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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-14-1999 Charter Minutes Charter Commission January 14, 1999 Page 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES CHARTER COMMISSION DATE : January 14, 1999 TIME STARTED : 7:05 P.M. TIME ENDED : 9:45 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : DeMotts,Dunn,Aldentaler, Zastro,Kenfield,Lane, Rehbine, Trehus,Montain,Bernier, Sullivan,Bening, Turner, and Dahl MEMBERS ABSENT : Corson STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT : None CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Acting Chair Dunn called the regular meeting of the Lino Lakes Charter Commission to order at 7:05 p.m. CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES October 8, 1998 MOTION by Commissioner Trehus, seconded by Commissioner DeMotts,to accept the presented version of the Charter Commission minutes of October 8, 1998. The motion carried with Commissioner Montain, Bernier, Sullivan, Bening, and Turner abstaining. The unexcused absenses from the last Charter Commission meeting were clarified. APPEARANCES No one was present for appearances. OLD BUSINESS ROAD RECONSTRUCTION Chair Montain stated the Lakes Addition Road Improvement Project, as per the Charter, went fairly well and is near completion. The wear course will be completed in the spring. A final tabulation of the cost will be determined when the project is completed. MOTION by Commissioner Sullivan, seconded by Commissioner Lane, to have Commissioner Sullivan prepare a letter for Chair Montain to sign and send to the City Council requesting a I Charter Commission January 14, 1999 Page 2 significant portion of the $190,000 City surplus be dedicated to the Road Reconstruction Fund. The motion carried with Commissioner Bening voting no. The Charter Commission is interested in the process of how long term road improvements will be handled. This item will be on the agenda for the joint meeting with the City Council. FIVE-YEAR FINANCIAL PLAN Chair Montain stated the five year financial plan was dropped when Finance Director Mary Vaske left the City. Financial Analysis, Daryl Sulander is not aware of a five year financal plan as required by the Charter. He has been asked to give the plan some thought for the year 2000. This item will be on the agenda for the joint meeting with the City Council. The Charter Commission will ask the City Council to identify who is responsible for the five-year financial plan. MOTION by Commissioner Rehbine, seconded by Commissioner Bening, to have Chair Montain wirte a letter to the City Administrator, with copies to the City Council, asking for the status of the five year financial plan. He will request a response by April, 1999. The letter will be reviewed by Commissioner Kenfield, DeMotts, and Sullivan. The motion carried unanimously. A letter on this matter was written to the City Council in June, 1998. This letter will be reviewed to ensure the new letter is consistent with the commitment made at that time. CHARTER LANGUAGE Commissioner Sullivan explained that all word changes to the Charter must be approved by the voters. The purpose of updating the Charter language is to make the Charter easier to read without changing the intent of the Charter. Commissioner Sullivan reviewed the redraft of the Charter. He stated the biggest question is the General Fund. The following items were noted: Section 8.01- Expand on"Therewith" Section 8.02 - Second sentence typo,"improvements" Section 8.03 - Try to get ordinances and include them as a footnote Section 8.04 - Second paragraph typo, delete "o'; second paragraph, page 6, ask if "Failure to give"needs to be included; page 7 , first sentence, delete"a petition". Have lawyer clarify if it refers to a primary and secondary petition and if a note can be added under that item; second paragraph, page 7, adding the word "and"to "at least equal to"; problem with General Fund; first paragraph,page 9, delete "of' from"of the engineer"; " Subdivision 4 is missing Section 8.05 - First paragraph typo, "again" should be "against", question regarding City services being included, page 10, legal descriptions are omitted; page 11, owner or occupant clarified, last sentence typo, "parc" should be "parcel 2 Charter Commission January 14, 1999 Page 3 MOTION by Commissioner Kenfield, seconded by Commissioner Dunn,to take the suggested changes to the attorney and discuss this matter again at the April, 1999, meeting. Motion carried with Commissioners Trehus, Montain, and Dahl voting no. An updated version of the Minnesota League of Cities procedures on how to change the Charter without a referendum was requested. COMMUNICATIONS Commissioner Turner referred to the minutes from the October, 1998, Charter Commission meeting, page No. 5, last paragraph. She did not have a problem with anyone submitting publications to the newsletter. She will have something prepared for the April, 1999,meeting. It will be determined at that time if it should be submitted to the Quad or the newletter. The goal of communications is to make citizens aware of the Charter and how it functions. Suggestions for communications included the City newspaper, cable, internet, E-mail for the Charter Commission, a web page, a package put together for high school students, and Charter information being included in a welcome packet. MISSION STATEMENT Commissioner Turner stated she is willing to drop this item even though she believes that a Mission Statement would help clarify the role of the Charter Commission. This item will be revisited in October, 1999. BY-LAWS This item was postponed until a more important time. ANNUAL REPORT Chair Montain distributed and read the 1998 Annual Report. MOTION by Zastrow, seconded by Commissioner DeMotts to approve the 1998 Annual Report. Motion carried unanimously. 3 Charter Commission January 14, 1999 Page 4 NEW BUSINESS COMPREHENSIVE LAND USE PLAN Chair Montain stated the State Legislature has required that all cities prepare and adopt a Comprehensive Plan. The Lino Lakes Comprehensive Plan has been completed, however,the City Council was unable to get the required 4/5th vote for adoption as required by law. The Comprehensive Plan was forwarded to the Metropolitan Council on a 3/2 vote. Commissioner Montain asked that this issue be discussed at the joint meeting with the City Council. This item was tabled until the April, 1999, meeting. The Comprehensive Plan will be discussed at the Joint Meeting with the City Council. JOINT MEETING WITH CITY COUNCIL The City Council will determine a date in April, 1999, for a Joint Meeting with the Charter Commission. Items to be discussed will include road reconstruction, five year financial plan, Comprehensive Plan update, and an update of Charter Business. OTHER Commissioner DeMotts distributed a handout on Article 12, Section 5 First Volume, of the Minnesota State Constitution regarding eligibility for Charter Commission Board membership. He noted that the City Charter is more restrictive that the State Statute and asked if this was proper. Commissioner DeMotts will draft specific questions for a lawyer. These questions and a determination on submitting the questions to the League of Cities will be held at the April, 1999, meeting. SET APRIL 8, 1999 AGENDA Road Reconstruction Five Year Plan Charter Language Communication New Business - Minutes, Adoption of Ward System Correct Term System Appearances - John Powell regarding Infastructure ADJOURN MOTION by Commissioner Lane, seconded by Commissioner Trehus, to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 p.m. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully submitted, 4 Charter Commission January 14, 1999 Page 5 Kim Points Timesaver Off Site Secretarial, Inc. 5