08-11-2010 Council Work Session Packet

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. MEMORANDUM TO: MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS FROM: ORONO MANAGEMENT TEAM SUBJECT: INFORMATION UPDATE DATE: JULY 30, 2010 � Reminder—The first Council work session in August will be on Wednesdav,August 11,not Tuesday, August 10, due to the Primary Election. The main topic of discussion will be the 2011 budget. • Filing for city offices begins on Tuesday,August 3 and is open through August 17,2010. Attached is a short overview of the filing process. The"Affidavit of Candidacy"and packet of candidate filing information is available at City Hall. � The attached special event permit has been issued: o Mosquite Man Duathlon, sponsored by Gear West,to be held on Saturday, September 4, 2010 on the Orono School grounds and surrounding areas. Approximately 200 participants are expected. • Casco Point Beach was closed on Tuesday evening due to evidence of bacteria(notice attached). The beach has been re-opened as of Friday, July 30, 8:00 am. • A list of neighborhood parties/events that have been registered with the Orono Police Department for National Night Out is attached. • Yesterday the Planning Commission and Planning Staff conducted a by-boat tour of the lakeshore. We were able to see a few homes where native plantings have been incorporated into the lake yard landscaping and/or rip rap. It is amazing the difference some plants can make. The PC enjoyed the tour and told staff that they appreciated the first hand views of recent projects and the discussions on board. (MC) • This week Tom Kellogg,Mike Gaffron and I met with representatives of Xcel. They are planning to update their existing substation at 3960 Sixth Ave. They are planning to convert from a 69 kV single line to a 115kV"looped"line. With my limited lrnowledge of these things I understand that it will mean a greater capacity for Orono residents and people living west of Orono as well as provide for fewer to no power outages. More detail will follow in the coming months. Xcel has chosen to follow the local government unit permitting path(ours)as opposed to the State's permitting path. Ours is faster. 'This will mean that our PC will hold an additional informational meeting in September—an Environmental Assessment scoping meeting—which must happen ahead of the CUP public hearing (possibly at the October PC). No action will be taken at the September meeting on this application. Please contact Melanie with questions. (MC) • Attached is the Planning Commission's August legal notice. There are two City initiated applications for code amendments on this notice.Please contact me with any questions. (MC) • An update from the Long Lake Fire Department advisory meeting: the current year's budget is on track,the preliminary 2011 budget will be reviewed in August(predicting an increase of less than 3%), and the Fire Chief is looking at a training room usage policy that will also be reviewed in August. • The agenda for the August 3rd Long Lake work session is attached. The meeting to accept public input on the police RFP's begins at 5:30 nm on Tuesdav_.