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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, May 23, 2022 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 6 of 8 <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh noted the pension is owned by the Relief Association which is voted on and up to the Relief <br />Association. <br /> <br />Seals thinks it seems like a pretty big statement to put out there. <br /> <br />Mr. Jabbour asked to speak and asked if two of the Council Members remember talking to him in the <br />back of the room he told them the issue was going to come up and the response was that it was not Mr. <br />Jabbour’s problem. He is the one who helped on that station and changed the contract, went to MnDOT <br />and represented Long Lake after they failed miserably, and changed the offer from $365,000 to <br />$7,200,000. It is unfair for the City Council particularly to say they are selling an asset they do not have. <br /> <br />Seals replied she was talking about the pension. <br /> <br />Mr. Jabbour begged their pardon and noted he made a mistake. <br /> <br />Seals always understood the pension to be the Fire Relief Association, noting the City is on the hook if <br />anything goes sideways but it has always been a very well-funded asset. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh noted the question was “What is Orono’s proposed purchase price for the Long Lake Fire <br />Department Pension Plan?” <br /> <br />Mr. Jabbour noted when they sat down to write the constitution for the two cities they worked very hard <br />against having words. This City Council are voted in at large and he does not see the need of any Council <br />Member because the Mayor calls the shots and they are just like a whole bunch of buffalo jumping off a <br />cliff. <br /> <br />Seals replied that is not true. <br /> <br />Mr. Jabbour has proven it to them over and over again. He stated right now they are exactly where they <br />were in 1991, in litigation with them, and Mr. Jabbour asked the Mayors of Orono and Long Lake to <br />please have breakfast together. He said they both told him to go you-know-where. The Mayor of Long <br />Lake was born in Orono and Mr. Jabbour asked them to work it out face-to-face. <br /> <br />Mayor Walsh replied they have met face-to-face many, many times and this conversation has been at the <br />City Council where they have talked about the fact that Orono is paying 90% of the bill. He clarified the <br />contract Mr. Jabbour put in place that the current City Council has no control over, is ending. The City of <br />Long Lake was told three years ago that it is ending and Orono is bringing it in-house. He noted they just <br />brought in a maintenance person for the trucks because they were spending so much money at the car <br />repair shop, and they can do it all in-house with more efficiency and is available when the City needs it <br />without having to wait. This is not unlike what is going on with the Fire Department. <br /> <br />Mr. Jabbour stated his daughter had a lot of anguish when Orono and Long Lake were having fights and <br />he received a lot of flak at church, as well. He noted it is a social issue, the kids go to the same school, <br />and he is not asking the Council to abandon their plan. He is asking them to change the approach and be <br />decent about it. <br />