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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-17-2008 Charter PacketLINO LAKES CHARTER COMMJSSION AGENDA Thursday, July 17, 2008 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 6:30 PM 2. Pledge of Allegiance 6:32 PM 3. Approval of Agenda 6.33 PM 4. Open Mike 6:34 PM 5. Approval of Minutes: 6:34 PM June 18, 2008 6. Old Business A. Update on Charter Exempt Zones 6:35 PM B. Ballot Measure 7:15 PM C. Communication Plan 9.00 PM D. Statement of detailed expenses incurred up to July 2008 . And Charter Budget Balance (Al Rolek) Read Only 7. New Business A. Next meeting date to be decided B. Set next meeting agenda Adjourn 9:30 PM 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 Charter Commission Meeting June 18, 2008 DRAFT Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING DATE TIME STARTED TIME ENDED MEMBERS PRESENT MEMBERS EXCUSED MEMBERS UNEXCUSED STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT CITIZENS PRESENT : June 18, 2008 . 6:39 P.M. . 9:50 P.M. : Bretoi, Carlson, Dahl, Duffy, Gunderson, Lyden, Minar, Storberg, Trehus, Williams, Zastrow : Aldentaler, Drennen, Stockman Maher, Vacha : None : None : Bob Bening, 6788 East Shadow Lake Dr; Jerry Poehling, 6790 West Shadow Lake Dr; Joe Stranek, 6324 Deerwood Ln, EDAC; Peter Brown, 6897 Black Duck Dr, Task Force Member; Laura Carlson, 585 Ash St, Task Force Member; Deb Barnes, The Citizen (press) CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Duffy called the meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 6:38 p.m. on June 18, 2008. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE OPEN MIKE Bob Bening asked Chair Duffy about e-mails and if any had been deleted. Chair Duffy responded that perhaps a few from City Clerk Julie Bartell have been deleted but others have not. Chair Duffy asked Mr. Bening if there was something he was interested in and his response was "no." Jerry Poehling, Joe Stranek, Peter Brown, Laura Carlson and Deb Barnes. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Zastrow, to approve the minutes of May 22, 2008. Motion carried with Commissioner Trehus abstaining. OLD BUSINESS A. Potential Charter Amendment Changes 1 Charter Commission Meeting June 18, 2008 DRAFT Page 2 44 45 Commissioner Trehus summary: Initiate project 25%, Oppose project 51% is in current Charter. 46 His proposal is 25% or whichever is greater. Commissioner Trehus also proposed utilizing 47 ranked ballots when tabulating neighborhood preferences. 48 49 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus to consider adopting the two proposals. Commission Lyden 50 seconded for discussion. Storberg calls the question: Motion fails with Trehus voting yes; 51 Lyden, Bretoi abstaining, all other commissioners voting no. 52 53 B. Previously Discussed Amendment Changes 54 55 Commercial Zone 56 57 Fourteen owner occupied properties in this area and can opt out of assessments where as no other 58 property can. Discussion about how eliminating this exempt zone would affect the property 59 owners. 60 61 Mike Trehus and Harry Carlson agreed to talk with Mike Grochala to have further questions 62 answered. If he cannot answer them, we may want to refer the questions to our attorney. 63 64 Cap on Petition Signatures 65 66 Commissioner Dahl is in favor of having a cap of 500 signatures for the petitioning process. 67 Proposed amendment by Charter commission is at 12%. Commissioner Carlson against this - 68 against any changes to our amendment now. Commissioner Lyden agrees with the 500 and not 69 to exceed 500 signatures. Commissioners Trehus and Zastrow do not want to eliminate the 70 referendum. 71 72 Commissioners Gunderson and Bretoi agree that to petition against is harder than to petition for 73 things. 74 75 Commissioner Carlson thought that if a maximum is established, shouldn't a minimum also be 76 set? 77 78 It was suggested to see if the City Council would be willing to remove Charter Exempt Zone 3 by 79 ordinance. 80 81 Commissioner Trehus motions that we further consider cap on petition signatures, Commissioner 82 Dahl seconded. Commissioner Storberg called the question: In favor five, Trehus, Dahl, Lyden, 83 Bretoi, Zastrow. Opposed Duffy, Carlson, Gunderson, Minar, Storberg. Motion fails. 84 85 Commissioner Carlson excused at 8:57 p.m. 86 2 Charter Commission Meeting June 18, 2008 DRAFT Page 3 87 Ballot Measure 88 89 Discussion about the option to put the Charter Commission amendment on the ballot. It is not 90 clear if the questions would be worded in which voters would have to choose only one option. 91 Anoka County would prefer to keep the questions simple but the city has control over their 92 question language, but not that of the Commission. 