11-28-2016 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 28, 2016 7:00 o'clock p.m. LMCD REPORT (continued) Jabbour stated when he became a member of the board, there was some pushback on what the role of the LMCD should be and its budget. Over the years, the LMCD embarked on a number of things that went beyond the enabling legislation and its scope. Jabbour stated as the board went through the process of reviewing things, he challenged them on a number of items. Jabbour stated this past year the board replaced their executive director, the long-time district attorney retired and a replacement will be hired, and more of the board has a totally new idea of how the board should operate. In addition, the LMCD Board is now a participating board where in the past it was a passive, non-active board. Jabbour stated the LMCD cannot function properly without all board members being fully involved. Jabbour noted many board members make decisions impacting the lake when they have never been on the lake. Jabbour indicated that has changed in the past year and the board is now more fully engaged. The LMCD also lowered its levy by 10 percent. During the process of reviewing the role of the LMCD, all of the committees except for two were eliminated. Jabbour noted the LMCD bylaws had not been changed since 1967 and that they were operating to a large extent outside of the bylaws. Over the past year the board revised the bylaws and those have been adopted. A new strategic plan was also adopted. Jabbour noted two-thirds of the board did not know there was a strategic plan prior to that. The board has also promised to recodify the ordinance in the coming year to eliminate some of the cross references that are included. Jabbour stated at the last meeting there was a discussion about responsible spending, eliminating mission creep, and focusing on what the LMCD is supposed to be doing. Jabbour stated with the help of the City of Excelsior, the LMCD joined the three reserves funds together. Those funds include the operating fund, the equipment fund, and the Save the Lake fund. Jabbour noted the levy money was being converted to the Save the Lake Fund, which is supposed to be citizen funded and is not supposed to be taxpayer money. Jabbour stated the LMCD was spending levy money to solicit funds and do other things that the Save the Lake Fund should be doing. Jabbour stated one of his goals during that meeting was to make sure the Save the Lake committee understood what that fund should be used for. Jabbour noted the Save the Lake Fund had more money in it than the general operating fund and that the LMCD's balance sheet will change drastically after the merged funds are reflected on it. Jabbour stated the biggest issue for the Board in the coming years is to make sure in the future that the mission is clearly understood so as not to undo all the hard work that has been done in the past couple of years. Jabbour stated some board members have spent an enormous amount of energy helping out on the lake and assisting with the harvesters, and that he hopes it does not go back to being a non -participating board. Jabbour stated another issue is that some of the member cities have an equal vote to Orono but they pay less than what Orono does. Jabbour stated the biggest challenge will be to transfer responsibility for some items to the appropriate agencies. An example is that the MN State Legislature said replacement of the lights on the buoys is the responsibility of Hennepin County but yet the LMCD has been doing it. Jabbour stated with the help of the sheriff, great progress has been made on some of those things but a lot of work still needs to be done. Jabbour stated it will be the board's responsibility to seek out the agency that they are supposed to be working with and ask them for assistance. Page 2 of 11