Tuesday's Common Council meeting was over by 9 p.m. in part because five council members met with Edgewater developer Bob Dunn for six hours on Monday night in his office to discuss the project.
The council members - Bridget Maniaci, Lauren Cnare, Mike Verveer, Marsha Rummel and Shiva Bidar-Sielaff - checked with City Attorney Michael May to see how many alders could be at the meeting without violating public meeting laws; the limit was five.
"We had a lot of conversation about putting the project back on track," says Bidar-Sielaff. Dunn agreed that referral was a good option, and the five council members got their colleagues on board; the vote for referral was unanimous.
Cnare made a similar motion last month, which was voted down. The main difference, she deadpans, is that "more people voted for it this time."
The developer ordered pizza at Monday's meeting but "we paid them for it," says Cnare. She adds, in the spirit of full disclosure, "I had two pieces of the vegetarian from Ian's. And a diet Pepsi."
