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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,June 22,2020 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> PUBLIC COMMENTS <br /> Mr. Richie Anderson, 3205 Crystal Bay Road, Lake Minnetonka Conservation District(LMCD) <br /> representative for Orono. He stated he sent the preliminary 2020 budget to the City and got a response <br /> from Walsh about the $50,000 item and Rief commented that a couple items did not seem to line up. He <br /> said there is a rounding error for the City of Orono. Last year the LMCD wanted to raise the levy 2.4 %, <br /> and he went to the City of Minnetonka Beach because he has property there. He does not know much <br /> about the information on the top part of the budget; if the Council has issues,they will have to look into <br /> it. He said there was no Aquatic Invasive Species(AIS)prevention in 2019, but they hired a study for <br /> $100,000 which is included in the$118,238 number. This year another study has been approved for <br /> $50,000. In 2021 there is$75,000 designated for that. The LMCD is not doing anything with harvesting <br /> or AIS. Lake Minnetonka Association(LMA)got$35,000 worth of grants;the LMCD did not get <br /> anything because they do not know how to do so. He said the process might be that the preliminary <br /> budget gets sent to the cities first for input,but the Board has never officially voted on it.As far as AIS <br /> management,this year they are going to hire a guy to study it again for$50,000;they are not doing <br /> treatment. He noted a few years ago he and Gabe Jabbour shut the harvesting down. <br /> Seals noted those two gentlemen did all the work. <br /> Mr.Anderson said if you think about shutting down the harvesting,you would assume there would be <br /> money for chemicals. He does not know if the Board is anti-chemical,but chemical treatments work. He <br /> has proof in his corner of the bay,which Johnson can attest to. He noted the equipment is sitting there and <br /> should be sold. There is $125,000 for equipment replacement in the budget and$157,000 in the Save the <br /> Lake fund. <br /> Crosby asked what the study money is specifically for. <br /> Mr. Anderson said he wished he could tell him;he has no idea. <br /> Walsh indicated he thought it was padding the budget so the budget can be kept up even though they lost <br /> the harvesting. Once the budget is brought down, it would look really bad to have to jack it back up. <br /> Crosby stated if the chemical treatment is doing a nice job,the money should be moved there. <br /> Seals asked if anyone knows what they found regarding the $150,000 study. <br /> Mr.Anderson said if anyone wanted to read about 100 pages of bull,they should read the report. He <br /> stated the chemicals work, so spend$100,000 on chemicals and put them in the lake. The LMCD did not <br /> spend a dime. <br /> Walsh stated that is why everyone is trying to get the Lake Improvement Districts(LIDs)going,because <br /> it bypasses this kind of stuff. <br /> Crosby said these are dollars that are being wasted which could be supplementing the lake. <br /> Mr. Anderson agreed with Crosby but indicated it would not happen because it is a rounding error for the <br /> City of Orono. <br /> Page 2 of 13 <br />