09-26-2022 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING September 12, 2022 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 6 of 9 Mayor Walsh reiterated they would revisit this in two weeks to hear more from the public. Johnson moved, Crosby seconded, to approve the engineering plan, standard width, mill and overlay with reconstruction. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS Brad Erickson, 2485 Independence Road, has to say “wow” about last week’s performance by the Mayor and he is disallowed from speaking any further than that. He is done speaking with the Mayor altogether and is glad the Mayor decided to quit sending those weird emoji faces, 15-20 at Mr. Erickson’s last count. What he wants to know is as a City, when will they take this on (holding up his phone), when will they say this is our message or denounce this video because it came from the Mayor’s office. Mr. Erickson does not care if the Mayor was at home or here, he does a lot of work for the City from his home as he was doing in 2020. As far as Mr. Erickson is concerned it came from the Mayor’s office. And now they see the exposure he is bringing to the City. Mr. Erickson wants to know who will step up and say as a City they denounce this and do not put up with it or allow it to be promoted. He stated there is a lot of money out here, he is real proud of the City Council, and they should do a better job protecting it. Mr. Erickson held up his phone and said this is vile, it is filthy, and the Mayor chose to send it to him at a really dark time. Mr. Erickson asked when are they going to stop and who is going to put a resolution forward because now his attorney is busy with other things that involve you. He stated “you can laugh, brother, laugh all you want,” then noted his timing is wrong and he has two corrections. First it is bigger than having it done by Labor Day or whatever day he mentioned in the email, and second it is not “your City” it is the City. Mayor Walsh needs to answer some questions about this video and he hopes they come fast and soon. Jim Langhans, 1366 Rest Point Road, came to compliment the Mayor, City Council, and the work that Orono does. He noted they have repaired so many roads, made so many nice parks, and have done a lot of good things in this City; he stated “you guys have done it and I want to thank you.” He is embarrassed to watch some of the meetings online and stated those people should be embarrassed of the way they acted, Kimberly sitting on the counter up here. He stated they have a good neighborhood, he enjoys being out here, and his house has been in the family for 72 years. He knows what the roads used to look like and he knows the improvements that have happened over the last six years. Patrick Walsh, 2300 Bayview Place, has lived in Orono for 44 years. Most people his age have heard the term “silent majority” which is the citizen that is not often heard and he believes he is part of that. He does not come up to give his opinion very often; however, when he read the Star Tribune article about Mayor Walsh and about the City Council and the August 24 meeting, he had to set the record straight. Since he has moved in there have been 10 mayors in the City of Orono. Many have had challenges and many have done a great job. Mr. Walsh stated without exception, Denny Walsh is the best mayor they have ever had. He believes that and as far as the Star Tribune goes, he does not know where the reporter is but noted they got it all wrong and have it backwards. Mr. Walsh knows Denny Walsh and said he is fair, square, and honest, and Mr. Walsh sleeps better at night knowing that the Mayor is guiding the City in the right direction. He thinks they are going to do a good job and wants to set the record straight. He thanked Mayor Walsh for being Mayor. Gary Gutzke, 705 County Road 19, was here before Labor Day and said at that time all the things that the City is doing, fixing roads, working on Fox Street, the parks are clean, there is a dog park, and they are a great place to take a break. The City Council is doing a great job of that. He said he was up here at the