Remote Work Proposal Fails, Lots of Comments on Proposed Ordinances

At the February meeting of the Whitehall Town Council, held Tuesday, February 18, at the Town Hall, the public readings of proposed ordinances 2024-05 and 2024-06 before the regular meeting brought more comment than the meeting itself, which paused briefly to the public for executive session before its conclusion.

During the closed session, the remote work proposal, which had been discussed several times for Town Treasurer Kennedy Kleinsasser, was voted down in a difficult discussion.

Whitehall residents made several comments regarding Ordinance 2024-5: Regulating the Use of Campers and RVs within Town Limits. After the reading, councilman Bill Lanes suggested amendments that would create a balance in power - having not only the mayor approve the applications but also the planning board - as well as structuring the ordinances to control only public property. As the ordinance read, it was also intended to govern private property.

Resident Pod Moriarty commented that these ordinances were aimed at homelessness and that, to him, there is no gray area to be considered. Moriarty stated the town needed to be black and white on the issue, as homelessness is a “cancer” to our community, adding that once you “let one in, all of them will be here.”

Resident Sandy Kraha questioned why private property was included in the ordinance and said that while she understood responding to a global fear, most of the town is half a paycheck away from homelessness as it is. She stated that the ordinance was far too encompassing and would bring unintended consequences if the public property was not separated from the private.

“It is wrong. You are stepping in places you have no right to be,” she ended.

Resident and business owner Bridget Morse sataed that the “anti-homelessness bill” was “huge” and residents had a “right to privacy on their property.”

“I don’t think this is the correct approach,” she concluded.

Ordinance 2024-6, dealing with Temporary Shelters, was also meant with the same concerns. Upon a council vote, Ordinance 2024-5 was tabled for further revisions; 2024-6 was approved with the amendment that the ordinance only governed public property (streets, alleys, sidewalks, etc.) and did not encompass private property.

Former Jefferson County Commissioner spoke briefly on the HFI Energy project at the Sunlight Business Park.

OTHER ITEMS:

Councilwoman Pat Peterson of Ward 1 has vacated her seat on the Council. Jenna Gill has also vacated her seat on the TIF Board. Mayor Mary Janacaro-Hensleigh asked for anyone interested in the positions for the remainder of their terms to reach out to her.

The Mayor noted that office hours had originally been slated to return to longer hours in February, but due to training, they would be updated on March 31st to Monday-Thursday, 8 AM to 4:30 PM. The office will remain closed to the public on Fridays, though employees will be working. This change does not affect the Public Works employees.

Whitehall Recreation Board member Gina Ossello asked the Council to allow the $4800+ raised during last year’s Dueling Pianos to be put towards an engineering study for pickleball courts. Ossello added that the Wisner Family Foundation would cover the remaining funds needed (about $5200) to get engineering on the courts completed so a final cost was obtained. The request was approved.

The Jefferson County Health Department offices, which had been housed in the new ambulance barn, will now be housed in the former Town Hall building on N. Whitehall Street.