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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-10-1997 Charter MinutesCharter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE : April 10, 1997 TIME STARTED : 7:04 P.M. TIME ENDED : 10:00 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Bening, Bernier, Corson, Dahl, DeMotts, Dunn, Lane, Montain, Rehbine, Scharpen, Solfest, Stoulil, Sullivan, Trehus and Turner MEMBERS ABSENT : None Staff members present: Community Development Director, Brian Wessel; and Recording Secretary Sandy Barott. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Montain called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order on April 10, 1997, at 7:04 p.m. Chair Montain welcomed Mr. Morris from Decisions Resources, Inc. who will be presenting an overview on the City survey results. Chair Montain also welcomed Brian Wessel, Community Development Director, who will give a brief presentation on the Economic Development of Lino Lakes. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES January 9, 1997 The following corrections were made: Page 1: List John Sullivan as present instead of absent. Page 1: Delete “Special Meeting” in the heading; this was a regular meeting Page 1: A correction that was approved for the December 3, 1996, meeting minutes did not get included. The correction was to include that Mayor Landers was the source of information for Michelle Miller’s summary report and billing information. MOTION by Corson, seconded by Dahl to approve the Charter Commission minutes of January 9, 1997, with the above corrections. The motion carried 15 to 0. February 11, 1997 Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 2 The following corrections were made: Page 1: List John Sullivan as present instead of absent. Overall: Correct the spelling of Ware Road (instead of Wear Road). Commissioner Trehus stated that on Page 9, paragraph 4, he heard Council Member Kuether state the whole process was to prove that the Charter does not work. Discussion followed as to everyone’s recollection of what was said and it was decided to leave the minutes regarding this statement as is. MOTION by Sharpen, seconded by Bernier to approve the Charter Commission minutes of February 11, 1997, with the above corrections. The motion carried 14 to 1 with Sullivan voting no. Commissioner Trehus inquired about the procedure for changes to made to the minutes. Particularly, why are not corrected minutes updated and and a final corrected copy distributed to the Charter Commission. Commissioner DeMotts explained that the corrections are stated on the following minutes. Chair Montain stated his understanding is they do receive updated minutes. Chair Montain requested Commissioner DeMotts to investigate this process. At the very least, the corrected pages should be distributed. Commissioner Dahl requested that copies be identified at the top whether they are draft or final. Chair Montain explained there normally is not a draft sent, only a final is given unless changes are made prior to approval. Chair Montain agreed that identifying the minutes as draft, final or corrected would be helpful and checked into by Commissioner DeMotts. APPEARANCES Chair Montain introduced Brian Wessel, Community Development Director, who will present the Economic Development and Mr. Morris of Decisions Resources, Inc. who will present an overview of the City survey. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Mr. Wessel explained there is a disparity of knowledge within the group as to what is going on within the City because of different individuals level and involvement with Planning and Zoning, and because of this, an overview was desired to get everyone to the same level of knowledge and understanding as to where the development stands right now. Updating on the East side, Mr. Wessel stated the streets will change this Summer. MUSA is in a corner now and they are looking at commercial development there including a restaurant on Gerald Rehbein’s land. They are also looking at a convenience store on Dick Schrierer’s land. He stated that Carl Pohlad was out looking at 200 acres in this area to possible build a new Twins stadium. Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 3 Commissioner Turner inquired if the Park and Ride will be eliminated. Mr. Wessel responded that it will remain as is, but ultimately will have to be moved to another area. Mr. Wessel explained the developments in this area as to why the Park and Ride will eventually have to be moved. He stated the whole idea behind this area is to open up the middle of the industrial park to reroute the traffic in order to minimize the traffic on Cedar since it is a residential area. Updating on the West side, Mr. Wessel identified the location of the Town Center quadrant on 35W and Lake Drive. He stated a number of things will be happening in this area over the next couple of years; a new school, church, emphasis on a light Industrial Park which will be developed by Glenn Rehbein probably next year. With regard to commercial development, Mr. Wessel stated that all the drives stop at Lilac now and in the next couple of years will extend up to Lake Drive to open up the commercial area. He stated that in an area zoned SC (shopping center), the City Council will vote on Monday regarding interim use of this land for a golf driving range by Glenn Rehbein. He stated the interim use timeframe will probably be three to five years. Mr. Wessel stated the utilities will be up to the Town Center this Spring and then the Town Center will be underway. The first effect you will see rather soon is a signal off the north ramp to Lake Drive from the freeway. Commissioner Turner asked where the Police Department is going to be located in relation