09-12-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, August 22, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 9 here you go Dennis, $1,200, and she asked if she should give Finance Director Ron Olson the $100,000. She asked Mr. Olson if he remembers three months ago when she came and gave him a $1,600 check to remove a lien from her property? Crosby asked Ms. Nygard to please address the Council. Ms. Nygard stated Mr. Olson could not find her $1,600 check and could not remove the lien and she got a $1,600 check back because she had already paid it. She noted the lien was removed and thanked Mr. Olson. Mr. Nygard said that is what is going on in the City of Orono: one hangs out with the weasel, makes a donation to his campaign, gives a donation for $100,000, and said to Councilmember Seals, Ms. Nygard is sure she has an access point she’d like to share with the rest of the community that has somehow made its way to her. Ms. Nygard noted that is transparency, it is the best form of figuring out what the heck is going on in this City. She said if fire lanes are available for $100,000 donation and a $1,200 donation to the Mayor’s reelection campaign, Ms. Nygard is all in but everyone will have to get in line behind her as there are only so many fire lanes in Orono. Ms. Nygard asked if all the beaten-up signs around Orono are in Mr. Crosby’s garage because she believes there are a lot of election signs that somehow make their way out of the City and make it somehow to him. She stated they may want to check that out from the last election campaign. Finally, Ms. Nygard stated there is a reason the City Council does not like them being up at the podium. They can call them whatever they want (crazy, clowns, fools, whatever) and stated they are not, they are all intelligent people asking for fairness, transparency, honesty, and integrity. Tiffany Ferrer, 980 Heritage Lane, has lived in Medina, Plymouth, and Orono and has been attending these meetings. Quite frankly she is sort of ashamed by some of the behavior here. She thinks it is great, first amendment rights, everyone gets to come in and say what they would like. However she thinks personal attacks, disrupting the meeting, trying to get business done here is ridiculous. She would like to commend the City Council as she has seen other Councils and been on other Boards and she noted these Councilmembers work really hard and put the work and effort in. She thinks it is great that they want to make signs in Orono look better and it is awesome that Councilmembers Seals and Johnson are working with Long Lake to get the fire department together for both cities. These are the things that are important to Orono citizens, not personal attacks, not going after each other. Ms. Ferrer thanked the Council for their time, energy, and effort because she believes they are all doing a great job. Gabriel Jabbour, 985 Tonkawa Road, is not here to argue on issues. As they recall at the first meeting it was upsetting for Mr. Jabbour to see the Orono Council not participating in major decisions such as the fire department. Today is a perfect example of how it would go if everyone brings something to the table and that is why they have a five-member Council and why they are all voted at large. Today has been one of the better meetings, except for the fact that the commotion is unacceptable. Mr. Jabbour thinks it diminishes Orono’s standing in the greater community and deludes who they are as human beings to pit neighbors against neighbors. Mr. Jabbour is part of the commotion and said sometimes they have to tear down to zero to build otherwise they are building on bad foundation. He has lived in Orono for 50 years and was mentored by many people who worked their tail off to make the City what it is. Mr. Jabbour stated this City Council is the beneficiary of their hard work, and he noted they purchased hardly any parks as they were donated. Mr. Jabbour owns several businesses and one has to do with advertising and