93 94 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson to abandon the Charter amendment, seconded by 95 Commissioner Minar. Question called by Commissioner Storberg. Motion fails. Minar, 96 Storberg and Gunderson voted yes, with Bretoi, Dahl, Duffy, Lyden, Trehus and Zastrow voted 97 no. 98 99 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg to vote at the July 17th meeting in person or by proxy to 100 put the Commission amendment on the ballot. Motion withdrawn after it was noted that By - 101 Laws do not support proxy voting. 102 103 Commissioner Lyden stated to forward our amendment to the council to approve or deny as an 104 ordinance. 105 106 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus to limit further recommendations to amendment but later 107 withdrawn. 108 109 MOTION by Commission Dahl to table Communication Plan until July 17th meeting, seconded 110 by Bretoi. Motion passed. 111 112 NEW BUSINESS 113 114 Set July 17, 2008 Meeting Agenda. Chair Duffy set the following agenda for the July 17, 2008 115 Charter Commission Meeting: 116 117 Commercial Zone 118 Ballot Measure Vote 119 Communication Plan 120 Vote on How to Proceed 121 122 ADJOURN 123 124 No quorum for motion to adjourn. 125 126 Respectfully Submitted, 127 128 Caroline Dahl \.. 129 Charter Commission Member/Vice Chair/ Acting Secretary MEMORANDUM DATE: July 7, 2008 TO: Mike Trehus, Charter Commission FROM: Michael Grochala, Community Development Director RE: Response to Questions Below are my responses to the questions contained in your June 24, 2008 e-mail. My response is underlined and in bold. 1) If the City's most recent Charter amendment proposal were to be adopted and the exempt zones and their opt -out rights removed, would the residences who currently have sewer available but aren't hooked up yet then become subject to assessment for those existing utilities? In other words, would these properties be assessed retroactively once the charter change took effect, or would they grandfathered in, and wouldn't pay any money until the time of the hookup? The amendment proposal has no effect on the residences who already have utilities available. As with properties outside the charter exempt areas not previously assessed, a connection charge would be collected at the time of hook 2) If the exempt zones are removed, could the assessment amount and/or hookup charges for any future project(s) be any different for any of the properties currently in any of the exempt zones than how those properties would be treated if the exempt zones remain? No. Whether you are in or out of the exempt zone does not have an impact on the assessment amount or hook-up fee. The assessment amount or hook up fee may vary based on the project costs and the benefit received. The hook-up charge is increased annually to compensate for inflation and construction cost increase. This cost is applied uniformly to both exempt and non exempt properties. J:\Charter\Response to Charter Questions.dot 3) Over the past 16 years, some of these residential properties have been protected by the opt -out clause while the ownership, land use, and makeup of their neighborhoods has changed, in part due to non-residential zoning. Would removing the exempt zones and opt -out rights suddenly leave these property owners susceptible to expenses they might otherwise be protected from? Beyond this, do you see any way they might be harmed if the zones are eliminated? Is there any way a similar susceptibility could come about affecting any of the other properties in any exempt zone? Under the existing charter provisions an individual, owner occupied, single family residential unit within the charter exempt areas can opt out. Under the proposed amendment all property owners city wide are treated equally. If the exempt zones are eliminated than they could not opt -out individually, but rather would be subject to the decision of the majority of property owners within a specific project area. 4) What might be the impact to the property values of the lots that would lose the opt -out rights (if any)? Additionally, could removing the exempt zones affect the property values of any of the properties in these 3 zones? No. The charter provision does not have any apparent relationship to property values. We sent this question and the proposed amendment to Mike Sutherland, Anoka County Assessor. His response was that the proposed amendment would not cause them to automatically adjust any property values. Property values are based on the market place, indicated by records of property sales. 5) In all 3 zones, could changing the rules governing assessable projects as is being proposed give any of those owners legitimate grounds to sue the city for damages (or incurred costs)? No. What would the damages be? Assessments, as governed by state law, are based on the special benefit received as a result of the project. 