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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-13-2012 Council Meeting Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES August 13, 2012 APPROVED 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES 2 MINUTES 3 4 5 DATE : August 13,2012 6 TIME STARTED : 6:30 p.m. 7 TIME ENDED : 7:55 p.m. 8 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member O'Donnell, Rafferty, 9 Roeser, and Mayor Reinert 10 MEMBERS ABSENT : Council Member Stoesz 11 12 Staff members present: City Administrator Jeff Karlson; Community Development Director Michael 13 Grochala; Chief of Police John Swenson; City Engineer Jason Wedel; Environmental Coordinator 14 Marty Asleson; City Attorney Joe Langel; Public Services Director Rick DeGardner; Director of 15 Finance Al Rolek; and City Clerk Julie Bartell 16 17 PUBLIC COMMENT 18 19 Martha DeHaven, 1612 Birch Street, recommended that all members of the City Council should 20 participate in the upcoming Blue Heron Days Parade. She also offered thanks to city resident Ed 21 Hemauer who diligently works to clean up litter in the city. 22 23 Martha Slater, 7515 Patty Drive,noted her concern about recent road work on Lilac Street. The `''24 roadway has been left with a deep edge that is dangerous for pedestrians and bicyclists. The council 25 directed City Engineer Wedel to respond to Ms. Slater's concern. 26 27 SETTING THE AGENDA 28 29 The agenda was approved as presented. 30 31 SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 32 33 Lino Lakes Volunteers-in Public Service,Donation to Canine Fund—Police Chief Swenson 34 explained that the Lino Lakes Volunteers in Public Service (VIPS)program is donating $27,000 to 35 the fundraising effort underway to replace the retiring department canine, Recon. They have had 36 several events and he's happy to report that training for the new handler and dog will begin soon. He 37 introduced VIPS members present, Captain Andrew Bennett of the Police Reserve unit and Vince 38 Lechman with the Community Emergency Response Team(CERT), and noted the importance of the 39 city's partnership with the volunteer program. Mayor Reinert offered thanks for the donation and for 40 the great volunteerism in the city. 41 42 Appreciation for Civic Complex Landscaping Design and Installation—Public Services Director 43 DeGardner noted the landscaping work that has recently been completed at the civic complex. A 44 local garden club headed by Martha and John DeHaven offered much assistance in that work. 45 Especially noted was the assistance of Carl and Mary Schmuland who planned and designed the work. 1 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13,2012 APPROVED 46 The end product is beautiful. In appreciation the Mayor presented a plaque honoring the work; it will �47 be placed in front of City Hall. Mary Schmuland added that she saw this project as an opportunity to 48 give back to the community she loves. It was very rewarding and she offered thanks to city staff and 49 the city council for their involvement. 50 51 CONSENT AGENDA 52 53 Council Member Rafferty moved to approve the Consent Agenda except for expenditures related to a 54 rescue boat purchase by the Centennial Fire District that is referred to the next regular work session 55 for further discussion. Council Member Roeser seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice 56 vote. 57 58 ITEM ACTION 59 60 Consideration of Expenditures: 61 62 August13, 2012 (Check No. 93826- 63 93926, $320,298.40) Approved 64 65 Centennial Fire District(Check No. 5427- 66 5439, $27,369.93) Approved 67 68 Centennial Fire District(Check No. 5440- '— 69 5452, $29,329.05) Approved 70 71 July 23, 2012 Council Work Session Minutes Approved 72 73 July 23, 2012 City Council Meeting Minutes Approved 74 75 July 23,2012 Special Meeting Minutes- Approved 76 77 Application for Exempt Lawful Gambling 78 Permit for United Steelworkers, Local 264 Approved 79 80 Resolution No. 12-78, Special Event and Temporary 81 On-Sale Liquor permit for American Legion Post 566 82 Blue Heron Days Family Picnic Approved 83 84 Resolution No. 12-82, Special Event and Temporary 85 On-Sale Liquor permit for House District Republicans 86 All-American Pig Roast Approved 87 88 FINANCE DEPARTMENT REPORT 89 90 There was no report from the Finance Department. 2 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13,2012 APPROVED 91 92 ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT REPORT 93 94 3A, Council Proposed Charter Amendment, 95 i. 2nd Reading of Ordinance No. 05-12,Amending Chapter 8 of the Lino Lakes City 96 Charter; and 97 ii. Resolution No. 12-76, Calling for a Special Election on Proposed Charter 98 Amendment. 99 100 Community Development Director Grochala noted that the city council has proposed an amendment 101 to Chapter 8 of the City Charter and state law sets forth the process that is to be followed. The 102 council is proposing the amendment by ordinance to be sent for referendum. The amendment 103 ordinance was approved for first reading on-March 12, 2012. It is_presented for second reading 104 tonight; also presented is a resolution calling for an election on the amendment. 105 106 The amendment is based on an amendment proposed first by the Citizens Task Force in-2007. It has 107 been changed by striking the exempt zone language and by adding in a reverse referendum clause. 108 Under this amendment,property owners would still have the right to veto a project and citizens would 109 also have the right to petition for an election. 110 111 Council Member Roeser moved to waive full reading of the ordinance. Council Member O'Donnell 112 seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 13 114 Council Member O'Donnell moved to approve 2nd Reading of Ordinance No. 05-12 as presented. 115 Council Member Roeser seconded the motion. 