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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-09-2014 Charter PacketLINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION AGENDA 6:30 PM Thursday, January 9, 2014 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 6:30 PM Certificates for Outgoing Members Kelly Gunderson Marge Penn Mike Trehus Richard Williams Oath of Office and Introduction of New Members Chris Bretoi re -appoint Bill Combs Caroline Dahl re -appoint Kelli Damiani Craig Johnson Jerome Poehling Shawn Turcotte re -appoint 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Setting the agenda 4. Open Mike / Public Comments 5. Minutes: October 10, 2013 from Timesaver 6. Old Business 7. New Business Minutes Election of officers: Chair, Vice Chair and Secretary 8. Next meeting date, Thursday, April 10, 2014 Christopher Lyden Chair Caroline Dahl Vice Chair 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 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 1 DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS EXCUSED MEMBERS UNEXCUSED STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT: DRAFT CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION October 10, 2013 6:34 p.m. 8:50 p.m. Bretoi (arrived at 8:00 pm.), Dahl, Lyden, Gunderson, Penn, Storberg, Trehus, Turcotte, Williams, Aldentaler, Sutherland (arrived at 8:20 p.m.), and Timm None Bartsch and Helgemoe None Mayor Jeff Reinert and Council Members Dale Stoesz and Rob Rafferty; and citizen Patty Zastrow CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Vice Chair Dahl reconvened the meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission at 6:34 pm on October 10, 2013. She noted that she would be running the meeting as Chair Lyden has a double ear infection. The Charter Commissioners observed a moment of silence for former Commissioner Iry Zastrow. Chair Lyden presented a plaque of appreciation to Commissioner Zastrow's daughter. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Vice Chair Dahl lead the Pledge of Allegiance. SETTING THE AGENDA Commissioner Trehus asked to add an Item 6B, Outstanding Attorney Fees, under Old Business. Agenda was accepted as amended. Commissioner Storberg thanked City Councilmember Rafferty for sending his condolences to the Commission regarding the recent passing of a Commissioner. OPEN MIC/PUBLIC COMMENT Mayor Reinert stated that he received a letter from Chair Lyden in regard to the minutes. He acknowledged that the letter was well written and clear but stated that he was not clear with the process suggested for distributing the minutes. He questioned if the process outlines in the letter included the minutes going to Chair Lyden for corrections and editing and then distributed to the Commission for review. He stated that process did not seem fair and provided the example of the City Council minutes going directly to the Mayor for corrections and then being distributed to the Council for review. He stated that would not allow anyone else other than the Chair to see 1 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 2 46 the original minutes. He explained that the Commission can discuss the draft minutes and 47 propose changes at the same time. He stated that even if every line in the minutes is not correct, 48 that draft version of the minutes should be submitted before the entire group for revision 49 together. He explained that this provides transparency in government and open meetings. 50 51 Chair Lyden agreed with the premise of the Mayor's comments. He stated that it was not his 52 intention to change the minutes himself but simply for the minutes to come before the Charter 53 Commission prior to the City Council or being posted for the public. 54 55 Commissioner Trehus stated that under the current process the minutes are being sent to City 56 Council and questioned how the Charter Commission could trust that the minutes would not be 57 changed prior to their receipt by the Commission. 58 59 Mayor Reinert noted that the minutes are being completed by a professional firm and the draft 60 minutes could be provided to anyone at their request. He stated that it would be labeled as draft 61 but it is a public document and is available to the public. 62 63 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she discussed the issue with Mayor Reinert and City 64 Administrator Jeff Karlson. She stated that Mr. Karlson agrees that the draft minutes should be 65 provided to the Charter Commission first. She stated that it was her interpretation that Mr. 66 Karlson would be speaking with Mayor Reinert to clarify that. She commented that it is sad that 67 there is such a lack of trust between the Charter Commission and the City Council. She stated 68 that she visited the webpages for the other Boards and Commissions to obtain the minutes that 69 are listed on their pages. She noted that the City Council posted minutes are up to date. 70 71 Mayor Reinert stated that his point was simply that you need to provide transparency in meetings. 