anything else. There is no indoor range I know of that is going to be tall enough to have shotgun shooting aerial to have a shot fall zone. So take that out. It doesn't apply to an indoor range at all. If you go to D4A3 and you read down through there, is there something missing at the end because there's a comma and the word and it just stops there. I'm not sure if something was supposed to be there or something was removed and they just didn't remove it far enough. Those are just little picky things, but I thought I'd at least mention them to you folks. One of these that I've been really working on for a week now, trying to come up with an answer to, D5A4, IV, protocols to prevent intentional or unintentional bodily injury and death within the indoor range. Now, you can come up with a protocol for unintentional, the mistakes that can be made, you can avoid that. But if somebody has the intent to cause some bodily injury to somebody I don't know of any protocol that you can have that's going to stop that. I've been working on trying to come up with something and I can't do it for you and I've had 60 years of experience in shooting and I can't come up with one because it just takes a small instant change a move to be able to do that. And no protocol is going to stop that not the intentional unintentional. I can see you can build into that unintentional I'm not sure you can do it on D5C the plan that shall also include the recycling of spent lead bullets. Well, we recover the lead. Especially in the indoor range. We just finished that operation here a couple weeks ago we don't send it to a recycler because I don't know of anyone and we're not experts in that we sell it to someplace here in the area that deals with metals recovery salvage stuff they take it and ship it off someplace and keep the paperwork from that pot our paperwork stops and I expect any indoor range to do that their paperwork stops on selling it to somebody who officially knows what to do with it so it's just a minor thought process. Here that we're dealing with, not the total wording, but it should be recycled or reused or redone, something. But it's, we're not going to recycle it. We're going to send it off to somebody who then will either send to a recycler or to a manufacturer that uses it to make new bullets or someplace else, whatever they do. But they're the experts in that and always will be. Then we have two things on E2C. We talk about the code enforcement officer and the police chief having an inspection, may if desired, have an inspection to determine compliance of the indoor range, which is good, and they say it shall receive reasonable notice. And she'll be permitted to attend so you have that input, you know, what's going on if something's wrong. They can work towards correcting it. But then you go to section. Oh, where now you have the same things we want to check on the compliance, but now it's not noticed. You can jump in at any time that the indoor range is open. Why? You have BATFE that will do those inspections also. Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Firearms at the federal level, anybody who has a FFL, Federal Firearms License, and runs a shop or runs a business that's selling guns, they're going to inspect these every so often. The state police actually do it once in a while also. So are you really going to duplicate that and gain anything at all? I'll just bring that up as a question and then F1, no license may be issued if somebody is under 21, an applicant or any individual identified in section 190 101 D1 is under 21 years of age. We have members as young as 18, so we would have a problem in getting a license because we have people that are owners, members of the corporation, under 21. Now, I understand that because you want to get adults. You want to have that problem, but you can get one people.
[38:41] Mark O'Brien: The applicant would be your organization. It wouldn't be the individual members. I'm sorry? The applicant would be your organization, not the individual members.