116 117 The mayor offered comments on the proposed amendments. Only some cities in the state have 118 charters. The city's roads are usually first paid for by the developer of the land. When a road reaches 119 the time for reconstruction most cities move forward through their city government to get the 120 improvement done. It is usually paid for through bonding and everyone in.town contributes equally to 121 the payment. In Lino Lakes road reconstruction is done by a vote of the entire city. The costs are the 122 responsibility of both the people on the street and the whole city. The situation has been that only one 123 project has passed the voting stage. The council is proposing a change to the City Charter to_allow 124 improvements upon a vote of the people who live on the street and who will pay assessments. There 125 is language in the amendment that allows a city wide petition process to stop projects that just don't 126 make sense. He thinks the proposed process will be more equitable and fair. 127 128 Motion carried: Yeas,4;Nays none (Council Member Stoesz absent) 129 130 Community Development Director Grochala explained since the council has authorized that the 131 proposed charter amendment move forward to the ballot, it is appropriate to consider Resolution No. 132 12-76 that calls for a special election and establishes the ballot language. He read the ballot language 133 proposed for the record. The ordinance in its entirety will be available for public review. 134 3 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13, 2012 APPROVED 135 Council Member Roeser moved to approve Resolution No. 12-76 as presented. Council Member .36 Rafferty seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 137 138 3B,Resolution No. 12-80,Declining Submission of Proposed Charter Amendments for Election 139 -City Attorney Langel explained that the Charter Commission proposed two amendments in January 140 of this year. One amendment proposes a tax cap and the other would add to the duties and authority 141 of the Commission itself. 142 143 Mr. Langel explained that the city's bond counsel, Attorney Steve Bubul, reviewed the tax cap 144 amendment and indicated that the proposed language of that amendment was determined to be so 145 vague and ambiguous that it would not be possible to determine how a tax cap would be determined. 146 One portion of the language was found to contradict state-law. He added that the city council has no 147 authority to "fix" amendments submitted by the charter commission. The recommendation from bond 148 counsel is that the amendment should not be forwarded to the voters. 149 150 Mr. Langel then explained the second amendment regarding the authority of the Charter Commission. 151 It proposes new language and the problem that he sees with the language is that it attempts to grant 152 the commission authority that it does not have under state law. Nothing in the state constitution or 153 state statutes allows a charter commission to expand or modify its own authority as these amendments 154 would do. He reviewed the provisions of the amendment individually. It his opinion that the 155 proposed amendments are not appropriate to put before the voters and he recommends that the 156 council should not sent them forward. k 57 L158 Chris Lyden, 6275 Holly Drive West. Mr. Lyden noted that the Charter Commission gave the 159 amendments to the city in January. He wonders why they were added to the agenda late in the day 160 today. The Mayor noted that the meeting is public,the agenda is a public document and the matter 161 was also discussed at the work session held the previous Monday. Mr. Lyden noted that the attorney 162 opinions prepared on the amendments include: 1) a determination that a proposed amendment must 163 be illegal to be withheld from the ballot and levy limits are in place in other cities; 2) state law limits 164 statutory cities but not charter cities and further there is no state law that is violated by the proposed 165 amendments. The Mayor indicated that the four minute time limit had ended. 166 167 The Mayor noted that he has attended the Charter Commission meetings regularly and made himself 168 available through the review process. There are people on the commission that want to communicate 169 with council members but others on the commission won't allow it. 170 171 Mike Trehus, 675 Shadow Court, resident and a member of the Charter Commission. He believes the 172 city council has tried to hide that they would be rejecting the amendments. He is aware that the legal 173 opinions were mailed directly to council members to avoid public review. This was a sneak attack to 174 catch the Commission unaware. He believes that council members could have spoken at open mike 175 at the commission meetings and it wouldn't have been appropriate to discuss the matter otherwise if it 176 was not on the commission's agenda. Mr. Trehus noted on the amendment that the attorney's 177 suggestion that the commission is attempting to expand its own power is not correct; the commission 178 is going to the voters to request an expansion of powers. There is nothing in any of the amendments 4 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13, 2012 APPROVED 179 that is unconstitutional. He believes that the council is attempting to take away rights from the X180 people. 181 182 The Mayor suggested that there is a problem in the leadership of the Charter Commission. There are 183 many accusations and it is coming from a small group of members that also suppress the voice of 184 other members. He has been to the last six charter meetings and has seen it at work; he will continue 185 to attend those meetings seeking a better relationship. 186 187 Council Member Roeser noted that he spoke at open mike at a Charter Commission meeting and he 188 addressed the tax cap amendment. His record as a council member will speak to his work to reduce 189 taxes. The attorney opinions on the amendment speak clearly. The mayor and council will continue 190 to attend the charter meetings and offer to work together. 