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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-06-2007 MinutesCharter Commission September 6, 2007 Page 1 1 2 3 4 5 DATE 6 TIME STARTED 7 TIME ENDED 8 MEMBERS PRESENT 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 MEMBERS EXCUSED MEMBERS UNEXCUSED STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT APPROVED CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION : September 6, 2007 . 6:37 P.M. : 10:02 P.M. Dahl, Aldentaler, Trehus (arrived at 6:42 p.m.), Handrick, Bening, Duffy, Richard Williams, Rosemary Williams, Storberg, Stockman Maher (arrived at 6:48 p.m.), and Carlson : Zastrow, Vacha, Bor, : Montain : None CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Duffy called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 6:30 p.m. on September 6, 2007. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE APPROVAL OF AGENDA Amended agenda suggested. Add 7B under New Business to discuss bylaws relating to Commissioners absent from meetings. It was suggested that discussion on this be moved to a future meeting. Commissioner Trehus arrived at 6:42 p.m. MOTION by Commissioner Bening, seconded by Commissioner Dahl, to adopt the amended agenda. Motion carried unanimously. OPEN MIKE No one was present for open microphone. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. August 23, 2007 — Chair Duffy stated on page 3, paragraph five, and on page 4, paragraph one the correct spelling for the attorney names are Karen Marty and Dan Schleck. On page 4, paragraph 7, the highlighting can be removed from the bullet points. 1 Charter Commission September 6, 2007 Page 2 APPROVED 45 MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Richard Williams, to approve 46 the August 23, 2007, Charter Commission meeting minutes. Motion carried 8-0-3. Abstain: 47 Commissioners Bening, Storberg and Handrick. 48 49 OLD BUSINESS 50 51 A. Attorney for Hire — Commissioner Dahl stated Melissa sent an email to Daniel Schleck, and 52 just received a reply. 53 54 Commissioner Stockman Maher arrived at 6:48 p.m. 55 56 Commissioner Dahl continued that Daniel Schleck proposed $5,250 to review the charter 57 thoroughly. This includes an estimated 10 hours for review of proposed amendment, assume 58 one meeting plus travel for six hours, revamp with Commissions input, prepare report with 59 initial changes and respond to additional phone calls. She reported that she called Karen 60 Marty and after not receiving an answer sent an email. She stated that with discussion 61 included Chapter 8, bullet points and other items to create an estimate. She commented that 62 Karen Marty's estimate was for $1,200 to cover no more than two meetings, and only 63 Chapter 8. She also mentioned that a few months ago she received an estimate of $3,000 64 from Bill Dorn on highway 65. 65 66 Chair Duffy questioned if the Commission would like $5,250 requested from the Council for 67 the hiring of the attorney. The Commission was in agreement to make this request. 68 69 Commissioner Trehus suggested increasing the request by $1,000 for printing costs. The 70 Commission discussed asking for separate funds for printing. It was discussed that the 71 printing costs can be returned if the amendment is not approved. 72 73 MOTION by Chair Duffy, seconded by Commissioner Stockman Maher, to present City 74 Council with a request for funding in the amount of $5,250 to cover legal expenses. Motion 75 carried unanimously. 76 77 Commissioner Dahl asked if the funding request will be presented at next Monday's Council 78 meeting. Chair Duffy stated that she plans to attempt this. 79 80 Commissioner Stockman Maher stated she met with Daniel Schleck of Schleck and 81 Associates this morning. She stated that he was referred as a municipal person. She stated 82 that he was very knowledgeable. Commissioner Dahl stated that Karen Marty of Marty Law 83 Firm, LLC, has experience in house and with City government for 26 years. 84 85 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg, seconded by Commissioner Stockman Maher to retain 86 the legal services of Karen Marty. Motion carried unanimously. 87 88 Discussion was to have an alternate attorney selected if Karen Marty is not available. 2 Charter Commission September 6, 2007 Page 3 APPROVED 89 90 MOTION by Commissioner Stockman Maher, seconded by Commissioner Bening, to retain 91 Daniel Schleck as an alternate attorney. Motion carried unanimously. 92 93 The Committee discussed the communication contact with the attorney. 94 95 MOTION by Commissioner Handrick, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, that 96 Commissioner Dahl be the contact for Karen Marty. Officers of the Charter Commission 97 will be the contact if Commissioner Dahl is unavailable. 98 99 Commissioner Storberg clarified that only officers should have discussions with the attorney. 100 101 Motion passed unanimously. 102 103 B. Amendment / Discussion Review and Comments of Sub -committee's Handout - 104 Commissioner Trehus stated that if they reject or approve the proposal tonight the Council 105 could still put the Task Force Amendment on the ballot without a delayed vote. Consensus 106 of the Commission was to not reject the proposal but continue in further discussion. The 107 continuance ends December 6th 108 -109 Chair Duffy questioned if there is support to remove the referendum provision in a situation 110 that would allow the neighborhoods to opt out or initiate a project without the City taking a 111 vote on it. This is in Chapter 8 and would allow the neighborhoods to understand the project 112 to be undertaken so they can opt out or move forward with the proposal. Chair Duffy 113 withdrew her question. 