10-23-2023 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING October 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Community Development Director Oakden said the staff is working through some applications for the upcoming Planning Commission meeting,an ordinance text amendment the Council would see at their next work session and is busy with permitting and code enforcement. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT Finance Director Olson said the new broadcasting system is working well. They are waiting for one more piece of equipment and then will make it more obvious on the website that people can click the link that is similar to earlier recordings or use the Swagit link to get closed captioning and the meeting transcript. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Attorney Mattick had nothing to report. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT City Administrator Edwards gave a couple of engineering updates. The Navarre parking lot is complete and crews are prepping the roadways by the new force main for patching.At the new Public Works facility,work is progressing to prep for winter and for interior work to continue during the winter. Spring completion is still planned.On the City Administrator side,he noted the hiring of a new City Clerk with a start date in mid-November. COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS There were no Council Committee Reports PUBLIC COMMENTS Cheryl Kulseth, 725 Stonebay Drive,said she would like to request a message from the Mayor in the next City newsletter including what she said many have been requesting--a sound reason why Orono needs to go it alone on a fire department while most municipalities are moving to fire districts. It should be an easy request and he should be able to articulate his reasoning, she said.It is not about politics but about the community and how resources are being managed, listening to citizens and being fiscally responsible. She said she has not heard any member of the public at a meeting support the independent fire department. She sees lack of transparency about the reasoning and expenditures and feels the Council is isolating the community from its neighbors. She said she has a lot of respect for people who choose to step up and run for public office but is not aware of anyone in her neighborhood who feels the City is moving in the right direction. Nancy Brantingham,3185 County Road 6, quoted from a letter to the editor in the Star Tribune from four previous Orono mayors stating they were appalled by the embarrassing and intimidating conduct of the sitting Mayor who allegedly threatened a fire fighter from the neighboring Long Lake community. They said this belligerent style of governance has no place in our City. She said she has witnessed bullying behavior by the Mayor in public and finds it embarrassing and belittling. Kelly Grady,Long Lake,said the City Council at the last meeting said that it would be fiscally irresponsible for Long Lake not to allow Chief Van Eyll to conduct Blue Card training or serve on duty Page 4 of 6