BATH

Following a public hearing Monday, City councilors voted to send six proposed charter amendments to the voters on Nov. 4.

They are amendments a special committee of city officials put forth as they looked at what changes may need to be made to the charter.

Councilor David Sinclair was the lone opposing vote because he wanted to strike the proposed charter amendment question that would no longer require the city manager to reside within the town.

Council chair Mari Eosco said after the council discussed changing the time of the annual organizational meeting, a committee was formed to look at what other things might need to be updated within the charter. Councilors Andrew Winglass, Sean Paulhus, Bernie Wyman and Leverett “ Tink” Mitchell served on that committee, and were joined at meetings by City Solicitor Roger Therriault and City Clerk Mary White.

One amendment would change the start time for the annual organizational meeting from 7:30 p.m. to 6 p. m. or other times the council may determine.

The second charter amendment voters will see on the ballot, would allow electronic notification of special meetings to councilors, with verification of receipt.

Eosco said sometimes a single page arrives at council homes in a manilla folder alerting them of a meeting, and “There are some of us who think that that’s not a good use of staff time to be printing this and to be delivering it to our homes.”

City Clerk Mary White said email would only be used as the alternative when the meeting content is very light. She is “still required to make sure that every councilor gets what they need for materials,” White said.

The third proposed charter amendment allows the city manager to reside outside the city limits.

“We haven’t a city manager live in the City of Bath for the last 20 years,” said Councilor Bernie Wyman. “Years ago, all of the supervisors — public works, chief of police, fire department — they all had to live in the city limits.”

Therriault said residency requirements in union contracts are illegal under state law at this point. You can have a distance or time requirement but “it can’t be just, you have the live within the city limits.”

Councilor Sean Paulhus said, “I think part of the reason behind this proposal was that in future selections of candidates for city manager, sometimes residency can be a big factor for the pool of candidates.” Candidates can’t always move their families, for example. The requirement can eliminate qualified candidates from the candidate pool.

Eosco said she’s heard the argument, “ Well if someone’s going to be making a budget using my taxes, then they should be here paying their taxes.” Yet you cant require someone to purchase a home even if you require them to live in the city.

“All of the city managers have a Bath, Maine address and a post office box here in the city of Bath,” Wyman said.

Winglass said going back to 1850, most Bath city managers served only a year or two until about 1950, “and then it kind of shifts to your more modern managers if you will, so by the mid-50s to present, most of the managers have served from 1 to 11 years with an average of around 7 or 8 years. So there are trends that are changing.”

Councilor Steve Bracket echoed Paulhus and said he thinks the city limits its candidate pool if it retains a residency requirement for city managers.

At the end of the discussion, Sinclair made a motion to strike this amendment from the slate, which failed to garner a second. He said it was the only of the proposed amendments “troubling to me in its content.”

Recognizing the argument that the city manager should pay taxes in the city “ like the rest of us” — though he can’t be required to own property — “I think the issue goes a little bit deeper than just the question of whether he or she is paying tax. I think it’s also a question of whether he or she is living with the city conditions that they help to create.” From snow removal frequency to staffing on the police and fire departments, “I think these are questions that go right to the quality of life in the city and I think it’s important to have someone in a leadership role with the city that’s actually got some skin in the game.”

Winglass recognized Sinclair has some good points but he and Wyman said they think the public should decide.

The fourth amendment would exempt from the municipal expenditure cap revenues received and utilized for project costs related to a tax increment financing district.

Therriault said here are two pools of income that come in from tax dollars in the TIF districts — one that goes back to the developer and the other goes to the city. Under state statute, if the city decides to expend the funds they get from the TIF development for these project costs, then that exempts these items.

“This is a source of revenue for projects that are outside the normal budget,” Therriault said, “so this is just to make it clear that those types of situations, we are dealing with project costs that are approved, are outside the expenditure limitation.”

The fifth proposed amendment will allow White to have a list of alternative election workers, appointed by the three parties, which “will give me the chance to use the alternates when these wardens and warden clerks can’t work; and then I don’t have to come back here for every election… to have the council approve the warden and warden clerk each time.”

The final amendment brings the city inline with state requirements for tallying write- in candidates. Two years ago the state instituted the requirement that write- in candidates must declare themselves so their names can appear on the ballot. The write-in candidates will be recognized and counted by the machine with this change.

Voters at the polls Nov. 4 can vote on each proposed amendment individually.

dmoore@timesrecord.com