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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-11-2002 Charter Minutes Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE April 11,2002 TIME STARTED 7:03 P.M. TIME ENDED 8:35 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT Dahl,Montain, S. Lane, Carlson, Zych G. Lane,Bening, Christopherson, Zastrow,DeMotts,and Rafferty MEMBERS EXCUSED : Aldentaler MEMBERS UNEXCUSED : Trehus CITY COUNCIL PRESENT : Dahl,Reinert,O'Donnell, Carlson and Bergeson STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT : City Administrator,Linda Waite Smith (part) and 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 April 11, 2002 JOINT MEETING WITH LINO LAKES CITY COUNCIL Chair Montain thanked the City Council for attending the meeting this evening. Discussion of Five-Year Plan— Chair Montain stated the main issue to discuss is the Five-Year Plan. The Charter Commission, staff, and Council have worked on the Plan for several years. Chapter 7 of the Charter calls for a Five-Year Plan. Only one Plan has been submitted by staff back in the late 1980's early 1990's. He stated the Charter Commission has continually asked the City Council to complete the Plan. He asked where the Plan is and when it will be completed. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the last Plan submitted was done by her and then the City hired a new Finance Director. The Finance Director has completed the Plan and presented it to the City Council at the last work session. She distributed a memo regarding the Plan noting the public hearing has been set for Monday, May 13, 2002. City Administrator Waite Smith continued stating the Plan contains the four sections required by the City Charter: 1. Public Services Program 2. Capital Improvement Program 3. Capital Budget 1 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 2 4. Revenue Program. City Administrator Waite Smith reviewed the draft summary that was included in the memo for each of the program areas. She noted details may change based on further Council consideration. Mayor Bergeson stated another issue that puts some uncertainty into the Plan is the Comprehensive Plan that has not yet been approved by the Metropolitan Council. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the Metropolitan Council is extending their review period for another 60 days. Chair Montain stated the Plan is a big step forward for the City. Staff has done a lot of work. He reminded the Council that Subd. 6 states a summary of the Plan has to be published. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the Finance Director is aware of the publication requirement and the format relating to publication has been discussed. Chair Montain stated the Charter calls for the Five-Year Plan. He asked if staff feels that the Plan will be helpful after it is been updated a few times. City Administrator Waite Smith stated it is too early to tell. She stated the process of developing the Plan did tell her that the City will have to find different ways to accomplish the City's work because staff can't always be added. The Plan will stimulate a lot of discussion among directors. Councilmember Carlson stated she is very happy that the Plan is being completed because it allows the City to look at how projects will fit into the big plan. Councilmember Dahl stated she is also happy the Plan is being completed. The City can now plan ahead for purchases and know what equipment will be needed. The Charter requires the Plan and it had to be completed. The City can figure out what to do in the years ahead even with the changes in the legislature. City Administrator Waite Smith stated that people do need to understand that there are a lot of unknowns. This is a plan and guideline only and it may have to be changed due to the state law. The Finance Director is very concerned that people understand that. The Plan will need constant revision and will be updated every year. Chair Montain noted the Plan could be helpful when a project is coming up because the City can show the project had been in the Plan for many years. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the Plan can help sell a project but the projects may change as other projects may become more important. 2 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 3 Commissioner S. Lane asked what kind of Plan that City has previously had in place. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the City has always had a Five-Year Capital Improvement Plan until last year. Mayor Bergeson added that the Finance Staff has always done an informal budgeting plan one or two years ahead of time. The formal process within the City has always been the budget process. Commissioner S. Lane stated the City needs to stay on top of the updates each year so staff does not get behind on the Plan. Road Reconstruction Issues— Chair Montain stated part of this issue is the deterioration of roads within the City. The Five-Year Plan has construction projects laid out for the next five years. He stated staff must have the funds in mind to complete those projects. Mayor Bergeson state the Engineering and Planning Staff went through all the streets and roadways within the City and prioritized them. He stated he assumes the Plan is