LEBANON — City officials will decide later this month whether to amend penalties in the proposed “Welcoming Lebanon” ordinance after activists argued that the current draft fails to lay out clear consequences for municipal staff who would violate its terms.

The welcoming ordinance — which was approved by residents, 1,218-1,015, in March — bars Lebanon police or other city workers from aiding immigration enforcement efforts, detaining people for violating immigration law or allowing federal immigration officials access to people in Lebanon police custody.

The City Council has the authority the amend the ordinance, under Lebanon’s charter, before it takes effect.

Recommendations recently put forward by the Lebanon Fair and Impartial Policing Task Force — a seven-member group made up of city councilors, activists and residents — say failure to comply with the ordinance “shall be addressed under the terms of the city’s policies.”

But some task force members found leaving punishment up to city administrators “problematic.” They argued on Wednesday night that the City Council should step in and insert new language.

“City policies are subject to change at the discretion of the city manager. Therefore, there’s no clear, consistent penalty to the ordinance,” Devin Wilkie, a task force member who also served on the resident committee that petitioned for the ordinance last year, said during Wednesday’s meeting.

The task force’s recommendation came after 13 meetings held over four months as the group attempted to bring the language in the ordinance into compliance with state and federal law.

Wilkie said the decision to leave enforcement up to city policy was made after employees expressed discomfort with the original ordinance.

That version set infractions as a violation-level offense to be adjudicated in the courts, with violators subject to fines that would be determined by a district court judge.

While the majority of the task force OK’d the change, he said, a minority still want to see “explicit” punishments spelled out so Lebanon residents can be assured their wishes are followed.

The disagreement was the only one brought forward Wednesday, and task force members that their draft ordinance was the result of consensus and compromise.

It’s not yet clear how much discussions of enforcement will play into the City Council’s upcoming decision whether to adopt the recommendation, which is expected to come after a public hearing on Nov. 19.

“We will see what (activists) have to say at the public hearing, we will see what the public has to say at the public hearing,” Mayor Tim McNamara said Thursday morning.

He predicted that the enforcement provision will at least be a topic of discussion but “whether it will prevent us from being able to move forward with it is another question.”

In its review, the task force left the substance of the welcoming ordinance largely intact.

If passed by the City Council, it would prohibit police and other city workers from collecting information for or assisting in the investigation of a person’s immigration status.

Information the city does have on citizenship status also couldn’t be shared with immigration authorities, unless it’s authorized by that person, and police would be banned from responding to federal immigration officials’ inquiries or allowing them access to a person in custody.

However, the recommended ordinance does provide exemptions that would allow Lebanon to gather race-related information for election purposes, to evaluate the police department and to assist people applying for financial aid.

The task force also suggested suggests amending the ordinance so that if a Border Patrol checkpoint is affecting traffic, the City Manager’s Office would make “a reasonable effort to confirm that (traffic problems) exist” and notify the public through its LebAlert system.

Kathy Beckett, a task force member who is also on the petition committee, said the ordinance would help asylum seekers, undocumented immigrants and those protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals who fear interactions with immigration authorities.

She pointed to census data showing that just over 10% of Lebanon’s population is foreign-born.

“These members of the Lebanon community must be treated in a just and nondiscriminatory manner by every agent and agency in the city,” Beckett said during Wednesday’s meeting.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the welcoming ordinance at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 19. If passed, it would take effect immediately.

Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.