to the Business District. Mr. Wessel identified it’s location and verified that it is not in the Business District. Commissioner Turner inquired about the access to the Police Department and expressed concerned. Mr. Wessel stated there is one access to the general area as far south as possible. At the earliest the construction for the Police Department will begin in November, but more than likely it will be in the Spring. An agreement has been made for an emergency exit only for the Police Department down Marshan Lane. Commissioner Turner verified that even when they use this exit for an emergency, they have to go the speed limit. Mr. Wessel stated her understanding is correct. Commissioner Turner asked if a study was done. Mr. Wessel said absolutely and there was a consensus to the use of this exit and the Police Department. Commissioner Bening inquired as to where the School District comes out in relation to this area. Mr. Wessel identified the area and explained where over the next 15 years there will be four signals put in place. Commissioner Corson inquired as to how much leasable space is there in the Apollo Industrial Park or the City. Mr. Wessel explained that leasable space for light industrial is a very rare commodity and that everything is pretty much leased out. Mr. Wessel stated there is approximately 50,000 square feet that will begin construction in the next few weeks and be available in the Fall. This will be a combination of leasable and owner space and they are going quickly. Mr. Wessel discussed the Town Center Study that was completed. He stated the Fairview Clinic will begin construction in about three weeks, the bank will be this Fall and the Professional Office Building will begin construction most likely next Spring. Also the Police Station and there has been talk about the possibility of an Early Childhood Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 4 facility center being built in this area. This is being discussed because the lower portion of this area is the Lino Lakes School District and the upper portion is the Forest Lake District. By placing a facility here would put them right in the middle of the two districts. Mr. Wessel continued stating changes are being made with the City Hall being moved down in the future because the Community Center was originally on private land and it is going to now be built on public land. This project will probably begin next year also with two options … Lifetime, Inc. and the YMCA are negotiating for this. Commissioner Turner inquired as to when the bridge will be built. Mr. Wessel stated the bridge will have to be rebuilt within the next five years but it would be nice to put a link on each year. Some creative financing would have to be developed for this. Commissioner Corson if there will ever be an interchange. Mr. Wessel stated neighborhood forums will be arranged immediately after the May 8, 1997, meeting. He talked about the six districts with districts 1 and 2 being completed as of now and the meetings will be for districts 3 through 6. Mr. Wessel stated the key issue is what happens when 14 crosses the freeway as the County would very much like to see a full interchange there. Commissioner Sharpen stated it was her understanding this was okayed. Mr. Wessel stated it has been okayed several times but no one has ever put together a budget for it. Mr. Wessel stated the key issue is to come to resolution about the direction of growth for the City. Commissioner Trehus asked how much of the City’s money has been invested. Mr. Wessel stated there have been approximately $200,000 in assessments to individual land owners. He was not sure that a lot of City’s money was put together because they get involved with trunk utilities and by law the City can assess for this. He does not believe the City has been assessed a lot for this and if they have, they have gotten it back through assessments. Chair Montain and Commissioner Dunn introduced Mr. Bill Morris of Decision Resources, Ltd. and stated he will be giving a brief overview of the survey they conducted. Chair Montain requested that questions be limited to the Charter Commission area only and any other questions be done outside of this meeting. Mr. Morris stated he wanted to discuss two topics, first being how the people view the condition of the roads in the Community and second, how they reacted to the Charter change proposal. Mr. Morris stated two cleavages really cut across the Community. One was geographic, Precinct 2 finds the road in their area and across the City in either excellent or good shape. Commissioner Turner asked Mr. Morris to identify the precincts. Mr. Morris indicated on a map that Precinct 1 is north central, Precinct 2 is through the Park Reserve and along Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 5 the western City border, Precinct 3 is the southern border with Precinct 4 meandering the eastern border and coming up and around Precinct 3. Mr. Morris stated when City Roads, Charter or condition of streets, Precinct 2 is almost overwhelming positive and almost reluctant to see a Charter change. Precincts 3 and 4, particularly 4, tend to be far more critical of the roads and more supportive of a Charter change. Using an overhead summarizing the survey results of City Services, Mr. Morris stated the maintenance and upkeep of the City’s streets ranked the second lowest in terms of the approval rating that was given. The 66% approval rating is stronger than what they have been finding across the Metropolitan area. When broken down however, it was found that Precinct 2 placed higher evaluations on City street maintenance and upkeep while Precinct 4 put much lower evaluations. The 66% is almost totally a result of the fact that Precinct 2 put an almost 