07/22/2002 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY OF LINO LAKES MINUTES SPECIAL MEETING DATE : July 22, 2002 TIME STARTED : 5:35 P.M. TIME ENDED : 6:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Councilmembers Carlson, Dahl, O'Donnell, Reinert, and Mayor Bergeson MEMBERS ABSENT : None Staff members present: City Administrator, Linda Waite Smi Others present: Attorney Jim Strommen SETTING THE AGENDA The sole agenda item was: Discuss with Franchise Atto centennial Utilities Request to Amend Franchise Agreement. City Administrator Waite Smith reviewed events • da Centennial Utilities requested the Lino Lakes City Council consider amending the twe ' ar franchise agreement to reduce or eliminate the seven percent fee on gross reve iLfrom customers in Lino Lakes. As part of their review of the issue, council members req Mieceived a memo from Jim Strommen, attorney with Kennedy and Graven, who special = in€anchise law. In response to the memo they asked to meet with Mr. Strommen. During th t 9 k council members forwarded specific questions to Mr. Strommen and he is present th' ve g t• « ddress those questions. Mr. Strommen reiterated th contains a clause stating the Utitlities property, by state law enforced. anchise agreement, which expires in March 2012, o Lakes waives its right of eminent domain over Centennial City Council cannot relinquish that right so the clause cannot be Mr. Strommen reviewed three types of franchise fees: 1. Percent of gross revenue or monopoly model which provides an unpredictable revenue stream. 2. Meter fee which is a flat rate for all users in a group and provides a predictable revenue stream. 3. A usage fee that applies to the amount of product used, regardless of the source from which it is purchased. The City Council discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the various types of fees, for the City and for customers of the utility. A question that arose is whether a reduction in the franchise fee