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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-13-2011 Minutes1 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 n 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: APPROVED 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. 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 the all the 2010 funds, $1,500, were 74 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. 108 109 B Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest 110 ^. 111 Commissioner Gunderson states that this is an agenda item 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 Charter Commission. Therefore the Chair made the Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 4 136 executive decision to delay the letter being sent to Ms. Marty regarding the outstanding balance 137 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 language of the contract should be 141 reviewed as she believes it may not be legal. 142 143 Commissioner Trehus stated the information of the contract was not present at the October 144 meeting, due to an innocent "slip of the mind." 145 146 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Gunderson to continue discussion on the item 147 and add to agenda for the next meeting. 148 149 Commissioner Carlson supports the decision of the Chair to delay the letter to come back to the 150 Commission for further discussion. He would like the item to stay on the agenda as old business. 151 152 Commissioner Sutherland read lines 186 — 189 of the October 14, 2010 regarding the motion of 153 the letter to Ms. Marty. 154 155 Commissioner Trehus retracts his motion. ,n, 156 157 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland to rescind the motion listed in lines 186 — 189 of the 158 minutes for the October 10, 2010 meeting. 159 160 Motion passes unanimously. 161 162 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, to postpone 163 indefinitely lines 179 —180 of the minutes of the October 10, 2010 meeting. 164 165 Commissioner Drennen supports the motion due to new information coming to the Commission. 166 167 Commissioner Gunderson concurs, stating the motion is viewed as "housekeeping" for the 168 Commission. 169 170 Motion passes unanimously. 171 172 Commissioner Trehus brings back his motion to continue discussion on item and add to agenda 173 for the next commission meeting. 174 175 Commissioner Penn questions how does the Commission clarify the ability of the Commission to 176 enter into a contract or agreement. 177 ".."'N 178 Commissioner Drennen states the Commission has a right to enter into a contract for outside 179 counsel. 180 4 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 5 181 Commissioner Sutherland asked who signed the contract with Ms. Marty for the Commission. 182 183 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she believes Chair Dahl's intent was to discuss the contract 184 and inform those members who were not on the Commission at the time. She also asked if the 185 Commission voted on entering the contract. 186 187 Commissioner Carlson stated that Cori Duffy was Chair at the time of the signing of the contract. 188 The contract was discussed at many meetings and that three attorneys were considered. 189 190 Motion passes, Commissioner Sutherland abstained. 191 192 Commissioner Sutherland asked for a copy of the contract to be brought to the next meeting. 193 Commissioner Gunderson stated she will discuss that request with the Chair. 194 195 196 B. Discussion of joint council meeting tabled from October 14, 2010 197 198 Commissioner Penn asked if the agenda item includes discussion of a joint task force. 199 200 Commissioner Sutherland clarified the last agenda had further discuss points about this item. n 201 202 Commissioner Gunderson read the section of the minutes of the October and that there was great 203 confusion of at that point of the meeting. 204 205 Commissioner Storberg stated that she made a motion and the motion failed. Commissioner 206 Gunderson stated that action was then to table the item. 207 208 MOTION by Commissioner Drennen, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to table the agenda 209 item to the next Commission meeting. 210 211 Commissioner Turcotte asked if the discussion should be continued if the Commission does not 212 have any funds to work on it. 213 214 Commissioner Lyden referred to lines 93 — 96 of the minutes of the November 10, 2010 City 215 Council work session about the budget for the Charter Commission. 216 217 Commissioner Sutherland asked who would lead the discussion of the agenda item. She did not 218 feel there is any new information to discuss. 