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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-10-2002 Charter Minutes Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE : January 10,2002 TIME STARTED : 7:00 P.M. TIME ENDED : 8:40 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Dahl, Sullivan,Aldentaler,Montain, S. Lane, G. Lane,Bening, Trehus, Christopherson,and Carlson,Zych,Rafferty MEMBERS EXCUSED : Zastrow and DeMotts MEMBERS UNEXCUSED : None STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT : City Clerk,Ann Blair(part) CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Chair Sullivan called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 7:05 p.m. on January 10, 2002. APPROVAL OF MINUTES October 11,2001 MOTION by Commissioner Montain, seconded by Commissioner Bening,to approve the October 11, 2001, meeting minutes, as presented. Motion carried with Commissioner S. Lane, G. Lane and Rafferty abstaining. REPORTS OF THE CHAIR Commissioner Re-Appointments (Aldentaler,Montain,Dahl,Zastrow)—Chair Sullivan advised the City Clerk,Ann Blair, is present to do the swearing in of the re-appointments noting Commissioner Zastrow will have to be sworn in at another time. City Clerk Blair introduced herself to the Commission noting she left business cards for the new officers. She advised she is the staff liaison for the Charter Commissioner and Commissioner's should feel free to call her if they have any questions. City Clerk Blair swore in re-appointees Montain, Dahl and Aldentaler. Chair Sullivan noted the secretary needs to provide a copy of the by-laws and Annual Report to the City Clerk. 1 Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 2 Elect New Officers—Chair Sullivan distributed voting ballots to elect the officers. He noted the new officers would take office at the close of this meeting. Commissioner Zych submitted his ballots and excused himself from the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Commissioner Montain indicated he would like to serve as the Commission Chair. Commissioner Montain was elected Commission Chair unanimously. Commissioner S. Lane and Christopherson indicated they would like to serve as Commission Vice-Chair. Commissioner S. Lane stated she would like to learn more about the Chair position by serving as Vice-Chair and then possible become the Commission Chair at some point in the future. Commissioner Christopherson stated he is also interested in the Chair position and feels he would learn more about that from the Vice-Chair position. Commissioners submitted their ballots. Commissioner S. Lane was elected Commission Vice- Chair by a 7-5 vote. Commissioner Rafferty indicated he would serve as Commission Secretary. Commissioner Rafferty was elected Commission Secretary unanimously. Chair Sullivan suggested the Commission elect an Assistant Secretary noting the by-laws do allow for that position. Commissioner Carlson indicated he would serve as Commission Assistant Secretary. Commissioner Carlson was elected Commission Assistant Secretary unanimously. City Clerk Blair advised a legal opinion regarding the Clerk/Treasurer Amendment is not yet available. Chair—Term Clarification—Chair Sullivan advised two new Commissioners are needed for the Commission. The City Clerk will be advertising the openings in the City newspaper. Commissioner Rehbein resigned his position. Chair Sullivan advised his term is up and he is not reapplying. Commissioner G. Lane reapplied for the Commission this evening. 2 Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 3 REPORT OF COMMITTEES Clerk/Treasurer Amendment—Leap_ue of Cities Opinion (Commissioner Trehus)— Commissioner Trehus distributed a copy of a letter he sent to Duke Addicks, League of Minnesota Cities regarding a legal opinion on this matter. Commissioner Montain referred to Section 12.11 Ordinance to Make Charter Effective. He stated he believes the City Council should make a determination regarding this matter. Commissioner Trehus stated he has spoke to the attorney and he indicated he is concerned about making changes to the Charter and making changes that will possibly only be effective for ten years. Mr. Addicks indicated he needs more time before he can give the Commission his opinion. Commissioner Bening stated Section 12.11 can be read as the Council can make the Charter effective without changing the Charter. This item was tabled until the April 2002 meeting. Five Year Plan Review (Vice-Chair Montain)—Chair Sullivan advised that as he read the minutes from the past Council meetings, there has been no talk about a Five Year Plan, only City finances. Commissioner Montain stated he spoke to the Finance Director regarding this issue and indicated the Commission is very disappointed with the progress on the Plan. Mr. Rolek indicated City Staff is currently only working on the CIP,which is only a part of the Five Year Plan. Mr. Rolek also indicated he needs information from the Department Heads and some of those people do not feel the Five-Year Plan is necessary. The Commission is going to have to demand at the joint meeting with the Council that a Five-Year Plan must be completed. The Council will either have to direct Staff to complete the Plan or the Council will have to make the determination that the Plan is not effective and another plan should be utilized. Chair Sullivan stated the Council has to be pushed and the Commission may need a legal opinion about what the Commission can do if a Five-Year Plan is not done. Commissioner Montain stated this issue needs to be discussed at the joint Council meeting. The Council needs to be told they have to hold Staff responsible to develop a Five-Year Plan. It is possible that a two-year or three-year plan may be more effective. If that is the case,the Council must tell the Commission that. Commissioner Rafferty asked how the Charter can be changed to make the requirement a three- year plan. Commissioner Montain explained the two ways that the Charter can be changed including a vote by residents or a 2/3 vote by Council and the Commission. 