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• <br />• <br />• <br />Kennedy <br />C H A R T E R E D <br />Offices in <br />Minneapolis <br />Saint Paul <br />St. Cloud <br />470 U.S. Bank Plaza <br />200 South Sixth Street <br />Minneapolis, MN 55402 <br />(612) 337 -9300 telephone <br />(6I2) 337 -9310 fax <br />http://www.kennedy-grayen.com <br />Affirmative Action, Equal Opportunity Employer <br />4•H-ctJPJ1Qv 1- 2. <br />STEPHEN J. BUBUL <br />Attomey at Law <br />Direct Dial (612) 337 -9228 <br />Email: sbubul@kennedy- gaven.com <br />January 28, 2008 <br />Gordon Heitke <br />City Administrator <br />City of Lino Lakes <br />600 Town Center Parkway <br />Lino Lakes, Minnesota 55014 <br />Re: Responses to Charter Commission Amendment to City Charter <br />On July 9, 2007, the City Council of the City of Lino Lakes (the "City ") approved the <br />first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 8 of the Lino Lakes City Charter. <br />Subsequently, the Charter Commission submitted to the City Council an alternative <br />amendment to Chapter 8 of the City Charter (the "Commission Amendment "). <br />You asked us, as the City's bond counsel, to review the Commission Amendment and <br />report to you regarding any legal or financial concerns we might have with that proposal. <br />My report follows. <br />Section 8.01. Power to Make Improvements. <br />Subdivision 1: This subdivision is a simple statement empowering the City to make any <br />type of "public improvements" not forbidden by law. It is identical to the first clause of <br />the first sentence in existing Chapter 8 of the City Charter. However, the term "public <br />improvements" is not defined anywhere in the Commission Amendment. By contrast, <br />existing Chapter 8 defines the term "local improvement" as any public improvement <br />financed partly or wholly from special assessments. That is, the current City Charter <br />clearly explains that Chapter 8 is relevant to public improvements only if some portion of <br />the cost will be financed with special assessments. <br />The lack of a defined term introduces a significant question about the applicability of the <br />charter to improvements that are not specially assessed, which in turn creates a potential <br />problem for City financing of improvements generally. <br />327632v3 S.B LN140 -86 <br />