Grand Island mayor veers from city council agenda
by
Katie Gauthier
Story Created:
Jan 25, 2012 at 6:56 PM CDT
Story Updated:
Jan 25, 2012 at 7:33 PM CDT
Council members don't always agree on subjects they face, but they're always told to follow council meeting agendas.
So when Mayor Vavricek brought up an issue last night that wasn't on the agenda one council member had to speak up.
Tuesday night inside city hall Mayor Vavricek used some time to speak about his displease on a certain issue - negative ads about privatizing the city's wastewater treatment plant.
This isn't a new topic for the council.
It wasn't even supposed to be discussed during Tuesday night's meeting. And that sparked some controversy.
"I think when you start talking city business it really needs to be an agenda item," said Chuck Haase.
Which is why councilman Chuck Haase made a motion Tuesday night during the Mayor's minutes.
"The official motion was about Roberts Rule of order," Haase said.
The mayor was referencing a recent ad that ran in the Grand Island Independent's weekend editions. The ad in the paper highlighted the negative impact privatizing the city's wastewater treatment plant could have on Grand Island.
It even tells residents to call their city council members telling them to vote against privatization.
Mayor Vavricek doesn't agree with the article.
"I think he was trying to communicate to the public cause, you know, there were just things going on in the public's eye and I think he wanted an option to speak to those," said Haase.,
But, Haase says Tuesday night was not the time to do that. And this isn't the first time it's happened.
"We had the same issue two weeks ago," Haase said.
There was a power point presentation about the city shop.
"I think we crossed the line. I think we need to get back over on the other side," said Haase.
The main argument that Chuck is making is that if the issue is not on the agenda then the public can't come to City Hall and join in on the debate.
And the public has a lot to say about the wastewater treatment plant.
"I've gotten 153 contacts," Haase said.
The ad lists council member's phone numbers and suggests the public call and ask them to vote against the privatization of Grand Island's Wastewater Treatment Plant.
"It's pretty effective 'cause they're calling," said Haase.
Haase says this isn't the first time that he's received a large volume of phone calls but that this time around it's completely lopsided.
It's been 153 to zero. Noting that so far the public has been very clear that they don't want the issue to pass.
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