Council had a second reading related to the proposed changes to our City Zoning Code for where future car washes can be built within the City. The Planning Commission reviewed the proposed legislation by Council and had sent back an alternate proposal that would update the locations of car washes in the C-3, C-4, and C-5 zoning districts, but would change from permitted by right to conditionally permitted. The idea of conditionally permitted still means that if the use meets all the conditions, then it would still be approved and the conditions that exist regarding conditionally permitted do not take into account the type of business. In fact, of the last 3 car washes, I voted no on two of them because they were conditionally permitted or required variances that I did not feel met the requirements. This item will have a public meeting before our next meeting on Thursday May 25, 2023, at 5 PM and the legislation will be voted on at that meeting after its third reading.
Council also continued our discussion around the update of our non-union payroll ordinance. The Law Department made updates to the ordinance to put the changes into our codified ordinances. This will make it easier to find the current version of the pay tables, time off policies, etc. The main changes to this would be to update the pay scale, job grades, and review process related to pay for non-union employees. The review process related to employees is something that the City does not currently perform as we do not have a dedicated Human Resources Director to help create and oversee this process. Council recently approved the hiring of a Human Resources Director, and the administration is currently interviewing applicants for the position. Council will continue to review this process and work any changes discussed with the administration into a final version for Council to vote on soon.
Finally, there was an update related to the watermain break that occurred at Fishcreek and Graham that required a large portion of Ward 2 and Ward 3 to be under a boil alert Wednesday to early Friday morning. As a secondary issue, after the initial water main break a secondary break also occurred in front of the high school that required high school students to be dismissed early Wednesday. Both breaks have been fixed and the intersection at Fischcreek and Graham has re-opened, however the reconstruction of that intersection is also beginning so there will be some lane closures as that construction progresses. However, it seems our alert system we put in place at the end of last year/early this year still did not reach everyone as it should have. Personally, I live in the area that was under a boil advisory and had signed up for the notices and did not receive them. The Administration is still investigating what part of the system did not work properly, but this is something that we must get worked out as social media is not the answer to make sure residents are informed timely for an issue like this. I hope we have an update for residents soon on how this is being addressed so we can have confidence that the system will work as expected.
Council will next meet on Thursday May 25, 2023 at 5 PM for a public hearing, committee meetings, and our regular meeting to follow.