219 220 Commissioner Gunderson believes that Chair wanted to discuss the City Council work session 221 mentioned and make sure that each Commissioner had a chance to discuss. 222 '^ 223 Commissioner Penn supports the apparent point of view of the Chair. 224 225 Commissioner Gunderson calls the question. 5 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 6 226 227 Motion passes with Commissioner Sutherland voting no. 228 229 C. Memo from City Council on Odd Year Election (tabled from October 10,2010) 230 231 Commissioner Gunderson stated that the Chair wanted to speak on this issue. Commissioner 232 Gunderson stated that the memo is informing the Commission of a proposal from 233 Councilmember Roeser to move the city elections to even -years, when general State and Federal 234 elections take place, in order to save the city money. 235 236 Commissioner Gunderson states the dollar figures of believed cost -savings is not listed on the 237 memo. Commissioner Turcotte said he found the estimated dollar amount of $14,000, a bi- 238 yearly expense. Commissioner Trehus stated the actual amount is about $8,800 or less. 239 240 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Gunderson for purposes of further 241 discussion only, to refer this item to committee for further review to draft language for an 242 amendment. Commissioner Sutherland states 243 244 Commissioner Trehus stated that before the item is given to a subcommittee, the Commission 245 needs to decide if it is in agreement with the proposal. ,1246 247 Commissioner Sutherland asks the Commission to vote to withdrawal the motion. 248 Commissioner Gunderson states a vote is not needed. Commissioner Sutherland stated she 249 believes it is needed. 250 251 Motion is withdrawn via unanimous vote of the Commission. 252 253 Commissioner Storberg stated her opinion of agreement of moving city elections to even -years. 254 255 Commissioner Trehus is not in support of the proposal and stated Mayor Reiner is also in 256 opposition. The attention city elections receive in odd -year elections is a service to the citizens. 257 The cost savings is not worth the effort of moving the elections. Commissioners Gunderson, 258 Carlson, Drennen concur. 259 260 MOTION by Commissioner Sutherland, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, that the 261 Commission draft a response to the City Council that the Commission concurs with the 262 sentiments stated in lines 37 — 41 from the October 4, 2010 work session of the City Council. 263 264 Motion passes unanimously. 265 266 D. Meetings per year of the Commission — By laws, Article 3, Section 1 267 268 Commissioner Gunderson read the section of the Commission by laws of how often the 269 Commission meets each year. After that, Commissioner Gunderson discussed the possibility of 270 adding more meetings each year, having a meeting every other month. The reasons given for this 6 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 7 271 include that the past several meetings have run long, agenda items are being tabled in order to 272 end meetings late in the evening and it is believed that with 15 Commissioners, some 273 commissioners may not be getting a fair amount of time to discuss items. Commissioner 274 Gunderson asked for discussion to include the opinion of Commissioners on meeting more often. 275 276 Commissioner Drennen believes that if Commissioners self -police discussions, stay on topic and 277 if meetings are run more efficiently, more meetings would not be needed. Commissioner 278 Sutherland concurs and added that the Commission has the ability to call special meeting when 279 needed. 280 281 Commissioner Turcotte believes that the last three meetings are running long because of 282 discussions about Roberts Rules of Order procedures. 283 284 Commissioner Trehus concurs with Commissioner Turcotte and also states that the past three 285 meetings have been irregularly different than past history. 286 287 Commissioner Sutherland stated that she her discussion about Roberts Rules of Order lead to a 288 long debate at the last meeting. 289 290 MOTION by Commissioner Storberg, seconded by Commissioner Penn, to call for roll call vote 291 on whether to have more regular meetings per year. Commissioner Sutherland states that the roll 292 call motion is non -debatable and the motion to call for a roll call does not need to be passed. The 293 action is then taken. 294 295 Voting yes: Aldentaler, Gunderson. Voting no: Sutherland, Penn, Storberg, Williams, Carlson, 296 Lyden, Trehus, Drennen. No opinion: Turcotte. 297 298 Commissioner Gunderson stated for the record the roll call vote is the opinion of Commissioners 299 present, that there are Commissioners absent. 300 301 The results are 2 Yes, 8 No and 1 No opinion. 302 303 Commissioner Turcotte asked to further discuss the issue. 