Ordinance & Administration Committee Meeting

The Ordinance & Administration Subcommittee met January 15, 2025 and focused on three substantive items: revisions to the Amesbury Energy Committee bylaws (2024-119), an update to Chapter 396 Special Events to establish a usage fee schedule and regulations for community use of city-owned facilities (2024-163), and an order to rescind Bill 2019-042 and accept a portion of Elm Street as a city public way (2024-164). For the Energy Committee bylaws, members and city attorneys reviewed formatting and substantive edits; the subcommittee voted unanimously to return the December 20 revised version to the City Council with a positive recommendation and asked Councilor Rinaldi to incorporate all edits before the Council meeting. The Energy Committee item will appear before the full Council as an amended draft.

For the Special Events ordinance (2024-163), the Mayor was present to answer questions and a couple of public commenters raised concerns about ambiguous language (notably the definition of “maintenance”) and other inaccuracies; one councilor recused from that discussion due to a proximity conflict. The subcommittee voted to return the ordinance to the City Council with a positive recommendation while noting the Administration may submit amendments after a stakeholders meeting. On the Elm Street matter (2024-164), the DPW director provided historical context and staff answered clarifying questions about project dimensions; the subcommittee unanimously recommended the order be forwarded to the City Council with a positive recommendation. Public comment during the meeting focused on the Special Events ordinance language and clarity; no final Council-level actions were taken at this meeting — the items were forwarded for Council consideration.