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Orono City Council <br />Work Session <br />Tuesday, April 28, 2019 <br />Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. <br />PRESENT: Mayor Dennis Walsh, Council Members Richard F. Crosby II, Aaron Printup <br />and Victoria Seals. Representing staff were City Administrator Dustin Rief, Finance <br />Director Ron Olson, Police Chief Coffey Farniok, and City Clerk Anna Carlson. <br />Guests: Long Lake Fire Department Chief James Van Eyll, John Hall, and Shane Gardener <br />Meeting Start Time: 5:04 p.m. <br />1. Heritage Preservation <br />City Administrator Dustin Rief stated Council Member Victoria Seals had a resident <br />reach out to her in regards to heritage preservation districts for Orono. Rief requested <br />guidance and input from the Council about heritage preservation for Orono. <br />Mayor Dennis Walsh stated that it may be better to look into this later in the year after the <br />budget is established. Walsh recommended readdressing it later in the year after Council <br />Members had a chance to review the information received in regards to heritage <br />preservation. <br />Rief mentioned staff will look into how many houses we have that are over one hundred <br />years old. <br />2. Budget Priorities <br />Finance Director Ron Olson presented a high overview of the significant factors that <br />make up the budget. Staff has until June 7th to get their budget into the City <br />Administrator for review. He briefly ran through revenue and expenditure estimates for <br />2020. Olson also noted the City's tax levy can increase by 4.78% without increasing the <br />City's tax rate due to the City's increased Taxable Market Value. <br />Walsh mentioned if the Council can be comfortable with raising the levy to help fund the <br />roads budget to get that specific budget to where it should be. He noted if the City wants <br />to increase the pavement fund, it could be raised roughly by 3%. Council needs to figure <br />out what they are comfortable with. He added that he would like to see what we have <br />done for the permits over the last few years so Council can compare and use it to figure <br />out estimates. Walsh recommended the Council to consider incrementally increase the <br />levy now so we don't have to make such a huge jump to get where we want to be. <br />Seals agreed that by making the increase of 3% since the City has the option to lower it if <br />needed. <br />3. HR Performance Review Update <br />