01-24-2022 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 24,2022 6:00 o'clock p.m. PRESENTATION 14. AUDITOR'S PRESENTATION Andy Berg from Abdo,Eick, and Meyers introduced the presentation on the 2020 Financial Statement Audit.He noted it was a clean report and there are no findings to report for the 2020 audit. Tyler See of Abdo,Eick,and Meyers shared slides on screen showing the General Fund balances,budget- to-actual,revenues by type,expenditures by type, special revenue fund balances,debt service funds, capital projects fund balances,internal service funds,water funds,and other funds.Key performance indicators include Orono's tax rate which has been steady at about 16%from 2017 to 2020 and was below average compared with Class 4 cities in Hennepin County.Tax per capita has been in line with other cities in Hennepin County over the past four years.Mr. See noted debt per capita has been decreasing and is below the average of other cities the size of Orono within the County. He shared that Orono's expenditures per capita and capital expense are a bit above average of other Class 4 cities and the County. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT Edwards had nothing to report. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT Finance Director Olson noted he had his review earlier in the day. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Seals just returned from Virginia and watched the Planning Commission meeting in New York City which was interesting. She reiterated to the residents of Orono:reach out to the City Council with questions rather than relying on social media. Printup shared the Dakota Trail has been extremely busy and that is good to see as people are being active.He noted regarding the Planning Commission meeting that people get passionate and that is okay because City government is here to listen. Crosby agreed with Seals that the public should not get their information from social media.He encouraged the public if they have questions or concerns to email the City Councilmembers and please include their phone number so discussions can be had and both sides can be heard.Crosby asked people to have a full discussion on what the project is and to have better knowledge of it before they blast an opinion or are afraid of something happening.He clarified the project was not even before the City Council yet and feels people jumped the gun, although it is great to see people engaged and part of the process.He noted everyone on the Council knows that they work for all citizens of Orono and will work to come up with the best ideas and collaborate.He clarified that these parks will not be stagnant places but will be used and enjoyed by children,as that is the vision. Johnson thinks the Planning Commission did a good job with the meeting,noting they had a skeleton crew.He agrees that the City wants the passion and the people,and stated he learned a lot about the history of the Dayton family and what they were trying to do. He wants all of the information to come Page 4 of 5