11-24-2014 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 24, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 19 of 21 MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Mayor McMillan stated she attended the recent fire advisory meeting and that the commission went over this year’s and next year’s budgets. McMillan stated one of the items discussed was whether to purchase an engine truck for $440,000, which will be discussed further once the new appointees are on the commission. McMillan noted the second turn back committee meeting regarding the turn back of Highway 12 was held recently. The committee will be receiving the design plans in the near future for the first segment. The majority of the meeting was spent talking about a pedestrian crossing and a possible bike trail behind the Red Rooster. McMillan stated MnDot is still trying to determine how to connect the trail west of the apartments near the Mexican restaurant. McMillan indicated the committee will be meeting once a month for the next year or so and that there will be an open house tentatively in February and March presenting what has been studied to date. McMillan stated Long Lake will be reaching out to its residents earlier on in the process to make sure the residents have ample time to comment on the plans. Levang asked what side of the road the trail would be on near the Red Rooster. McMillan indicated it would be between the Red Rooster and the beach. McMillan stated the trail would eventually hook up to Martha Lane by the One-Stop Auto. McMillan stated parking will also need to be looked at. McMillan stated a year ago she saw that Minnetonka had put a short column in the Lakeshore Weekly about their fees and the proposed increase. McMillan stated she felt that was a good idea for Orono and that she was hopeful the City’s legal newspaper would be willing to put a little column in saying that Orono would be having a meeting on November 24 to discuss utility fees. McMillan stated the paper said the City would need to pay for a legal notice. McMillan stated the increase in fees did not require a legal notice but the City went ahead and paid the fee. McMillan stated to her knowledge the newspaper did not publish it. McMillan stated two weeks later she wrote a thank you letter to the residents thanking them for their vote and sent it to the Pioneer. McMillan stated the Pioneer has published letters similar to that in the past but that they now have a new policy saying that candidates who wish to issue a thank to voters are not run as letters to the editor or as news releases but can be run as advertisements if the candidate wishes. McMillan stated she revised her letter somewhat but that it was still not allowed as a letter to the editor. The letter was also sent to the Lakeshore Weekly and it was published today. McMillan stated if you have to pay to get your thank you message out even when the campaign season is over and the results are in is not what you want your community paper to be doing. McMillan stated if a letter of gratitude or thank you is not seen to be important or worthy of publishing, it really diminishes the idea of gratitude and that she would like to see Orono’s local paper say that they value that. McMillan stated by banishing all the candidates to the classified section of the paper does not show the importance of running for office, and gives the impression that a candidate is only important because they pay for it. McMillan stated a local paper’s niche is to provide information to the local people of the community.