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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-10-2013 Minutes2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 45 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 1 DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS EXCUSED MEMBERS UNEXCUSED STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT: APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION October 10, 2013 6:34 p.m. 8:50 p.m. Bretoi (arrived at 8:00 pm.), Dahl, Lyden, Gunderson, Penn, Storberg, Trehus, Turcotte, Williams, Aldentaler, Sutherland (arrived at 8:20 p.m.), and Timm Bartsch and Helgemoe None None Mayor Jeff Reinert and Council Members Dale Stoesz and Rob Rafferty; and citizen Patty Zastrow CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Vice Chair Dahl reconvened the meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission at 6:34 pm on October 10, 2013. She noted that she would be running the meeting as Chair Lyden has a double ear infection. The Charter Commissioners observed a moment of silence for former Commissioner Iry Zastrow. Vice Chair Dahl presented a plaque of appreciation to Commissioner Zastrow's daughter. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Vice Chair Dahl lead the Pledge of Allegiance. SETTING THE AGENDA Commissioner Trehus asked to add an Item 6B, Outstanding Attorney Fees, under Old Business. Agenda was accepted as amended. Commissioner Storberg thanked City Councilmember Rafferty for sending his condolences to the Commission regarding the recent passing of a Commissioner. OPEN MIC/PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Reinert stated that he received a letter from Chair Lyden in regard to the minutes. He acknowledged that the letter was well written and clear but stated that he was not clear with the process suggested for distributing the minutes from talking with Commissioner Gunderson. He questioned if the process outlines in the letter included the minutes going to Chair Lyden for corrections and editing and then distributed to the Commission for review. He stated that process did not seem fair and provided the example of the City Council minutes going directly to the 1 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 2 46 Mayor for corrections and then being distributed to the Council for review. He stated that would 47 not allow anyone else other than the Chair to see the original minutes. He explained that the 48 Commission can discuss the draft minutes and propose changes at the same time. He stated that 49 even if every line in the minutes is not correct, that draft version of the minutes should be 50 submitted before the entire group for revision together. He explained that this provides 51 transparency in government and open meetings. 52 53 Chair Lyden agreed with the premise of the Mayor's comments. He stated that it was not his 54 intention to change the minutes himself but simply for the minutes to come before the Charter 55 Commission prior to the City Council or being posted for the public. 56 57 Commissioner Trehus stated that under the current process the minutes are being sent to City 58 Council and questioned how the Charter Commission could trust that the minutes would not be 59 changed prior to their receipt by the Commission. 60 61 Mayor Reinert noted that the minutes are being completed by a professional firm and the draft 62 minutes could be provided to anyone at their request. He stated that it would be labeled as draft 63 but it is a public document and is available to the public. 64 65 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she discussed the issue with Mayor Reinert and City 66 Administrator Jeff Karlson. She stated that Mr. Karlson agrees that the draft minutes should be 67 provided to the Charter Commission first. She stated that it was her interpretation that Mr. 68 Karlson would be speaking with Mayor Reinert to clarify that. She commented that it is sad that 69 there is such a lack of trust between the Charter Commission and the City Council. She stated 70 that she visited the webpages for the other Boards and Commissions to obtain the minutes that 71 are listed on their pages. She noted that the City Council posted minutes are up to date. 72 73 Mayor Reinert stated that his point was simply that you need to provide transparency in meetings. 74 He stated that it was not his intent to get into this discussion. Mayor Reinert left the meeting at 75 6:46 p.m. 76 77 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the Economic Development Authority, which lists the 78 January, February and March minutes; noting that those are official minutes and no draft minutes 79 are posted. She reported that the Park Board has no minutes posted available for the past two 80 years on the webpage; noting that the webpage states that every meeting for 2012 and 2013 has 81 been canceled. 82 83 Commissioner Timm stated that if the group has not met, there would not be minutes available. 