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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-2002 Charter Minutes Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 1 DRAFT CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE : July 11,2002 TIME STARTED : 7:05 P.M. TIME ENDED : 8:30 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Dahl (7:15),Montain, S. Lane,Aldentaler, Zych G. Lane,Bening,Christopherson, Trehus Zastrow, DeMotts,and Rafferty MEMBERS EXCUSED : Carlson 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 7:05 p.m. on July 11, 2002 APPROVAL OF MINUTES April 11,2002 Commissioner Trehus noted his absence from the April 11, 2002, meeting was an excused absence. MOTION by Commissioner S. Lane, seconded by Commissioner Bening to approve the April 11, 2002 meeting minutes, as amended. Motion carried with Commissioner Aldentaler and Trehus abstaining. City Clerk Blair swore in reappointed Commissioners Trehus, G. Lane, and Zastrow. She noted the City has received a new application for the Commission. The new Commissioner should be appointed prior to the October 2002 meeting. REPORTS OF THE CHAIR Membership—Chair Montain stated the Commission still has two openings. One application has been received and the City will advertise again for the last position. 1 Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 2 REPORT OF COMMITTEES Clerk/Treasurer Amendment—City Clerk Blair stated all Commissioners received a draft copy of the proposed changes to the Charter. The proposed language is stricken and the proposed new language is highlighted. She noted that usually language that has been added and approved does not continue to be underlined. City Clerk Blair referred to page 23 and noted there is a smaller type size, which she believes is just an error. She referred to page 22 and noted there is no heading for that section. Some sentences in the document indicate they have been amended but do not note the dates of the amendment. She referred to page 24, Subd. 3 and advised the grammar is incorrect. She indicated she is unclear about how far the Commission wants to go in changing the Charter to be completely correct. Commissioner S. Lane referred to page 23 and noted the street names are not correct. City Clerk Blair stated there are only two places in the Charter that the term "clerk" can not be used for the references to "clerk/treasurer". In those instances the term"treasurer" should be used. She noted the proposed changes were discussed with administration and they are in favor of the changes. Commissioner Bening recommended the Commission goes through the document page by page and discusses the proposed changes. Later the Commission can discuss the other proposed changes. He reviewed each page that has a proposed change for the term"clerk/treasurer". He advised the changes would reflect the date it was amended and ordinance number if approved by both the Commission and City Council. He noted there are two proposed sections that refer to the treasurer and the term"clerk/treasurer" on the last page will stay as is. MOTION by Commissioner Zastrow, seconded by Commissioner Christopherson,to accept all the changes from the term"clerk/treasurer" as recommended by the City Clerk and Commissioner Bening. Commissioner Trehus stated he believes the motion should include all the proposed changes to the document and by approved or denied at a future date. Chair Montain stated the original intent of this issue was to clean up the term clerk/treasurer because it is incorrect. The Commission can review the other proposed changes and vote on them at a future meeting. Commissioner Bening noted that if the Commission approves the changes,they have to go to the City Council for approval also. Chair Montain stated the City Council has the right to decide how the Charter is changed. The Commission can only make a recommendation. 2 Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 3 Commissioner G. Lane stated he has not read the whole draft and does not see any rush to vote on the proposed changes. Commissioner Rafferty stated he likes the idea of changing the Charter one piece at a time. Commissioner Trehus stated he believes it is very confusing and the Commission has worked through the proposed changes too fast. He stated the Commission needs to iron out the whole document. There is also concern of typographical errors that may change the meaning of the document. Commissioner Zych called the question. Commissioner Trehus referred to section 6.06 and 6.07 and stated the proposed change is more than just a change in term. Commissioner Dahl stated she did not know that section 6.06 and 6.07 were included in the motion. She asked that be removed from the motion. Commissioner Zastrow stated the motion only included the changes in the clerk/treasurer term and does not include section 6.06 and 6.07. MOTION carried with Commissioner G. Lane and Commissioner Trehus voting no. MOTION by Bening, seconded by Commissioner Zych to include the proposed changes of section 6.06 and 6.07. Commissioner Christopherson stated section 6.05 does not refer to the clerk only. Section 6.06 could be changed to section 6.05 and section 6.07 could be changed to section 6.06. Only one of the proposed sections is needed. Commissioner Bening amended the motion to eliminate section 6.05, change section 6.06 to section 6.05, and change section 6.07 to section 6.06. Commissioner Zych agreed to the amendment of the motion. Commissioner Trehus stated changing the sections does make sense but he will not support the motion because of how he voted on the previous motion. He stated he has an issue with piece mealing the changes. MOTION carried with Commission Trehus voting no. Chair Montain advised the Commissioner's to review the other proposed changes and a discussion will be held at the next meeting. If anyone has suggestions about the changes they should be given to the City Clerk two weeks prior to the meeting so it can be included in the packets. 