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MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL JOINT MEETING <br />OF THE ORONO AND LONG LAKE CITY COUNCILS <br />___________TUESDAY, MARCH 16.1999___________ <br />Mayor Jabbour suggested that members of the Commission should be residents with a broad <br />long-term perspective, and resource people such as City Administrators. <br />Long Lake Councilmember Gulbranson indicated he believes the time is right to consider <br />consolidation, and a decision should be made before the City of Long Lake builds new <br />facilities. He suggests an additional question for the Commission to answer is do both Cities <br />come out of the consolidation stronger financially, socially, politically, etc. <br />Mayor Jabbour suggested that if the municipal borders are eliminated, it could lead to better <br />decisions related to services, land use, etc. because the parochial interests of the individual <br />Cities would be eliminated. <br />Mayor Bash indicated it is his observation that as he looks at all of the problems related to <br />Highway 12 that were caused by not making the decision regarding the location of the <br />Highway thirty-five years ago, he does not want to make that same mistake in relation to this <br />unique opportunity to consider whether to consolidate the two Cities. <br />Moorse indicated it is his understanding that the consolidation process requires a vote of the <br />citizens of both Cities. <br />A question was raised as to whether the citizens will remember the past animosity between <br />the Cities and vote in opposition to consolidation. <br />iTie question was asked whether "emotional" issues should be addressed by the Commission <br />so that they do not cause problems at a later stage in the process. <br />Councilmember Sansevere suggested that ego can play an important role in a process that <br />involves emotional issues. These issues should be carefully and properly addressed. <br />It was suggested that a representative of the business conununity serve on the Commission <br />and that if the business people were sold on the concept they could help sell it to the citizens. <br />Mayor Jabbour suggested that the members of the committee should be "pure of heart" <br />bringing no baggage to the process, and should have a broad and long-term view point. <br />Mayor Bash indicated he wanted to ensure that all constituencies have input into the process. <br />Councilmember Gulbranson indicated the business owners feel they should have input <br />regarding issues that affect them. He suggested it would be a good idea to have a business <br />owner on the Commission.