06-24-2024 - Council Meeting Minutes

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LINO LAKES CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING MINUTES DATE: June 24, 2024 TIME STARTED: 6:30 PM TIME ENDED: 10:05 PM LOCATION: City Council Chambers MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Rafferty, Councilmembers Cavegn, Lyden, Ruhland and Stoesz MEMBERS ABSENT: None Staff Members Present: City Administrator Sarah Cotton, City Clerk Roberta Colotti, Public Safety Director John Swenson, Deputy Public Safety Director/Fire Dan L'Allier, Community Development Director Michael Grochala and City Attorney Jay Squires The meeting was called to order by Mayor Rafferty at 6:30 PM. Mayor Rafferty provided an overview of the Rules of Decorum for Public Comment. He provided first notice to those in attendance that the Sergeant -at -Arms has been instructed to remove anyone who is disorderly. blic Comment Asad Zaman, 1608 Como Avenue, St. Paul, stated his objection to the City Council changing the rules for attendees from allowing signs, to allowing signs only at the beginning of the meeting, to requiring signs be kept down during the meeting, then allowing t-shirts with similar messaging as the signs. He highlighted that the rules changed each time those opposed to the project used that method and at the time supporters of the project began to use the same messaging methods. Mr. Zaman also called out that the rules for public comment were permissive in allowing vicious attacks against his community by those opposed to the development project and now they are being told they can not speak about the opposition as frankly. He read five statements from past meetings as examples of hate speech that was made during public comment. Angella Coil, 7672 Sunset Ave, Lino Lakes, requested that the City Council adopt regulations requiring that developers have background checks as part of the development approval process. She stated that developers are coming into the community and developing structures that will be in place for years, if not decades. As a result, she would like to know why each developer doesn't have to demonstrate that they have extensive experience and can operate with a certain level of integrity. Howard Dotson, Minneapolis, stated that he has been to 31 countries and seen the refugee crisis. He stated there are 120 million refugees. Syrian refugees have been in camps for 12 years. There was a four-year Muslim ban during the Trump administration, and we still have not righted that wrong. He is concerned about how things locally connect to things globally.