After interviewing four candidates a week ago, the Chelsea City Council will hold a discussion and vote for its newest member on Dec. 11, during the council’s last meeting of 2012.
Bethany Morris, Dustin Suntheimer, Lynn Fox and Jeff Blazok applied and were interviewed for the position following a known vacancy that will occur in January — when current Council Member Kent Martinez-Kratz joins the County Board of Commissioners.
You can read about them here.
The new member of the City Council will be sworn-in at the Jan. 8 meeting.
Also on the agenda is another public hearing for a special assessment district for Smokehouse 52, which has applied for the Downtown District Authority utility assistance program that requires City Council approval.
In addition, the council is expected to vote on its meeting schedule for 2013. Regular meetings take place the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 7 p.m. in the new police station.
The only exception is in December, when the council holds just one meeting.
Also on the agenda is the reappointment of three current DDA members — Pete Flintoft, Tim Merkel and Patti Schwarz, whose terms expire on Dec. 31. It’s expected that the council will also discuss the appointment of Chris Martinson to fill the position of Palmer Morel Samuels, who resigned earlier this fall.
All four appointments will expire on Dec. 31, 2015.
The council will also consider a request from Back to the Roots for an on-premise liquor license under a provision that allows for applications to state Liquor Control Commission if an establishment is located in a DDA area, which the restaurant is.
Also eligible are restaurants that are part of a redevelopment project.
In a letter to the City Council making the request, Jason Bendinelli, president of Back to the Roots Chelsea, Inc. estimates that “adding (a Class C on-premise liquor license) would have the potential to increase the overall business revenue by 30 percent.”
He said, this in turn, would be a driving force in the overall success of the restaurant and with more revenue coming in, the business would “be able to do much more for the city in the long run.”
Bendinelli said in the letter that his customer’s number one request is for “alcoholic beverages.”
Back to the Roots is located at 115 South Main St., and includes a fair trade retail area.