[38:50] Jim Buford: Except that it does require to anybody that has an interest or intent with any with the indoor range to be part of the evaluation, the inspection, the work that the city, the police department is going to do the work through to correct, find out if they are ability to do that. So it's just one of those issues that isn't, may not be a problem for somebody is running this as a business. It is a problem that I'm mentioning for us, that's all. The other issue that I came up with on that one, you got a fellow. That's divorced but has two children, 18 and 19 years old. He dies, that you inherit the business. Now what, they can't apply according to the ordinance for two years for a license, or at least two years, and have to be 21. Rather than just saying okay, if you have somebody that is actually going to run the business for you that's over 21, that has an FFL, why can't they still own it and have them be the applicant and get the license that way? But it states it's the owners, the other one on F1E, the applicant, you can't get a license, it won't be issued if the applicant made a false or misleading statement or a mission of a material fact, and the can't apply again for two years. Is well, there's a lot of stuff the ordinance requires you to fill out and do. If there's an intended error, obvious that they tried to hide something, but if all of a sudden they've missed something in this whole thing by accident, by error, you're penalizing people for two years. That's pretty extensive without the ability to correct that ahead of time, just saying that's my opinion, whether it's yours or not, that's up to you. Operating hours 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Well, to get to this point, you've already identified that they're not going to be a noise problem with the neighborhood or the area, or actually just the neighbors. They're not going to have a safety issue with the neighborhood or the area. So if it's not noisy and it's safe, why put a limitation on it for hours of operation? For example, our indoor range is available 24 hours a day to our members because there's no noise issue, there's no safety issue, and they have to go through at least two padlock systems to get to it, even though they are members. But if somebody is going to run it as a business and have a range safety officer there, does it really matter what I was they operate? Just throwing out I was this question and the one that again, nobody should be allowed to enter or leave the premise with a loaded firearm. Now, in actuality, if I had to obey this, I would walk up to the door with a loaded firearm, take the magazine out, walk through the door, put the magazine back in. If I'm leaving, I come to the door, take the magazine out, walk outside the door, put the magazine back in. I can go into the post office now with a loaded firearm. I can go into almost any business with a loaded firearm, but I can't go into a store that goes into an indoor range where people are armed without, with a loaded firearm, just going through the entryway. It just didn't make much sense to me on that basis. And then going to section N, license not transferable. Any attempt to transfer or assign a license that shall automatically revoke the license. Does that include if I'm deciding to sell the business to somebody that's an attempt to transfer the license and I lose my license at that point just another question I have offered that if anybody here in the working for the city working on the city business or anything else would like a tour of our facility to see what's being done and how it can be done be more than happy to arrange that either be nice to have a group but if it's individuals we can do that also we'd be more than happy to have anybody come out and see what we're doing how we're doing it and understand a little more about what it's all about thank
[44:43] Mark O'Brien: you any questions yes other questions for counselors so my question is why are we just hearing about this now. This has been, go ahead. Real quick, I know he's talked to staff extensively about most of these questions, I believe, already this week, and I believe they provided at least some answers for him with that.
[45:13] Jim Buford: Somebody wrote to the president of the club sometime after the August meeting and send it out to the executive committee and me since I've been dealing with the city quite often on various issues that we are dealing with. I didn't know about this until probably a week and a half ago. So I couldn't say anything about it until then because I didn't know that you folks were actually coming up with an ordinance to regulate. Now in general overall a lot of this is good and I agree with a lot of it but that some of it doesn't make some sense either technically physically or Logically in my opinion. I Talked to the director of developmental services Time flies and I'm not sure and tried to get some of this resolved at that point but This has come very quick for us. I would have been happy to work with you folks back when we were first talking about it, but we didn't know about it. Okay.
[46:35] Mark O'Brien: Yeah, I mean, this started long ago with the planning board and the, okay. Well, you answered my question. That's why we're just hearing about it now, because you didn't know about it.
[46:45] Jim Buford: Yeah, I wish I had known that, because like I said, we've been very willing and pleased to work with the city on any of these issues, especially dealing with shooting, because we have the experts, we'd have the knowledge, we have the ability to come up with stuff and understand it, and that's why I'm here tonight, because we had no information ahead of time. I want, I would still be happy to work with people, I
[47:18] Mark O'Brien: think, I think we can answer at least the first question, and that is whether it applies to your organization, and you want me to try to answer, do you want try to answer it, if you want to. Well, I'm just, I'm just reading the definition of a licensee. This means any person, corporation, partnership, club, or other entity engaged in the ownership or operation of an indoor range and holding a license. So it doesn't say anything about you, it doesn't say anything about it has to be a no, for-profit organization, so I think you would fall under the definition of a licensee. We're not a business. Doesn't, doesn't say you got to be a business. The title does, it says licensee means any person. No, not this paragraph,
[48:06] Jim Buford: the title section or 190.
