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computers, business analysts, legal consulting, and 50 staff which includes 38 certified <br />assessors to address resident concerns. <br />Council Member Printup asked where Orono falls in valuations are after the crash of 2009 <br />as to whether valuations have stabilized. City Administrator Loftus stated that Hennepin <br />County follows the market which means we are re-active and not pro-active. <br />We currently house other community’s property files and City Administrator Loftus <br />suggested compensation for that storage. Mr. Atchison said an $8,000 credit for 2015 and a <br />$5,000 credit for 2014 was reimbursed to the City for not using the full contract amount. <br />In conclusion the assessing contract expires July 31, 2016. Loftus stated this discussion was <br />to review Hennepin County process and provide information to Council. Printup would like <br />to poll other communities to learn how they do their assessing. <br />Mr. Atchison reminded Council that this is a full-time 2 person job not a weekend/evening <br />position. Orono takes a tremendous amount of effort to do the proper valuations. <br />Council Member Levang is not interested in looking at doing it differently due to the <br />excellent job the current assessors are providing the City of Orono. <br />Council Members Walsh and Printup would like more information so Council members can <br />answer resident inquiries. Why do communities choose to go with a private assessor? <br />Mr. Atchison relayed that many communities have moved to county services due to growth <br />and retirement of private assessors. <br />2. Cemetery Road Parking / Ownership <br />City Planner Mike Gaffron provided historical information for Cemetery Road. Cemetery <br />Road provides access to Union Cemetery. Currently employees of the Birch’s Restaurant <br />use the road for parking. Concerns have risen regarding the road integrity, maintenance <br />along with who actually owns cemetery road. <br />Gaffron reviewed the conclusions of his research. He believes it is a public road, never <br />dedicated but historically it is a public road. Discussion at this meeting centers on the issues <br />of regulating the parking of Birch’s employees, road ownership, and who is responsible for <br />road maintenance. <br />Walsh asked Long Lake Council Member Olson whether Long Lake would want total <br />ownership of the road and she responded no. The road is split, the north side belongs to <br />Long Lake and the south side belongs to Orono. Orono regularly plows the road during the <br />winter and posts weight restrictions in spring. The maintenance should be split 50/50 in the <br />event the road integrity is weakened. <br />The manager of Birch’s has been working with the cemetery board and agrees to direct his <br />employees to park on the south side which has solved the parking problem.