based on that prioritization. City Administrator Waite Smith stated there is concern of putting down specific project because of the expectation that they are completed. The projects may change due to unknown circumstances. Mayor Bergeson stated the Comprehensive Plan will have an impact on the Plan and the City's projects. It is easy to do one budget at a time in a growing city. The Community has made the decision to go to a slower growth mode so the City cannot count on new dollars for projects. There is also the uncertainty of how the City will start doing its new way of business as opposed to the old way. How that is accomplished will also affect the details of the Five-Year Plan and City projects. Chair Montain stated the Charter Commission had grown impatient about the Five-Year Plan and does understand the newness of it. He stated he is very happy that progress on the Plan has been made. He also indicated that he hopes the Plan will work as the Charter intended it to work. The Plan can be amended if staff determines it does not work as the Charter intended so it will be useful. Councilmember Reinert stated the City needs to make sure it is a realistic Plan. He noted he does have a lot of questions about that Plan that will be presented at the next work session. Commissioner Bening asked if there is anything relating to the Charter's requirements that staff felt was ridiculous to do relating to the Five-Year Plan. City Administrator Waite Smith stated staff did not indicate there was anything that seemed out of line relating to the Charter's requirements. There is just the concern that people understand 3 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 4 the City does have all four sections of the requirements done. She noted she will ask the Finance Director if any part of the requirements seemed unrealistic. Councilmember Reinert stated a discussion was held at the last meeting regarding the possibility of an annual amount of dollars being approved by the voters to put into a road reconstruction fund. Commissioner Zastrow asked if the projects list in the Plan are approved if the Five-Year Plan is approved. City Administrator Wait Smith stated the projects will not be approved just because the Five- Year Plan is approved. Each road project has to be voted on individually. Chair Montain stated the Council decides if road projects should be voted on individually or as a group of projects. Councilmember Reinert stated the City currently has no source for funding road reconstruction projects. He asked if it is a good idea to have an annual amount of money approved each year by the voters to start a road reconstruction fund. City Administrator Waite Smith stated the City Attorney advised the City would still have to get projects approved to use the money even if it is in a special fund. Chair Montain stated that according to the Charter, the City has to collect dollars for a specific project. However,the idea of having a special fund for roadways has been discussed previously. Mayor Bergeson stated the City intends to put the next road project referendum on the next vote. The School District is also voting on another referendum. Charter—Update— Chair Montain stated the Charter Commission is trying to clarify the term Clerk/Treasurer within the Charter document. The overall goal is to make the Charter easier to read and understand. He noted the two ways the City can amend the Charter and advised the Council that this issue may be presented to the Council at some point in the future. Commissioner Bening asked if there is any work being done to put the Charter on the City's web site. City Administrator Waite Smith advised the Charter is on the City's web site. City Clerk Blair stated Mr. Addicks, Attorney for the League of Minnesota Cities, has provided the City with information on the clarification of the clerk/treasurer term. He has suggested a way to change the term and he is very knowledgeable. Mayor Bergeson stated he hopes the Commission and the Council can handle the clarification. He stated he only would like to go to the voters if there is a major change in the Charter. 4 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 5 Chair Montain thanked the Council for attending the meeting and making progress on the Five- Year Plan. He indicated he will be happy when the Plan is completed and looks forward to scheduling another joint meeting next year. City Clerk Blair stated two appointments have gone to the Judge but the City has not received any word back from him yet. The City will advertise for the Commission openings again. Chair Montain called for a short recess at 7:50 p.m. noting the Commission will continue with the regular agenda after the break. Councilmember's were excused from the meeting. Chair Montain reconvened the meeting at 7:53 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Chair Montain advised the Charter Commission minutes as well as other Board minutes were not in the packets. It has been suggested that the minutes be e-mailed as often as possible to save time and money. If any Commissioner does not want the minutes e-mailed please speak to the City Clerk. City Clerk Blair stated the program adobe acrobat allows documents to be searchable. You can also index files and there is a free