304 305 Commissioner Sutherland said that the call for a roll call vote kills debate on the issue. 306 Commission Trehus states that he believes that correct, but objects to the end of discussion in a 307 procedural move of one Commissioner. More research is needed on Roberts Rules of Order for 308 the Commission to all have the same knowledge. 309 310 Commissioner Penn stated she believed her seconding was for discussion. 311 312 Commissioner Storberg stated she understood that the roll call vote would end discussion. If the ,"'N.313 majority of Commissioners were not open to the idea of more meetings, then discussion of the 314 topic should end. She also concurs with Commissioner Trehus that the Commission is currently 7 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 8 315 handling more issues than in the past. She concurs with Commissioner Sutherland that if needed, 316 special meetings could be called. 317 318 Commissioner Turcotte states that agendas for future meetings should be shortened or special 319 meetings should be called. 320 321 Vice -Chair Lyden states that Commissioner Storberg intent was to get us to the point quicker 322 323 Commissioner Trehus states that in this case, no harm was done. But he is worried that in the 324 future, discussion on an agenda item could be ended before all information is presented. 325 326 Commissioner Sutherland 327 328 Commissioner Gunderson recommends to the Vice -Chair that the meeting move on to 329 330 E. Roberts Rules of Order 331 332 Commissioner Sutherland discussed the handout on Roberts Rules of Order (RRO). Many 333 powers are given through RRO including setting a firm adjournment time for a meeting and 334 having all business not completed then moved to the agenda for the next meeting. She also points �.4 335 out a tri -fold laminated sheet explaining procedures of RRO. She stated that in the past the 336 League of Minnesota Cities has offered classes on RRO and would hope that the Commission 337 would consider having the LMC present a class in a future meeting. Commissioner Sutherland 338 further states that it is the responsibility of all Commissioners to learn the procedures of RRO to 339 make sure meetings are run more effectively. 340 341 Commissioner Sutherland also refers to a grid of Common Motions of RRO. 342 343 Vice -Chair Lyden states that in order to use RRO, the Commission needs to be in agreement of 344 how to use them and keep it simple. 345 346 Commissioner Penn agrees that RRO should be keep simple, but also productive and not 347 suppress discussion. 348 349 Commissioner Drennen stated that RRO does have procedures to undue abuses, but also if any 350 Commissioner repeatedly abuses RRO, the Commission could have that Commissioner censored 351 or pulled off-line. He asked for an explanation of "point of information." 352 353 Commissioner Sutherland explained that "point of information" can be used at anytime and can 354 be used to interrupt debate. But it must be directed to the Chair and used with decorum. 355 Commissioner Gunderson concurs. 356 ^357 Commissioner Gunderson states that are differently opinions of semantics using RRO. 358 8 Charter Commission January 13, 2011 Page 9 359 MOTION by Commissioner Gunderson, seconded by Commissioner Carlson, to have the League 360 of Minnesota Cities present a class of Roberts Rules of Order to the Commission at either the 361 next Commission meeting or at a special meeting called by the Chair and two commissioners. 362 363 Commissioner Trehus asked if there was a cost associated with that class, and offers a friendly 364 amendment that it 365 366 Commissioner Gunderson accepts the friendly amendment and offered to investigate what is 367 offered by the LMC for RRO training and at what cost. 368 369 Commissioner Sutherland declares that acceptance of friendly amendment needs to be voted on 370 by the Commission. Commissioner Gunderson states that she believes it does not need a vote if 371 the motion -maker accepts the amendment and state that motion "as amended." 372 373 The amendment to the motion is passed unanimously. 374 375 The motion passes with Commissioner Storberg voting no. 376 377 F. Next meeting date: Thursday, April 14, 2011 378 ,••\ 379 It is clarified that the July meeting of the Charter Commission does not interfere with the 380 Independence holiday. 381 382 Commissioner Gunderson stated that she would ask the City Clerk to provide us with new 383 calendars for 2011 Charter Commission meetings as well as City Council work sessions and 384 meetings. 385 386 387 ADJOURN 388 MOTION by Commissioner Drennen, seconded by Commissioner Williams, to adjourn the 389 meeting at 9:30pm. Motion carried unanimously. 390 391 Respectfully Submitted, 392 393 Kelly Gunderson 394 Secretary 9