It was not a great night for Borough Attorney Peg Schaeffer or Borough Administrator Caleb Stratton at the last meeting of Mayor and Council.
And while Mayor Lori Hohenleitner made it clear that so long as she is mayor, and just about everyone has her telephone number, she wants everyone to know everything the governing body does and what’s going on, Borough Administrator Caleb Stratton made it clear that even though he directed the borough attorney to write a letter to a private citizen without the borough council’s approval, even though he had set up a meeting with a private citizen the mayor also said she would attend, and even though they were speaking about public property adjacent to one of several residents enjoy next to the public steps, he was not going to discuss anything about the negotiations with the one neighbor out of respect for her. “I have nothing else to say,” The administrator explained to the public at the council meeting.
That was earlier in the meeting when borough resident Mark Fisher, whom the mayor described as “a pro at public comment”, cited Supreme Court decisions and state and local laws that would make the Planning Board meeting of the previous week illegal.
It was the meeting when the board, absent one vote, approved numerous variances for Carton Brewery, paving the way for them to convert their First Avenue building from a large brewery to a smaller brewery, restaurant, private party area, office and three apartments on the top floor with private portions of the roof for their exterior access. At the council meeting, Hohenleitner said Schaeffer and Martin Stibe, planning board attorney, “would corroborate” on how to handle that situation.
And in between were the pleas, questions, and concerns of Second Avenue residents who want to know how a business owner can let his property continue to be a danger to health, esthetics and safety in a residential neighborhood for many years.
It was a meeting when the governing body decided not to adopt a resolution that would change how and when zoom measures would be mandated at government meetings, to ensure enhancing “public participation and transparency” opting to look it over and make it more appropriate instead.
Many of the issues would be discussed and possibly acted on at the next official council meeting, set in the public advertisement of council meetings as well as announced at that Carton Brewery planning Board meeting to be on Monday, September 21.
But that meeting will not be held on the announced date. In setting the calendar for the year, the governing body apparently overlooked that September 21 this year is the end of Yom Kippur, a religious Jewish holy day.
No date has yet been announced when that regular meeting will be held.
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And while Mayor Lori Hohenleitner made it clear that so long as she is mayor, and just about everyone has her telephone number, she wants everyone to know everything the governing body does and what’s going on, Borough Administrator Caleb Stratton made it clear that even though he directed the borough attorney to write a letter to a private citizen without the borough council’s approval, even though he had set up a meeting with a private citizen the mayor also said she would attend, and even though they were speaking about public property adjacent to one of several residents enjoy next to the public steps, he was not going to discuss anything about the negotiations with the one neighbor out of respect for her. “I have nothing else to say,” The administrator explained to the public at the council meeting.And while Mayor Lori Hohenleitner made it clear that so long as she is mayor, and just about everyone has her telephone number, she wants everyone to know everything the governing body does and what’s going on, Borough Administrator Caleb Stratton made it clear that even though he directed the borough attorney to write a letter to a private citizen without the borough council’s approval, even though he had set up a meeting with a private citizen the mayor also said she would attend, and even though they were speaking about public property adjacent to one of several residents enjoy next to the public steps, he was not going to discuss anything about the negotiations with the one neighbor out of respect for her. “I have nothing else to say,” The administrator explained to the public at the council meeting.And while Mayor Lori Hohenleitner made it clear that so long as she is mayor, and just about everyone has her telephone number, she wants everyone to know everything the governing body does and what’s going on, Borough Administrator Caleb Stratton made it clear that even though he directed the borough attorney to write a letter to a private citizen without the borough council’s approval, even though he had set up a meeting with a private citizen the mayor also said she would attend, and even though they were speaking about public property adjacent to one of several residents enjoy next to the public steps, he was not going to discuss anything about the negotiations with the one neighbor out of respect for her. “I have nothing else to say,” The administrator explained to the public at the council meeting.