84 85 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the E.D.C., which has no minutes listed for 2013. She 86 reported that the Environmental Board has approved minutes through February 2013. She stated 87 that the Planning and Zoning minutes appear to be up to date as of their August meeting. She 88 stated that she had one of the worst conversations with an elected official with Mayor Reinert. 89 She referenced the end of an article, which included a paragraph discussing the use of TimeSaver 90 for the Charter Commission. She stated that she left a message for Mayor Reinert after seeing 2 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 3 91 that article and noted that a few days later she followed up with Mr. Karlson and explained that 92 the Charter Commission is similar to a constitutional committee rather than other city 93 government. She explained that the Charter Commission believes that they should have control 94 over the minute contract. She then referenced the very heated telephone call with Mayor Reinert 95 regarding whether the City or the Charter Commission should run the contract for minutes. She 96 noted that she did listen to the audio from the March Worksession at which time Mayor Reinert 97 did say that the City would receive a copy of the minutes along with the Charter Commission. 98 She stated that there is also audio that services of Ms. Bartell would be provided to facilitate a 99 contract between TimeSaver and the Charter Commission. 100 101 Commissioner Turcotte questioned why Mayor Reinert referenced that the minute taking would 102 continue when the service was only approved for two meetings. 103 104 Melissa Maher introduced herself to the Commission, noting that she was a previous member of 105 the Charter Commission. She stated that she is running for City Council and is the one candidate 106 that is pro -Charter. She referenced the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and believed it would be a sad 107 day if that document were approved. 108 109 Commissioner Trehus questioned what Ms. Maher sees as troubling with the Comprehensive 110 Plan as proposed. 111 12 Ms. Maher stated that if approved there would be a large reduction in the amount of agricultural 113 and rural areas. She noted that there is also a large amount of affordable housing included in the 114 Plan, which exceeds the estimates of the Met Council. She noted that she would have an outside 115 perspective as she had been a member of the Charter Commission and would then be joining the 116 City Council. She noted that she currently has a position with a legal firm and telecommutes 100 117 percent, which allows flexibility in her schedule. 118 119 APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES 120 121 A. July 25, 2013 from TimeSaver 122 Vice Chair Dahl stated that the minutes are too long and detailed. 123 124 Commissioners Trehus and Turcotte also agreed that the minutes were too long. 125 126 Commissioner Turcotte referenced line 530 where he was incorrectly referred to as the Chair. 127 128 Commissioner Trehus referenced line 138, it should state,"...aloud the statutory language 129 pertaining to the timing concern as requested..." On line 41, the following sentence should be 130 added, "Ms. Bartell concurred." 131 132 Commissioner Turcotte questioned if these minutes should even be amended since the Charter 133 Commission also took their own minutes. 3 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 4 135 Commissioner Penn noted that she did take handwritten notes as to the motions and votes but 136 that is all. 137 138 Chair Lyden noted that will be part of the discussion later in the agenda. He noted that the 139 minutes approved by the Commission will be the official minutes. 140 141 Vice Chair Dahl noted that perhaps the decision to approve the minutes should be tabled until the 142 later discussion occurs. 143 144 MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Gunderson, to table the meeting 145 minutes of July 25, 2013. 146 147 Motion passed ayes 9 — nays 1 (Timm) 148 149 Vice Chair Dahl noted that reconsideration of the minutes will be considered as Item 6C. 150 151 B. November 12, 2012, as corrected 152 Vice Chair Dahl noted that she asked that the minutes be sent to her electronically in order to 153 avoid going back onto the website. She stated that at that time it was determined that the 154 November 12, 2012 minutes were not approved. She noted that the corrections have been 155 completed by Commissioner Penn as directed and asked for a motion to approve the amended 156 minutes. 157 158 MOTION by Commissioner Timm, seconded by Commissioner Turcotte, approving the meeting 159 minutes of November 12, 2012, as corrected. 160 161 Motion passed unanimously. 162 163 OLD BUSINESS 164 165 A. Secretarial Options for Minute Taking for all Charter Meetings. 166 1. City Administrator, Jeff Karson's e-mail 167 2. City's Contract with TimeSaver for Charter Meetings 168 3. Invoice for TimeSaver 169 Chair Lyden appreciated that Mayor Reinert was present and acknowledge his concerns. He 170 stated that his concern is that Mayor Reinert would like to post draft minutes, which is not the 171 policy of any other Board or Commission. He stated that he appreciates TimeSaver and believes 172 they do an excellent job. He wished that the City Council would simply fund the service as a 173 vital service and let the remaining issues fall aside. He stated that minutes should be kept very 174 minimal and should be kept simply to the issue and the decision. 