03-13-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING February 27, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 18 of 22 other professionals and newly-elected individuals in our community. It was a really great way to spend a day and a half. I appreciate that the City of Orono is a member of this organization because they are actually very helpful with trainings, ongoing education and just a fantastic resource. And it's very important for me as an elected official to connect closely with other elected officials, leaders and to have positive relationships with them in and around our community. And on that note, I do want to spend just a couple minutes addressing or I should say discussing the organization called Northwest Hennepin League of Municipalities or NWHLM. This organization is a collective of municipalities within the north and western part of Hennepin County. It's been in existence for about over 55 years. It meets about 10 times per year. And the purpose of this organization is to promote cooperation, collaboration, and education in different areas. We didn't get to Mayor/Council at the last meeting, but some issues and questions were brought up in our work session on February 13. So I did want to clarify a few things about that because the last thing I want to do is create more confusion. I want to be a clear communicator. I want to share that I was invited by this organization to attend their monthly meetings by representatives in their group. And I did feel that that would be a great opportunity to connect with other elected officials and grow relationships that will benefit the City of Orono. I learned that the City of Orono has not been represented in this group since 2017. So I did think it would be a good opportunity for me to revitalize outreach with other cities and grow connections with our neighbors. There was discussion at the February 13 work session about my participation. And I just want to clarify that my intention in attending this meeting was never to create discord, or confusion. And I do apologize if my attending this meeting did that. Going forward, I do plan to continue to attend this monthly meeting. On a financial note is that with membership in this organization, one meal associated with monthly meetings is covered by annual dues. It is now my understanding based on our discussion at the February 13 work session that Mr. Mayor would like the opportunity as well to attend the meeting. So it is my intention when I attend, to pay for my own meal out of respect for the Mayor and to ensure that he has his covered. And finally, the Executive Committee of the NWHLM has written a statement addressing the remarks that were made about Orono’s membership at the February 13 work session. So hopefully, their statement about the discussion that was had at our work session will clear up any misunderstandings about the purpose of their group, Orono’s history with the group and their invitation to me to attend and join the group because, again, I don't want to cause confusion. So that organization has put out or has a statement available with regard to my participation in the group. And on that note, I just want to say that I do look forward to continuing to build strong relationships between the City of Orono and the communities around us. Johnson thanked people for introducing a calm tone in Public Comments. Congratulations to the Orono girls hockey team, the high school team, who got second in the State. The boys are still making their march. So had a really great opportunity to talk to many, many Orono residents at the hockey rink about the performance of this Council and some of the current topics, fire being a major one, of course, and so I was really pleased. It's often that we hear a lot of negative feedback here, but I received an overwhelming amount of support for what this Council is doing and trusting us to do what's best for the City and working with Long Lake. So that was nice to get that direct feedback from those citizens. I'll just address a couple of the public comments. Mr. Pierson was asking about if we can put into use the firetruck. We've had similar arrangements with Long Lake that are in existence already. I wasn't sure if he was asking if Long Lake won't allow us, would we use it? But I would think we offered it. They would accept it. And then Ms. Brantingham, I received your email. And we're definitely going to have some very public conversations about the fire department when we get our assessment done. Ms. Carswell had asked why