[48:10] Mark O'Brien: All right, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna debate you, but that was my best attempt to answer the question about whether it applies to you or not. If I may, Mr. Mayor,
[48:17] Corporation Counsel: chapter 190, corporation council businesses, certainly, so it's certainly within the provisions of the city code relative to businesses, but that can encompass any number of organizations or entities, whether or not they're operating on a for-profit basis. So while it might be a misnomer, I don't think it would affect the validity of the ordinance. I would say that under state law, there are certain immunities provided to shooting ranges that were in operation prior to 2016. So one of them is essentially that the city, through the enactment of a noise or other ordinance, can't basically like shut down an existing facility. The club that I'm hearing described would be subject to licensure. You would still have to come in and apply and obtain a license, but you wouldn't necessarily have to comply with all of the applicable licensing provisions. It would be functioning as a grandfathered entity for operation, were it to make substantial changes to the range itself, expanding the footprint, making other Modifications to the building or structure or its organizational structure, then it could potentially have to satisfy the other licensing criteria, but the operation itself would likely not have to comply with every single portion of this ordinance. Counsel Lind.
[49:46] Eric Lind: So, my understanding through this process was that this organization would be grandfathered. That was the response I got. Now I'm hearing there's an impact, potentially.
[49:57] Corporation Counsel: It would have to come in and get a license, but it wouldn't have to modify its operations to satisfy every single ordinance criteria.
[50:06] Eric Lind: To get a license, it'd have to comply with a licensing ordinance.
[50:09] Corporation Counsel: They would be receiving a license for, you know, a grandfathered business. It would be similar to, you know, an existing.
[50:16] Eric Lind: In this regard, I'd just like to maybe pump the brakes a little bit because my understanding, I sponsored this at the request. This was not at the request of the council, sir. This came from a business. This came from an existing business that has an FFL, and they came in asking for this. So you understand we had somebody that I would consider to be a subject matter expert with us. So, you know, I was operating on the understanding that Capital City was grandfathered and we were working with new existing. So that's the first thing. The second thing, sir, I've done a lot of work with nonprofits. And your categorization of your members is a little concerning, would be concerning to me if I was a member. and I would just would maybe encourage you to look at your you know your charter and to look at your bylaws and maybe redefine that you know your board of directors is one thing but to classify every member as being part of that I get they are part of the corporation but their role and their impact there I 'd be a little concerned if I was a member I'd be asking you to provide me with some liability insurance if you're gonna categorize them in like that you really described him as part of your board of directors, so you may want to go back and look at your articles of incorporation and how you did that. But I, you know, my feeling on this was when we started down this road that, you know, this particular organization will be grandfathered, there'd be no impact there. We didn't really look at it in that, at least I didn't look at it in that light. So I'm just going to kind of contemplate where we go. I may end up tabling this for tonight, I'm not sure, or at least providing a tabling motion. Because we're operating under a different set of, at least I was operating under a different premise, so thank you.