6) The Commission is looking for "before and after pictures" of how the proposed changes would/could affect these properties. Is there anything else you can provide to help accomplish this? As noted in question no. 3, the only difference is that these properties would be subject to the same requirements as everyone else in the city. They could not opt -out individually, but rather would be subject to the decision of the majority of property owners within a specific project area. Please feel free to contact me with questions at (651) 982-2427. J:\Charter\Response to Charter Questions.dot Page 2 of 3 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL lair Duffy called the meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 6:38 p.m. on June 18, 2008. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE OPEN MIKE: Bob Bening asked Chair Duffy about e-mails and if any had been deleted. Chair Duffy responded that perhaps a few from City Clerk Julie Bartell have been deleted but others have not. Chair Duffy asked Mr. Bening if there was something he was interested in and his response was "no". Jerry Poehling, Joe Stranek, Peter Brown, Laura Carlson and Deb Barnes. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Zastrow, to approved the minutes of May 22, 2008. Motion carries with Commissioner Trehus abstaining. OLD BUSINESS A. Potential Charter Amendment Changes Commissioner Trehus summary: Initiate project 25%, Oppose project 51% is in current Charter. His proposal is 25% or whichever is greater. Commissioner Trehus also proposed utilizing ranked ballots when tabulating neighborhood preferences. LOTION by Commissioner Trehus to consider adopting the two proposals. Commission Lyden seconded for discussion. Storberg calls the question: Motion fails with Trehus voting yes; Lyden, Bretoi abstaining, all other commissioners voting no. B. Previously Discussed Amendment Changes Commercial Zone Fourteen owner occupied properties in this area and can opt out of assessments where as no other property can. Discussion about how eliminating this exempt zone would affect the property owners. Mike Trehus and Harry Carlson agreed to talk with Mike Grochala to have further questions answered. If he cannot answer them, we may want to refer the questions to our attorney. Cap on Petition Signatures Commissioner Dahl is in favor of having a cap of 500 signatures for the petitioning process. Proposed amendment by Charter commission is at 12%. Commissioner Carlson against this - against any changes to our amendment now. Commissioner Lyden agrees with the 500 and not to exceed 500 signatures. Commissioners Trehus and Zastrow do not want to eliminate the referendum. Commissioners Gunderson and Bretoi agree that to petition against is harder than to petition for things. Commissioner Carlson thought that if a maximum is established, shouldn't a minimum also be set? It was suggested to see if the City Council would be willing to remove Charter Exempt Zone 3 by ordinance. Commissioner Trehus motions that we further consider cap on petition signatures, Commissioner Dahl seconded. Commissioner Storberg called the question: In favor five, Trehus, Dahl, Lyden, Bretoi, Zastrow. Opposed Duffy, Carlson, Gunderson, Minar, Storberg. Motion fails. 7/2/2008 Page 3 of 3 Commissioner Carlson excused at 8:57 p.m. allot Measure Discussion about the option to put the Charter Commission amendment on the ballot. It is not clear if the questions would be worded in which voters would have to choose only one option. Anoka County would prefer to keep the questions simple but the city has control over their question language, but not that of the Commission. MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson to abandon the Charter amendment. Seconded by Commissioner Minar. Question called by Commissioner Storberg. Motion fails. Minar, Storberg and Gunderson voted yes, with Bretoi, Dahl, Duffy, Lyden, Trehus and Zastrow voting no. MOTION by Commissioner Storberg to vote at the July 17th meeting in person or by proxy to put the Commission amendment on the ballot. Motion withdrawn after it was noted that By -Laws do not support proxy voting. Commissioner Lyden stated to forward our amendment to the council to approve or deny as an ordinance. MOTION by Commissioner Trehus to limit further recommendations to amendment but later Withdrawn. MOTION by Commission Dahl to table Communication Plan until July 17th meeting. Seconded by Bretoi. Motion passes. _ 1EW BUSINESS SET JULY 17, 2008 MEETING AGENDA Chair Duffy set the following agenda for the July 17, 2008 Charter Commission Meeting: Commercial Zone Ballot measure vote Communication Plan Vote on how to proceed ADJOURN No Quorum for motion to adjourn. Respectfully Submitted, Caroline Dahl Charter Commission Member/Vice Chair/Acting Secretary was prices getting you down? Search AOL Autos for fuel-efficient used cars. 7/2/2008