PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — After two months of remote meetings, the Presque Isle City Council will open its chamber to the public and councilors in its meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
The meeting will include a public hearing on the condemning of three buildings the city has designated as dangerous located at 23 Howard St., 71 Dyer St. and 9 Allen St. Other items on the agenda include the approval of a liquor license, city hall renovations and a vote on the Workers’ Compensation Safety Incentive Program.
All of the items approved at last month’s meeting, including a transfer of city funds for asphalt, 2020 warrants 12-16 totaling $1.3 million and the minutes for the April 1, 2020, meeting, all appear on the agenda for the council to vote on again.
Last month’s Presque Isle City Council meeting appeared to violate Maine’s Freedom of Access Act by not allowing the public to attend the meeting — held over Zoom — in real time. A video of the meeting was uploaded to YouTube three days after it took place.
Presque Isle City Manager Martin Puckett said he organized that meeting using guidance from the Maine Municipal Association. He interpreted remote meeting guidelines saying the public did not “generally” have the right to participate in meetings to mean that the council did not have to make accommodations for live public access to video conference meetings.
The Maine Municipal Association changed its guidelines to emphasize live access to meetings one day after the Bangor Daily News published an article on the potential violation of the law by the city of Presque Isle.
While the agenda did not request that members of the public wear masks, the city asked that of those entering city hall as of Friday, May 29.
