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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-10-2002 Charter Minutes Charter Commission October 10, 2002 DRAFT Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE : October 10,2002 TIME STARTED : 7:03 P.M. TIME ENDED : 7:54 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Dahl,Montain, S. Lane,Aldentaler, Zych Bening, Christopherson, Trehus DeMotts, and Carlson MEMBERS EXCUSED : G. Lane,Rafferty and Zastrow MEMBERS UNEXCUSED : None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT : City Clerk,Ann Blair(part) CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Montain called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 7:03 p.m. on October 10, 2002. Chair Montain introduced Mr. Tom Vacca who has applied for the Commission but has net yet heard from the Judge. Chair Montain advised Commissioner Christopherson has submitted his letter of resignation because he is moving to England. APPROVAL OF MINUTES July 11,2002 MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Bening to approve the July 11, 2002 meeting minutes, as presented. Motion carried unanimously. REPORTS OF THE CHAIR Membership—Chair Montain stated the Commission still has two openings. The City will continue to advertise for the openings. He encouraged the Commissioner's to inform residents of the openings. Annual Report—Chair Montain distributed the Charter Commission's Annual Report. The report outlined what the Commission has worked on for the past year. 1 Charter Commission October 10, 2002 DRAFT Page 2 MOTION by Commissioner DeMotts, seconded by Commissioner Bening,to accept the Charter Commission's Annual Report, as presented. Commissioner Trehus asked about the possibility of an emergency meeting before the end of the year and if that should be included in the annual report. Chair Montain stated the annual report could be amended to include any additional information if necessary. MOTION carried unanimously. Chair Montain noted Commissioner Rafferty would forward the annual report to the judge. A copy of the annual report can be found at the end of these minutes. REPORT OF COMMITTEES Five-Year Plan Report(Chair Montain)—Chair Montain advised a memo from the City Administrator was distributed regarding the Five-Year Plan. The memo indicated the Five-Year Plan has been shifted to include years 2003-2007. A public hearing will be held on December 9, 2002. The City is anticipating the Plan will be approved in December. Commissioner S. Lane asked if the Commission could set a date that the Plan has to be completed and approved. Chair Montain stated the Commission has a joint meeting with the Council every year. At each joint meeting,the Commission has emphasized the completion of the Five Year Plan and should continue to do so. Archives Report(Commissioner Rafferty,Dahl and Trehus)—Commissioner Dahl stated she did speak with Rosemary Storeberg regarding the Commission's old files. The files are at City Hall. The committee was not able to set a date to go through the files. The committee will set a date and sort through and file the old records between now and January 2003. Chair Montain stated he hopes the City has documentation for the entire 20 years the Commission has been in effect. Commissioner Dahl stated the committee could contact all of the original members of the Charter Commission to see if they have any old documents. City Clerk Blair stated the City has a new scanner that enables the City to scan everything. Commissioner Trehus asked if the Commission should use some of its budget to off-set the cost of the scanning. 2 Charter Commission October 10, 2002 DRAFT Page 3 City Clerk Blair indicated that might be a possibility depending on how much needs to be scanned. The Historical Society does not have a copy of the Charter on file. The City should submit a copy of the Charter to the Historical Society. Commissioner Dahl advised the City Administrator indicated the road reconstruction project will not be on this year's ballot due to time constraints. Staff will begin working on a referendum in January 2003 to put on next year's ballot. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Proposed Charter Amendments and Action (Commissioner Bening)—Commissioner Bening stated that at the last meeting the Charter voted to change the term Clerk-Treasurer in the Charter. Now the Commission needs to determine if the changes should be forwarded to the Council for action. City Clerk Blair requested a copy of the proposed changes to the Charter. She suggested she and Commissioner Bening work together regarding this issue. Commissioner Bening indicated he will work with the City Clerk and have a draft of the final proposed changes to distributed at the January 2003 meeting. By-Laws (Commissioner Rafferty)—This item was tabled to the January 2003 meeting. Chair Montain advised he will discuss this issue with Commissioner Rafferty before the January meeting. Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance—Chair Montain asked if the Commission had identified any problems with the City Council meeting minutes. The Commission indicated there were no problems identified with the City Council meeting minutes. Meeting Frequency (Commissioner Trehus)—Commissioner Trehus stated he believes the Commission should meet only two times a year, possibly in October and April. The Commission can schedule additional meetings if necessary. The state requires only one meeting per year. The Commission could change the by-laws to meeting two times per year. Commissioner S. Lane stated she is concerned that six months between meetings is just too long. Commissioner Bening stated he sees no problems with meeting four times a year even if some of the meetings go fairly quickly. Chair Montain stated he also believes the Commission should continue to meet four times a year. He indicated that at this time he is reluctant to meet only two times a year but would be willing to revisit this issue at some point in the future. 3 Charter Commission October 10, 2002 DRAFT Page 4 It was the consensus of the Commission to continue to meeting four times per year. Chair Report(Chair Montain)—This issue was discussed earlier in the meeting. NEW BUSINESS Charter Discs—Commissioner Bening advised the City Clerk gave him the Charter on discs in PDF to download on any member's computer. Commissioner S. Lane asked Commissioner Bening to email her the Charter. Commissioner Trehus and Commissioner Dahl asked for the discs in Word. Set January 2003 Agenda— Chair Montain advised the following items will appear on the January 2003 agenda: 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes: A. October 10, 2002 3. Reports of the Chair A. Membership 4. Reports of the Committees A. Five-Year Plan Report(Chair Montain) B. Archives Report(Commissioner Rafferty, Dahl and Trehus 5. Unfinished Business A. Proposed Charter Amendments and Action (Commissioner Bening) B. By-Laws (Commissioner Rafferty) C. Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance 6. New Business A. Set April 2003 Agenda 7. Adjourn Chair Montain advised he will speak to the Council about scheduling a joint meeting in either January or April 2003. Chair Montain referred to the meeting minutes of January 13, 2000 regarding notification of applicants for the Commission. He stated it has been his experience that there is nothing the 4 Charter Commission October 10, 2002 DRAFT Page 5 Commission can do about the judge's timetable. He advised he will speak to the City Clerk regarding this issue. The Commission will have the same problem next year when several of the member's terms expire. Commissioner Dahl suggested the Commission send a letter to the judge with everyone's signature. Chair Montain advised the Commission will consider sending the judge a letter at the April meeting. Commissioner S. Lane advised she and Commissioner G. Lane will not be attending the January meeting. Commissioner DeMotts stated it is written in the by-laws that a member's term does not expire until he or she is replaced. Commissioner Carlson noted that according to the by-laws, the Commission only needs a quorum of acting members to hold a meeting. ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Dahl,to adjourn the meeting at 7:54 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Kim Points TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 5