HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-08-2004 Charter Minutes Charter Commission
July 8, 2004 APPROVED
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2 CITY OF LINO LAKES
3 CHARTER COMMISSION
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6 DATE July 8,2004
7 TIME STARTED 7:10 P.M.
8 TIME ENDED 9:27 P.M.
9 MEMBERS PRESENT Dahl,Aldentaler,Trehus,Warren,Zastrow,
10 Duffy,Williams,Bor, and Carlson
11 MEMBERS EXCUSED Montain,G. Lane, S. Lane,Handrick
12 MEMBERS UNEXCUSED Storberg and Vacha
13 STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT : City Clerk,Ann Blair(part)
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18 CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
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20 Chair Trehus called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 7:10
21 p.m. on July 8, 2004.
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23 SWEARING-IN OF COMMISSIONERS, SHARON LANE,ROSEMARY STORBERG
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25 Commissioners S. Lane and Storberg were not present.
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27 City Clerk Blair suggested new members be informed regarding the Charter Commission
28 attendance policy.
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30 OPEN MIKE
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32 Mr.Bob Bening, 6788 East Shadow Lake Drive, suggested the Commission implement a
33 procedure for determining which Commissioners are going to replace which Commissioner's
34 term.
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36 Chair Trehus advised all members appointed this year are on four-year terms except for one.
37 One member was appointed to a two-year term.
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39 City Clerk Blair advised there were many vacancies on the Commission this year. The term
40 limitation may have been removed so that point will be moot. She stated she would get
41 clarification regarding term limitations.
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43 Chair Trehus advised all appointments are retroactive to January 1, 2004 even if they have not
44 yet been sworn in. The Judge was going to determine which member was appointed to the two-
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Charter Commission
July 8, 2004 APPROVED
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1 year term. He requested clarification from the City Clerk regarding the two-year term
2 appointment.
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4 Commissioner Carlson referred to the Minnesota State Statute that states members take over a
5 term once they are appointed.
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7 APPROVAL OF MINUTES
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9 August 14,2003—Commissioner Dahl referred to the "Councilmembers Present"heading of the
10 minutes and requested she not be listed as a Councilmember. She noted she was present as a
11 Commissioner.
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13 MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded Commissioner Zastrow,to approve the August 14,
14 2003 Charter Commission minutes as amended. Motion carried.
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16 January 8,2004—Commissioner Bor requested a copy of the spreadsheet regarding member's
17 terms be added to the minutes.
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19 Chair Trehus advised he would provide that information after he gets clarification from the judge
20 regarding the two-year term appointment.
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22 Motion by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Zastrow,to approve the January 8,
23 2004 Charter Commission minutes as amended. Motion carried.
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25 April 8,2004—Commissioner Carlson referred to page 2,paragraph 7, and amended it to read
26 "Councilmember Carlson stated that the City has had two road referendums. The project that
27 had the benefiting properties paying 11%failed. The one that had the benefiting properties
28 paying 28%passed."
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30 MOTION by Commissioner Dahl, seconded by Commissioner Carlson,to approve the April 8,
31 2004, Charter Commission minutes as amended. Motion carried.
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33 REPORTS OF THE CHAIR
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35 New Members (Chair Trehus) - Chair Trehus advised the City Clerk is going to clarify the
36 two-year term appointee. Members can serve two consecutive terms along with a partial term.
37 Clarification will be made on the possibility of no term expirations.
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39 Five-Year Plan (Chair Trehus)—Chair Trehus referred to the July 8, 2004 memo from the City
40 Administrator. The memo indicates the Five-Year Plan will be prepared in late 2004 and will
41 address years 2005 —2009 following approval of the Pavement Management Report.
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i REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
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3 Archives Report/City Web Site(Commissioner Dahl) - Commissioner Dahl advised the
4 Charter is on the web site along with the By-Laws and meeting agendas. The meeting minutes
5 are not currently on the web site but will be when the current minutes are approved. The project
6 of scanning the archives has already been started. She noted she does not have a key to the
7 Charter Commission file because the previous secretary has not yet turned it in. She asked Chair
8 Trehus to obtain the file key from the previous secretary and Commissioner Montain. She asked
9 if the Commission would like their photo on the web site.
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11 It was the consensus of the Commission to have a group photo taken at the October meeting to
12 be put on the web site.
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14 Response to Charter Documents Letter(Commissioner Dahl)—Commissioner Dahl stated no
15 responses have been received yet from the letter the City sent to residents. She stated she went
16 through the archives and got a new list of residents to send an amended letter to. She stated the
17 letter will be sent out when she verifies the addresses. She noted she is going to check with the
18 City Clerk about the dates of changes being noted on the By-laws.
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20 Commissioner Bor confirmed that the City Clerk, Commission Chair and secretary would have
21 keys to the Commission file.
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23 UNFINISHED BUSINESS
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25 Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance—Commissioner Carlson
26 expressed concern because he has not received all the City Board/Council meeting minutes.
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28 Commissioner Dahl advised she would check with the City Clerk regarding the Commission
29 receiving copies of the meeting minutes. She indicated she would also speak to the City Clerk
30 about advertising the Charter meetings in the Community Brief of the Quad.
