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1 1 <br /> City Council Regular Meeting Minutes <br /> April 13, 2004 05 <br /> Page 5 <br /> 1 <br /> 2 Commissioner Wiessner noted one of the things with which she had been involved was trying to <br /> 3 "put our finger in the dyke"to keep more demands from coming to the County. Councilmember <br /> 4 Faust responded Council would like to give its support to any mutually interesting issues and <br /> 5 suggested Commissioner Wiessner allow it to help by possibly bringing "force to bear" at critical <br /> 6 points. <br /> 7 <br /> 8 Commissioner Wiessner indicated one issue that had just surfaced was inverse condemnation, <br /> 9 which stated if a City decided to go with organized collection for garbage it would have to <br /> 10 reimburse all the deposed haulers for any potential business they had lost. She added cities <br /> 11 currently had the authority to make these decisions on their own and she felt this item took too <br /> 12 much power away from local governments. <br /> 13 <br /> 14 Commissioner Wiessner indicated there was legislation that stated a city would have to pay the <br /> 15 opposing legal fees when using eminent domain if there was a difference of 15%to 20% <br /> 16 between the City's appraisal and the appraisal of the property owner. She stated she was <br /> 17 concerned the outcome would be an automatic increase in the_property owner's appraised value <br /> 18 so the City would have to pay attorney fees. <br /> 19 <br /> 20 Councilmember Thuesen noted,regarding refuse haulers, the City explored if it was better to <br /> 21 contract with one hauler or let residents make their own choices. He stated he was amazed at <br /> 22 how emotional the issue of hauling trash could become. <br /> 23 <br /> 24 Councilmember Thuesen indicated he wished to comment on the Silver Lake Road process, as <br /> 25 he commiserated with those who drove it on a regular basis. He noted it would be a great <br /> 26 roadway, however, when completed. Commissioner Wiessner responded it had been a"long <br /> 27 road, so to speak," as last year whatever could go wrong did go wrong. She added she was <br /> 28 pleased it was nearly done. <br /> 29 <br /> 30 Commissioner Wiessner stated she wanted to encourage those with questions to call, as Ramsey <br /> 31 County had an excellent staff that was very responsive and eager to help the local communities. <br /> 32 She added the County would like to find a way to help St. Anthony Village with the Apache <br /> 33 Plaza issue, if possible. <br /> 34 <br /> 35 V. PUBLIC HEARINGS. <br /> 36 A. Review proposed 2005 City budget. <br /> 37 Mayor Hodson noted Council typically did an early review of the next year's fiscal budget. <br /> 38 <br /> 39 City Manager Mornson noted this was the fifth year the City had conducted an early review, as it <br /> 40 wished to receive public input at an earlier date. He indicated the following points of interest in <br /> 41 the 2005 budget: 2% increase in salaries/wages adjustments, higher health insurance <br /> 42 contributions in two of the three unions, the City had not reached a settlement with its police <br /> 43 union, capital equipment funding was stable because liquor stores were out of service and most <br /> 44 of the proceeds from the liquor store paid for capital equipment. <br /> 45 <br /> 46 Mr. Mornson indicated additional expenditures were summarized as follows: <br />