11-13-2023 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 13, 2023 6*00 o'clock p.m. Chief contacting and having meetings with Long Lake fire fighteis and inviting them to recruiting events is crossing the line. Although the judge did not make an order, Grady said, she made it clear she expected mediation to continue and would be looking for a report. Grady said she is concerned Orono is not entering court -ordered mediation in good faith when the Mayor was on camera a few days ago stating that plans for an Orono Fire Department were pretty well locked down. She said it blows her mind that they could think they were heading into mediation in good faith when making that kind of concrete statement. Brad Erickson, Corcoran, read from minutes of the August 28 Orono City Council meeting quoting Crosby's statements about him, Erickson. He quoted Crosby in the minutes as talking about the "crooked" Department of Justice and accusing President Joe Biden of laundering money; saying Erickson's free speech is "slander, degradation, put-downs and threats" and accusing Erickson of turning into a Nazi himself. Then at the next meeting, Crosby said he didn't say that, according to Erickson, but it is in the permanent record. He pointed to the Franklin, Tennessee mayoral election where the candidate who was fraternizing with the Proud Boys lost with less than 20 percent of the vote after refusing to denounce these hate groups. He wondered if Crosby would denounce hate groups in the next election. He added he believes Cody Farley. Krista Berbig, Long Lake, said she has issues with the decision made by the Council that evening to approve plans for fire stations one and two when judge specifically asked in court if the City has plans and Orono's lawyer said they do not. The City clearly has 21 pages of plans, she said, and is beginning something on Monday. She added the lack of communication is befuddling to the court, it's befuddling to the public and it's befuddling to the fire department. She said the City may think the Long Lake lawsuit is frivolous but that doesn't make the judge's orders frivolous and the judge will likely be offended. She said Orono has to be a good neighbor to Long Lake and it has not been.. The City can't tell anybody it is going into median in good faith while making a decision Long Lake knows nothing about. She said and Orono has made these plans without a single iota of working with Long Lake. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Veach said trust is super -important to her as well and she feels a lot of people have felt unheard. She said she doesn't think if you disagree you still can't be good partners. She said sire has reached out to every person who has wanted to talk to her and would welcome conversation with anyone who wants to meet. Public safety is an investment and everything that the Council has done has been for the needs of the Fire Department that need to be addressed and she doesn't feel that what they have done means they can't be a good partner. She said there is a Fire Advisory meeting coming up this week. The last one went very well and that is difficult to do when there is a lawsuit. She said the recording of the meeting failed and no one was taking notes but later meeting notes were posted without any opportunity to review. She requested and received assurance the notes could be discussed at the next meeting which indicates trust. She still believes amicable solutions can be found. She said she continues to look for long-term solutions. Change comes and it's needed, she thinks they have the right leadership in place, indicating Adam Edwards. Johnson thanked the veterans for their service. Crosby said he would also like to start out by thanking the veterans, adding that most veterans are humble and don't app�•eciate what they do for us. He said that he appreciated Veach's comments. Regarding the fire discussions he believes Orono has negotiated in good faith hying to get positive things done. It's been a financial situation and it's Orono's money that's on the table and the Council is responsible for the citizens of Orono's dollars. For that reason, the Council made a decision to not renew the contract with Page 5 of 6