72 He stated that it was not his intent to get into this discussion. Mayor Reinert left the meeting at 73 6:46 p.m. 74 75 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the Economic Development Authority, which lists the 76 January, February and March minutes; noting that those are official minutes and no draft minutes 77 are posted. She reported that the Park Board has no minutes posted available for the past two 78 years on the webpage; noting that the webpage states that every meeting for 2012 and 2013 has 79 been canceled. 80 81 Commissioner Timm stated that if the group has not met, there would not be minutes available. 82 83 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the E.D.C., which has no minutes listed for 2013. She 84 reported that the Environmental Board has approved minutes through February 2013. She stated 85 that the Planning and Zoning minutes appear to be up to date as of their August meeting. She 86 stated that she had one of the worst conversations with an elected official with Mayor Reinert. 87 She referenced the end of an article, which included a paragraph discussing the use of TimeSaver 88 for the Charter Commission. She stated that she left a message for Mayor Reinert after seeing 89 that article and noted that a few days later she followed up with Mr. Karlson and explained that 90 the Charter Commission is similar to a constitutional committee rather than other city 2 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 3 91 government. She explained that the Charter Commission believes that they should have control 92 over the minute contract. She then referenced the very heated telephone call with Mayor Reinert 93 regarding whether the City or the Charter Commission should run the contract for minutes. She 94 noted that she did listen to the audio from the March Worksession at which time Mayor Reinert 95 did say that the City would receive a copy of the minutes along with the Charter Commission. 96 She stated that there is also audio that services of Ms. Bartell would be provided to facilitate a 97 contract between TimeSaver and the Charter Commission. 98 99 Commissioner Turcotte questioned why Mayor Reinert referenced that the minute taking would 100 continue when the service was only approved for two meetings. 101 102 Melissa Maher introduced herself to the Commission, noting that she was a previous member of 103 the Charter Commission. She stated that she is running for City Council and is the one candidate 104 that is pro -Charter. She referenced the 2030 Comprehensive Plan and believed it would be a sad 105 day if that document were approved. 106 107 Commissioner Trehus questioned what Ms. Maher sees as troubling with the Comprehensive 108 Plan as proposed. 109 110 Ms. Maher stated that if approved there would be a large reduction in the amount of agricultural 111 and rural areas. She noted that there is also a large amount of affordable housing included in the 12 Plan, which exceeds the estimates of the Met Council. She noted that she would have an outside 113 perspective as she had been a member of the Charter Commission and would then be joining the 114 City Council. She noted that she currently has a position with a legal firm and telecommutes 100 115 percent, which allows flexibility in her schedule. 116 117 APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES 118 119 A. July 25, 2013 from TimeSaver 120 Vice Chair Dahl stated that the minutes are too long and detailed. 121 122 Commissioners Trehus and Turcotte also agreed that the minutes were too long. 123 124 Commissioner Turcotte referenced line 530 where he was incorrectly referred to as the Chair. 125 126 Commissioner Trehus referenced line 138, it should state,"...aloud the statutory language 127 pertaining to the timing concern as requested..." On line 41, the following sentence should be 128 added, "Ms. Bartell concurred." 129 130 Commissioner Turcotte questioned if these minutes should even be amended since the Charter 131 Commission also took their own minutes. 132 133 Commissioner Penn noted that she did take handwritten notes as to the motions and votes but 34 that is all. 135 3 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 4 136 Chair Lyden noted that will be part of the discussion later in the agenda. He noted that the 137 minutes approved by the Commission will be the official minutes. 138 139 Vice Chair Dahl noted that perhaps the decision to approve the minutes should be tabled until the 140 later discussion occurs. 141 142 MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Gunderson, to table the meeting 143 minutes of July 25, 2013. 144 145 Motion passed ayes 9 — nays 1 (Timm) 146 147 Vice Chair Dahl noted that reconsideration of the minutes will be considered as Item 6C. 148 149 B. November 12, 2012, as corrected 150 Vice Chair Dahl noted that she asked that the minutes be sent to her electronically in order to 151 avoid going back onto the website. She stated that at that time it was determined that the 152 November 12, 2012 minutes were not approved. She noted that the corrections have been 153 completed by Commissioner Penn as directed and asked for a motion to approve the amended 154 minutes. 155 156 MOTION by Commissioner Timm, seconded by Commissioner Turcotte, approving the meeting 157 minutes of November 12, 2012, as corrected. 158 159 Motion passed unanimously. 160 161 OLD BUSINESS 162 163 A. Secretarial Options for Minute Taking for all Charter Meetings. 