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Council and mayor disagree after Terra Strada application withdrawn; members press for clearer agenda rules
Summary
Council members raised concerns after a developer withdrew an application following a previously requested agenda placement; mayor and staff said the developer chose to withdraw and cited ordinance 1-1-4 on mayoral agenda authority. Council voted to reexamine earlier minutes to clarify the record.
Hooper City Council members debated process and transparency after an application from Terra Strada LLC was withdrawn before a council hearing.
Council member Ryan Wilcox and others said two council members had requested the item be placed on a council agenda and that the council therefore should have had a chance to vote. "We have a right as a council to request things on the agenda as well," one council member said during the discussion.
Mayor Sherry Zendrom said she had acted according to city ordinance 1-1-4, which assigns the mayor authority to set the council agenda and allows the mayor discretion to add items; she said staff notified the developer that the item would be heard and that the developer then called to withdraw the application. "They have a right to withdraw an application," the mayor said, adding that she found implications of nontransparency "very offensive."
Council members said the earlier public discussion of Terra Strada was confusing and left an unresolved record. A council member noted that at an earlier meeting the planning discussion "got kicked down the road" with no vote and expressed frustration that the council's requested agenda placement had not led to a hearing. The debate included references to actions and communications in August and September and to the city's procedural timeline.
Actions taken at the Oct. 2 meeting included a motion by Council member Hill, seconded by Council member Maragoni, to reexamine the Aug. 7 meeting minutes; the motion carried with an affirmative voice vote. Council also approved minutes from the Aug. 21 meeting (motion by Council member Hill; second by Council member Wilcox), with the clerk directed to review recordings and return corrected minutes where necessary.
City staff and legal counsel agreed to clarify agenda presentation practices going forward. The mayor and several council members supported procedural changes such as sending the draft agenda to council members before publication and establishing a cutoff date for agenda submissions so that council members and legal counsel have adequate time to prepare.
Ending: No council action was taken on the Terra Strada application itself (the application had already been withdrawn); council asked staff and legal counsel to propose clearer agenda procedures and to return corrected minutes for the record.
