WATERVILLE — City councilors on Tuesday will consider adopting both a marijuana moratorium ordinance and an ethics ordinance.
The meeting will be at 7 p.m. in the council chambers on the third floor of The Center at 93 Main St. downtown.
The council on Jan. 3, 2017, took a first vote to adopt a marijuana moratorium ordinance on retail marijuana establishments including stores and social clubs. The council on Sept. 19 postponed taking a final vote.
City Manager Michael Roy said in a recent memo to Mayor Nick Isgro and councilors that the state moratorium on retail sales of recreational marijuana expires in a few weeks and the state Legislature is working on legislation to extend the moratorium to May.
“Unless we have a moratorium in effect, we will not have the means to regulate once the state moratorium expires,” the memo says.
Roy contends a city moratorium will prevent the establishment of retail stores in Waterville while the city studies the issue further. Roy recommends the city adopt moratorium language revised by the Maine Municipal Association.
Regarding an ethics ordinance, the council on May 16 and Sept. 19, 2017, voted to postpone consideration of the proposal.
A committee headed up by Peter Lyford worked to prepare an ethics ordinance. They looked at other municipalities’ ethics ordinances and put together a proposal for Waterville based on what is pertinent to the city.
The proposed ordinance or municipal code of ethics, revised earlier this month, declares that the operation of the city requires proper conduct of city officials to promote public confidence that the integrity of government is maintained, that public office not be used for personal or financial gain or advantage and that the government structure be used properly in making decisions and developing policies.
In 2016, some residents complained that certain elected officials had spouses who were employed by the city and therefore should not vote on budgets pertaining to their spouses’ employment. A section about conflict of interest in the proposed ordinance says any city official or employee who believes the official or a member of the person’s immediate family has a financial or special interest in an agenda item before the body, other than the interest held by the public generally, shall publicly disclose the nature and possible extent of such interest, and the body will determine if there is an interest.
In other matters Tuesday, the council will hear an auditor’s report and consider authorizing Roy and the city’s finance director, Heather Rowden, to accept donations for a river-walk project at Head of Falls.
Amy Calder — 861-9247
Twitter: @AmyCalder17
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