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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />Monday, June 13, 2022 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 5 of 6 <br /> <br /> <br />Attorney Mattick had nothing to report. <br /> <br />CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT <br /> <br />Edwards updated the City Council, noting they had a pre-construction conference for roads this year and <br />road projects are set to begin on July 5 with an expected completion date of September 5. The vast <br />majority of roads are mill-and-overlay which are fairly quick with minor disruptions to residents. <br />Edwards also acknowledged Mr. Barnhart for seven years of service as the Community Development <br />Director. <br /> <br />MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT <br /> <br />Seals noted it has been on the docket to look at a Fire Consultant/Chief and some work has been done. <br />After discussing with the Mayor, he thought it would be good to punt it over to the Re-organization <br />Committee. <br /> <br />Edwards asked for direction at this point as anything that needs approval will come back to the City <br />Council. <br /> <br />The City Council shared their support for the direction to direct the Re-organization Committee to look at <br />it. <br /> <br />Seals stated they are coming up on budget season and the Council tries to jam much of that into work <br />sessions and do not get through all of it. The Mayor thought it would be a good idea to create a budget <br />committee to allow more time to dive into those line items before City Council approval. <br /> <br />Edwards would bring to the City Council’s next meeting an amendment to the standing committee list <br />and formal approval would be at that meeting. <br /> <br />The City Council shared their support for the suggestion. <br /> <br />Seals said the City Council received a letter earlier in the day from the City of Long Lake in response to <br />the City of Orono’s letter. Being married to a fireman she received the letter earlier in the weekend and <br />has thought about it a lot, talked to other firemen, talked to the Mayor of Long Lake, and she does not <br />think the negotiations need to stop. After talking to Long Lake Mayor Miner today she thinks there is <br />misalignment in communication and an opportunity to sit down with Long Lake staff to look at what the <br />two cities can agree upon. Seals thinks they all owe it to themselves and residents to chill out for a <br />moment and have a sit down and that both cities can do better regarding communication. She thinks there <br />is some middle ground that they just have not found yet and this is not in the best interest of the <br />firefighters, either, as they do not know where they are going. The majority of the firemen and firewomen <br />are Orono residents which puts them in an odd situation. There is a reason Station 1 is built in Orono and <br />much of this is short-sighted for the City to act and not try to sit down with Long Lake, pause for a <br />second, and try to figure it out. She does not think any of the fire people think Orono or Long Lake are <br />great right now. <br /> <br />Crosby stated the thing to understand is that this is a business decision. There has been a lot of rhetoric <br />thinking it is about their performance or the way the fire department has done something and that is not