MONTAGUE — At Monday's regular Montague city council meeting, four members of the council agreed to extend the current social district agreement by one month to give the full council an opportunity to weigh in on a planned one-year review.
Only four members of the council were present, with Ken Mahoney, Robert Hires and Laura LaGuire all absent; each was granted excused absences by the other four. While the four council members constituted a quorum and the original agenda called for the review to be conducted, they were in agreement that the social district was a sufficiently important matter that the full group should be present for a one-year review. The council originally discussed tabling the matter, but as it will not meet again until after the one-year period is up, council members instead landed on a one-month extension of the current agreement.
The review was part of the agreement when the council approved the social district, which opened in May 2024. The district consists of the downtown businesses with liquor licenses and is located on Weathervane Lane, the alley between Dowling and Spring streets. Since its original approval, the district has added Stoney Ridge Winery, which opened last fall. Jimmy'z Pub was also sold in that time, but remains part of the district.
There was a brief discussion regarding the $1 charge for a plastic cup for customers who choose to utilize the district. City manager Jeff Auch said the charge was put in place to allow the city to raise a small amount of revenue in addition to recouping the cost of the actual cup, but due to feedback he's received, seemed amenable to lowering the cost to 50 cents, which would allow the city to make a few pennies of profit on the cup, but no more. Council member Susan Newhof, for environmental reasons, asked if it would be possible to switch to paper cups, but Auch said state law requires the use of plastic ones.
The council also discussed the Bowen Street planned unit development (PUD), which is scheduled to come before the council at the May meeting after the planning commission finalizes recommendations. The city is also close to finalizing a purchase agreement for an Old Channel Trail property that may also be presented to the council in May. Newhof shared her reservations about the PUD, saying there are still questions she has about it that she'd like to see addressed by the planning commission before it's presented to the council.
The council also approved a minor correction to its Department of Natural Resources trust fund grant application. The correction accounted for the city providing an in-kind match of funds, which can include the monetary value of supplies or labor, rather than a full match, which is limited to money.
