05-08-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 10 He wants to remind you of what brought us to this point. You, Mr. Walsh. So, you can call me whatever names you want. But you guys brought me here. This is from you. Erickson said recently the Michigan GOP had a photo of all the rings that were collected from the Jewish people after they were murdered. You know what the difference was with the Michigan GOP or the Michigan State House? They voted the very next day to condemn that kind of rhetoric. You guys still have yet to do that. It's been a year. And then this was from the Minnesota GOP. You want to hear what David Hahn had to say about you Mr. Walsh? Walsh said his three minutes were up and asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak. Richie Anderson, 3205 Crystal Bay Road, said he wanted to give a quick update on the LMCC and commended the young woman giving her first financial report at the meeting. He noted she was being mentored by the City’s Finance Director. And the Public Works incentive thing, is a fantastic idea, because we have great Public Works folks. And if the only way they can get a raise is to do what Adam was talking about, I think that's fantastic. He said the LMCC is searching for a new executive director and in the meantime, they have a wonderful interim person. We’re suggesting an $85,000 to $120,000 salary out of a $500,000 budget. We're working on a budget. He has a finance committee group that he is the chair of, and also the treasurer. He said the LMCC has accumulated a large surplus from the amounts that member cities pay in, so the proposed budget for 2023 would charge cities less. We got it passed in an operations committee meeting, and that'll hopefully be the budget that goes forward. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Benson said her intention in bringing the topic of a community survey up in a work session was to bring the City of Orono up-to-speed with some of our surrounding communities and neighbors. Our last comprehensive third-party survey was done about 15 years ago as part of our comp plan. We have not done a comprehensive third-party statistically-significant survey since then. She knows there was a Survey Monkey or something internal done awhile back, but that's not the same as a statistically-accurate survey that's comprehensive. She is sensitive as a new Council member and wonders how else she is to know how well she is doing her job or how we as a Council are representing citizens if we do not take the time to ask them in a way that's comprehensive and organized. In reviewing the city-wide surveys from Medina, Wayzata and Minnetrista, they've all conducted surveys fairly recently, in the last maybe four or five years and we haven't done that in about 15. As somebody who appreciates data and being able to make informed decisions based on what she sees represented in our community, that would be something she’d find very helpful. So, her intention in bringing it forward at an earlier time in the year was to allow for the possibility of budgeting for 2024. She noted that beginning in February, March, is when other communities are doing those surveys. She added sometimes it's easy to imagine somehow that we have our fingers on the pulse of our community, through emails or conversations here and there. It’s quite different to hear from 400 or 500 residents at a time and have that data crunch of those numbers run. She for one, would like to bring that to our community to offer that as part of the services we provide to the people who elected us. Benson said in other news, she attended the Long Lake Fire Department pancake breakfast yesterday, and it was very heartening to see how much care and effort goes into this event. It's been a while since she