Mural and More Discussed during Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen Work Session

The Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BOMA) held a work session in front of a huge crowd before their regular meeting on Tuesday.
First up was discussion of budget items. Alderman Lana Sain said certain items might need to be cut from the budget. Some suggestions were some vehicle costs and possibly some raises.
Apparently, the city is looking at pulling money out of their reserve fund to balance the 2018-19 budget. This could be as much as $900,000. Some city leaders are thinking of certifying a tax rate that equals to no tax increase based on the new property appraisals. This move would leave the city short of funding. Alderman Bob Bellamy suggested postponing the budget vote and do a continuation instead, until the city has a clearer picture of revenue expectations. City leaders decided to do the continuation budget for now.
Codes Director Jamie Sain talked about extended stay motels and some of the complaints about them. It’s possible that City codes might conduct surprise inspections.
Ray Amos, the Chairman of the Historic Zoning Commission (HZC) went to the table concerning the new downtown mural. Alderman Cheryl Swan as the rep of that committee talked about how at a meeting of the commission there was a discussion of painting the mural. She said there were no guidelines for art at this time. She said since there were no rules now maybe there should be a committee set up to develop guidelines for future murals. City Attorney Gerald Ewell said that it would be good for the city to have guidelines. He said while you can’t say what to paint, you can say what not to paint and regulate size and make sure it’s not obscene. Murals are designated as art and not being a sign, so they can’t be regulated by a sign ordinance. Aldermen say they might need to adopt guidelines for public art murals.
Vice Chairman Evans Baird said they did have guidelines that were approved years ago by the board.
There was some discussion about this particular mural not being approved, not the mural itself but the process of how it happened.
Bob Bellamy stated that this seemed like a power struggle as the mural was done by members of the commission. He asked what they wanted, and Ray Amos said they wanted Scott Van Velsor and John Mancini removed from be HZC as they were appointed by the city council. Bellamy said the HZC needed to work this out amongst themselves. No action taken.
Alderman Ryan French said this isn’t the first time the HZC has caused problems. He suggested that it might be best to disband the HZC altogether. He said that every time Manchester tries to move forward the HZC seems to be in the way. The HZC said that this would jeopardize some possible grants.
Van Velsor came up next to give the other side, he stated that at the HZC meeting there was approval for a mural and so they moved forward. He said he did show all the HZC members the design and they said nothing. Amos said all they approved was paint and an awning not the mural.
Commission members stated they liked the mural and had no intention of asking for its removal. They just want proper procedures to be followed.
No action was taken, and Mayor Lonnie Norman said the BOMA would think about this issue and discuss it more at their next meeting in 2 weeks. (Thanks to Rob Clutter for his help on this story)