reader available on the web. She stated she will provide information to anyone who is interested to get his or her computers set up. Commissioner Bening inquired about the time frame for sending the minutes by computer. City Clerk Blair stated the minutes will be sent out after the Council approves them. The City's Director of Administration,Dan Tesch, has put together the website and he coordinates with an outside person to get information onto the web site. The City is making changes to the web site all the time. January 10,2002 Commissioner Christopherson noted Review/Accept Official Charter& By-laws should be added to this evening's agenda. MOTION by Commissioner S. Lane, seconded by Commissioner Christopherson to approve the January 10, 2002 meeting minutes, as presented. Motion carried with Commissioner Zastrow and DeMotts abstaining. REPORTS OF THE CHAIR Commissioner Applications—Term Clarification—Chair Montain advised Commissioner G. Lane and Commissioner Trehus's terms are in the process of being clarified by the City Clerk. The openings for the Commission have been advertised and will be advertised again. 5 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 6 City Clerk Blair stated the judges do prefer that the City send in batches of applications as opposed to one at a time. REPORT OF COMMITTEES Clerk/Treasurer Amendment—League of Cities Opinion (Commissioner Trehus)— Commissioner Dahl stated Commissioner Trehus e-mailed her information regarding this issue. She distributed a copy of the information. Commissioner Bening stated the attorney has recommended that the City use Plan A to modify the Charter regarding the clerk/treasurer term. He suggested the subcommittee meet with the City Clerk to work on this issue. Chair Montain directed the subcommittee to meet with the City Clerk and bring back a final recommendation to the July meeting so the Commission can vote on it. Five-Year Plan Review (Chair Montain)—Chair Montain advised this issue will remain on the July agenda for an update. He indicated he is very happy to see the progress the City has made. Commission Dahl stated the City Directors and Administrator think the Five-Year Plan is a good idea because of the changes in the legislature. 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. Commission DeMotts noted one set of minutes he had received did not have all of the pages. The Commission indicated no problems were identified with the City Council meeting minutes. By-Laws/Section 9. (Appointments) Amendment(Secretary Rafferty)—This item was tabled until the July 2002 meeting. Charter Archives Report(Secretary Rafferty)—Chair Montain stated he did not help Commissioner Rafferty with this project. Commissioner Rafferty advised Commissioner Carlson was also going to help get the documents sorted. He stated there is work that needs to be done and he will select a date to get the documents sorted and organized. Annual Report and Chair Recommendations Distribution (Secretary Rafferty)— Commissioner Rafferty stated the Annual Report and Chair Recommendations have been sent to the Judge. 6 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 7 Charter Document—Chair Montain stated the Commission needs to determine if the document dated March 10, 1990 is the official Charter. Commissioner Christopherson stated the City Clerk did distribute a new copy of the Charter. The question is whether or not it is a good copy for the Commission to work from. Commissioner Rafferty asked how the Commission can use a copy of the Charter that does not have signatures. Commissioner Bening stated the original Charter was on a computer system and was lost. The document was then scanned into the new computer system. Commissioner Rafferty stated the City also needs to have a hard copy in the file as a safety valve. Commissioner Bening stated the City Clerk is in charge of keeping the Charter and the Commission needs to rely on her. He indicated he will discuss this issue with the City Clerk. Commissioner Zych stated he believes there is a copy of the Charter at the County or State. He stated he will investigate and report back to the Commission at the next meeting. Chair Montain stated the Commission will assume the copy they have is the working copy but will find out if the original copy is at City Hall. NEW BUSINESS Meeting Schedule—Commissioner Dahl stated she has been approved by several members of the Commission who do not think it is necessary to meet four times a year. Chair Montain stated it is in the by-laws that the Commission must meet a minimum of four times a year. Set July 2002 Agenda— Chair Montain advised the following items will appear on the July 2002 meeting agenda: • Approval of April 2002 Minutes • Commissioner Applications—Term Clarification • Clerk/Treasurer Amendment • Five-Year Plan Update • Review Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance • By-Laws/Section 9. Amendment and Use of Term Clerk/Treasurer • Charter Archives Report 7 Charter Commission April 11, 2002 Page 8 • Charter Document • Set October 2002 Agenda ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner S. Lane, seconded by Commissioner Zych, to adjourn the meeting at 8:35 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Kim Points TimeSaver Off-Site Secretarial, Inc. 8