11/03/2008 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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• • • CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION November 3, 2008 APPROVED 40 The matter will be on the agenda for the coming Monday evening's council meeting; the 41 charter commission will be informed. The council would like the scope of an audit to be 42 clear up front (notably official decisions and use of public funds). 43 Brian Fossey and Pat Smith, residents of W. Shadow Lake Drive, asked the council about 44 the charter commission budget request and how that relates to the audit request. Mr. 45 Smith presented the council with a spreadsheet outlining possible charter commission 46 discussion points; he used public data to put together the spreadsheet. 47 3. I -35W North Corridor Coalition Update — Administrator Heitke introduced 48 Dick Swanson, Blaine city council member and member of the corridor coalition. He 49 will be discussing the work of the coalition and inviting the city to get involved. 50 Mr. Swanson explained that the coalition is composed of Anoka and Ramsey County, the 51 cities of Blaine, Lexington, Moundsview, New Brighton, Circle Pines, and recently 52 Minneapolis. The group was originally created about 35 years ago to deal with land use 53 issues. About three years ago, they reevaluated their purpose and narrowed their scope to 54 transportation issues. The group exists to provide continuous support to the funding 55 needs of the northern 35W corridor. They are currently working on a Lake Drive 56 (southern end) extension onto the highway, and also worked hard to install the cable 57 separators between north and south lanes. They have a good working relationship with 58 MnDOT. The group would like the City of Lino Lakes to join them at the table; there are 59 issues relating to the highway that have great impact on the city. Many cities utilize their 60 economic development funds (not general funds) to pay for their participation in the 61 coalition. The fee is based on market value and population (with a first year fee of 62 $2,000). Some of those funds are used for engineering services, the director's salary, and 63 some accounting services. They are also seeking participation from the private side 64 (utilities, for example). They would like to know in December if the city will participate 65 in 2009. 66 The Mayor noted that the city is a member of the 35E coalition group. A council member 67 asked about the expectation of who would participate and Mr. Swanson explained that 68 they anticipate the participation of the city administrator and a member of the council; the 69 group attempts to meet quarterly. They do have some legislative action (National League 70 of Cities conference; Legislature). 71 The council agreed to discuss the issue of participation at the December work session. 72 4. Request to Amend Animal Ordinance — Administrator Heitke reported that the 73 council recently updated the city's animal control regulations. A family in Lino Lakes is 74 concerned about regulations that relate to the number of dogs that can be kept at a home 75 under one acre. The city attorney has opined that a variance would not be appropriate 76 with this type of regulation. Therefore, the matter is being presented as consideration of 77 amending the animal control regulations.