80% favoring on City street maintenance. Precinct 4 is critical of the City’s roads and more supportive of a Charter change. Mr. Morris presented an overhead of the City Service Evaluations. Based on an overhead for City streets in general, 75% said the streets were in excellent or good condition. Mr. Morris stated that residents were very consistent with their rationale. He indicated that households with a high income, over $75,000, were more critical. Regarding the Charter provisions, Mr. Morris indicated that City was split with who was aware and of those that were not. He indicated Precinct 4 is the most unaware of the Charter. In regard to an establishment of a fund for a comprehensive plan development, Mr. Morris stated that 56% said they would support it while 75% said no they did not support this. Mr. Morris stated the most opposed group to take issue with a new funding source was retirees at 50%. The upscale, white-collar workers were more in favor of establishing a funding source. Mr. Morris noted that a key message which must be conveyed is that voting for a Charter change does not necessarily indicate that you are voting for a tax increase. Discussion followed as to how the questions were developed and how they were chosen to be used in the survey. When surveyed on what newspaper was their primary source of information, Mr. Morris stated 73% indicated the Quad Press. Precinct 4, where there are knowledge and awareness problems, indicated Quad Press 89% for their primary source of information. Mr. Morris that Cable will not reach as many people as print media. Mr. Morris stated, based on the survey, that if an election were held today regarding the Charter change, it would not pass. This means to be successful a lot more information needs to be distributed to the people. The first message needs to identify the problems with the current Charter. The second message to be addressed is identifying if what we Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 6 are proposing different from what others are doing; is this a radical departure from what happens in other suburbs. Plus the key issue to make sure people understand that voting to change the Charter does not equate to voting for a tax increase. Commissioner Sharpen asked if anything was done in Precinct 1. Mr. Morris replied that yes Precinct 1 was included but it turned out to be a microcosm of the City as a whole. In Precincts 2 and 4 there were more deviations, in Precincts 1 and 3 they tended to be in the middle. Commissioner Sharpen stated she had not heard from anyone in Precinct 1 that they were contacted for the survey. Mr. Morris stated they contacted 81 households from Precinct 1. Commissioner Trehus inquired into the sampling of people for the survey. Mr. Morris replied the Precinct 2 was the largest with 139 interviews; Precinct 1 was the lowest at 81 with Precincts 3 and 4 being around 90 each. Commissioner Trehus inquired to who authorized the questions and where did they come from. Mr. Morris stated it was his understanding that Staff and various commissions had put together and authorized the questions. A discussion followed as to how the questions were developed, by whom, and how they were authorized. Commissioner Dunn stated he assisted Mr. Dan Tesch with putting on the finishing touches to the questions prior to it being done. Commissioner Turner inquired if the list of questions were submitted to the Charter ahead of time. Commissioner Dunn stated yes. Commissioner Dahl clarified the list was received after the fact. Commissioner Corson asked how the Precincts were determined during the survey. Mr. Morris stated by telephone number or their address. Commissioner Corson then asked if each Precinct has the same population. Commissioner Demotts stated the City can have a maximum of 1700 voters per Precinct. Commissioner Sharpen inquired if surveys like this are done in other cities. Mr. Morris answered yes. Commissioner Trehus asked how much the survey cost the City. Mr. Morris stated he is a researcher and does not know this information. He stated this is public information and can be obtained from the City. Commissioner Dahl inquired into the age of the interviewers. Mr. Morris stated anywhere between 18 to 67 years of age. Commissioner Dahl stated a woman had told her she was asked each question twice. Commissioner Dahl also stated the questions asked to this woman was different from the questions she was asked. Mr. Morris explained there is a pre-testing phase to ensure the questions being asked are what they intended to ask about. This ensures that what they are saying are being heard and interpreted correctly. He stated that approximately 40 households across the City and they were not included in the 400 that were tabulated. Mr. Morris indicated no problems were found in the pre-testing phase. Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 7 Commissioner Turner asked how many questions were there concerning the Charter. Mr. Morris stated there were two questions; one regarding awareness and the other regarding support. Commissioner Dunn asked if they were able to correlate the length of time in the City to the retirees group. He stated that if it has been a long length of time there was a bad history in the 1980s and this maybe where the opposition is coming from with the retirees. Mr. Morris stated the retirees had been here longer than the medium however they are far more tax sensitive and saw the Charter change leading to a tax increase. Commissioner Turner asked if a short article could be written regarding these findings to submit to the Quad. Mr. Morris referred to the Executive Summary. Commissioner Turner asked if there were copyrights to the Executive Summary or any extractions of it. Mr. Morris replied