Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-28-2011 Charter Packet1 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 January 13, 2011 Page 1 DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS EXCUSED MEMBERS UNEXCUSED STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT OTHERS PRESENT: FINAL DRAFT CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION January 13, 2011 6:35 P.M. 9:30 P.M. Lyden, Gunderson, Aldentaler, Bretoi, Carlson (arrives at 6:40), Drennen, , Penn, Storberg, Sutherland, Trehus (arrives at 6:39), Turcotte, Williams Dahl, Minar, Zastrow None None Dean Hausladen CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Vice Chair Lyden called to order the meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission at 6:35 pm on January 13, 2011. OPEN MIC No one spoke during the "open mic" portion of the meeting. SETTING THE AGENDA MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland to strike item 6A from the agenda. There is no second to the motion. MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Drennen, to table agenda item 6A. Motion passes unanimously. Commissioners Trehus and Carlson arrive at 6:40pm. MOTION by Commissioner Bretoi, seconded by Turcotte to accept the agenda as amended. Motion passes unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES For the minutes for the meeting of October 14, 2010, Commissioner Bretoi is not listed as present. MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Sutherland, to accept the October 14, 2010 minutes as amended. Motion passes with Commissioner Trehus voting no. Commissioner Gunderson explains the highlighted areas on the minutes for the July 2010 joint meeting and will be making those changes. 1 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 2 46 47 MOTION by Commissioner Drennen, seconded by Turcotte, to accept the minutes from the July 48 8, 2010 joint Commission/Council meeting. Motion passes unanimously. 49 50 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Drennen, to accept the minutes of the July 51 8, 2010 Commission meeting. Motion passes with Commissioner Trehus abstaining. 52 53 OLD BUSINESS 54 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Penn, to rescind the past motion to table 55 6A. Motion passes unanimously. 56 57 A. Charter Amendments/Karen Marty 58 Commissioner Trehus stated that the Commission's attorney worked on two amendments of the 59 four possible amendments the Commission is considering. 60 61 The first amendment is on Section 1.04, setting the powers the Commission in the Charter. 62 Commissioner Trehus presented to the commission is the language drafted by Ms. Marty with 63 her comments. 64 65 The second amendment Ms. Marty worked on was the "Tax Cap" amendment, setting forth 66 similar language to current state statute that limit levy increases. The state statute has a proposed 67 end date of 2012. Commissioner Trehus states that more investigation is still needed for this 68 amendment and to be planned out to best used the limited budget allowed for 2011. 69 70 Commissioner Trehus then reviewed the other amendments discussed in previous meetings. 71 72 Commissioner Gunderson asked how much of the remaining 2010 funds were used for Ms. 73 Marty on the two amendments. Commissioner Trehus stated that all the 2010 funds, $1,500, 74 were exhausted on just the two amendments. A majority of it was the "tax cap" amendment. 75 76 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Drennen, to recommit the 77 "tax cap" amendment to subcommittee for further work. 78 79 Commissioner Drennen stated the subcommittee would then report at the next meeting in April. 80 81 Motion passes unanimously. 82 83 Discussion then went back to Section 1.04. Commissioner Trehus stated his belief that language 84 Ms. Marty drafted by is missing the ability of the Commission to comment on amendments 85 agreed upon by the Commission. 86 87 Commissioner Drennen believed it is not needed. Commissioner Gunderson stated that the 88 proposed language would limit the Commission's ability to comment or respond to only negative 89 information put forward by any group or individual. 90 2 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 3 91 Commissioner Gunderson states that the amendment does not require the Commission to 92 comment on an amendment to the Charter. 93 94 Commissioner Drennen concurs with Commissioner Gunderson and states the language should 95 be changed to "any change" of the Charter. 96 97 MOTION by Commissioner Penn, seconded by Commissioner Bretoi, to refer back to 98 subcommittee the language of Section 1.04 amendment to further clarify the scope of our ability 99 to comment on amendments. 100 101 Commissioner Sutherland offers a friendly amendment to have the subcommittee also work on 102 ballot language needed for proposing Section 1.04 amendment. 103 104 Motion passes unanimously. 