3 Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 4 Commissioner G. Lane asked if a committee should be appointed to review the proposed changes. It was the consensus of the Charter Commission to have each Commissioner review the proposed changes individually. This item will be placed on the October 2002 meeting agenda. Commissioner Trehus stated changing the Charter and some of the meaning is a very touchy issue. Commissioner Dahl apologized for being late to the meeting and referred to page 7 of the April minutes. She noted the word "approved" should be changed to "approached"referring to the meeting schedule. Chair Montain advised the Commission will also discuss what recommendation will be made to the City Council at the October 2002 meeting. Five-Year Plan Report, Chair Montain—Chair Montain advised the Five-Year Plan is moving forward. The proposed Plan does include all aspects of what is required by the Charter. The City Administrator has indicated the Plan will be completed by the end of July or beginning of August 2002. Commissioner Dahl stated the Council is working together to pass the proposed Plan. The Council is fine tuning the Plan and the format is the same as what was presented to the Commission. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 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 no problems were identified with the City Council meeting minutes. Commissioner Dahl inquired about e-mailing the minutes to the Commission. Chair Montain advised if anyone cannot receive the minutes via e-mail, they should contact the City Clerk. By-Laws/Section 9. Amendment (Secretary Rafferty)—This item was tabled until the October 2002 meeting. Charter Archives Report(Secretary Rafferty)—Chair Montain stated he spoke to the City Clerk regarding this issue. When the Commission was formed in 1982 it did not have a good filing system. More than one person has groups of files and documents. A subcommittee is needed to try to retrieve as many records as possible or get them on bard drive. 4 Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 5 Commissioner Rafferty stated the Commission does have a large filing cabinet but the Commission needs to determine what should be saved and for how long. Commissioner Trehus stated he believes everything but Council minutes should be saved because it is a matter of public record. Commissioner Rafferty stated he will contact Rosemary Stoeburg regarding old Charter documents. Chair Montain advised the Commission also needs to find the dates of all the amendments that have been made to the original Charter. An update on the Charter Archives will be given at the October 2002 meeting. Commissioner Dahl stated she will find out if the Commission has the original Charter document with signatures. She asked if Commissioner Bening had spoken to the City Clerk about storing the document. Commissioner Bening stated he did discuss this issue with the City Clerk. The City Clerk does have the Charter on a disc and she can discuss it at the October meeting. Commissioner Dahl asked if Commissioner Zych had contacted the County and State regarding the original Charter. Commissioner Zych stated that neither the County nor the State has the original Charter. The Historical Society may have the original. NEW BUSINESS Meeting Schedule—Commissioner Trehus suggested the Commission only meet two times a year. Chair Montain stated it is in the by-laws that the Commission must meet a minimum of four times a year. Commissioner Trehus advised he would like to discuss the meeting schedule at the October meeting. Commissioner S. Lane suggested a list of action items and who is responsible for them be added to the meeting minutes. Chair Montain stated that is already done on the agenda items and that has been the practice for the last eight years. 5 Charter Commission July 11, 2002 Page 6 Commissioner Dahl suggested action items be listed under unfinished business. Set October 2002 Agenda— Chair Montain advised the following items will appear on the October 2002 agenda: 1. Call to Order and Roll Call 2. Approval of Minutes: A. July 11, 2002 3. Reports of the Chair A. Membership B. Annual Report 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 B. By-Laws (Commissioner Rafferty) C. Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance D. Meeting Frequency (Commissioner Trehus) E. Chair Report(Chair Montain) 6. New Business A. Set January 2003 Agenda 7. Adjourn ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner Zych, to adjourn the meeting at 8:30 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, Kim Points TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 6