114 115 Commissioner Handrick suggested working on the proposed Task Force Amendment to close 116 any loopholes. She suggested that the attorney look at this from both sides and make 117 suggestions. 118 119 Commissioner Storberg suggested creating a definition for road repair to eliminate problems 120 leading to many amendments. 121 122 Chair Duffy suggested reviewing the bullet points from the subcommittee to reach an 123 agreement and narrow down the list. The Commissioners discussed the bullet points leading 124 to the following recommendations: 125 Bullet #1: Remove. Similar to bullet 2, which was preferred. 126 Bullet #2: Continue and review the percentage of voters. 127 Bullet #3: Forward 8.03 to the attorney. 128 Bullet #4: Begin requiring notices via certified mail. 129 Bullet #5: Change to a 2-4 year disallowance provision be made. It will be determined later 130 the specific number of years within 2-4. Suggestions were made to use a two-year provision. ^131 Bullet #6: Agreed that the developer pay for roads or utilities. Commissioner Handrick 132 suggested leaving this option open for payment other than the developer for large 3 Charter Commission September 6, 2007 Page 4 APPROVED 133 development projects that help pay into the tax base. She suggested getting the attorneys 134 opinion. Commissioner Trehus recommended adding the word new to clarify that this is not 135 for existing roads. 136 Bullet #7: Consensus was to continue to include this for existing roads. 137 Bullet #8: Remove. 138 Bullet #9: The Commission discussed that the project can be stopped with a 51 percent 139 majority petition. It was agreed that the City inform the neighborhood about planned 140 changes. Commissioner Bening read from 804.1 that the definition is vague and could be 141 further explored. Consensus was to keep bullet nine in the amendment. 142 Bullet #10: Remove — costs of project may be underestimated making survey obsolete. 143 Bullet #11: Commissioner Carlson questioned for bullet eleven what components would be 144 involved. 145 146 Majority of the Commission agreed to remove bullet 11 due to redundancy. Commissioner 147 Richard Williams, Aldentaler and Rosemary Williams abstained. 148 149 Bullet #12: Commission agreed to bullet twelve and discussed if a majority of 4/5 means all 150 Council needs to be present to vote. 151 Bullet #13: Consensus of Commission is to have this remain on the bullet list. 152 Bullet #14: Consensus of the Commission is to continue to block a project with a 25 percent or greater petition. 154 Bullet #15: Consensus of the Commission is to keep this item. 155 Bullet #16: Consensus was to keep this item. The Commission discussed that further review 156 of this would result in more user friendly understanding which would be helpful for staff, 157 residents and all parties. 158 Bullet #17: Remove due to redundancy and that it is too vague. 159 Bullet #18: Remove as this limitation is in regard to tax increases. Commissioner Handrick 160 stated that the pavement management plan is in place for this. 161 Bullet #19: Agreed to enforce the five-year pavement management plan on road maintenance 162 that is in place. 163 Bullet #20: Leave in the bullet list for discussion with the attorney. Commissioner Carlson 164 questioned how this will be done in the framework of the Charter. 165 New Bullet #21: Add language review of the entire Charter to make it easier to understand. 166 Consensus of Commission was in agreement over all bullet numbers 1-21. 167 168 Chair Duffy stated that the proposed amendment does not establish a funding source for road 169 improvement. 170 171 Commissioner Trehus questioned if roads would be funded without a charter change. He 172 commented that a petition for a study does not constitute a petition in favor of a project. 173 174 Commissioner Dahl questioned if there is a standard petition form available. Commissioner ^175 Trehus suggested this be added as a bullet point. Consensus of the Commission is to ask the 176 lawyer about a petition form. It was suggested that this will be placed on the City website. 4 Charter Commission September 6, 2007 Page 5 APPROVED 177 178 C. Charter Communication Plan — Commissioner Richard Williams asked if it was 179 worthwhile to list this in the newspaper at this time. 180 181 Commissioner Richard Williams and Commissioner Rosemary Williams left the meeting at 182 9:54 p.m. 183 184 MOTION by Commissioner Carlson, seconded by Commissioner Bening, to table discussion 185 about the Charter Communication Plan until next month. Motion carried 9-1. Trehus 186 opposed. 187 188 Commissioner Handrick left at 9:55 p.m. Commissioner Stockman Maher left at 9:55 p.m. 189 for a phone call. 190 191 D. Detailed Task Force Spending — Chair Duffy stated that this has been printed. She 192 commented that there would not be a discussion on this. 193 194 NEW BUSINESS 195 196 A. Budget — Commissioner Dahl stated the budget needed to be submitted for review 011 x.197 Tuesday and this has been done. She commented that it was handled smoothly. 198 199 Chair Duffy stated that October 1st is the deadline to application to reapply for the Charter 200 Commission. Applications are on line. Consensus was to hold the next meeting on October 201 11th 202 203 Next Meeting: 1) Discussion of excused absences and review of bylaws to address this; 2) 204 request money for attorney; 3) get prices for Quad and the Citizen ads; 4) send letter to 205 Council requesting $5,250 for legal costs; 5) review task force report to determine funding 206 source. 207 208 ADJOURN 209 210 MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Aldentaler, to adjourn the meeting 211 at 10:02 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. 212 213 Respectfully submitted, 214 Beth Bostrom, TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 5