164 1. City Administrator, Jeff Karson's e-mail 165 2. City's Contract with TimeSaver for Charter Meetings 166 3. Invoice for TimeSaver 167 Chair Lyden appreciated that Mayor Reinert was present and acknowledge his concerns. He 168 stated that his concern is that Mayor Reinert would like to post draft minutes, which is not the 169 policy of any other Board or Commission. He stated that he appreciates TimeSaver and believes 170 they do an excellent job. He wished that the City Council would simply fund the service as a 171 vital service and let the remaining issues fall aside. He stated that minutes should be kept very 172 minimal and should be kept simply to the issue and the decision. 173 174 Commissioner Trehus stated that the by-laws simply state that the minutes will reflect the votes 175 of the Commission and not the discussion. 176 177 Commissioner Turcotte noted that some other Commissions do not even use names. 178 179 Commissioner Penn agreed that the decision was made to record simply the votes but believed a 180 bit of context would be entered, not verbatim discussion. 4 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 5 181 182 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the email from Mr. Karlson and did not believe that 183 information matched the information included in the Worksession discussion. 184 185 Vice Chair Dahl stated that not one other Commission or Board has draft minutes posted and did 186 not believe the Charter Commission should be forced to do that. 187 188 Commissioner Turcotte stated that when the City received the minutes and sent them 189 electronically it stated last modified and questioned who modified the document. 190 191 Commissioner Storberg agreed that the minutes should come to the Charter Commission but 192 questioned what would occur in January if this is not resolved, as TimeSaver is only contracted 193 through this meeting. She stated that there are only a small number of women on the 194 Commission and questioned who would be responsible for the minutes at that time. She stated 195 that the Commission either wants the service or does not and questioned why this keeps coming 196 up. 197 198 Commissioner Trehus noted that the string of conditions is what is disagreed upon. 199 200 Commissioner Turcotte stated that he viewed other minutes from City Councils and Charter 201 Commissions and only the basics are included. '02 203 Commissioner Timm stated that the statute only requires a summary of the proceedings with the 204 motion, noting discussion was had, and the action that was taken. 205 206 Vice Chair Dahl stated that she spoke with the City Clerk in regard to the TimeSaver contract 207 and reported that the City Clerk was not aware of a contract and was not able to find a contract 208 with TimeSaver. She advised that the invoice from TimeSaver was included in the packet in the 209 amount of $261.15. 210 211 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she provided an estimate very close to the billed amount. 212 She found it interesting that Mayor Reinert discussed transparency and the Charter Commission 213 is still unable to get a copy of the contract with TimeSaver. 214 215 Commissioner Turcotte questioned if there has been anything showing how this would be paid. 216 217 Vice Chair Dahl noted that this first bill has already been paid. She thanked Commissioner 218 Gunderson for her efforts in this matter. 219 220 MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, to decline the offer of 221 TimeSaver's assistance as long as there are terms attached. 222 ,.,.;23 Further discussion: Commissioner Penn noted that TimeSaver has attended the previous meeting 24 and this meeting and may therefore use the funds allotted by the Council. She stated that the 5 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 6 225 Charter Commission does not accept the assistance as long as the current strings attached are in 226 place. 227 228 Commissioner Gunderson referenced the March 5th Worksession at which time the Council 229 proposed the TimeSaver service for two meetings, after which time the service will be re - 230 evaluated. She stated that the current process is not working and the Commission will simply 231 revert back to the old process where they take their own minutes. 232 233 Commissioner Penn stated that as Secretary she has noticed that there are a lot of changes to be 234 made to minutes and questioned how minutes could be posted in draft form as the minutes could 235 include errors. 236 237 Commissioner Trehus called the question. 238 239 Motion passed unanimously. 240 241 Further Discussion: Commissioner Timm asked if the secretary from TimeSaver should be asked 242 to leave at this point. 243 244 Vice Chair Dahl noted that the City has the agreement with TimeSaver and the Charter 245 Commission cannot tell her to leave. She stated that the secretary has scheduled this meeting and 246 believed it would be rude to ask her to leave. 