105 106 Commissioner Sutherland asks who is on the subcommittee. Chair Dahl, Commissioner 107 Drennen and Commissioner Trehus are on the subcommittee. 108 109 B Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest 110 111 Commissioner Gunderson states that this agenda item was tabled from the October meeting. 112 113 Commissioner Sutherland stated that the Council drafted language updating the city code 114 regarding conduct and conflicts of interest for the council and all boards and recommends no 115 further action from the Commission. 116 117 Commissioner Turcotte stated the City Council recently voted on and passed the updated 118 language. 119 120 Commissioner Gunderson asked if the new language covers all boards and commissions. 121 Commissioner Sutherland stated it does. 122 123 Commissioner Sutherland requests a recess to allow Commissioner Gunderson to research the 124 new language. After reconvening at 7:42pm, Commissioner Gunderson reads the amendment to 125 the city code to the Commission. 126 127 The Commission agrees that the issue is resolved. 128 129 NEW BUSINESS 130 131 A. Charter Contract with Karen Marty, expenses incurred 132 Chair Dahl initiated this agenda item for discussion with the Commission. Because Chair Dahl .--%133 was unavoidably unable to attend the meeting, Commissioner Gunderson related to the 134 commission the conversation she had with Chair Dahl. The contract of retaining the legal 135 services of Ms. Karen Marty is between the attorney and the Charter Commission, not the City. Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 4 136 Therefore, the Chair made the executive decision to delay the letter being sent to Ms. Marty 137 regarding the outstanding balance still owed to Ms. Marty. 138 139 Commissioner Sutherland stated that an action was made at the last meeting and that the letter 140 should have been written and sent. Also suggested that the contract should be reviewed. 141 142 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Gunderson to continue discussion on the item 143 and add to agenda for the next meeting. 144 145 Commissioner Carlson supports the decision of the Chair to delay the letter to come back to the 146 Commission for further discussion. He would like the item to stay on the agenda as old business. 147 148 After further discussion, Commissioner Trehus retracts his motion. 149 150 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland to rescind the motion listed in lines 186 —189 of the 151 minutes for the October 10, 2010 meeting that moved to draft a letter to Ms. Marty. 152 153 Motion passes unanimously. 154 155 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, to postpone 156 indefinitely lines 179 —180 of the minutes of the October 10, 2010 meeting, postponing the 157 discussion of the unpaid bill from Ms. Karen Marty. 158 159 Commissioner Drennen supports the motion due to new information coming to the Commission. 160 161 Commissioner Gunderson concurs, stating the motion is viewed as "housekeeping" for the 162 Commission. 163 164 Motion passes unanimously. 165 166 Commissioner Trehus brings back his motion to continue discussion on item and add to agenda 167 for the next commission meeting. 168 169 Commissioner Penn questions how does the Commission clarify the ability of the Commission to 170 enter into a contract or agreement. 171 172 Commissioner Drennen states the Commission has a right to enter into a contract for outside 173 counsel. 174 175 Commissioner Sutherland asked who signed the contract with Ms. Marty for the Commission. 176 177 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she believes Chair Dahl's intent was to discuss the contract 178 and inform those members who were not on the Commission at the time. She also asked if the 179 Commission voted on entering the contract. 180 4 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 5 181 Commissioner Carlson stated that Cori Duffy was Chair at the time of the signing of the contract. 182 The contract was discussed at many meetings and that three attorneys were considered. 183 184 Motion passes, Commissioner Sutherland abstained. 185 186 Commissioner Sutherland asked for a copy of the contract to be brought to the next meeting. 187 Commissioner Gunderson stated she will discuss that request with the Chair. 188 189 190 B. Discussion of joint council meeting tabled from October 14, 2010 191 192 Commissioner Penn asked if the agenda item includes discussion of a joint task force. 193 Commissioner Sutherland clarified the last agenda had further discuss points about this item. 194 195 Commissioner Gunderson read the section of the minutes of the October and that there was great 196 confusion of at that point of the meeting. 197 198 Commissioner Storberg stated that she made a motion and the motion failed. Commissioner 199 Gunderson stated that action was then to table the item. 200 ^� 201 MOTION by Commissioner Drennen, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to table the agenda 202 item to the next Commission meeting. 