06/09/2004 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Date: From: WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT Work Session Item No. 5 CITE' ;' ' of RN � KE Council Work Session, Wednesday, June 9, 2004 City Council Gordon Heitke, City Administrator Recording of Council, Advisory Board Minutes Background: For several years, the City of Lino Lakes has used contracted services for the recording of minutes for council meetings and some advisory board meetings. In speaking with the Directors, we feel that with a change in the scope of contents of the minutes, it would be possible and also advantageous to prepare the minutes internally. The purpose of minutes is to provide for a written record of the actions of a council or board. The briefest form of minutes is the identification of the issue and a statement of the action taken. The most detailed form of minutes is a verbatim of record of everything stated at the meeting. The recent form of minutes in Lino Lakes falls between these two extremes, with the degree of content and specificity left to the recording officer. As presently done, sometimes the discussion of the council is described in detail and at other times it is not. Sometimes the comments of some individual council members are included, while the comments of other members are not. I have heard council members question why "their" comment or opinion was not included in the minutes. Of course, if the minutes were to include every comment made by every person, the minutes would resemble a verbatim record in terms of length. Other concerns that I have received relate to the accuracy of the individual's comments as described in the minutes. These types of concerns can be expected when minutes go beyond describing the activities of the council body and attempt to include select comments of individual council members. Since only the council as a body that has any authority and the