247 248 Commissioner Trehus believed that the Commission should hold a vote that no more than one to 249 two paragraphs of discussion are entered into the minutes and the minutes should be no more 250 than that small amount of discussion and the vote. 251 252 Commissioner Turcotte stated that a motion was made at the July meeting to direct TimeSaver 253 not to attend, but yet the secretary is still here. 254 255 Commissioner Gunderson stated that because the agreement was already made between the City 256 and TimeSaver for two meetings with a total cap of $600 for both invoices. She believed that the 257 service would be left at those two meetings and the agreement would end after this meeting. 258 259 Commissioner Turcotte stated that the Charter Commission presented the request to the City 260 Council for recording services and the Council then changed the proposal and then passed it. 261 262 Commissioner Gunderson stated that her request was for a budget amendment to provide funds 263 for recording services. She stated that it was her understanding that these two meetings would be 264 covered by TimeSaver and then in 2014 a line item would be added to the budget to offset the 265 cost for this service. 266 267 Commissioner Williams stated that it appears strange that the City Council is willing to spend 268 $600 on two meetings for secretarial coverage but are not willing to pay the outstanding legal 269 fees. 6 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 7 z70 271 Chair Lyden stated that he prefers to do the right thing, noting that the secretary was hired for 272 two meetings, and the Commission should let her finish her job. 273 274 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting, effective 275 today, the secretary shall conform to the minute process previously voted on that the minutes 276 shall convey only motions, votes and a brief summary not to exceed one paragraph. 277 278 Further discussion: Commissioner Storberg questioned if that would be an appropriate use of 279 taxpayer money since the full service is available. 280 281 Commissioner Timm called the questioned. 282 283 The motion passed unanimously. 284 285 The motion passed unanimously. 286 287 B. Outstanding Attorney Fees 288 Commissioner Trehus stated that essentially the attorney has not been paid for services dating 289 back to 2009. He stated that he was unaware of the status of the Commission's budget for legal 290 expenses but believed that the invoice should be paid if funds are available. ' 91 292 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Storberg, requesting that the 293 outstanding legal invoices be paid with available funds in the budget. 294 295 Further Discussion: Vice Chair Dahl noted that she did request the balance of available funds but 296 the City Clerk did not provide her with that information prior to the meeting. 297 298 Motion passed unanimously. 299 300 C. July 25th Minutes from TimeSaver 301 Vice Chair Dahl questioned if the corrected minutes presented earlier in the meeting should be 302 approved or whether the minutes should be approved upon motions, votes, and brief summary 303 method. 304 305 Commissioner Penn reported that she simply took hand written notes of the motions and votes 306 during the meeting but did not include discussion. 307 308 MOTION by Commissioner Timm, seconded by Commissioner Gunderson, to accept the 309 TimeSaver minutes of July 25, 2013 through the Approval of Meeting Minutes, and then to 310 substitute the notes and motions taken by Commissioner Penn. 311 12 Further Discussion: Commissioner Gunderson explained that the draft July 25th minutes would 13 be approved through line 82. 314 7 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 8 315 Commissioner Trehus noted that the TimeSaver minutes could be amended to remove the text 316 and accept only the motions, which would not create additional work for Commissioner Penn. 317 318 FRIENDLY AMENDMENT by Commissioner Timm to include amendments to the TimeSaver 319 minutes to keep lines 1-88, lines 156-172, lines 314-316, lines 380-386, lines 403-410, lines 414- 320 415, lines 439-440, line 454, lines 464-467, lines 508-510, lines 530-532, line 543, line 550, line 321 552, line 554, and line 556 through the end of the minutes. All other text should be removed. 322 The friendly amendment to the motion was accepted. 323 324 Commissioner Bretoi arrived at 8:00 p.m. 325 326 Motion passed unanimously as amended by Commissioner Timm. 327 328 Chair Lyden stated that perhaps the entire Charter Commission could receive a copy of the 329 minutes upon distribution rather than simply Chair Lyden to ensure that no one could change the 330 minutes. He agreed that the draft minutes should not be posted. He stated that perhaps this 331 would alleviate the issue of transparency. 332 333 NEW BUSINESS 334 335 A. Commissioner Storberg's Concern over Number of Charter Meetings per Year 336 Commissioner Storberg stated that she did not believe there was a need to meet four times per 337 year noting that only two meetings per year should be scheduled. She stated that if something 338 arises, a special meeting could be called. 339 340 Commissioner Turcotte noted the meeting time lengths that would occur if the Commission only 341 met once or twice per year. He noted that not every member of the Commission would need to 342 attend. 343 344 Commissioner Aldentaler stated that the Commission cannot even accomplish what is needed 345 during four meetings and questioned why the group would meet less. 346 347 Commissioner Trehus noted that meeting on a quarterly basis would allow for consistency and 348 although related to the desire for fewer meetings he believed the current method is more 349 appropriate. 