203 204 Commissioner Turcotte asked if the discussion should be continued if the Commission does not 205 have any funds to work on it. 206 207 Commissioner Lyden referred to lines 93 — 96 of the minutes of the November 10, 2010 City 208 Council work session about the budget for the Charter Commission. 209 210 Commissioner Sutherland asked who would lead the discussion of the agenda item. She did not 211 feel there is any new information to discuss. 212 213 Commissioner Gunderson believes that Chair wanted to discuss the City Council work session 214 mentioned and make sure that each Commissioner had a chance to discuss. 215 216 Commissioner Penn supports the apparent point of view of the Chair. 217 218 Commissioner Gunderson calls the question. 219 220 Motion passes with Commissioner Sutherland voting no. 221 222 C. Memo from City Council on Odd Year Election (tabled from October 10,2010) 223 224 Commissioner Gunderson stated that the Chair wanted to speak on this issue. Commissioner 225 Gunderson stated that the memo is informing the Commission of a proposal from 5 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 6 226 Councilmember Roeser to move the city elections to even -years, when general State and Federal 227 elections take place, in order to save the city money. 228 229 Commissioner Gunderson states the dollar figures of believed cost -savings is not listed on the 230 memo. Commissioner Turcotte said he found the estimated dollar amount of $14,000, a bi- 231 yearly expense. Commissioner Trehus stated the actual amount is about $8,800 or less. 232 233 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Gunderson for purposes of further 234 discussion only, to refer this item to committee for further review to draft language for an 235 amendment. 236 237 Commissioner Trehus stated that before the item is given to a subcommittee, the Commission 238 needs to decide if it is in agreement with the proposal. 239 240 Commissioner Sutherland asks the Commission to vote to withdraw the motion. Commissioner 241 Gunderson states a vote is not needed. Commissioner Sutherland stated she believes it is needed. 242 243 Motion is withdrawn via unanimous vote of the Commission. 244 245 Commissioner Storberg stated her opinion of agreement of moving city elections to even -years. 246 247 Commissioner Trehus is not in support of the proposal and stated Mayor Reinert is also in 248 opposition. The attention city elections receive in odd -year elections is a service to the citizens. 249 The cost savings is not worth the effort of moving the elections. Commissioners Gunderson, 250 Carlson, Drennen concur. 251 252 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, that the 253 Commission draft a response to the City Council that the Commission concurs with the 254 sentiments stated in lines 37 — 41 from the October 4, 2010 work session of the City Council. 255 256 Motion passes unanimously. 257 258 D. Meetings per year of the Commission — By laws, Article 3, Section 1 259 260 Commissioner Gunderson read the section of the Commission by laws of how often the 261 Commission meets each year. After that, Commissioner Gunderson discussed the possibility of 262 adding more meetings each year, having a meeting every other month. The reasons given for this 263 include that the past several meetings have run long, agenda items are being tabled in order to 264 end meetings late in the evening and it is believed that with 15 Commissioners, some 265 commissioners may not be getting a fair amount of time to discuss items. Commissioner 266 Gunderson asked for discussion to include the opinion of Commissioners on meeting more often. 267 268 Commissioner Drennen believes that if Commissioners self -police discussions, stay on topic and 269 if meetings are run more efficiently, more meetings would not be needed. Commissioner 6 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 7 270 Sutherland concurs and added that the Commission has the ability to call special meeting when 271 needed. 272 273 Commissioner Turcotte believes that the last three meetings are running long because of 274 discussions about Roberts Rules of Order procedures. 275 276 Commissioner Trehus concurs with Commissioner Turcotte and also states that the past three 277 meetings have been irregularly different than past history. 278 279 Commissioner Sutherland stated that her discussion about Roberts Rules of Order lead to a long 280 debate at the last meeting. 281 282 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg, seconded by Commissioner Penn, to call for roll call vote 283 on whether to have more regular meetings per year. Commissioner Sutherland states that the roll 284 call motion is non -debatable and the motion to call for a roll call does not need to be passed. The 285 action is then taken. 