175 176 Commissioner Trehus stated that the by-laws simply state that the minutes will reflect the votes 177 of the Commission and not the discussion. 178 179 Commissioner Turcotte noted that some other Commissions do not even use names. 4 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 5 80 181 Commissioner Penn agreed that the decision was made to record simply the votes but believed a 182 bit of context would be entered, not verbatim discussion. 183 184 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the email from Mr. Karlson and did not believe that 185 information matched the information included in the Worksession discussion. 186 187 Vice Chair Dahl stated that not one other Commission or Board has draft minutes posted and did 188 not believe the Charter Commission should be forced to do that. 189 190 Commissioner Turcotte stated that when the City received the minutes and sent them 191 electronically it stated last modified and questioned who modified the document. 192 193 Commissioner Storberg agreed that the minutes should come to the Charter Commission but 194 questioned what would occur in January if this is not resolved, as TimeSaver is only contracted 195 through this meeting. She stated that there are only a small number of women on the 196 Commission and questioned who would be responsible for the minutes at that time. She stated 197 that the Commission either wants the service or does not and questioned why this keeps coming 198 up. 199 200 Commissioner Trehus noted that the string of conditions is what is disagreed upon. 01 L202 Commissioner Turcotte stated that he viewed other minutes from City Councils and Charter 203 Commissions and only the basics are included. 204 205 Commissioner Timm stated that the statute only requires a summary of the proceedings with the 206 motion, noting discussion was had, and the action that was taken. 207 208 Vice Chair Dahl stated that she spoke with the City Clerk in regard to the TimeSaver contract 209 and reported that the City Clerk was not aware of a contract and was not able to find a contract 210 with TimeSaver. She advised that the invoice from TimeSaver was included in the packet in the 211 amount of $261.15. 212 213 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she provided an estimate very close to the billed amount. 214 She found it interesting that Mayor Reinert discussed transparency and the Charter Commission 215 is still unable to get a copy of the contract with TimeSaver. 216 217 Commissioner Turcotte questioned if there has been anything showing how this would be paid. 218 219 Vice Chair Dahl noted that this first bill has already been paid. She thanked Commissioner 220 Gunderson for her efforts in this matter. 221 222 MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, to decline the offer of 23 TimeSaver's assistance as long as there are terms attached. 224 5 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 6 225 Further discussion: Commissioner Penn noted that TimeSaver has attended the previous meeting 226 and this meeting and may therefore use the funds allotted by the Council. She stated that the 227 Charter Commission does not accept the assistance as long as the current strings attached are in 228 place. 229 230 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the March 5th Worksession at which time the Council 231 proposed the TimeSaver service for two meetings, after which time the service will be re - 232 evaluated. She stated that the current process is not working and the Commission will simply 233 revert back to the old process where they take their own minutes. 234 235 Commissioner Penn stated that as Secretary she has noticed that there are a lot of changes to be 236 made to minutes and questioned how minutes could be posted in draft form as the minutes could 237 include errors. 238 239 Commissioner Trehus called the question. 240 241 Motion passed unanimously. 242 243 Further Discussion: Commissioner Timm asked if the secretary from TimeSaver should be asked 244 to leave at this point. 245 246 Vice Chair Dahl noted that the City has the agreement with TimeSaver and the Charter 247 Commission cannot tell her to leave. She stated that the secretary has scheduled this meeting and 248 believed it would be rude to ask her to leave. 249 250 Commissioner Trehus believed that the Commission should hold a vote that no more than one to 251 two paragraphs of discussion are entered into the minutes and the minutes should be no more 252 than that small amount of discussion and the vote. 253 254 Commissioner Turcotte stated that a motion was made at the July meeting to direct TimeSaver 255 not to attend, but yet the secretary is still here. 256 257 Commissioner Gunderson stated that because the agreement was already made between the City 258 and TimeSaver for two meetings with a total cap of $600 for both invoices. She believed that the 259 service would be left at those two meetings and the agreement would end after this meeting. 