3 Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 4 Commissioner Trehus stated he does not believe the Plan has to be that detailed and feels Staff can develop a Five-Year Plan. Chair Sullivan suggested the Commission may want to check with other Charter Cities to see what they have for a Five-Year Plan. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance—Chair Sullivan advised the meeting minutes were included in the packets for the meetings from August 27 through December 10. The Commission indicated no problems were identified with the Council Meeting Minutes. By-Laws/Section 9. (Appointments) Amendment(Secretary Rafferty)—This item was tabled until the January 2002 meeting. Review/Accept Official Charter& By-Laws— Chair Sullivan stated the question regarding this issue is if the City has the official Charter documents. The City Clerk gave us the Charter and the Commission has to determine if it is the official copy. He noted the City Clerk also needs the By-laws/Section 9. Commissioner Trehus stated he needs more time to review the documents the Commissioner received. He suggested the Commission break into small group and each group be responsible for a section of the Charter. Chair Sullivan stated that was suggested at the last meeting and it was determined that each Commissioner would review the Charter individually. He noted he tried to get the Charter to each Commissioner three weeks prior to the meeting this evening. Commissioner Bening suggested this item be tabled until the next meeting. Each Commissioner should review the documents and a vote will be taken at the next meeting. Chair Sullivan referred to page 32 and noted the document states it is a"draft document". He asked if the draft is supposed to be sent to a Judge. Commissioner S. Lane stated that refers to the voters. The Charter went before the voters in 1982 and it was approved. Chair Sullivan suggested a page be added to the Charter that states when the Charter was passed by the voters. He directed Commissioner Rafferty to follow up on this issue with the City Clerk. Commissioner S. Lane stated she would like to see the dates of when the updates were done in the Charter. 4 Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 5 Commissioner Trehus stated he would like to know the exact date the Charter took effect. Commissioner Montain stated if anyone would like to review the Charter in a group they may or Commissioner's may review the Charter individually. Commissioner G. Lane excused himself from the meeting at 8:05 p.m. Chair Sullivan asked the Commissioner's who is in favor of sectioning up the Charter and having Commissioner's review certain sections. Commissioner Montain stated each individual should determine how they want to review the Charter. It was the consensus of the Commission that each Commissioner will determine how they want to review the Charter. Charter Archives Report (Secretary Rafferty)—Commissioner Rafferty advised he does not have anything specific to report on this issue. Commissioner Montain advised he will review the old documents and make sure there are no more documents at the old City Hall. Commissioner Rafferty stated he believes everything has been moved from the old City Hall. He stated he will give an update of what documents are in the Charter files at the next meeting. Chair Sullivan asked if there are requirements for what has to be kept in the Charter file. Commissioner Dahl stated all the files need to be combined and organized. She indicated she would help with that project. Commissioner Montain stated it should be a goal of the Commission to complete that project by the end of the year. Commissioner Dahl noted the City is working on the City's web site. She asked if the Commission wants the Charter to be on the web site. It was the consensus of the Commission that the Charter should be on the City's new web site. Commissioner Carlson noted he will also help organize the Charter documents. Commissioner Rafferty noted he would like to utilize magnetized files and will bring information regarding that to the Commission. Commissioner Montain advised he will research any state statutes regarding requirements for the Charter file. 5 Charter Commission January 10, 2002 Page 6 Annual Report and Chair Recommendations Distribution (Secretary Rafferty)—Chair Sullivan advised the Annual Report and Chair Recommendations need to be submitted by the Commission Secretary by the 3 1"of each year. Commissioner Montain advised the Annual Report was voted on and approved at the last meeting. The Commissioner Secretary needs to send it to the judge. Commissioner Rafferty advised he has not yet received a copy of the Annual Report. NEW BUSINESS Set April 2002 Agenda— Chair Sullivan advised the following items will appear on the April 2002 meeting agenda: • Approval of January 2002 Minutes • Clerk/Treasurer Amendment • Five-Year Plan Report • Review Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance • By-Laws/Section 9. Amendment • Review/accept Official Charter&By-laws • Charter Archives Report • Annual Report and Chair Recommendations Distribution • Set April 2002 Agenda • Schedule Joint Council Meeting Commissioner Montain advised he will try to schedule a joint Council meeting in April. The agenda items will include the Five-Year Plan and City roads. Commissioner Dahl suggested Commissioner Montain contact the City Administrator to schedule the joint Council meeting as soon as possible. The City Administrator also indicated the Five-Year Plan will be completed by the next Charter meeting. ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Bening,to adjourn the meeting at 8:40 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Kim Points TimeSaverOff--Site Secretarial, Inc. 6