[51:59] Mark O'Brien: Mr. Mayor, thank you. One of their other questions for Council Mars Polly. Yeah, I just want to
[52:05] Courtney Gary-Allen: touch a little bit on that. They wouldn't have to modify operations, and so a couple of things that I heard that would be concerning to me is in regards to having to operate between the hours of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. when right now they're operating 24 hours a day, and whether or not that is something that they wouldn't have to modify based on this because they would be grandfathers, so to speak. So things like that is what comes to mind as to, because that's a huge difference in operation when you're closing somebody down for 12 hours or 50 of the time in which members are usually used to doing that. So that, and then you know whether or not they're not able to enter or exit with a loaded gun. I mean, to me that sounds, I mean, you are correct, you can go into multiple different facilities these days with a loaded gun, and so that would be a huge change I would think for a lot of the members. So is that something that would be modified based on being grandfathered? So those are the questions that kind of come up when we talk about what exactly is the grandfathering piece, and then when we talk about being a nonprofit or being, I kind of think like an ESOP where it's employee owned, so I think that would be kind of the question is whether or not it's a nonprofit with a board of directors or whether you're talking about it being a club that's an ESOP, so to speak. So those are really two very different structures of business. But I do think they would both fall underneath being a business and having to comply with this. But I do understand the modifications and whether or not those modifications that he's mentioned, which are significant modifications, are grandfathered because he's been in business. And so I'd want kind of answers to those before
[53:43] Jim Buford: we move forward with this, and one of the bigger ones is having a range officer on site. We don't have employees, we only have members, and if they have a guest, they are responsible for that member. We don't have people coming in off the street, so we have never had a range officer, never had an employee, and don't feel we really need them because the people who are members are responsible for doing that, so
[54:18] Mark O'Brien: Let me ask you, have you, where does this stand with staff and your conversations with our staff? Have you, have you put all this in writing, and have you gotten answers to some of these things already, or are these, are you posing these questions tonight because you haven't got an answer? Or I mean, it's, I don't know what the council is going to do when we come around and vote on it, I don't know, but how do we, where do your inquiries, incur, inquiries stand now with staff and answering the questions that you've posed? Can I ask staff
[54:53] Jim Buford: to help on this one, Matt? Good
[55:05] Matt Nazar: evening, Matt Nazar, director of development services. The questions that have been asked of you this evening are ones that he has posed to me in the last week and a half, and I've essentially provided the same answer that Corporation Council has just given you with respect to the licensing process. That is the way the ordinance is currently written. It is written in such a way that it would require them to get a license, but that they would be grandfathered from the standards in the ordinance and wouldn't have to make changes to their operation, so
[55:43] Eric Lind: that
[55:46] Mark O'Brien: doesn't satisfy you? We
[55:52] Jim Buford: have a license. But we don't have to do anything about it. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. They're not just because I'm part of the rain. It just doesn't make sense that you have to go through the process. Get a license, but you're not required to follow anything within the ordinance except getting a license. If you need a fee, will be happy to pay the fee. Doing that, but it just doesn't make a lot of sense. Okay, I'm an engineer, logic just happens to be one of the things I key on, so the council will
[56:30] Mark O'Brien: have an opportunity to discuss this among themselves later on when we come back to it. Probably not the right time to debate it, but to ask you questions, that's why, what, that's what
[56:40] Jim Buford: we're doing here now. I can be available anytime, any day, okay, 24 hours a day if necessary, as necessary.
[56:49] Mark O'Brien: Fully loaded. Is there any other public comment? Yep.
[57:02] Public commenter (Capital City Rifle and Pistol Club member): Good evening. I'm one of the volunteer members of the Capital City Rifle and Pistol Club. And I'd like to echo all of Jim Buford's comments and really get in as far as I'm concerned. From my perspective,. Grandfathering is the appropriate way, but it should be 0 because the state of Maine did put a statute in place back in the 2012 time frame. Grandfather noise ordinance or any other ordinance and I heard similar language to that tonight. I just want to point that out. Say you know my reading. I've read this twice. I've had this about a week and a half. It just, it seems designed to limit with a single who would put the effort and the funds into constructing an indoor range and meet all these criteria for a one-year license that to me shouldn't, that to me is a little, that's absurd, but that's my opinion, and thank you for your time.
