07-27-2020 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Mr. Feldmann stated he did not get Ruegemer's message in any way, so that is not the source of him coming to the meeting. Ms. Angela Mahoney,2107 Sugarwood Drive, asked if comments would be open after agenda item 9. Walsh stated after the Applicant comes up, one or two people can come up. Lots of letters and emails have been sent,the Council has seen Ruegemer's email, so if someone wants to do a synopsis of what everyone thinks,he would be fine with that. Everyone coming up and saying the same thing over and over again is not appropriate because it is not a public hearing. Ms. Rachel Feldmann, 1010 Old Long Lake Road, said she wanted to make sure the Council knows that people she has reached out to on her own have no awareness of this project or proposal at all. Almost everyone she spoke to when she visited the park had no knowledge of this going on, and she hopes the Council will take the opportunity during this time to hear everybody that made an effort to come tonight and speak to make sure their voices are heard, because the citizens'understanding is that effort is being made to reach the community and users of the beach, and nobody that she spoke with at the beach had knowledge of this matter. Some of the voices are here to represent those people. She said she hoped the City Council takes the time to hear them and give everybody their five minutes who showed up to speak. Walsh stated there is no such thing as five minutes. Ms. Feldmann said she thought it was up to five minutes. When they called to figure out what the policy was,they were told everyone can speak on the public comments and get up to five minutes. She said she did not think anyone planned to take that long, but hopefully everyone can speak. Walsh stated that public comments are five minutes,but this is an agenda item and public comments are reserved for something that is not on the agenda. Ms. Feldmann asked if the boat house proposal was on the agenda. Walsh said the City Council is not making any votes tonight. They are hearing about the proposal and giving some guidance. It is up to the Applicant if he wants to move his proposal forward. He has not submitted an application to the City. Once they do that,then it goes to the formal process of notification of within 1,000 feet of the neighborhood, and it goes to the Planning Commission,which is a public hearing which everybody gets to be heard on everything they want to say. Tonight,the City Council is hearing what the Applicant's thoughts are and the City Council will give some feedback. Ms. Feldmann asked if everybody could still speak that is present tonight. Walsh suggested one or two people could come up after the Applicant. The Applicant always goes first. Ms. Alisa Benson, 1220 Lyman Avenue, said she is an Orono resident and has spoken to the Council before. She referenced Walsh's term of"representatives" and said since they are all homeowners and citizens,they do not have representatives, unlike Long Lake Rowing Company which is more organized. Walsh stated there have been times where 20-30 people have come up at a hearing and they have at times said to people that if they have something different to say so everyone is not repeating the same thing,he does not have a problem with people coming up.After a while, if people come up and say the same thing the previous person just said, it's hard.He noted Council Members have read all the letters. He used the Page 3 of 21