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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-26-2019 Council Work Session Minutes Orono City Council Work Session Monday, August 26,2019 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. PRESENT: Mayor Dennis Walsh, Council Members Richard F. Crosby II, and Matt Johnson. Representing staff were City Administrator Dustin Rief, Finance Director Ron Olson, Accountant Maggie Ung, Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart, and City Clerk Anna Carlson. Guests: Richie Anderson Meeting Start Time: 5:00 p.m. 1. Budget Finance Director Ron Olson presented the budget. The biggest increase since we last visited the budget is the Fire Department and IT Services. The tax levy has not changed. Olson asked if the Council had any changes they would like seen. Walsh wants to make sure that we are updated on what we have coming in for revenue. Numbers will be posted from CitizenServe near the first week of each month. There was discussion about the revenue. Walsh noted that the City has been pretty conservative about raising the budget in the permits area, to make sure we don't fall short on budget. Olson presented the Enterprise budget which includes the Sewer, Water, Stormwater, and Recycling Budgets. He mentioned the City is currently doing a utility rate study. Olson stated that staff has been looking at various areas that the Council will have a chance to give input on. 2. Department Mission, Vision and Goals City Administrator Dustin Rief briefly discussed each department's mission, vision and goals. He added that in May 2019 the City Council adopted the City Vision, Mission and goals. Since staff has created their own Vision, Mission and Goals for their departments. Rief asked for input from the Council. City Council Member Matt Johnson asked how do you benchmark these goals, and measure your success with each department goal. He added that coming up with them is great but how will you measure your success. Johnson also noted that we need to measure internally as well as externally. City Council Member Richard F Crosby II recommended a feedback form for residents. Walsh recommended ways to gain feedback for other departments as well. He also added that keeping track of both the negative and positive is a good way to measure your success. Page 1 of 4 Orono City Council Work Session Monday,August 26, 2019 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. City Engineer/Director of Public Works Adam Edwards noted that it sounds like what Council may be looking for is after creating your Vision and Mission staff should create their metrics for the goals to track success. Rief mentioned that as part of our internal measurements we have been working on our performance review process and detailing those evaluations based on the City's Vision, Mission and goals as well. Rief mentioned that we may design a survey as use for external tracking. 3. City Owned Property Community Director Jeremy Barnhart presented a policy for guiding the Sale of City Property to the Council. This policy basically gives guidance and it establishes city owned property vs right-of-way property. If the Council accepts this policy, a formal adoption would be presented at a future council meeting. Johnson feels that the policy presented is much more than restrictive than he was expecting. He understands having a policy for staff when there is a need, but he was not in favor for having specific measures for it. Barnhart noted that staff has no authority to give City Property away. Walsh mentioned a verbal policy and would be more in favor of discussing these matters at the Council level instead of creating a specific policy. He would prefer it to be open ended. Walsh mentioned that we have to keep in mind that we are the first Council that actually is looking into these items. He pointed out that having the talk first at the Council level prior to investing staff time reviewing the options would be ideal. He added the City needs an internal procedure to deal with these inquiries. Johnson agreed noting staff shouldn't be spending a lot of time on these things and that he would prefer staff bringing it to the Council first to see if there would be support, and then having staff proceed following support of the Council. 4. Marina Licensing Barnhart mentioned he had met with the Marina Committee in regards to establishing Marina Licensing. Barnhart is looking for guidance from the Council about initiating the license standards with the City's Marinas. Barnhart mentioned if the Council is considering initiating the license than he would prefer to meet with each Marina to get a better sense of what they believe the current regulations are for each of their Marinas. He explained that by implementing a license the city can set the standards for the Marinas. Page 2 of 4 Orono City Council Work Session Monday,August 26, 2019 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. Johnson asked what information staff was looking to find from the Marina's. Johnson also asked if staff was worried that the City doesn't have good enough records for each of the Marina's. Barnhart stated the point to meeting with the Marina's is to review their current standards and begin the discussion with them. Barnhart mentioned some of the Marinas are considered non-conforming and were established prior to the Zoning Code. He would use the opportunity to get clarification of where they currently stand as well. Johnson referred to the code standards excerpt from the City Code and asked if they were the current standards for all Marinas. Barnhart noted that those are the current standards according to our code but that some of the Marina's existed before the code was adopted which makes them non-conforming. This means that they do not have to conform to the rule until they stop operating in the same manner. Essentially the city would have to prove that they are operating differently than they did prior to the adoption of the Code. Walsh mentioned he wasn't sure if a license will be enforceable if the Marinas are operating according to their CUP. Walsh would like to understand the licensing aspects better in that regard. Walsh added he would simply like staff to meet with and figure it out together with the Marinas. Barnhart mentioned if the City enforces a license and the Marina didn't comply,their license could potentially be revoked, but it doesn't necessarily mean that their business will be shut down. The license may present the opportunity to work together on our goals and standards for marinas. Crosby recommended that there should be a discussion about what was and what is to get it ironed out. He mentioned the City isn't trying to police marinas, they are trying to iron out the details and make sure the marinas are not negatively impacting surrounds properties and or areas. Richie discussed his concerns regarding a Marina License, he would prefer the have a working relationship with the City. Crosby noted that the purpose of the license is not to police the Marinas but would be to make sure that they are not negatively impacting the neighboring properties. Page 3 of 4 Orono City Council Work Session Monday,August 26,2019 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. Johnson mentioned he is not in favor of having the license and that the license penalizes the marinas that are not having any problems. Johnson added that it appears that we have everything we need to achieve what we want in the Code. Walsh noted that if we are a complaint based system,than we should reach out to the marinas, and let them know about it. Walsh added that staff should give them the information we currently have about your marina and let them know that you will be reaching out to them if there are any issues. Johnson mentioned that it doesn't sound like we need a marina license. Crosby and Walsh agreed. Meeting End Time: 6:40 p.m. ATTEST: at?'"1:54(..— OLOCC Anna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh, Mayor Page 4 of 4