350 351 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg made a motion requesting that this item be added to the 352 January meeting as part of that agenda when the new Commissioners are appointed. 353 354 Motion failed for lack of a second. 355 356 B. Application Deadline for Applying for Charter Commission. 357 1. October 31, 2013 358 Vice Chair Dahl noted that the deadline to submit applications to the Charter Commission is 359 October 31, 2013. 8 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 9 J60 361 Commissioner Gunderson stated that there are members with expiring terms and the decision to 362 appoint would be that of a judge. 363 364 C. 2012 Letter to the Judge (to be distributed at the meeting) 365 Vice Chair Dahl stated that she sent the letter to the judge electronically to the Commission the 366 previous night for review. 367 368 Commissioner Sutherland arrived. 369 370 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Sutherland, requesting that 371 an agenda item titled Chair's Report be added to the January agenda. 372 373 Motion passed unanimously. 374 375 MOTION by Commissioner Bretoi, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting that the letter 376 to the judge be approved and sent. 377 378 Motion passed unanimously. 379 380 D. Commissioner Gunderson's Concern over Total Number of Commissioners for the 81 Charter Commission 382 Commissioner Gunderson referenced State Statute 410.05 regarding Charter Commissions. She 383 noted that the Commission shall be composed of seven to 15 members who are voting members 384 of the City. She stated that there are very few Charter Commissions that have such a high 385 number of Commissioners, providing examples of other metro Charter Commissions composed 386 of seven or nine members. She was unsure of the proper manner in which the number of Charter 387 Commissioners could be lowered and whether a legal opinion should be gained. 388 389 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Timm, requesting to consult 390 with the League of Minnesota Cities in order to seek an opinion on the State Statute 410.05. 391 392 Further Discussion: Commissioner Trehus explained that it would require a Charter amendment 393 in order to change the number of Commissioners and noted that would be highly politicized and 394 did not believe the group should proceed with this action. 395 396 Commissioner Gunderson noted that seven terms are expiring and this would be the opportunity 397 to make the Commission smaller in order to better fit with the size of the city. 398 399 Commissioner Turcotte stated Lino Lakes has more to do than other Charter Commissions; 400 noting that this Charter Commission is one of the few that deals with road improvements and 401 other issues. ,-402 9 Charter Commission October 10, 2013 Page 10 403 Chair Lyden commented that he appreciates the input and perspective of each member of the 404 Commission and explained that the strength of the Commission is determined by the skillset of 405 the individuals. He believed that it is healthy for the community to have a broad base of people. 406 407 Commissioner Sutherland noted that the number of Commissioners is included in Article 1, 408 Section 4 of the Commission by-laws. 409 410 Commissioner Storberg stated that the Charter has been very helpful in keeping the voting power 411 with the people. She noted that there are always more applications than openings and it is 412 helpful to have the added perspectives. 413 414 Commissioner Turcotte stated that if you reduced the Charter Commission size it would be really 415 easy to vote the Charter out, noting the intent of some of the applicants. 416 417 Vice Chair Dahl stated that in her opinion the League of Minnesota Cities is not unbiased 418 because they work for the City and obtain information from the City as well. 419 420 Commissioner Trehus stated that he corresponded with the League of Minnesota Cities and the 421 response was quite frank in that the League represents municipalities and does not represent the 422 interest of Charter Commissions. He advised that if this moves forward it will move into the 423 next year, onto the new Commission members, and would require a Charter amendment. He did 424 not see the purpose. 425 426 Commissioner Gunderson called the question. 427 428 Motion passed unanimously. 429 430 Motion failed ayes 2 (Bretoi and Gunderson) - nays 9 431 432 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Bretoi, requesting to seek 433 the opinion of the Charter Commission Attorney in order to determine the legal path for 434 amending the size of the Charter Commission. 435 436 Motion failed ayes 5 (Gunderson, Sutherland, Timm, Bretoi, and Williams) — nays 6. 437 438 NEXT MEETING DATE 439 Vice Chair Dahl noted the next meeting date is Thursday, January 9, 2014. 440 441 Commissioner Penn noted that she is not reapplying for the Charter Commission. 442 443 ADJOURN 444 445 MOTION by Commissioner Turcotte, seconded by Commissioner Williams, to adjourn the 446 meeting at 8:50 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. 447 10