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Council discusses ordinance amendment to allow town Christmas party and proposes $200 staff bonus
Summary
Council members discussed amending the town’s promotional ordinance to explicitly authorize holiday parties and recognition expenses; a motion was made to amend Ordinance 2025-05 and another motion proposed $200 Christmas bonuses for all employees; the transcript records motions and seconds but not vote tallies.
Council members discussed amending the town’s promotional/home-rule ordinance to explicitly authorize a town Christmas dinner or party and related employee recognition expenses. Chris reported checking with state accounts and said auditors require such events to be specifically authorized in the ordinance. "As long as you specifically say that in your promotional ordinance," Chris said when explaining what the town must do to allow the event.
The proposed amendment to Ordinance 2025-05 would add language permitting expenses for party dinners or other meals for town officials, employees, professional service providers and family members in celebration or recognition events "to promote employee morale," according to the language read into the record. A council member moved to approve the amendment to 2025-05; another member seconded and the chair called for a vote. The transcript does not include the vote result.
Separately, council members discussed Christmas bonuses for town employees. One council member moved that all employees receive a $200 Christmas bonus to be paid the first week of December; another member seconded and the chair called for a vote. The transcript records discussion about whether bonuses had been $150 or $200 in prior years, with one member saying, "I'm pretty sure it's 200." No final tally or formal adoption of the bonus appears in the provided transcript.
Stacy was reported to have contacted state accounts to confirm permissibility; a council member said state accounts "were good with this." The transcript does not record detailed budgetary numbers tied to the ordinance amendment beyond the $200-per-employee bonus proposal. The council agreed to follow up with staff to schedule the holiday event and finalize logistics.
