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MINUTES OF THE <br />ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br />September 11, 2023 <br />6:00 o’clock p.m. <br />_____________________________________________________________________________________ <br /> <br />Page 6 of 8 <br /> <br />the meeting useful and would prefer that the City Administrator and Fire Chief not attend. Benson said <br />she took a great interest in that committee from the time she was sworn in in January and attended <br />meetings until the most recent one when she was advised not to attend because of the quorum issue. She <br />said that meeting about the future of fire services, not negotiating with Long Lake, and she has been very <br />public about her interest. She said she is the only person on the Council who is not on any commission or <br />committee regarding fire. She asked to be considered as one of the Council members who would attend <br />future Fire Services. <br /> <br />Crosby said it is an expertise thing and Johnson and Veach are in the negotiation position and should be <br />attending this meeting. Johnson has been involved for a long time and Veach is on the Fire Advisory <br />Board, he said, adding that it just makes sense. <br /> <br />Benson said Crosby has said before she should not be attending fire meetings because she is not <br />experienced in fire and she sees this as a bit of a chicken and egg thing. <br /> <br />Crosby said Benson is on more committees than he is. <br /> <br />Johnson suggested that Benson be named as an alternate to Future Fire Services in case he or Veach could <br />not attend, which could lead to a more permanent role. <br /> <br />Crosby said it is concerning to him that the one Council member who votes no on anything relating to fire <br />wants to be on a fire committee. <br /> <br />Benson said this committee is more focused on legislation, funding, and cooperation between <br />communities and growing relationships with surrounding cities. <br /> <br />Walsh moved, Crosby seconded, that the representatives to the Future Fire Services Committee be <br />Johnson and Veach with Benson as an alternate. VOTE: Ayes 3 Nays 1 (Benson). <br /> <br />PUBLIC COMMENTS <br /> <br />Gabriel Jabbbour, 985 Tonakawa Road, said he is very concerned that nothing has changed in the City <br />especially regarding finances. None of the state aid for public safety went to police, he said. It’s all being <br />spent on a future fire department. He said the Council ran on total transparency but is now buying trucks <br />with an interest rate of five or six percent when the City could pass bonds with an interest rate of 3 <br />percent. He was also concerned when the City lent the school district $1 million at 1 percent. He said the <br />City has four school districts within it and the Orono district has five cities in it, so Orono is taking the <br />burden off the other cities’ residents when it does that. He asked if everything is really on the table and if <br />Orono strikes a deal with Long Lake, what do they tell the people who have been promised jobs? He said <br />he supports Crosby’s right to say anything he wants to say civilly, but he shouldn’t say it as a Council <br />member. He said he does take exception to Crosby’s comments about the Nazis. <br /> <br />Brad Erickson, Corcoran, told Crosby he really stepped in it last week. He pointed out the Council had a <br />blue line flag displayed at the front. The blue line flag is not an official flag and should not be flying there