Monday's agenda item has to do with creating a Hartford Stadium Authority.
The governor has declared a state of emergency. Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra has declared a snow emergency. City schools let out at noon, and most city employees were dismissed then, too. There's a parking ban in effect. Even Winterfest at Bushnell Park is closing early.
But Monday night's Hartford city council meeting must go on.
Council President Shawn Wooden said two high profile items affected his decision. One is to begin the process of removing the city's registrars of voters following the disastrous 2014 election.
The other is baseball.
The city is trying to bring a minor-league baseball stadium to the city for the New Britain Rock Cats. A ground-breaking is supposed to happen next month, and a deal with the developers is not yet signed. Monday's agenda item has to do with creating a Hartford Stadium Authority, a new public entity that will own the stadium and borrow the money to pay for it.
Wooden said that if the ordinance establishing the authority doesn't pass Monday, "the timeline gets more complicated."
"We are proceeding with meeting because we have important [issues] to address and council members are willing to attend," Wooden said. "If conditions are unsafe, I will cancel the meeting."
City police are already urging drivers to stay off the roads when the storm hits.
Stranded and stuck vehicles cripple emergency response. When the storm hits, stay off the streets please.
— Brian Foley (@LtFoley) January 26, 2015
But for now, the council meeting is still a go.
