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COUNCIL MINUTES January 21, 2014 DRAFT 2 chair of a meeting certain discretion that could impact the veto use. He fears that could be used as a 46 gamesmanship move, something not appropriate in the situation . He isn’t certain how many vetos 47 would be appropriate to allow but he would like to see governance of the district more future oriented. 48 49 Council Member Rafferty indicated tha t he has heard about the possibility of an additional fire house? 50 Mayor Reinert explained that an additional station has been discussed for some time (in the South 51 Lino Lakes area) and seems to be needed with or without the city’s withdrawal from the CFD. 52 Council Member Roeser added that he’s seen a response time map and can see th ere are areas with 53 higher response time and that is what drives the new station discussion. Mr. Roeser added that there 54 is development and growth ahead for the city of Lino Lakes and that will also impact fut ure 55 emergency service needs; since the need f or additional facilities will exist anyway, it shouldn’t lead 56 the discussion about governance of the district and, in his opinion, w hat should lead the discussion is 57 what’s best for Lino Lakes. The Mayor added that the joint powers agreement provides that one 58 hundred percent of the cost of each fire facility in the city is fully that city’s responsibility. 59 60 Council Member Rafferty asked that City Administrator Karlson weigh in on the matter. Mr. 61 Karlson said that he has strong opinions on the matter an d sees this as a big issue for the city. He 62 believes that if the city decides to go off and create its own fire services it will cost more. He 63 understands the district governance issue that concerns council members. As administrator he has not 64 had any i ssues with the fire district operations and feels it is run very well. He sees that a situation 65 arises sometimes where two cities are voting against one. As administrator he has to be practical and 66 look at the numbers. Council Member Rafferty asked if e qual power among the three member cities 67 in governing the distric t is of concern and Mr. Karlson said that he believes the amendment before the 68 Council is a good compromise. 69 70 Mayor Reinert said he respects the city administrator’s view but he disagrees on the matter of cost. 71 He believes that Mr. Karlson ’s assumption includes the cost of a new fire house that would be needed 72 anyway. He sees the city doing we ll with a split from the district. The re is a current problem with 73 the budget of the district cont inuing to grow. The debate that is occurring now has been inevitable 74 because with the city’s share soon to reach 70% of the budget, the agreement was to be renegotiated 75 anyway. The same controversy would arise. 76 77 Council Member Rafferty added that the id ea of assembling a f ire district and the work of putting 78 together the Centennial Fire District some time ago was good but sometimes things must evolve. 79 80 Council Member Stoesz asked what would happen if the City of Lino Lakes didn’t approve the 81 District’s annual budget? Mr. Karlson explained that the agreement provides that the current year 82 budget would be utilized with a built -in increase. 83 84 C ouncil Member Kusterman ask ed, if an ambulance service of the Fire District were proposed, could 85 the City deny that change if the other member cities were to approve it? Mr. Karlson clarified that 86 the city would have some control since approval of capital purchases (such as an ambulance) is 87 required and also the city would have to approve any new hires. Mayor Reinert noted that there has 88 been some discussion however about purchasing a used ambulance and that could possibility subvert 89 the city approval. 90