[58:07] Mark O'Brien: Thank you. Would you entertain any questions if there are any? But there are no, thank you. Still in the open comment period for 26-146. Any further public comment? All right, again we'll be coming back around to this. We have one other item on action item on our agenda, and that's later on when the council will consider motion to go into executive session at the end of the meeting, but at this point we'll return to the top of the agenda starting with our consent agenda for passage. Mr. Mayor, passage by councillor lynd second and seconded by councillor judkins is there any discussion counselor sankowitz thank you mr mayor i just want to highlight the volunteerism of the city of augusta this is quite the list of reappointments to these various boards and i am very proud to be voting in favor of it tonight and thank everyone for dedicating their time to all of these volunteer activities that make our city run well and even more vibrantly. Thank you. Thank you. Anything else? Councilor
[59:25] Eric Lind: Lynn? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So as chair of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Committee, I just want to thank the two reappointees and speak to them a little bit. First, Kirsten Brewer. If you know Kirsten, she's the plank holder of the Cyclists and Pedestrians Invigorating the Augusta life capital. That was, it's a grassroots effort of several volunteers to help with pedestrian cycling safety throughout the city. She's a great advocate, has been for a long time, and I would imagine continue for a very long time, and the basic fact is she's just a very nice person. I'm glad she's serving. The second person, Parker O'Brien. Parker represents a generation of people, I think they're going to be here for a while a young family i was pleased when he came in he is a professional engineer and he does work at maine department transportation and that is quite evident in his input and i'm very pleased that he's there he does practice several forms of modality throughout the city if you know me i've traveled to 39 states 12 countries outside of the united states and walking is one thing that i noticed towns and cities that grow and towns and cities are successful are walking cities so I'm pleased for these two and I'm pleased for
[1:00:35] Mark O'Brien: the committee. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, others. I echo everybody's thanks for these people stepping up. We could not function as a community without the volunteerism that's demonstrated by the people willing to accept these responsibilities at no remuneration. So we appreciate it, and particularly Samantha for coming forward for the first time. I hope you enjoy your service. All right, again, because we are, we have a zoom participation, we're going to ask everybody to vote singly and orally. So we'll start. Madam Clerk, calling the roll. Counselor Judkins? Yay. Counselor Mishu? Yay. Counselor Lind? Yay. Counselor Gary Allen? Yes. Counselor Sinkowitz? Yes. Counselor Morris Polly? Yay. Councillor Lilley? Yay. Motion carries, seven in favor, zero opposed. Thank you. Next is new business and 26157. Move for passage, Mr. Mayor. Moved by Councillor Lynn. Is there a second by Councillor Judkins? This is the order dealing with the proposed ordinance with respect to harm reduction materials, et cetera, and consideration of Corporation Council's advice to the Council under our charter. Discussion?
[1:02:05] Kevin Judkins: Councillor Jenkins. I will be voting in the affirmative this evening to accept our Council's opinion. Whilst I very much appreciate the intent of these 10 folks coming forward and the efforts they've put in, our council gave us a very compelling opinion that there'd be some serious concerns about violating constitutional rights and conflict with our charter and such. So, due to that fact, I'll be voting to accept his opinion.
[1:02:45] Mark O'Brien: Council Sinkowitz. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to thank our Corporation Council for a really excellent memo. And in light of it, 's quite fitting that it's Constitution Day today with how many times the Constitution is referenced throughout this memo. our jobs as a council are to weigh our corporation councils legal opinion and our duties that we all swear to uphold the an oath to the Constitution the main state constitution and the city charter so I will be voting an affirmative tonight in order to uphold that oath thank you that's Gary on I
[1:03:32] Stephanie Sienkiewicz: want to echo my fellow councillors' statements tonight. I want to thank CAM and legal counsel for a thoughtful, well-articulated memo that provides us with the groundwork to ensure that we keep our city from legal action related to violation of the Constitution, a First Amendment right, as well as the state presumption argument. I was very impressed with the memo, and thank you so much to cam and the legal team for providing it to us. Thank
[1:04:10] Mark O'Brien: you. Is there further discussion? All right, madam clerk, please call the roll. Counselor Jenkins? Yay. Counselor Miss You? Yay. Counselor Lind? Yay. Counselor Gary Allen? Yes. Counselor Sankowitz? Yes. Counselor Morris? Polly. Councillor Lilley. Yay. Motion carries, seven in favor, zero opposed. All right. Next item to consider is 26158, having to do with the use of the city's opioid settlement funds for the purpose of purchasing medication storage, et cetera.
[1:04:49] Eric Lind: Move for passage, Mr. Mayor. Been moved by Councillor Lynn.
