07/07/2008 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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II 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 • 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 •45 46 DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS ABSENT APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES MINUTES : July 7, 2008 . 5:35 p.m. . 9:25 p.m. : Council Members O'Donnell, Reinert, Stoltz and Mayor Bergeson : Council Member Gallup Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Community Development Director, Mike Grochala; Director of Public Safety, Dave Pecchia; Finance Director, Al Rolek; Public Services Director, Rick DeGardner; Economic Development Coordinator, Mary Alice Divine; 1. Centennial Utilities Gas Franchise Fees - V. Reinert - Mr. Vernon Reinert was not able to attend the work session and will be invited to future meeting. Therefore this item was not discussed. 2. Charter Amendment Public Information - Economic Development Coordinator Divine requested direction in the area of a communication plan (city -sponsored public information effort) regarding the charter amendment ballot issue (the council has an established goal to update the City Charter to reflect and facilitate current and future needs of the city). She reviewed past efforts in this area that included use of the city newsletter, fact sheet mailings, the city Website, press releases, open houses and cable television. Given the complexity of the current question, staff is recommending that the city employ the services of a public relations consultant as well as receive consulting assistance in the financing and legal areas. The Citizens' Task Force should also be involved and contributors to the city's communication plan. Based on the required schedule for consideration of a charter amendment, a communication plan should be prepared in September for delivery in early to mid-October. Ms. Divine requested council direction in whether or not communication consulting should be engaged to develop and implement a communication plan. If directed by the council to move forward in that direction, Ms. Divine will report back with a proposal at the council's August work session. It was clarified that if a ballot question is put forward, the actual wording would be drafted by legal counsel for consideration by the council. The council discussed the possibility of having two differing ballot questions (one from the council and one from the charter commission) and how a communication plan would fit into such a scenario. An update on the charter commission's current position was requested with an opportunity given to the commission to present that in person at a meeting in August or, if they'd prefer, submittal of a written response. Administrator Heitke noted that the information provided to the public ahead of time will be key since the ballot language will be limited.