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32 Open Meeting Law/E-mail—City Clerk Blair distributed a handout regarding open meeting
33 laws. She noted it is very important to be aware of the open meeting laws. Open meeting do
34 pertain to e-mail also. The Commission needs to be very careful about e-mails and discussing
35 Charter Commission business with a quorum. She referred to the website for the League of
36 Minnesota Cities for more information on open meeting laws.
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38 NEW BUSINESS
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40 Mayor's Response to Mr. and Mrs. Stern's Letter - Chair Trehus advised he has spoken with
41 Mr. Stern approximately a month ago. Mr. Stern indicated he had not heard from anyone from
42 the City in regard to his letter. The July 8, 2004 memo from the City Administrator indicated
43 staff had been in contact with Mr. Stern. Chair Trehus stated he reviewed the Charter process
44 with Mr. Stern and advised him the City is going to try to better inform residents about the City's
45 Charter.
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2 Minutes Editing—Chair Trehus reviewed the meeting minute procedure that is currently being
3 utilized. He noted the City Clerk proofreads the minutes and any changes are noted. He
4 indicated he also reviews the minutes and his changes are also noted.
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6 Commissioner Dahl requested the lines of the minutes be numbered similar to the Council
7 meeting minutes.
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9 Commissioner Carlson stated he would like to know what is being edited within the meeting
10 minutes.
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12 City Clerk Blair noted the only changes to the minutes are basically grammar and spelling. The
13 Commission can determine what format the minutes should be in. Chair Trehus has also been
14 reviewing the minutes and all changes are noted with an underline.
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16 Chair Trehus advised none of the content is being changed. He stated someone else may review
17 the minutes. The Commission can determine the minutes process.
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19 Commissioner Bor stated the City spends too much time on approving meeting minutes.
20 Minutes need to reflect the intent of the meeting. The process needs to be more efficient.
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22 Chair Trehus stated any members may call him with concerns about the meeting minutes or
23 anything within the packet prior to the meeting. Officers of the Commission will note their e-
24 mail addresses on the agenda.
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26 Joint Meeting with City Council(discussion)—Chair Trehus advised the City Administrator
27 has indicated that staff still feels the Charter may need to be modified to get road improvements
28 completed within the City. He stated he does not believe that was the consensus of the
29 Commission at the April meeting with the City Council.
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31 Commissioner Bor stated there was also discussion about informing residents about road
32 conditions so they can make informed decisions. Information and education needs to be ongoing
33 and prior to referendum votes on street projects. She stated the Charter has not failed. The
34 failure has come from the City and not informing residents.
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36 Chair Trehus stated the City of Lino Lakes is unique because of the special assessment
37 provisions in the Charter.
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39 Commissioner Warren stated the Charter Commission should be involved in defining the public
40 improvement construction and financing process. After the Pavement Management Report is
41 complete the report needs to be communicated to residents. After residents are informed,
42 implementation steps can be determined.
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44 Commissioner Bor stated the Commission needs to communicate to the City Administrator that
45 the City needs to educate and inform residents prior to the next Commission meeting.
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2 Chair Trehus suggested the Commission send a memo to staff and the City Council or possibly
3 invite them to another meeting to discuss this issue.
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5 Commissioner Carlson stated he would have liked the City Council to have had input on the
6 memo from the City Administrator. He suggested the Commission make sure the Council is
7 involved before a response is given.
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9 Commissioner Warren suggested the Commission respond to the City Administrator and include
10 the City Council in that response. She suggested Commissioner Bor draft a letter from the
11 Charter Commission.
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13 MOTION by Commissioner Warren, seconded by Commission Zastrow,to have Commissioner
14 Bor draft a letter of response to the City Administrator in regard to the July 8, 2004 memo to the
15 Charter Commission.
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17 Commissioner Zastrow suggested the letter include the possibility of another meeting with the
18 City Council to discuss this issue.
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20 MOTION carried.
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22 Chair Trehus suggested the Commission meet on July 19, 2004, 6:30 p.m. to approve the draft
23 letter. He indicated he would have the City Clerk publish the meeting and notify the other
24 members.
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26 Set October 14,2004 Agenda—Chair Trehus advised the following items would appear on the
27 October 14, 2004, Charter Commission agenda:
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29 1. Call to Order and Roll Call
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31 2. Swearing-in of Commissioners—Sharon Lane and Rosemary Storberg
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33 3. Open Mike
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35 4. Approval of Minutes
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37 A. July 8, 2004
38 B. July 19, 2004
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40 5. Reports of the Chair
41 A. Members Terms
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43 6. Reports of the Committees
44 A. Archives Report/City Web Site (Commissioner Dahl)
45 B. Response to Charter Documents Letter(Commissioner Dahl)
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2 7. Unfinished Business
3 A. Commission Member's not Receiving Meeting Minutes
4 B. Pavement Management Program
5 C. Review City Council Meeting Minutes for Charter Compliance
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7 8. New Business
8 A. Photograph of Commission Members
9 B. Posting Charter Commission Meetings in the Quad
10 C. Set January 13, 2005 Agenda
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12 9. Adjourn
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14 ADJOURN
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16 MOTION by Commissioner Zastrow, seconded by Commissioner Carlson,to adjourn the
17 meeting at 9:27 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
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19 Respectfully Submitted,
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21 Kim Points
22 TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc.
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