[1:04:52] Mark O'Brien: Second. Seconded by Councillor Judkins. I invite discussion. Councillor Sienkiewicz. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. For anyone paying attention last week, there was quite a bit of discussion at our informational session about this proposal and where it falls with the opioid settlement funds, and I want to thank our deputy chief for pulling many resources of data for me. It is my opinion that any allocation of the opioid settlement funds should receive the strictest scrutiny because these are funds that are coming from deep harm and the death of many, of our neighbors throughout the decades now that the opioid epidemic has been ravaging our communities. The chief and city staff have lived up to that strict scrutiny, and I will be voting in favor of allocating funds for this tonight. To be clear for anyone listening to our discussion last week, we discussed the purchases of infrastructure, such as the safes and the software and cameras. We also discussed the changing nature of how we're going to purchase our medications going forward, and I want to be clear that this order is not allocating opioid settlement funds for the purchases of medications. That will be something that we do separately through our general budget, but that this order is allocating funds for that infrastructure improvement, which falls into exhibit E under, I believe, section I, and I won't get the number right, so I won't even attempt, but that allows for purchases that support the infrastructure to support recovery and treatment, but also to prevent the misuse of opioids in the community. So thank you to staff for bringing this forward. Thank you for bearing with me through all of my questions and getting me to the point where I understand where we're at, and also for just engaging in the process, because it is important to be extremely thoughtful about the spending of these funds and our staff are. Is there further discussion? If not, call for a vote. Madam Clerk. Councilor Dutkins. Yay. Councilor Misciu. Yay. Councilor Land. Yay. Councilor Gary-Allen. Yes. Counselor Sienkiewicz. Yes. Counselor Morris Polly. Yay. Counselor Lily. Yay. Motion carries seven in favor, zero opposed. All right, thank you. Now we return to 26146, where we had the
[1:07:34] Eric Lind: extended public comment. Mr. Mayor, Council in move to table item 26146. Second. It's been moved to
[1:07:42] Mark O'Brien: table by Councillor Lynn, seconded by Councillor Judkins. There's no discussion on a tabling motion, so call for a vote. Elsa Judkins. Yay. Councillor Mishu. Yay. Councillor Lynn. Yay. Councillor Gary Allen. Yes. Councillor Sankowitz. Yes. Councillor Morris Polly. Yay. Councillor Lilley. Yay. Motion carries seven in favor, zero opposed. All right, sounds like there's a lot more work to do. All right. With respect to our agenda, we've now reached the communications portion of our agenda. Are there any committee reports? Councillor Sienkiewicz. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't know if we quite qualify as a committee, but the Plan Partnership Initiative and Active Transportation Plan working group met, had a public meeting on Monday evening from 5 to 7 p.m., and I was only able to attend about an hour of that time, but the information that was given out and the discussions that we were having were really detailed, informative, and the back-and-forth of information between VHB and DOT and then the public was very exciting to see. There the thing I was most impressed with was the deep knowledge both from a systemic view you but also the people who live in these neighborhoods who utilize active transportation bringing their deep knowledge experiential knowledge to the plans as well and the ways that is creating a synergy that I think will create a really good product for the city. So thank you to everyone who came out. We are nearly always collecting information. I think the survey is still open. Leslie I'm putting you on the spot you're nodding yes. The survey is still open for residents or visitors to the city to provide input as these plans develop. And I encourage you to check it out. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Morris-Pauley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We had a
[1:09:44] Courtney Gary-Allen: rebrand committee meeting yesterday with full attendance. We were joined by special guests, the mayor and the city manager. And we reviewed a few changes that the committee had requested. And I think that the changes really enhanced the brand that we have been working on. And so this will be on the informational agenda next week. And I'm excited to share that. I think the committee has worked very hard to make sure that there's a good product for us to show you. So we will talk a little bit more on Thursday night about it. So thank you. Other committee reports.
[1:10:20] Mark O'Brien: Mr. City Manager, do you have a report? No report, Your Honor. Anything by way of announcements? Councilor Lind?
