Not too bad #
It turned out not so weird after all and we finished in 54 minutes. Here’s the synopsis:
The Easy Stuff #
We are having a pickleball tournament and using the proceeds of it to fund shade structures at Crawford Park.
We approved the renewal of fire and EMS services to the Village of North Bay.
We approved the A/P checks and 2027 budget schedule.
All votes were unanimous and free of any contention.
Closed session #1 #
There is a proposed development project in TID #4 at 4300 Carly Ave. We discussed potential terms of a deal. I’m keen on challenging ourselves to keep closed session about topics covered by the law. It’s easy to wander to related topics as a natural ebb and flow of the conversation. I think we stuck to the topic pretty well, though the discussion probably lasted a little longer than it should have.
More on this later if it becomes a real project.
Hearing #
Then the crazy thing, a hearing, took a twist: a last minute settlement between the parties. Our village lawyer, who was representing the staff, read the terms. The dispute turned out to be over fees the village charges for building permits, building inspections, engineering reviews, grading inspection, etc. The development is unique – commercial storage and office warehouse condos – and we were applying the village fees that didn’t quite fit but matched on the word “condo.”
The lawyer representing the board suggested we go into closed session to discuss and amend if desired. We chose instead to just vote to approve the presented compromise. The vote was unanimous.
I almost wish we had done the full quasi-trial. It seems like a dispute over fees shouldn’t have turned this sour and there is clearly a square peg/round hole problem here with commercial warehouse condos and residential condo fee structure. I will do my best to piece together what happened to see if we can learn anything. I’m afraid to ask how much we spent on legal fees associated with the dispute.
Final thoughts #
Nothing bothered me more in the workplace than poorly run meetings. The 30 minute meeting that lasted 60 minutes drove me bonkers. Poor agenda management, poor prep, meandering and chaotic conversation … gives me the shakes just remembering all the time wasted througout my career.
I think we did ok last night. Meeting stayed focused on getting through each item. Trustees got their questions asked and answered. We didn’t force anything and we didn’t belabor anything. And we got a bit lucky with the last minute compromise. Future meetings will need to manage their agendas and material preparation well if we want to stay healthy.