191 192 Council Member Rafferty suggested that there is frustration surrounding the discussion. He also has 193 attended Charter Commission meetings and has so because he felt there is important information 194 coming from the group and unfortunately the record (minutes) hasn't always been available. He 195 recognizes that having a charter is a good thing for a city and he very much wants to work together 196 with the commission. He also urged people to review how tax caps have worked in the three other 197 cities that have them in place. 198 199 Council Member O'Donnell noted that there's been much debate and discussion and that is the nature 200 of this matter. He will not support putting the amendment on the ballot. The city needs flexibility in '01 difficult financial times. He believes that fmancial decisions rest with the city's elected officials and if those decisions are not appropriate,the voters will make the necessary changes to their elected 203 officials. 204 205 Administrator Karlson addressed the issue of when the matter appeared on the council agenda. The 206 matter was on the agenda for the last work session(the previous Monday) and was discussed. The 207 bond attorney was present and fully discussed both amendments. The agenda for this meeting was 20g distributed at that meeting and-this item was not included until the council.approved it that evening; it 209 was released later on a revised agenda. He added that the commission representatives did receive a 210 copy of the recording of the work session as well as both-attorney opinions. 211 212 Council Member Roeser moved to approve Resolution No. 12-80-as presented. Council Member 213 O'Donnell seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 214 215 PUBLIC SAFETY DEPARTMENT REPORT 216 217 There was no report from the Public Safety Department. 218 219 PUBLIC SERVICES DEPARTMENT REPORT 220 221 There was no report from the Public Services Department. 222 23 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REPORT 5 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13, 2012 APPROVED 224 .225 6A,Motion to Postpone Consideration of Resolution No. 12-59, Establishing Cartway— 226 Community Development Director Grochala recalled that the council has previously held a public 227 hearing on this petition. Staff is in the process of reviewing certain information and is requesting that 228 this matter be postponed to September 10. 229 230 Council Member Rafferty moved to postpone consideration of Resolution No. 12-59 to September 10. 231 2012. Council Member Roeser seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 232 233 6B,Resolution No. 12-79,Accepting Anoka County Recycling Grant—Environmental 234 Coordinator Asleson explained efforts currently underway to expand the city's recycling efforts, 235 under the guidance of the Lino Lakes Environmental Board. Expansion efforts in the area of 236 commerce and industry are underway. A grant has been approved through Anoka County that will be 237 used to expand the city's recycling efforts through public education, additional recycling containers 238 and opportunities and a monthly recycling day modeled after the yearly event already held in the city. 239 240 Council Member Roeser noted that the expanded efforts will help the city meet it's recycling goals, 241 maintain Anoka County funds and also bring a voluntary program to our city businesses that should 242 expand recycling as well as raise funds for recreation. 243 244 Council Member Roeser moved to approve Resolution No. 12-79 as presented. Council Member 245 Rafferty seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 46 47 6C,Resolution No. 12-81,Accepting Quotes and Awarding a Striping Contract for the 2012 248 Seal Coat Project—City Engineer Wedel indicated that this year's Seal Coating Program is 249 underway but part of finalizing the project is striping. The city received quotes for the work that 250 have been presented this evening. Mr. Wedel clarified that the striping element is included in the 251 project budget but is contracted separately because it is less expensive than having the contractor 252 subcontract the work. 253 254 Council Member Rafferty moved to approve Resolution No. 12-81 as presented. Council Member 255 O'Donnell seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 256 257 UNFINISHED BUSINESS 258 There was no Unfinished Business. 259 260 NEW BUSINESS 261 There was no New Business. 262 263 COMMUNITY CALENDAR 264 265 Community Calendar—A Look Ahead 266 August 13,2012 through August 27,2012 267 Ili, Monday,August 27 5:30 pm,Community Room Council Work Session L.,68 141, Monday,August 27 6:30 pm,Council Chambers City Council Meeting 6 COUNCIL MINUTES August 13, 2012 APPROVED 269 270 COMMUNITY EVENTS 271 272 August 17, 18, 19—Blue Heron Days - Events scheduled for this year's festival include the Lake 273 Drive grand day Parade on Saturday, a 5K Run sponsored by the Chain of Lakes Rotary, city 274 ambassador program with coronation ceremony, a petting zoo sponsored by the Lino Lakes Lions, 275 police and fire department open houses, Magic Bounce inflatables, a business expo, a Splash and 276 Dash at the Chain of Lakes YMCA and family movie night. Many of the activities for this year's 277 festival will occur in the city's own Lino Park. 278 279 YMCA Farmer's Market—Held every Thursday(through September), 3:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the 280 Community Green area. 281 282 ADJOURN 283 284 There being no further business, Council Member Rafferty moved to adjourn at 7:55 p.m. Council 285 Member Roeser seconded the motion. Motion carried on a voice vote. 286 287 These minutes were considered and approved at the regular Counc. ■ -ting,Au_ st 27, 2012. 288 /289 290 e Bartell, City 1 lerk Jeff ei ert, ayor 293 7