260 261 Commissioner Turcotte stated that the Charter Commission presented the request to the City 262 Council for recording services and the Council then changed the proposal and then passed it. 263 264 Commissioner Gunderson stated that her request was for a budget amendment to provide funds 265 for recording services. She stated that it was her understanding that these two meetings would be 266 covered by TimeSaver and then in 2014 a line item would be added to the budget to offset the 267 cost for this service. 268 6 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 7 269 Commissioner Williams stated that it appears strange that the City Council is willing to spend 270 $600 on two meetings for secretarial coverage but are not willing to pay the outstanding legal 271 fees. 272 273 Chair Lyden stated that he prefers to do the right thing, noting that the secretary was hired for 274 two meetings, and the Commission should let her finish her job. 275 276 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting, effective 277 today, the secretary shall conform to the minute process previously voted on that the minutes 278 shall convey only motions, votes and a brief summary not to exceed one paragraph. 279 280 Further discussion: Commissioner Storberg questioned if that would be an appropriate use of 281 taxpayer money since the full service is available. 282 283 Commissioner Timm called the questioned. 284 285 The motion passed unanimously. 286 287 The motion passed unanimously. 288 289 B. Outstanding Attorney Fees 90 Commissioner Trehus stated that essentially the attorney has not been paid for services dating 291 back to 2009. He stated that he was unaware of the status of the Commission's budget for legal 292 expenses but believed that the invoice should be paid if funds are available. 293 294 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Storberg, requesting that the 295 outstanding legal invoices be paid with available funds in the budget. 296 297 Further Discussion: Vice Chair Dahl noted that she did request the balance of available funds but 298 the City Clerk did not provide her with that information prior to the meeting. 299 300 Motion passed unanimously. 301 302 C. July 25th Minutes from TimeSaver 303 Vice Chair Dahl questioned if the corrected minutes presented earlier in the meeting should be 304 approved or whether the minutes should be approved upon motions, votes, and brief summary 305 method. 306 307 Commissioner Penn reported that she simply took hand written notes of the motions and votes 308 during the meeting but did not include discussion. 309 310 MOTION by Commissioner Timm, seconded by Commissioner Gunderson, to accept the 311 TimeSaver minutes of July 25, 2013 through the Approval of Meeting Minutes, and then to 12 substitute the notes and motions taken by Commissioner Penn. 313 7 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 8 314 Further Discussion: Commissioner Gunderson explained that the draft July 25th minutes would 315 be approved through line 82. 316 317 Commissioner Trehus noted that the TimeSaver minutes could be amended to remove the text 318 and accept only the motions, which would not create additional work for Commissioner Penn. 319 320 FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by Commissioner Timm to include amendments to the TimeSaver 321 minutes to keep lines 1-88, lines 156-172, lines 314-316, lines 380-386, lines 403-410, lines 414- 322 415, lines 439-440, line 454, lines 464-467, lines 508-510, lines 530-532, line 543, line 550, line 323 552, line 554, and line 556 through the end of the minutes. All other text should be removed. 324 The friendly amendment to the motion was accepted. 325 326 Commissioner Bretoi arrived at 8:00 p.m. 327 328 Motion passed unanimously as amended by Commissioner Timm. 329 330 Chair Lyden stated that perhaps the entire Charter Commission could receive a copy of the 331 minutes upon distribution rather than simply Chair Lyden to ensure that no one could change the 332 minutes. He agreed that the draft minutes should not be posted. He stated that perhaps this 333 would alleviate the issue of transparency. 334 335 NEW BUSINESS 336 337 A. Commissioner Storberg's Concern over Number of Charter Meetings per Year 338 Commissioner Storberg stated that she did not believe there was a need to meet four times per 339 year noting that only two meetings per year should be scheduled. She stated that if something 340 arises, a special meeting could be called. 341 342 Commissioner Turcotte noted the meeting time lengths that would occur if the Commission only 343 met once or twice per year. He noted that not every member of the Commission would need to 344 attend. 345 346 Commissioner Aldentaler stated that the Commission cannot even accomplish what is needed 347 during four meetings and questioned why the group would meet less. 348 349 Commissioner Trehus noted that meeting on a quarterly basis would allow for consistency and 350 although related to the desire for fewer meetings he believed the current method is more 351 appropriate. 