04-22-2013 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 8, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 10 of 21 (5. LAKE MINNETONKA ASSOCIATION (LMA) FUNDING REQUEST, Continued) Bill Cook, 3251 Casco Circle, stated the lake is a public resource and the residents who are immediately impacted are contributing to it. This is not something where it is just people coming to the government asking for money because there is both private and public investment and it is for the public good. The herbicide treatment has been proven to be cost effective for the area that has been treated, which is not the entire lake. The chemical treatment on Carman’s Bay did work and it is a good use of public funds. Mary Drazan, 3546 Ivy Place, stated she is a little concerned about the tone of things right now. There has been a lot of work done. Drazan stated the other thing the LMA is asking the Council for is influence with the LMCD. Currently the LMCD is asking for additional funds for the herbicide treatment and Orono already contributes a chunk of money to their budget, which does not appear to be an option. Drazan stated if there is any way that the City could influence the LMCD that would also be something the LMA would be looking for. If the City cannot find funding for Carman’s Bay, perhaps they could provide leverage with the LMCD to say that more funding should be put into the herbicide treatment. McMillan asked if that would be for 2014. Drazan indicated that would be correct. McMillan indicated she is not in favor of contributing money toward this, and if the Council is interested in exploring it, she would recommend direction be given to Staff. Levang indicated she is not in favor of exploring it further. Anderson stated in February the City Council gave the LMCD pretty clear direction on how they felt and that this is inconsistent with the message that was delivered at that time with regard to the herbicide treatment philosophically. Anderson stated the City Council at that time indicated philosophically they do not really support herbicide treatment. McMillan stated as it relates to the road salt, the City does mix it with sand. McMillan stated Lowe brought up a good point about the road salt and that Orono is doing its best to limit its use. A person could look at the salt in the same way as chemicals and plowing is a lot like mechanical harvesting. The City does not want to plow if they put salt down and that it becomes a management issue. Lowe noted the roads are publicly funded. McMillan noted there is a public safety issue involved as well. Printup stated he personally tends to stay away from chemicals and that he does not want to get into the new religion of environmentalism. The City is constantly being asked to raise levies, taxes and fees, and this is just another approach. Later on in the agenda the Council is going to be discussing legislation on how to maintain roads. As it relates to the fairness part of it, Carman’s Bay is one bay and next week the residents on another bay could approach the City asking for money. The City has to constantly keep an eye on spending. Printup commented the fundraising that has been done in the past is great but that the City should not become involved financially. Mary Tucker stated seven out of ten cities say we need to have our radar on AIS, including milfoil. Orono needs to have this on their radar since a lot more is coming down the pike. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/22/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 04/08/2013 [Page 10 of 21]