01-09-2012 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 9,2012 7:00 o'clock p.m. CITY ENGINEER'S REPORT *6. REQUEST FOR PAYMENT NO. 1 AND FINAL-FOX STREET SEWER EXTENSION Bremer moved,Franchot seconded,to approve Request for Payment No. 1 and final for the Fox Street Sewer Extension,RPU,Inc., in the amount of$15,250. VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Rahn noted the City Council will be interviewing applicants for the Public Works Director/City Engineer position, and that in his view it is extremely important to distinguish how the consulting engineer will be utilized as opposed to the city engineer. The contract states that City Staff will ask when consulting services are required. Rahn stated in his opinion there should be one person, such as the city administrator, that determines when the consulting engineer should be utilized. Rahn commented there have been some instances in the past where there is a tendency to lean on the consulting engineer more than what is really necessary. Loftus noted the City received 20 applications for this position and that the committee will be interviewing the top seven applicants on Friday. McMillan indicated she drafted a thank you letter to Mike Huddy for his work on the Big Island Committee and that she would like the entire City Council to sign it. McMillan reported there was a public hearing in December on the Xcel transmission and substation upgrade project along Highway 6 and Highway 12. There were Orono citizens in attendance that spoke and expressed their concerns to the PUC. McMillan indicated that she, along with Jessica Loftus and Mike Gaffron, met last Wednesday with some representatives from Xcel to discuss in more detail the mitigation of the substation,which was the main concern for the majority of the citizens living in the area. McMillan noted tlle City Council has seen Mike Gaffron's letter to the Public Utilities Commission addressing those concerns and that she would like to thank both Jessica Loftus and Mike Gaffron for their work on the Xcel project. The City has enjoyed a good working relationship with Xcel up to this point on the project and she is hopeful that working relationship will continue going forward. McMillan noted she also attended a mayors' meeting today with a presentation by the Metropolitan Council. The Metropolitan Council has basically just finished their last round of comprehensive plans and they have recently received the new census data. The Metropolitan Council was asked why everyone has to submit their comprehensive plans in a year before the census. The Metropolitan Council indicated the state legislature dictates when comprehensive plans are due. In order to change that timeline, it would require new legislation. McMillan stated the Metropolitan Council was off on their forecasts. They had forecasted for 2010 total households at just over 1,198,000, which was seven percent more than what it actually turned out to be. They had also forecasted 155,000 people more than what was demonstrated from the census. From 1990 to 2000, there was a net gain of 300,000 jobs; and from 2000 to 2010,there was a net loss of 64,000 jobs. McMillan indicated the Metropolitan Council is talking about changing their forecasts so it is less formula driven and oriented more towards corridor planning. ___ ____. _._,.__ Page 5 of 7