not at all and that he would be willing to review and verify an article but he did not want the journalist role to write the article. REPORTS AND OLD BUSINESS Road Reconstruction Chair Montain stated he received a letter dated March 24, 1997, from the Council and that he attended a Council workshop on April 9, 1997, because of his confusion regarding the last sentence in the third paragraph. He also stated his unhappiness with not receiving this letter until the end of March when the Charter met in February; the response time was poor plus it appears the Council is looking to the Charter as a scapegoat. The Charter has already indicated to the Council that they are in support of road reconstruction and this has been stated several times to them. Chair Montain continued by saying he expressed his concern with the Council’s lack of leadership. Chair Montain explained that he did not want to get into “what if” scenarios. It is too time consuming and cumbersome as well as a waste of the Charter’s time as they may never come about anyway. Council has been told there is a consensus within the Charter that there is a road reconstruction problem which needs to be addressed. Chair Montain also stated that he explained the road construction may fail but it may not necessarily be the Charter’s fault; it could be the way it was presented or the cost involved. Commissioner Turner stated there are many other things coming up which will require money and particularly identified the Park Board which will be having a tax levy at the same time. Chair Montain stated one of the Council’s concern is the cost of the feasibility study which will be approximately $40,000 and this is the reason why the Council wants to ensure the Charter is behind them to spend this money knowing everything else that is going on and it may very well fail. This is why the Council wants a letter stating the Charter’s support. Chair Montain asked the Council if there was anything specific they wanted in the letter and was not given anything. Chair Montain then reviewed a draft Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 8 letter which could be submitted to the Council if the Charter wanted to respond to their request. An in-depth discussion occurred regarding the roles and responsibilities of the Charter and the Council and why this was happening. Discussion also occurred regarding the Charter in particular and why it can not be viewed as not working if this does not pass when so many other variables are happening right now. It is vital to find out, if the road construction fails, why it failed. Commissioner Dunn replied to questions regarding a feasibility study, that on any project the City undertakes a technical feasibility study looks at soil, boring, grade level, fill required, it’s the basis to put a precise cost together; an engineering evaluation of the specific situation. It is not a lost issue, the study is good forever as it identifies the layout of the land. It will give the City a precise estimate that is testable by law. Chair Montain clarified the actual precise cost would not be known until it goes out for bid. Commissioner Turner stated that in the past residents perceive the cost of the feasibility studies are the cost of the homeowner. It’s perceived as a tax payers cost instead of the general fund. Without this being fully understood by the residents, the Charter will not be truly tested. Commissioner Trehus asked if neighborhood meetings could be held first and then do a feasibility study. Chair Montain explained the residents would want to know how much this is going to cost them and this can not be estimated without the feasibility study. Whether or not neighborhood meetings could be held with an educated guess to the cost was discussed and it was not known if this is legal or not. Commissioner Dahl inquired if there were neighborhood meetings, would the Charter Commission be involved or required to organize them. Commissioner Sharpen replied no that is the responsibility of the City Council. Chair Montain stated the Council could ask the Charter Commission to attend the meetings. Commissioner Sullivan stated under the current Charter, roads can be budgeted by the City. The Charter prohibits them from spending the money but it does not prevent them from budgeting the money. If this money had been budgeted, the residents would see the money is there and would not have a problem with the road reconstruction. Commissioner Bening asked for clarification between budget and taxation. Commissioner Sullivan stated the Charter does not stop them from taxing either, they just cannot start a project and spend the money, every city needs to budget for roads. Chair Montain gave an example for clarification that if there was money budgeted for road reconstruction, the City would go to the people and ask to spend the money for this particular project. Commissioner Sullivan stated this is correct, the Charter just added the additional step of not allowing the City to spend the money without the residents support. Commissioner Corson stated in the survey overview there is a question that stated the initial step to road reconstruction are the developers of the comprehensive plan must prioritize roads and a funding would have to be established; would you be in favor of Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 9 establishing such a fund. This is an incorrect statement and stated surprise that it was in the study since it was not factual. Discussion followed regarding whether a letter should be sent back to the Council as requested, and if so, is the draft letter okay as is. Commissioner Dunn stated there is five million dollars to spend. The elected City officials must decide their priorities. There was $750,000 in extra