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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, February 11, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 19 of 24 (CITY ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT, Continued) Levang stated she would propose developing a new policy that would allow the City to use the surveys from the adjoining properties to help mark the fire lanes in the event the City ever decided to do that. Gaffron stated the City has adjacent survey work for more than half of the fire lanes. Gaffron stated if those areas have been surveyed, there are probably markers that are fairly easy to find. Bremer suggested this be discussed at a future work session. Bremer indicated she does have somewhat mixed feelings on this issue. One issue is that some of the neighborhoods have experienced turnover and the residents are not familiar with the fire lane and then they become overgrown. In other cases, the topography makes them unusable. Gaffron noted the City’s comprehensive plan contains language relating to the fire lanes, their value, historic and potential uses. Gaffron noted some of the fire lanes are not open for public use. McMillan commented the marker could be more inconspicuous for the neighbors. Anderson noted that some of the fire lanes were somewhat controversial when this was discussed at the Park Commission level but that the markers would help remind the residents of where the fire lanes are. 9. CITY CLERK RECRUITMENT Loftus stated in October, the Council voted to approve the City Clerk position for advertisements. At the January 28th work session, the Council requested this item be placed on the Council agenda for this evening, and Staff is asking for Council discussion and action regarding this position. McMillan noted the City Council had a fairly lengthy discussion regarding this at their last work session. Printup commented he does not want to sound like a broken record since they have discussed this a couple of times, but that he is comfortable in looking at the city clerk position as a positive since it would be attrition and would not cause any layoffs. Printup noted the City currently has six supervisory department heads to eight line staff below them and that it is important that that gets addressed. Printup stated in his view this helps address that. Also, in looking over the 30-year span in Orono, the City has gained approximately 500 homes and about 700 people in 30 years. Those numbers have stayed basically the same along with the same amount of roads, lakeshore acres, etc., which leads to the question of whether growth in the city has plateaued. Printup noted that is something that has come in conversations he has had. Printup stated based on those issues, he would be comfortable that the City’s statutory responsibilities will be maintained because they have to be and that as a city, it will be okay for Orono to contract in size at the city hall. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 02/25/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 02/11/2013 [Page 19 of 24]