286 287 Voting yes: Aldentaler, Gunderson. Voting no: Sutherland, Penn, Storberg, Williams, Carlson, 288 Lyden, Trehus, Drennen. No opinion: Turcotte. 289 ?--"N 290 Commissioner Gunderson stated for the record the roll call vote is the opinion of Commissioners 291 present, that there are Commissioners absent. 292 293 The results are 2 Yes, 8 No and 1 No opinion. 294 295 Commissioner Turcotte asked to further discuss the issue. 296 297 Commissioner Sutherland said that the call for a roll call vote kills debate on the issue. 298 Commission Trehus states that he believes that correct, but objects to the end of discussion in a 299 procedural move of one Commissioner. More research is needed on Roberts Rules of Order for 300 the Commission to all have the same knowledge. 301 302 Commissioner Penn stated she believed her seconding was for discussion. 303 304 Commissioner Storberg stated she understood that the roll call vote would end discussion. If the 305 majority of Commissioners were not open to the idea of more meetings, then discussion of the 306 topic should end. She also concurs with Commissioner Trehus that the Commission is currently 307 handling more issues than in the past. She concurs with Commissioner Sutherland that if needed, 308 special meetings could be called. 309 310 Commissioner Turcotte states that agendas for future meetings should be shortened or special 311 meetings should be called. 312 313 Commissioner Trehus states that in this case, no harm was done. But he is worried that in the 314 future, discussion on an agenda item could be ended before all information is presented. 7 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 8 315 316 Commissioner Gunderson recommends to the Vice -Chair that the meeting move on to 317 318 E. Roberts Rules of Order 319 320 Commissioner Sutherland discussed the handout on Roberts Rules of Order (RRO). Many 321 powers are given through RRO including setting a firm adjournment time for a meeting and 322 having all business not completed then moved to the agenda for the next meeting. She also points 323 out a tri -fold laminated sheet explaining procedures of RRO. She stated that in the past the 324 League of Minnesota Cities has offered classes on RRO and would hope that the Commission 325 would consider having the LMC present a class in a future meeting. Commissioner Sutherland 326 further states that it is the responsibility of all Commissioners to learn the procedures of RRO to 327 make sure meetings are run more effectively. 328 329 Commissioner Sutherland also refers to a grid of Common Motions of RRO. 330 331 Vice -Chair Lyden states that in order to use RRO, the Commission needs to be in agreement of 332 how to use them and keep it simple. Commissioner Penn agrees, but also productive and not 333 suppress discussion. 334 335 Commissioner Drennen stated that RRO does have procedures to undue abuses, but also if any 336 Commissioner repeatedly abuses RRO, the Commission could have that Commissioner censored 337 or pulled off-line. 338 339 Commissioner Sutherland explained that "point of information" can be used at anytime and can 340 be used to interrupt debate. But it must be directed to the Chair and used with decorum. 341 Commissioner Gunderson concurs, but states that are different opinions of how to use RRO. 342 343 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to have the League 344 of Minnesota Cities present a class of Roberts Rules of Order to the Commission at either the 345 next Commission meeting or at a special meeting called by the Chair and two commissioners. 346 347 Commissioner Trehus asked if there was a cost associated with that class, and offers a friendly 348 amendment that the training or information must be provided by LMC at no cost. 349 350 Commissioner Gunderson accepts the friendly amendment and offered to investigate what is 351 offered by the LMC for RRO training and at what cost. 352 353 Commissioner Sutherland declares that acceptance of friendly amendment needs to be voted on 354 by the Commission. Commissioner Gunderson states that she believes it does not need a vote if 355 the motion -maker accepts the amendment and state that motion "as amended." 356 357 The amendment to the motion is passed unanimously. 358 359 The motion passes with Commissioner Storberg voting no. 8 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 �-� Page 9 360 361 F. Next meeting date: Thursday, April 14, 2011 362 363 It is clarified that the July meeting of the Charter Commission does not interfere with the 364 Independence holiday. 365 366 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she would ask the City Clerk to provide us with new 367 calendars for 2011 Charter Commission meetings as well as City Council work sessions and 368 meetings. 369 370 371 ADJOURN 372 MOTION by Commissioner Drennen, seconded by Commissioner Williams, to adjourn the 373 meeting at 9:30pm. Motion carried unanimously. 374 375 Respectfully Submitted, 376 377 Kelly Gunderson 378 Secretary 9