04-13-2006 Charter Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Charter Commission APPROVED April 13, 2006 Page 9 352 353 Commissioner Dahl asked about option B, develop and require the use of standard petition form 354 to eliminate confusion. She explained that sometimes people will sign a petition for a feasibility 355 study but then, once more details are learned about the project and cost, signed another petition 356 to not have the referendum the ballot. 357 358 Commissioner Zastrow stated this is a Council issue and should not be discussed by the Charter 359 Commission. 360 361 Commissioner Storberg stated under the Charter only new development roads need to go to a 362 referendum and roads that need to be fixed and are supported would not have to go to the 363 referendum. Commissioner Montain stated that is not correct because new roads are paid by the 364 developer. 365 366 Commissioner Richard Williams stated someone put a lot of work into this memorandum and he 367 thinks there are some good points. 368 369 Chair Warren noted the City conducted a quality of life survey and three Commissioners attended 370 the presentation on Monday night. She referenced the details of the survey as shown on page 12 371 from Decision Resources. It indicates that they randomly selected 400 citizens to survey. Chair 372 Warren asked that question to be included in the record: 373 374 "The Lino Lakes City Charter limits the street reconstruction practices of the City. 375 Under the charter, the city may only use tax dollars for street reconstruction if one 376 of two conditions are met: first, a citizen petitions the City for a specific road 377 improvement AND a majority of the affected property owners support the petition 378 AND a referendum on the improvement is approved in a citywide election; or 379 second,the City Council initiates the project AND the project is approved by a 380 majority of the affected property owners AND a referendum is approved in a 381 citywide election. The City is, however, allowed to perform limited maintenance 382 of streets, such as filling pot holes and seal coating." 383 384 Chair Warren noted that the respondents indicated 66%were aware, 34%was not aware, and 1% 385 did not know or refused to answer. The next question asked was: 386 387 "The initial step in road construction is the development of a comprehensive plan 388 that would prioritize roads for improvement. In order to implement this plan, a 389 funding source would have to be established." 390 391 Chair Warren noted the respondents indicated that the majority favored a Charter change to allow 392 the City to establish a fund. She stated the Council has already moved into the arena to establish 393 a fund and the majority of the citizens surveyed have indicated they support a change to the 394 Charter. Chair Warren stated it has been discussed that perhaps a change to the Charter would 395 aid road construction so projects can move forward. The Council has taken a step ahead of this 9