[1:10:27] Eric Lind: Not so much an announcement, Mr. Mayor, just an observation from the gentleman that came forward tonight night saying he was unaware of our work on the indoor shooting range and you've heard me say it before I'm going to say it again I feel that we lack from a comprehensive or at least any coverage in a local newspaper of a lot of our meetings and I think that reaches an element of people that wouldn't normally pay attention to facebook or other items so many politicians may not want every hour you know a lot of coverage I think we need a little more coverage in our local newspaper happen to do a little bit of work on China and there's a town line that covers every one of their meetings and it stimulates a lot of input from citizens so I just throw that out to my fellow city councils are going to be here during goal-setting I don't know what influence we can have or what we could do whether starting a new newspaper or encouraging the kind of a journal to cover us a little more my communication manager does a Great job. I just don't think that the kind of a journal is very proactive and publishing a lot of what goes on here. And I've seen, we saw that I think during the budget formulation too, people caught it a little late and finally we did get a lot of input at the end. That's just a humble opinion of one city council, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Council.
[1:11:36] Mark O'Brien: Sinkwitz, thank you, Mr. Mayor. I want to highlight two things that were accomplished in the city recently, the public works ventilation system. That was one of the best parts of reading the administrative report this week, Mr. City Manager, that I have been a little bit of a thorn in the side about that ventilation system. And I am delighted to know that it is installed and functioning and that our employees have a safe workplace to be in and that it will be moved when we are able to create our new public works facility in the future. So thank you for that very happy update. I also, I forgot to bring it with me, but I was at the library yesterday and there was a display for Constitution Day set up by the Daughters of the American Revolution. It was a collaboration between the library and that entity and I encourage everyone to go check it out in the children's room. It was a wonderful display of books, but then also there were pocket constitutions and stickers and pencils for kids to take and interact with and they were also working in collaboration with the First Amendment Museum which had an event today. So really a lot of patriotism and discussion of the Constitution going on in our city over this week. The library is also hosting the Capital Read as it does at each fall and there are still a few tickets available for the event. I believe it's September 30th at UMA. It's Monica Wood is the author. The book is How to Read a Book, which is a personal favorite of mine. I'm very excited for this event. Monica Wood will be at the event and there will be book signings available. So if you're interested in attending that, it is a free event, but it is a ticketed event. And the library's website has the link to sign up for that. And the last thing that I wanted to highlight, two things to do with the school system. I wanted to send my thoughts to everyone involved in the accident this week at our schools with the bus and the motorcyclists. I know that but our first responders were affected by it, the individuals involved, and also school staff, but fortunately no students were involved, and I know that has been heavy on many of our employees this week. And also noting that our schools have had to add a half day next week instead of a full day on Wednesday because they are coping with very thin staff and having to adjust their planning in order to provide the free and fair education that they are required to for all students and to maintain the safety of the staff. So if anyone hasn't received that email yet, there is an additional half day next Wednesday in order for staff to plan to allocate their staffing more effectively as they go through just not having the bodies in the building that they had last year and children moving in who need services thank you very much thank you anyone else at this time all
[1:14:42] Eric Lind: Right, so be happy to entertain a motion. Mr. Mayor, I move we head into an executive session to discuss a real estate matter under the authority of one main revised statute section 4056c. Is there a second? Mr. Mayor, moved by council and seconded by
[1:14:59] Mark O'Brien: Counselor Single. Weights please. Phone. Yes. Call. Yeah, you got me. Call the role, please. Last one. Counselor Judkins, yay. Counselor Miss You, yay. Counselor Lind, yay. Counselor Carrie Allen, yes. Counselor Sinkowitz, yes. Counselor Morris Polly, yay. Counselor Lily, yeah. Ocean carry seven. In favor, zero opposed. All right, the council, with that, the council retired of the joining conference room for its executive session. We'll come back into public session for the sole purpose of adjourning the business meeting. There's no further action anticipated by the council apart from adjourning the business meeting. So with that, thank you for your attention tonight and good evening.