02-08-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, January 11, 2021 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 7 of 12 MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORTS – Continued Printup echoed congratulations to Walsh, Seals, and Crosby. Seals welcomed everyone back, noting restaurants are back open and she is excited for that. She shared that her team is based around the country and she has one employee who has been traveling all over the south for four months without getting COVID-19; in the end, he contracted COVID-19 by hanging out with his family. She stated some of the things they are doing just does not make sense, for example closing schools. She shakes her head because it is not bounded in logic. She hopes schools open soon and stay open. Johnson added that people are using the trails and it is nice to see that. The Luce Line is not plowed and the difference of activity level is enormous, but it gets cross-country skiers. He noted over by Stubbs Bay they paved it and the amount of snowmobile trailers has increased and people are actually using it. Seals said at Bederwood, and she is not complaining, kids had taken their parents Gaters and had tow-ropes with skis and snowboards. It was very entertaining to see it being used. Johnson said the other activity Orono is providing is the golf course. He said the place was packed and thought about talking to Public Works about plowing the entrance to the golf course because the golf course parking lot does not get plowed. He said everyone was parked along the road which is not good as it is not a wide road; he saw a citizen with their own plow open it up for everyone. Walsh noted there were cars a couple of weeks ago that were stuck in the parking lot and helping each other out. Crosby suggested getting that on the list. Walsh said he was at the last Parks Commission work session and one item that came up was the golf course and perhaps getting some lighting at night because it is so packed and gets dark at 4:00 p.m. in December. Seals noted Medina actually has a snowmaker, so if they need snow on the hill that is dirt now, they could talk to them. The Council discussed the various areas around the City where the public has been having outdoor fun and recreation. Seals said she heard again over the weekend, it keeps coming up, why the City’s rates went up. After she explained, they said “it sucks, but I get it.” She thinks they still need to push more communication out on that; she said what was missing in the letter that just went out was that it did not mention anything about the Metropolitan Council. Instead Orono took the hit on everything as it looks like the City raised the rates. Printup said the newspaper press release did, but the letter that went to homes did not. Johnson noted it was not on letterhead, either. Olson asked to clarify that it was not on letterhead and apologized. Walsh said they better back down to Step 6 and the Councilmembers laughed.