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Mounds View City Council October 11, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 26 Ms. Olson commented that the interpretation of franchise and franchise fee, if nothing else, enlightens the Charter Commission for their review of changes and modifications to the Charter for clarification to address franchise fee within a franchise so that there can be a public hearing and notification to the residents. She stated this was a very important thing, did not happen, was not required to happen, and was not done as a courtesy. She commented that the budget review would consist of consideration of all the issues as a whole, adding that when the issues are segmented, and considered separately, the resulting decisions may be different. Ms. Olson noted Ex-Mayor McCarty's statement that he would like to have services, however, he did not wish to pay for them, and explained, in her opinion, this did not properly reflect the attitude of the citizens of Mounds View. She stated no one was indicating they did not care about the intra-structure, however, this depends upon how the funds are taken. She stated citizens are not aware of everything that happens within the City, and probably do not have to be, as residents were voted into office because it was hoped their beliefs were similar to the beliefs of the majority of the people. She stated, however, when the issues are considered independently, and appears to be justified, this is not necessarily the case. She stated she had a difficult time believing there was nothing allocated in the City's budget for streets. Mayor Coughlin explained that reconstruction of the streets was a different issue than street maintenance. Council Member Marty added that the Director of Public Works has been attempting to do as much chip seal and patching as possible. He explained that Mr. Ulrich provided the Streets Policies Committee with a map, which indicated streets projected for work up to two years prior. He stated the Department has not had any funds to perform the work on these roads, and therefore, have been chip sealing and patching until they can come up with a plan. He stated this was the reason they were trying to proceed with this matter, and designate what they can from the franchise fee. He reiterated he would like see if a higher percentage could be allocated to the street fund. Ms. Olson stated she was aware of this. She reiterated she could not believe there were no funds allocated for this purpose, and questioned why retreats were important to the City, and why a secretary would not be sufficient, instead of an assistant to the Administrator. She remarked she would like to have these matters evaluated. Mayor Coughlin pointed out that the reason the documents were posted on the Chamber walls, was because the Council realized, early in this process, that they were going to look at the big picture and understand what the goals were, and to let the specifics follow the goals. Mrs. Warner inquired what had happened to the $1,000 door prize that Council Member Stigney had won at the League of Minnesota Cities conference. Council Member Stigney stated it has not been spent yet, and the plan was to have a luncheon or dinner for all of the commission members. Mrs. Warner suggested a dinner for all of the Charter Commission members and their wives Mrs. Warner stated the present franchise fee is 2.5 percent, and in her understanding, the entire franchise fee is going into the General Fund, and they were proposing to increase the fee to 4 percent. She inquired if they would put a portion of this into the General Fund, or if the entire 4 percent would be put into a fund specifically for streets.