352 353 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg made a motion requesting that this item be added to the 354 January meeting as part of that agenda when the new Commissioners are appointed. 355 356 Motion failed for lack of a second. 357 358 B. Application Deadline for Applying for Charter Commission. 8 ""1 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 9 359 1. October 31, 2013 360 Vice Chair Dahl noted that the deadline to submit applications to the Charter Commission is 361 October 31, 2013. 362 363 Commissioner Gunderson stated that there are members with expiring terms and the decision to 364 appoint would be that of a judge. 365 366 C. 2012 Letter to the Judge (to be distributed at the meeting) 367 Vice Chair Dahl stated that she sent the letter to the judge electronically to the Commission the 368 previous night for review. 369 370 Commissioner Sutherland arrived. 371 372 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Sutherland, requesting that 373 an agenda item titled Chair's Report be added to the January agenda. 374 375 Motion passed unanimously. 376 377 MOTION by Commissioner Bretoi, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting that the letter 378 to the judge be approved and sent. 379 180 Motion passed unanimously. x"'381 382 D. Commissioner Gunderson's Concern over Total Number of Commissioners for the 383 Charter Commission 384 Commissioner Gunderson referenced State Statute 410.05 regarding Charter Commissions. She 385 noted that the Commission shall be composed of seven to 15 members who are voting members 386 of the City. She stated that there are very few Charter Commissions that have such a high 387 number of Commissioners, providing examples of other metro Charter Commissions composed 388 of seven or nine members. She was unsure of the proper manner in which the number of Charter 389 Commissioners could be lowered and whether a legal opinion should be gained. 390 391 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting to consult 392 with the League of Minnesota Cities in order to seek an opinion on the State Statute 410.05. 393 394 Further Discussion: Commissioner Trehus explained that it would require a Charter amendment 395 in order to change the number of Commissioners and noted that would be highly politicized and 396 did not believe the group should proceed with this action. 397 398 Commissioner Gunderson noted that seven terms are expiring and this would be the opportunity 399 to make the Commission smaller in order to better fit with the size of the city. 400 401 Commissioner Turcotte stated Lino Lakes has more to do than other Charter Commissions; 02 noting that this Charter Commission is one of the few that deals with road improvements and 403 other issues. 9 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 10 404 405 Chair Lyden commented that he appreciates the input and perspective of each member of the 406 Commission and explained that the strength of the Commission is determined by the skillset of 407 the individuals. He believed that it is healthy for the community to have a broad base of people. 408 409 Commissioner Sutherland noted that the number of Commissioners is included in Article 1, 410 Section 4 of the Commission by-laws. 411 412 Commissioner Storberg stated that the Charter has been very helpful in keeping the voting power 413 with the people. She noted that there are always more applications than openings and it is 414 helpful to have the added perspectives. 415 416 Commissioner Turcotte stated that if you reduced the Charter Commission size it would be really 417 easy to vote the Charter out, noting the intent of some of the applicants. 418 419 Vice Chair Dahl stated that in her opinion the League of Minnesota Cities is not unbiased 420 because they work for the City and obtain information from the City as well. 421 422 Commissioner Trehus stated that he corresponded with the League of Minnesota Cities and the 423 response was quite frank in that the League represents municipalities and does not represent the 424 interest of Charter Commissions. He advised that if this moves forward it will move into the 425 next year, onto the new Commission members, and would require a Charter amendment. He did 426 not see the purpose. 427 428 Commissioner Gunderson called the question. 429 430 Motion passed unanimously. 431 432 Motion failed ayes 2 (Bretoi and Gunderson) - nays 9 433 434 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Bretoi, requesting to seek 435 the opinion of the Charter Commission Attorney in order to determine the legal path for 436 amending the size of the Charter Commission. 437 438 Motion failed ayes 5 (Gunderson, Sutherland, Timm, Bretoi, and Williams) — nays 6. 439 440 NEXT MEETING DATE 441 Vice Chair Dahl noted the next meeting date is Thursday, January 9, 2014. 442 443 Commissioner Penn noted that she is not reapplying for the Charter Commission. 444 445 ADJOURN 446 447 MOTION by Commissioner Turcotte, seconded by Commissioner Williams, to adjourn the 448 meeting at 8:50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. 10 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 11 `,,. 449 450 Drafted by: Amanda Staple, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. L.