The following are the unapproved minutes from the Burns City Council meeting held June 14. The minutes were edited for clarity and length.

Nancy Gardner resigned from the city manager position, and Judy Erwin was appointed the Burns interim city manager, effective June 12.

Councilor Jen Hoke made a motion to approve the Interim City Manager Agreement, subject to legal revisions. Councilor Heather Smith seconded the motion, and it passed.

Erwin’s seat on the council will remain vacant until she returns. Burns Mayor Jerry Woodfin said the council followed the same process when Erwin served as interim city manager previously.

Councilor Jen Keady noted that Erwin has experience serving in this position, and she “knows all the ins and outs.”

Erwin will serve as interim city manager until a permanent replacement is found.

Erwin said the council needs to decide what the next steps will be.

Greg Prothman from GMP Consultants provided a $50,000 quote for a city manager search. Erwin said the city can pay GMP or post the job on websites, as it’s done in the past. The city has $10,000 budgeted for a search.

After a brief discussion, the council decided to post the job on Indeed, LinkedIn, and similar websites.

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Erwin told the councilors that — if they decide to move forward with the Time, Place, and Manner Ordinance regarding homeless camping — they need to decide whether to pass it as an emergency ordinance (which would take effect immediately) or regular ordinance (which would take effect in 30 days).

Erwin said she’d like to see the ordinance passed as an emergency. However, the city attorney said the 30-day wait would provide the right of referendum to citizens, keeping them out of court.

Police Chief Steve Macartney advocated for passing the ordinance as an emergency. Otherwise, the police would have no legal right to address the situation for 30 days.

Woodfin said passing an emergency ordinance may make some feel like the council rushed its decision. However, he believes the council did its due diligence with the public.

“We’ve listened, compromised, and worked with the community as a team and came up with what we believe to be a joint decision that everybody involved was comfortable with,” Woodfin said. “The emergency clause has its advantages, but to get them off the street and not be ready would be poor management.”

The ordinance will permit people without housing to camp in tents in the fenced area at the Burns Public Works building along South Broadway or in vehicles in the parking lot at Burns City Hall.
Hoke said they must vacate the areas one hour after sunrise, and they can’t set up their camps at the Public Works building until an hour before sunset.

Macartney said police will lose some of the enforcement authority that they currently have on private premises until the ordinance goes into effect.

Noting that the campsites are not set up yet, Woodfin asked where those experiencing homelessness will be permitted to camp if the emergency ordinance is passed.

Keady said folks could be issued a warning and informed that the locations will be ready in 30 days. She advocated for passing the ordinance as an emergency, but providing a 30-day grace period for homeless camping.

After some additional discussion, Hoke made a motion to make the Time, Place, and Manner Ordinance an emergency with a grace period to take effect on June 28, 2023. Keady seconded the motion, and it passed. Three councilors were in favor, and one was opposed.

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In other business,

• Erwin said she doesn’t believe the city provided enough outreach to the public regarding Resolution 23-758, which would raise water rates.

Erwin said the water rates were supposed to be raised in small increments, not all at once.

Woodfin made a motion to table Resolution 23-758 until the next council meeting. Smith seconded the motion, and it passed;

• A Water Rights Examination is needed to move forward on a grant for the airport water project. Unfortunately, this fell through the cracks.

Erwin asked the council to approve signing an agreement with Brandon Mohan, an engineer for Anderson Perry and Associates, to complete the examination. Mohan said his time and billing will not exceed $4,000.

Keady made a motion to approve the work order for the examination and authorize the mayor to sign it on the city’s behalf. Smith seconded the motion, and it passed.

After the examination is complete, Erwin will present the water projects to the council. There are three options to chose from;

• Macartney and Fire Chief Scott Williamson will work with their grant writer to submit a $250,000 Homeland Security grant. Their goal is to obtain mobile computing and local mapping for police and fire vehicles;

• Forest Keady said The Palace project on Broadway Avenue is in the final days of construction.

They are celebrating with a music series in The Palace parking lot, which will be held June 23, July 28, Aug. 25, and Sept. 22. He asked the council for permission to play music until 11 p.m. on those dates.

Macartney said he doesn’t have any issues with this, and he thinks it will be good for the community. The city ordinance specifies “unreasonable noise,” which this is not.

Woodfin said the city would like to approve Forest Keady’s request.