Everett council approves donations and renewals, ordains zoning-notice change and rescinds obsolete employee exemptions

At its March 25 meeting the Everett City Council conducted a series of routine votes and referrals.

Donations and small appropriations
The council accepted three donations to the 2024 summer jobs program (a $1,000 donation from Terrence W. Kennedy, $250 from Weston & Sampson, and $100 from Teamwork Cleaning Concepts) and approved sending letters of thanks. The council also approved a prior-year appropriation of $3,585 from free cash to pay Verizon bills identified as public-safety expenses after interdepartmental billing routing issues were clarified; the appropriation passed by roll call.

Licenses and committee referrals
The council granted renewals for a secondhand-dealer license (Gold Jewelry Inc.) and a Class 2 motor-vehicle dealer license (Broadway Gas and Service Inc.). Several petitions and new-license applications (items 7–9) were referred to the Committee on Community and Business Development for committee review.

Ordinance and rescissions
The council ordained Item 16, an ordinance amending the required lead time to advertise a city council public hearing on a proposed zoning ordinance amendment from 30 days to 14 days; the ordainment passed 10 yeas to 1 nay. Separately, the council moved to rescind 10 now-obsolete special-municipal-employee designations (Item 21) and approved that rescission by roll call.

Referrals for operations and street issues
Multiple service and enforcement items were referred to the appropriate departments: park enforcement for Lafayette School field (no-dogs enforcement), parking and traffic review of ticketing on School Street, review of Ferry Street island design for fire apparatus circulation, and scheduling a meeting with local businesses to discuss bus-lane and parking concerns.

The council also postponed several items, notably the borrowing request for the Old Everett High School and a companion request for a complete cost accounting, to the April 22 meeting to allow councilors additional documentation and building access.