HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-26-2009 Council Minutes (2) APPROVED
1 CITY OF LINO LAKES
2 WORK SESSION MINUTES
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4 DATE : January 26, 2009
5 TIME STARTED : 5:35 p.m.
6 TIME ENDED : 6:30 p.m.
7 MEMBERS PRESENT : Council Member O'Donnell,
8 Reinert and Mayor Bergeson
9 MEMBERS ABSENT : Council Member Stoltz, Gallup
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12 Staff members present: City Administrator, Gordon Heitke; Director of Community
13 Development, Michael Grochala; Police Captain, Kent Strege; Environmental
14 Coordinator, Marty Asleson; City Planner, Paul Bengtson; City Attorney, Joseph Langel,
15 City Clerk, Julie Bartell
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17 REVIEW REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
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19 The following items were discussed.
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21 Item 3A—Annual Advisory Board Appointments—Mayor Bergeson pointed out that
22 the council decided they would only interview incumbents reapplying for board position
23 if there was no contest for the seat. With the Economic Development Advisory
24 Committee (EDAC)however the council was not consistent in that there were four
25 applicants for three seats. To be consistent, the council decided to hold off on the EDAC
26 appointments until interviews were concluded. An interview session was scheduled at
27 the beginning of the upcoming council work session (5:30 p.m. on February 2, 2009).
28 Staff should schedule those interviews.
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30 Item 6A—2009 Environmental Board Goals—Environmental Coordinator Asleson
31 introduced Board Vice Chair Barbara Bor. Ms. Bor reviewed the proposed 2009 goals
32 (included in entirety in Resolution No. 09-06) and provided the council some written
33 information relative to conservation workshops.
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35 JOHN DEHAVEN, 612 BIRCH STREET, PROPERTY SUBDIVSION
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37 Mr. DeHaven has been working with the city on a subdivision of his property and has
38 concern about the escrow process and the charges against his escrow account. He
39 suggests that the $1,000 up front escrow charge for this type of a project is too high for
40 the average citizen. Further the charges against that escrow by(former) city attorney
41 Scott Baumgartner are exorbitant for the work performed. He also believes that the staff
42 charges are too high and Anoka County reported to him that the city didn't even need to
43 be involved in this process. Mr. DeHaven requested that the council look over the
44 charges and see if they can be reduced.
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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JANUARY 26, 2009
APPROVED
46 The council directed staff and the city attorney to review and respond to Mr. DeHaven's
' .. 47 concerns. Staff should verify that the city needs to be involved in the process. Also, the
48 City Administrator will look at the situation from a policy standpoint and report back on
49 that aspect also.
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51 City Attorney Langel noted that the city has authority to establish fees for these services
52 based on the city's costs. Establishment of an escrow is allowed to ensure that the cost is
53 charged to the benefited party and not a burden to the taxpayers. Charges for services
54 may vary in other cities but he is not aware of a city that doesn't charge. In his opinion,
55 the process to address the concerns raised by Mr. DeHaven is pretty basic. The council is
56 entitled to a certain level of trust that the professionals they hire are charging
57 appropriately.
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59 The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.
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61 These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at the regular Council meeting held on
62 February 9, 2009.
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65 Julia e Bartell, C' y Clerk Joh Bergeson, Mayor
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