monies this year generated without a ‘quote’ tax rate change from growth. There will be approximately one and one half million dollars extra, the City Council can go to the public and say there does not have to be a tax increase because of the extra money. A five-year road improvement plan can be managed with this, it also does not have to be paid in one year either. MOTION by Solfest, seconded by Dunn to respond to the Council’s request for a response with a letter. Motioned carried 14 to 1 with DeMotts voting no. Discussion followed regarding Commissioner DeMotts proposal and the possibility of forming a subcommittee to investigate this as well as other alternatives. Commissioner Trehus inquired whether the subcommittee would come back to the Charter with their findings. Chair Montain stated yes this is correct. Commissioner Sullivan stated this would be taking the responsibility from the Council instead of them doing their elected roles and responsibilities. Commissioner Trehus agreed and stated further this would be jumping the gun as the road reconstruction has not been tested yet. Commissioner Sullivan stated he has no issue with the Charter looking into options to propose to the Council, the issue is for the Charter to open it up again and take responsibility to identify options while the Council waits on making their decision to move ahead. Commissioner Dunn said this is not what is meant by putting together a subcommittee. The Charter should answer the letter by the Council to trigger the feasibility study. Chair Montain stated the subcommittee would be on the side running on a separate track; it would not hold up the feasibility study. MOTION by Dunn, seconded by Lane to form a subcommittee to investigate Commissioner DeMott’s proposal and alternatives. Motion carried 14 to 1 with Solfest voting no. The subcommittee was formed consisting of DeMotts acting as Chair, Dunn, Sullivan, Solfest and Trehus. The subcommittee will report back to the Charter at the July meeting. MOTION by Trehus, seconded by Sullivan to send the draft letter to the Council using only the first paragraph, deleting the second paragraph. Motion carried unanimously. Chair Montain stated he would rewrite the letter and then bring it to the City tomorrow, April 11, 1997. Commissioner Dunn stated when the letter is brought in, to ask again, if this satisfies their need or if someone from the Charter should go to the Council’s meeting on Monday, April 14, 1997, and talk during the open mike. Chair Montain said he would offer to appear at the open mike if they needed further clarification. Commissioner Trehus left at 9:25 p.m. Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 10 Five (5) Year Financial Plan Chair Montain stated at the Council’s workshop on April 9, 1997, there was discussion about the Capital Improvement Project (CIP) which is how the Council refers to their five (5) year plan. A draft of the CIP was submitted to the Charter to review. Commission Sullivan stated the draft, and it needs to be clear to everyone this is a draft, is for 1997 through 2001. He stated uncertainty if this meets all the requirements of the five (5) year plan; it still needs to be reviewed. Commissioner Sullivan stated that a lot of work was put into this so far and this draft copy is for the Charter. The draft copy will be given to Chair Montain and anyone may request to review it. Chair Montain stated the document has been produced and the it should be reviewed and discussed at the next Charter meeting whether or not this meets the Charter’s requirements. Commissioner Rehbine asked if everyone was going to receive a copy of the draft to review. Chair Montain replied that anyone could pick it up to review or it could be split into sections and reported back to the Charter. Commissioner Sullivan suggested inviting Ms. Mary Vaske to the next meeting since she wrote a lot of the draft. Commissioner Turner stated to inform Ms. Vaske ahead of time what the Charter is looking for from her presentation, what exactly does the Charter want to know in regards to the five (5) year plan (or CIP as the Council refers to it). Commissioner Montain stated they would want to know if it addresses the Charter and how it will be updated. Commissioner Sullivan stated that when Ms. Vaske presented it to the Council she flipped through it and it only took about fifteen minutes. He stated that we need to be aware of Section 705 on pages 15 and 16 of the Charter. Community Education Commissioner Turner handed out topic ideas for the next newsletter. She also stated a brief article was in the Spring newsletter and the Charter has publicly said something will also be in the Summer issue. Commissioner Turner stated she does not feel qualified to write all the articles herself. Two pages were given for the newsletter and the topics handed out are just ideas. Commissioner Turner inquired as to whether this would be a good opportunity to discuss the road reconstruction and helping the residents understand the issue. Chair Montain inquired when does this need to go to press in order to meet the Summer newsletter deadline. Commissioner Turner replied the Charter has one month, until the end of May. Commissioner Sharpen inquired as to whether everyone could send information to Commissioner Turner. Commissioner Turner replied she is open to whatever options but clarified there will not be another meeting before this goes to print and inquired whether a draft needs to be sent to everyone to review before submission to print to ensure accuracy and consensus on what will be printed. Chair Montain stated the more assistance given the more consensus there will be for the article(s). Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 11 Commissioner Solfest inquired of Commissioner Turner of how she would like to proceed. Commissioner Turner stated a personal preference for volunteers to take a topic and expand on it and then come back together to discuss what everyone came up with for that area. She stated what really needs to be decided is what topics or areas are going to be covered and the tone the article should use; nice, fluffy, sugary or hard facts. Chair Montain inquired if there were any other issues besides what is listed on the handout. He indicated everyone should think about this and let the Charter know quickly if so. Commissioner Sullivan expressed concern about having two full pages as this is a lot of writing and it very important. Can the group get this done. Commissioner DeMotts stated to try for addressing this later and not submit anything for the Summer newsletter. Commissioner Turner expressed the importance of staying visible and maybe an option would be to just make a statement as to why the Charter did not submit more, maybe make a statement about the road reconstruction. Chair Montain stated this is an opportunity to get out information about the Charter and it should be educational, not political. Chair Montain stated a special meeting could be called if there is concern about what is being said in the articles after receiving the draft. Commissioner Dunn volunteered to speak with Ina Lilydahl with regards to using her name in the article. Commissioner Rehbine stated more history was needed about how the Charter developed, especially for someone new to the City. Commissioner Turner expressed the newsletter needs to be as living as possible, it needs to create human interest. Chair Montain agreed and stated a creative introduction could be used since the bulk of the article will be the synopsis of the twelve (12) chapters. Commissioner Solfest stated it will be difficult to get consensus of all the issues. Commissioner Turner asked for creative license to try to come up with an interesting introduction and then everyone can review it in the draft which will be out by the first of May. Chair Montain expressed the need to respond quickly to the draft to ensure changes can be made while still making the press date of mid-May. NEW BUSINESS Authority in Emergency Situations Commissioner Sharpen stated a question was proposed to her that she did not know how to answer. The question was if there was a disaster on a road that had to be fixed right away, would the Mayor have the authority to direct the repairs on the road immediately or would he have to go to the Council for approval. Can the Mayor act on an emergency basis? Commissioner Dunn replied the Mayor claims he has the authority to do emergency repairs to ensure accessibility for fire or medical (reference Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 12 page four). Commissioner Sharpen asked to clarify if the Mayor has to go before the Council or can he do it all on his own. Commissioner Dunn stated yes the Mayor has authority. Chair Montain replied in a life or death situation, it is the Mayor’s responsibility to take charge and make the necessary decision. Charter’s Vision and Mission Statement Chair Montain opened discussion on the Vision for the Charter, past, present and future. Commissioner Turner inquired if there is a mission statement on what the Charter is all about and a vision statement. She defined a vision as what does the Charter want to do and be like in twenty years while a mission statement is how the Charter is going to accomplish this. Commissioner Turner suggested that everyone work on a vision and mission statement. Commissioner Sullivan stated this is a long process and it needs to be lead instead of everyone going off and proceeding individually. Chair Montain stated he believed everyone came to the Charter with an idea of what it was all about. Commissioner Sullivan stated he would be surprised if everyone worked on this individually and came back with a consensus. Commissioner Turner stated this task would help make the Charter a living document. Chair Montain stated the role of the Charter has certainly changed since its’ inception in 1982, for instance, at one point they only met annually. Commissioner Turner stated the statements could always be revised in the future. Commissioner Sulllivan agreed the importance of spending time discussing the vision. Chair Montain asked if the vision and mission statements would be accepted by majority or two-thirds vote. Commissioner Turner inquired if this was in the bylaws. Commissioner Sullivan stated a two-thirds vote would be required. Chair Montain stated he has used the term ‘watch dog’, but inquired if that is the actual purpose of the Charter and its’ vision. Discussion followed saying this was changed, maybe not unanimously though. MOTION by Solfest, seconded by Rehbine to set aside time at the next Charter meeting to open discussion about the purpose of the Charter Commission. Motion carried unanimously. SET JULY, 1997, AGENDA The following items will be considered at the July 10, 1997, meeting: 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 2. Consideration of Minutes (December, January and April) 3. Appearances: Mary Vaske 4. Reports and Old Business Charter Commission April 10, 1997 Page 13 ~ Road Reconstruction Update ~ Five (5) Year Plan ~ Update on Subcommittee for Commissioner DeMott’s Proposal & other Alternatives ~ Community Education ~ Purpose of the Charter 5. New Business Commissioners Turner, Bernier, Dahl and Chair Montain volunteered to assist with a rough draft for the newsletter. ADJOURNMENT MOTION by Sullivan, seconded by Turner, to adjourn the meeting at 10:00 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Barott Recorder TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial