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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-27-2020 Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: Mayor Dennis Walsh, City Council Members Richard Crosby, II,Matt Johnson,Aaron Printup,and Victoria Seals. Representing Staff were City Administrator Dustin Rief, Finance Director Ron Olson,Public Works Director/City Engineer Adam Edwards, and City Attorney Soren Mattick. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 13,2020 2. CLAIMS/BILLS 3. APPROVE PURCHASE OF NEWTEK TRICASTER 410 4. APPROVAL TO ACCEPT DONATION FROM CENTERPOINT ENERGY 5. LA20-000024—JAY NYGARD 1380 REST POINT ROAD—LOT AREA, LOT WIDTH, HARDCOVER,AND SIDE YARD SETBACK VARIANCES—RESOLUTION NO. 7111 6. LA20-000037—TIM HANSON,2645 CASCO POINT ROAD,VARIANCES—DENIAL RESOLUTION NO. 7112 7. 16-3867—RELEASE OF DEVELOPMENT CONTRACT FOR LOTS 2 AND 4, TANAGER ESTATES 10. APPROVAL TO RESCHEDULE THE FOLLOWING MEETINGS FOR THE PURPOSE TO SET UP FOR ELECTIONS: A. AUGUST 10,2020—COUNCIL WORK SESSION TO AUGUST 13,2020 B. AUGUST 10,2020—CITY COUNCIL MEETING TO AUGUST 13,2020 C. NOVEMBER 2,2020—PARK COMMISSION MEETING TO NOVEMBER 5,2020 11. APPROVAL FOR FIREWORKS DISPLAY PERMIT—930 PARTENWOOD ROAD Crosby moved, Seals seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda as revised,with Item Nos. 10-11 being added to the Consent Agenda and Item Nos. 8-9 being switched around.VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS Ms. Gretchen Piper,463 Highcroft Road, Wayzata, said she is running for the Minnesota Senate in District 33 and wanted to introduce herself to the Orono Council Members and listen to the business at hand. She stated she graduated from Orono and currently lives in Wayzata with her family. Her children Page 1 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. attend Orono Schools. She works in the medical device industry and most of her work is also in the area. She is excited to be running for the position and wants to make citizens' voices heard and get things done in the legislature for the community, not for political parties. She is DFL-endorsed and a moderate,a business owner, and feels things need to get done in the state legislature. She is running on a platform of making sure there is great education for all kids,healthcare access and affordability,protecting the lakes, waters, and environment, supporting companies and small businesses,and making critical investments. She is running to get positive, constructive, helpful things done for the communities,to make the investments that are needed. She is willing to reach across the aisle to get things done to represent"us." She thanked everyone who serves on the Orono City Council. Mr.Mike Feldmann, 1010 Old Long Lake Road, said he wanted to bring up comments from the last Park Commission meeting about agenda item number 9. He asked if this was an appropriate time to do that. Walsh stated it is not a public hearing. If the item continues to move forward,then it would be on the Planning Commission for a public hearing. Mr. Feldmann said he has been asked by two households, since they are not able to be at the meeting due to COVID and travel restrictions,to voice concerns about the Summit Beach plan. The first household is Jane Davidson/Frank Kulacki, 1020 Old Long Lake Road,who want to address the use of the word "secret" and other descriptors people have used and say that it refers to a secluded,natural setting rather than a secret place which only a few people know about. As near neighbors to the park,they witness heavy park usage, and clearly the park is not a secret. They voice concern over the lack of planning of a private-public partnership concept in the current proposal as it relates to financial and liability management. They also voice concern about the plan that essentially grants a large part of the park to a single entity, risking adversely impacting the value of the park to the larger community in addition to concerns over the environmental impact. He is also speaking for John Hovanec, #108, 2670 Kelley Parkway, whose family has enjoyed using Summit Park. He is concerned about what could be considered a privileged few being able to use what is perceived as an effective takeover of the park. He asked what is the need for this specific park and whether another location could serve that need. Speaking for himself, Mr. Feldmann has enjoyed seeing the rowing club experience success at Birch's and wishes them continued success. However,the concept proposal is giving a very significant portion of the park to a single private entity which will forever change the park in a community that considers it a great treasure. It also does not match Orono's vision statement, which is to be the residential community of choice and remain widely recognized for its preservation of natural rural beauty, quality of life, and recreational assets. He feels it is their responsibility to speak on behalf of Summit Park and encourage the Council to live the Orono vision statement and reject the proposal to put the private rowing club at Summit Park. Walsh apologized because that is an agenda item. However, it is not a public hearing. The Council is giving guidance; no votes will be taken. The matter has been in front of the Park Commission a couple of times, it's been at the Council before, it has been in an open forum at the Fire Department, so there's been lots of general talk about the matter. He said Julie Ruegemer sent an email to everybody to get immediate replies. There were a few items that weren't talked about, a few over-exaggerations about what's going on, and it is unfortunate Ruegemer sent out a letter without telling everything, because she is on the Park Commission and voted for the item to move forward. He said this is not the day or time for public comments. The City has read all of the letters and emails,and if there is someone who would like to give a synopsis,that would be great, after the Applicant has come up to talk about it. Page 2 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Mr. Feldmann stated he did not get Ruegemer's message in any way, so that is not the source of him coming to the meeting. Ms. Angela Mahoney,2107 Sugarwood Drive, asked if comments would be open after agenda item 9. Walsh stated after the Applicant comes up, one or two people can come up. Lots of letters and emails have been sent,the Council has seen Ruegemer's email, so if someone wants to do a synopsis of what everyone thinks,he would be fine with that. Everyone coming up and saying the same thing over and over again is not appropriate because it is not a public hearing. Ms. Rachel Feldmann, 1010 Old Long Lake Road, said she wanted to make sure the Council knows that people she has reached out to on her own have no awareness of this project or proposal at all. Almost everyone she spoke to when she visited the park had no knowledge of this going on, and she hopes the Council will take the opportunity during this time to hear everybody that made an effort to come tonight and speak to make sure their voices are heard, because the citizens'understanding is that effort is being made to reach the community and users of the beach, and nobody that she spoke with at the beach had knowledge of this matter. Some of the voices are here to represent those people. She said she hoped the City Council takes the time to hear them and give everybody their five minutes who showed up to speak. Walsh stated there is no such thing as five minutes. Ms. Feldmann said she thought it was up to five minutes. When they called to figure out what the policy was,they were told everyone can speak on the public comments and get up to five minutes. She said she did not think anyone planned to take that long, but hopefully everyone can speak. Walsh stated that public comments are five minutes,but this is an agenda item and public comments are reserved for something that is not on the agenda. Ms. Feldmann asked if the boat house proposal was on the agenda. Walsh said the City Council is not making any votes tonight. They are hearing about the proposal and giving some guidance. It is up to the Applicant if he wants to move his proposal forward. He has not submitted an application to the City. Once they do that,then it goes to the formal process of notification of within 1,000 feet of the neighborhood, and it goes to the Planning Commission,which is a public hearing which everybody gets to be heard on everything they want to say. Tonight,the City Council is hearing what the Applicant's thoughts are and the City Council will give some feedback. Ms. Feldmann asked if everybody could still speak that is present tonight. Walsh suggested one or two people could come up after the Applicant. The Applicant always goes first. Ms. Alisa Benson, 1220 Lyman Avenue, said she is an Orono resident and has spoken to the Council before. She referenced Walsh's term of"representatives" and said since they are all homeowners and citizens,they do not have representatives, unlike Long Lake Rowing Company which is more organized. Walsh stated there have been times where 20-30 people have come up at a hearing and they have at times said to people that if they have something different to say so everyone is not repeating the same thing,he does not have a problem with people coming up.After a while, if people come up and say the same thing the previous person just said, it's hard.He noted Council Members have read all the letters. He used the Page 3 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. example of everyone saying they don't like the color green. If someone has different input,the Council is always glad to hear that. He said no votes will be taken;tonight is to hear the Applicant's vision. Ms. Benson said she understood and that no one wants to be inside with questionable social-distancing any more than necessary. Part of the issue is, she does not know what anyone else has written or what they might say because she is not involved in a formal campaign. Part of the difficulty is that the residents feel like they are not able to be engaged and hear commentary. She understands there will not be a vote tonight,but it is a little bit difficult when there's not an organized effort to feel like they understand other people's perspectives in their own community. It would be helpful if the City Council could say five or ten people could talk tonight, or whatever an appropriate number would be. Walsh said he would not have a problem if it started with a couple comments; if someone has something completely different to say,they come up, and the Council could see how it goes.He wants the Applicant to go first, and he might want to come back and talk about whatever things he did not feel were talked about correctly. If the Applicant decides to move forward based on all the conversation and what the City Council's vision is,then there would be a public hearing where people can come up and talk for ten minutes if they want to. Ms. Benson asked if,by "couple," he meant three and they could go from there. Walsh indicated that would be fine. Rief stated he believed he responded to between 40-50 emails and he could put them into a spreadsheet to make sure that,whether residents are within 1,000 feet or not, once the public process is started if the Applicant chooses to move forward,those people would be included. Ms. Benson said she would appreciate that and she did see Riefs email regarding the letter. She stated there's a difference between sending emails and hearing things. Johnson stated he wanted to make sure the procedure is understood. He said sometimes people come with a sketch plan of a development that they want to do and are asking for general feedback from the Council and they are taking no action. The Applicant then has the option to say, "Based on that, I'm going to make my changes and I'm going to the Planning Commission."The Planning Commission has a process that would have public notice and people can come and be heard. Then it goes to the City Council and people again can come and be heard. So,there is a process in place for public input that is still ahead,assuming the application moves forward. Ms. Benson said she thought there was an expectation and maybe a misunderstanding that public commentary was welcome as an Orono resident even for an agenda item, but maybe she was wrong. Walsh stated that public comments were always for stuff that is not on the agenda. Ms. Benson clarified the public comments section is for people to make public commentary. Walsh agreed that public comments are for commentary that is not on the agenda. He said the Applicant first presents his story before it gets to the people talking about it. Page 4 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 9. LONG LAKE ROWING CREW PROPOSAL FOR A BOAT HOUSE IN SUMMIT BEACH PARK-INITIAL COUNCIL INPUT/GUIDANCE Edwards stated the Long Lake Rowing Crew(LLRC)will present to the Council and receive initial feedback on a proposal for a partnership between the City and the club for a facility at Summit Beach Park. The proposal has been discussed at two Park Commission meetings in November and March and was put on hold while everyone waited for some of the COVID stuff to be resolved.Now the Applicant will give the initial briefing to the Council to receive feedback. Based on what the proposal would be, there will be a continued formal process if the Applicant decides to move forward and present an application to the City. That would initiate a Conditional Use Permit(CUP)process, which would include the public hearings and procedures that go along with that, eventually coming back to the Council. Mr. Rob Burrell, 2740 White Oak Circle,thanked the Mayor and Council for their time. He said he has condensed his information from the Parks meeting in March. He asked if the Council wanted him to go through it again or if they felt they had enough information based on the packet he provided. Crosby asked Mr. Burrell to go through the information. Mr. Burrell said they are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit,volunteer-driven organization with a mission to bring the lifelong sport of rowing to Orono, Long Lake, and the surrounding communities and provide education for classes for youth and adults, special programming for community groups. Their vision is to be the most all-inclusive fun and competitive rowing club in the Twin Cities. Their mission is to provide expert instruction,promote personal and competitive achievement, and enrich their members and community through the sport of rowing. Their goal is to build a permanent home for the LLRC at Summit Park in Orono that includes storage for boats and equipment, space to conduct indoor training, and the opportunity to better serve the community through the increasingly popular sport of rowing.Past highlights for community involvement include helping stain the pier at Nelson Park,painting picnic tables at Nelson Park. They are a member of the Long Lake Chamber, an exhibitor and contributor to annual silent auctions and other activities at Corn Days, and are part of the fall festival for the annual Mayor's Challenge Race and Battle of the Badges for the Fire and Police Departments of Orono and Long Lake. The club is a constant surveillance of Long Lake as far as water quality and safety concerns such as the recent algae blooms. They filled their spots in community education in both 2019 and 2020 with just Orono residents. The rowers and their families bring retail patronage to the communities of Orono and Long Lake each day during the season, resulting in a positive economic infusion to local business. In 2018 they received a special commendation from the Long Lake City Council for the club's ongoing commitment to service within the community. He said in January they started holding individual meetings and the invitation was extended to Park Commissioners, City Council Members from both Long Lake and Orono. They had some small-group meetings with neighbors at the fire station,they had individual meetings with a number of lakeshore and city residents on January 8, and sent out invitations for another small-group meeting at the end of January. They fielded numerous phone calls from residents who could not attend for more information on their goal to get a permanent home. After the first Parks meeting,they reduced the overall size/square footage to approximately 6,900 square feet, about 24%less than the original plan. That includes a 4,400 square foot footprint and another 2,500 square feet would be above that. The overall height of the building was decreased from two stories to 1'/2. The public restrooms were moved to the back of the building and will not require a second structure,reducing the amount of new hardcover. They are flexible on where the docks would be located,either side of the site. The new plan would be to keep them towards the east end of the beach, away from the beach and more in direct line to the house. They will not be using or occupying the beach. Their goal is to minimize environmental impact Page 5 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. and they are being advised by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, who will work with the club before any construction on ideas to protect and safeguard the lake. The program will stay within the same terms and practice times for juniors and adults along with routes and patterns which are rowed now. Approximate actual time on the docks for boats in and out during a typical week is about 7'/2 hours. Hopefully next year there will be up to eight weekends during the summer and fall when they are away representing the community in out-of-town regattas on weekends. They would require a long-term lease agreement for the land and a guarantee that the current water hours of operation on Long Lake will transfer under the partnership with the City and ensure the long-term viability of the club and facility. The club would also need a guarantee that should the City sell the property at Summit Park,the LLRC would retain water access and the right to continue its operation there. As far as benefits to the greater community,the club will fund 100%of the construction of the building, build permanent public restrooms, reducing vandalism and providing a safe, modern, more sanitary option for park users. The club will also provide a small resting and sitting area outside of the restrooms and picnic tables for public use. The club will help cover some of the costs of the City-proposed playground at the park. The club can offer more indoor community fitness classes and training opportunities to residents during the months of November-April. In an age of ever-increasing obesity, diabetes, heart, and other health issues,LLRC will continue to provide ample opportunities for the local youth and adults to help reverse this trend,providing safe,fun,and community-based physical activity and nutritional guidance through rowing. The club provides rowing as a low,non-carbon footprint, physical fitness activity for the City residents and community. The club will help preserve the lakeshore because when they launch boats, it produces no wakes. They will continue to promote the beauty,tranquility, and respect of nature to City residents and the surrounding community,because rowing is virtually a silent activity with no amplified sounds produced.They will continue to provide opportunities for the communities' youth to physically and emotionally succeed where they may have failed in other sports, continue to provide life-long skills of teamwork, discipline,commitment, and respect through the sport of rowing for youth and adult members. Title IX college athletic regulations favor scholarship opportunities of rowing for the local girls to attend colleges, universities, setting them on a path to become productive citizens who continue and enhance Orono citizenship and community endeavors. The club's presence in the park will help the City meet their stated goal of increased security. The partnership will also help the City reach their stated goal of increased usage of Summit Park by the greater community. The club is open to offering some free rowing opportunities during the summer months for Orono residents, and welcome the opportunity to provide special programming such as the Wayne State STEM rowing curriculum through the Orono Middle School using the Detroit Bubble Club Crew model. The partnership secures the presence of the LLRC for the long-term. In Minnesota there is a long history of public-private partnerships with clubs, including rowing clubs operating on public land. The Loppet Foundation partnered with Minneapolis Parks and Recreation at Theo Wirth and built a 14,000 square foot building. There are many examples of public- private partnerships with rowing clubs including Rochester, Duluth, and the Twin Cities. He asked if Summit Park was still a viable option or whether there are other locations for LLRC to build a permanent home on or near the lake.At the last Parks meeting,the existence of an abstract document for Summit Park property came up. He asked what Council wants or feels they need from the project for the City, for the park. What are the next steps with the Park Commission, if any, and what's the best way in the Council's opinion to correct misinformation about this potential project that is out there. He noted he is looking for the Council's feedback, suggestions, guidance, and potential next steps. Walsh stated some of the questions at the fire station from people were regarding the expansion of the operation, making it bigger. He said his understanding is the LLRC is not looking to do any more. He does not know how many people have been to Birch's and walked the hills or the lane in the middle of the woods to traverse the boats down the hills. It does not seem very appropriate,but that is the only place Page 6 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. available. All the exercising is done at the fire station,which isn't a good situation either. He asked Mr. Burrell to discuss those items. Mr. Burrell said LLRC's plan was never to grow. They have a certain number they can handle in terms of the coaching staff they can afford, practice times they can have based on their CUP now. People have other things going on in their lives, so they are not going to be rowing seven days a week and 3-4 hours a day. They have a sweet spot they like, although a few people have dropped out because of COVID and financial strains, so they are operating a little leaner this summer. The building that LLRC wants to build can pretty much house the fleet. They may have boats they have purchased come in and out,they may have additional boats they use for new adults and new juniors coming into the program,they could add some higher quality racing boats, but it does not increase the number of people they can handle and coach and instruct on a weekly and monthly basis. Walsh asked how many students LLRC has from Orono. Mr. Burrell said about half are from Orono. Currently they have about 40 students, but typically they have around 50. He clarified that in community ed they were all Orono kids. Walsh asked if some of the rowers end up doing rowing at college. Mr. Burrell stated they have college students that come back to Orono that have been in the program; some row in college, some come back and row in the summer program. There is a college program which is done along with adults and juniors. Printup asked how many rowing club students went on to college through scholarships and benefitted from the club. Mr. Burrell said he could think of maybe up to 10 in the last four years. Students have gone to Notre Dame, Virginia, Wisconsin,Brown,UCLA, and Syracuse.The girls are able to get scholarship opportunities. Printup asked what LLRC's vision looks like with winter traffic. Mr. Burrell said it will be lighter. There are more people participating in the summer and fall programs in terms of on the water.Not as many do winter training, so traffic would be a little less. Printup clarified that it would be the workout portion rather than banquets and parties. Mr. Burrell said LLRC's plan is to use that as an office space for staff and coach. Winter training will take place on the upper level. Johnson asked who would be funding the project. Mr. Burrell stated they would have to fundraise for the project. They have some preliminary ideas but they have not spent the time on a full-blown fundraising plan yet. They have people within the club who can help them come up with a good plan. Depending on what the actual cost will be,they have different opportunities. Being a 501(c)(3), companies may want to donate goods or give them price breaks such as for windows or siding. There are a lot of variables as far as cost to build that they would have to spend a lot more time on once approval is given. Page 7 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Johnson asked if they established a general range of budget and expenses that they would have. Mr. Burrell said it would be north of$1 million, although he was not quite sure how far over it would be. Walsh asked if the bathrooms would be public bathrooms. Mr. Burrell stated Walsh was correct. Originally,they had a separate pavilion building with bathrooms, and then they backed off of that to keep the footprint down and the architect added them to the back of the building. Printup said Mr. Burrell mentioned there would be an opportunity for picnic tables and benches. He asked if the Crew would be maintaining them. Also, if the bathrooms are public, would that fall under the purview of the Crew. Mr. Burrell said the Crew would look to the City to maintain the bathrooms if they are going to be public bathrooms or it could be a shared responsibility. Seals stated she mentioned at the last Council meeting she wanted to see what rowing was about. She is not a good rower, but people need to realize Birch's is not a good location because of having to carry boats down the hill. She can say that because she did it,although not gracefully. With everything that is done,the devil is in the details. When she looked at the emails,there's questions about the size of the building and public access. There's an email about the City selling the land and giving it to them. The question is, if the City does a public-private partnership,what happens if the Crew decides to go away, is the City stuck with the bag. She said this is not the first time the City has done a public-private partnership. The baseball fields on the corner are owned by Orono,there are buildings there, and she thinks people are pretty happy with that. It's unfortunate that an email went out from a Parks Board Commissioner that didn't tell the whole story. It's the Council's job to listen to the whole story. There's always good and bad about everything, so there's going to be some good things about the Rowing Crew, there will be some concerns from some of the neighbors about change,which she understands. The Council's job is to weigh all of those things and then make sure they are talked about. From what she experienced,she did not see Birch's as a great location for LLRC,although Birch's is being very gracious by letting them be there. She thinks the LLRC needs a home. She noted comments from some residents included that the LLRC should just stay there and make it better. LLRC does not own the land,they are essentially renting at the leisure of the company, and that might not be on the table. She is in support of exploring things. Right now, it's very early in the picture and it's good to hear everybody's statements. Mr. Burrell said he would like to include a couple of additional points. He feels they had some good, productive meetings with residents and neighbors and answered a lot of questions,tried to correct a lot of false information, but there are still a few items they could use the Council's help to address. There are still some people who believe they want to build on the beach,which was never LLRC's intent. They understood from the outset the beach is off-limits and their plan has always reflected that. There's also some misinformation about the docks. On the original plan last fall,the former Parks Chair contacted LLRC's architect independently and set his own meeting to talk about his own idea for the park and to create a concept for a U-shaped swim dock as part of his vision for Summit Beach, not LLRC's. It was included in the original design at the November meeting per his instructions. LLRC's dock needs are more simple, and LLRC is proposing them to be east of the beach. Referencing the overhead display, he noted the rowing launch and said it would ideally be moved closer to where the boat launch dock is so LLRC is Page 8 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. not impeding on the beach. He stated the proliferation of misinformation among neighbors and some inflammatory language used at the Parks meeting has prompted some people to take matters into their own hands. LLRC received a few emails, some profanity-laced, that they believe are from fake Hotmail accounts. He is not sure where that got started,but they have them and they could be forwarded to the Council. He has continually offered all of his personal contact information for anyone that has questions/ concerns. There are people that have taken that route and there have been some good, solid constructive conversations and they have cleared up misinformation. He hopes people will continue to take that route. They will not respond to threatening emails. He said the greater concern is that some of LLRC's rowers have been targeted by other watercraft during organized practices; and independent rowers, who row on their own in their own boats on their own time, have reported similar incidents. Rowers are always prepared;the boat is sometimes split. He understands it's a busy lake, but rowers cannot defend themselves against motorized watercraft and skiers who attempt to swamp their boats. The numbers are down a little because of COVID, but the incidents are still happening with concerning frequency. While they would like to think they are mainly day-trippers coming to the lake,they know some of the boats belong to residents. LLRC takes this blatant disregard for safety on the lake very seriously and will continue to file incident reports with the Hennepin County Water Patrol. He wanted the Council to know some of that behavior has been going on this summer and it's disturbing. He reminded everyone the rowers are youth and adult members of this community, a majority are residents of Orono and Long Lake, their families live in the neighborhood surrounding the lake, and they own or work in businesses here. Crosby said it was great for everyone to hear what Mr. Burrell had to say so everyone is informed. Walsh invited attendees to come up and speak but the comments would be capped at 30 minutes and the residents could decide who they wanted to come up. Ms. Angela Mahoney, 2107 Sugarwood Drive, said she came to hear what the real story was because she was disturbed by all of the garbage she was seeing on Nextdoor with inaccurate information. She is not a rower. She swims and has swam at both beaches, she has kayaked, and is interested in this park getting cleaned up because she has lived in the community for 20 years and it has always been a problematic eyesore. There have been a lot of shenanigans that have gone on; a lot of kids drinking, coking up, something got burned once. From a security standpoint, she is interested as an individual swimmer in something that would bring a little bit more professionalism and oversight and a little bit more safety. She is super excited to hear that the dock is not where the swimming beach is because then it will not impede her at all. As a swimmer, she would encourage everyone to find a solution that works for everybody. She is happy to swim at either beach, but she thinks a lot of the emails that were coming in were all of the garbage going on in the Nextdoor app. She asked everybody to listen to what the plans are and be part of the process because there can be a solution that works for everyone. Ms. Betsy Johnson,460 Long Lake Road East, has lived right across from the beach since 2012. She or her husband has been to every meeting and she can say that they love that beach. They go over there every day or sit on their front porch. There have been a few incidents they have reported; and the police have been very, very helpful. Since the cul-de-sac has been put in,there have been less shenanigans. They are really concerned about their property value. They have heard about boats that are going to be 60 feet long.Also,the property that the boat club wants is prime waterfront property;the City should not give it away. For financial reasons, it would seem that the City would get much more benefit by selling it to someone who is going to build a beautiful house and pay taxes like they do. She said they pay big taxes to be across the street from the beach, and it is disappointing that they can't get monitoring,more lighting, or a lifeguard for the beach. The City Council does not need to bring in a boat house that is going to be Page 9 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. almost the same exact size as their house in that beautiful park,which is the only park that's left with a beach in Orono. The rest of the little beaches that are in Orono have fire access, and so this beach and park is special. Its green space is also special. She has videos on her phone of people having Frisbee parties and people playing fun games there. She said she has a lot of concerns. The City should not give this away. They moved to the area because of that beach. Walsh noted that the City Council is not giving the land away and it will be Orono land no matter what. Printup said the City is definitely not selling park land. Ms. Johnson said if the LLRC is putting their building there,they are not going to be owning it unless they're purchasing it. Walsh said the LLRC would just be leasing the land for a period of time. Ms. Johnson asked how much it would be leased for. She heard it was like a dollar. Walsh stated they are far away from those discussions;those discussions are not happening at this time. Seals commented she thinks that is the problem,they haven't even had that conversation, and it's hard to shut it down when you hear all the wrong information. Walsh said they brought the parks back in the last six years from not being managed at all to spending a lot of time getting them back up to speed and spending probably$1 million. For example, Bederwood is now completely flat and beautiful for soccer fields and lacrosse, so kids in the City do not have to go to Wayzata or Delano to play soccer or lacrosse. Being able to do that in your own community adds value in your community,to want to be and live here,which brings more value to everyone's property. Ms. Johnson said she hoped so. Walsh said they have been working on all of the parks. Ms. Johnson said it is a big concern to them that they will be looking at the back of a building. Walsh stated she could be a potentially good Park Commission member because Park Commissioners are responsible for different parks because they live by them. Ms. Johnson said that her husband would probably be even better. She hopes the City Council will understand that this park is very special; it is the last one in Orono. Printup noted, in regard to the last two speakers and the neighborhood app, he purposely stays away from it because social media is nuts. He also referenced the comment, "I heard it was a dollar," and said that people hear a lot of things and the City does not sell land. They create resolutions,but the City is not selling their park land. The City does not want more houses. Taxes are fine;the tax base is fine. Walsh stated that does not mean future Councils couldn't do that,but he wanted to be very clear that this Council would not be doing that. Page 10 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Mr. Tom Bergstrom, 1509 Long Lake Boulevard,Orono, said he has lived on the north side of the lake the last four years. He is not saying anything against the numerous benefits of the club. What they offer-- the activity,the sport,the scholarships--exist whether or not the new building is built. Those things don't change with the new building;they stay exactly the same. The scholarships are still here. The kids are still able to go out and row. He has personally been out at Birch's as recently as four hours ago to look at the space and inspect it. He asked what LLRC has done to address the safety concerns at Birch's.They've been there the last four years and are claiming it's unsafe.He asked why continue to operate in a space that is deemed unsafe; it makes no sense. They've talked about security issues. He went down there.All of the boats, less one boat,were hovered by the elements. He asked, if the boats are so expensive and so important to be protected,why aren't they locked, why aren't there security cameras. These are small, basic things that could be done that are not done. This building is a private club so that 90 people can enjoy it. They say they want to "never grow." If they want to never grow, he asked why the current square footage that is at Birch's would fit in about 33-50%of the size of the building they're requesting. With the 4,500 square foot bay, you could double or triple the capacity of the boats. He asked why would you need or want a building with that amount of space. It makes absolutely zero sense. They should get security cameras at Birch's if they're so concerned. He stated the boats are a lot bigger in person,and nobody is just going to steal the boat. You cannot put it on the back of a truck;you need a semi-truck. He does not know how people get them down to the water. In reference to the comment about rowers bringing them up and down the hill,they stay at the bottom of the hill. He lives on the top of the hill on the north side of the lake. He has to walk down with his coolers, etc. If the City Council is giving away park land,he would like some because he is sick and tired of walking up and down his hill,too. The boats are brought down once a year and are stored down by the shoreline and brought up once at the end of the year. There could be an argument that this is good exercise, which is what the club does. As far as a$1 million fundraiser,they're not even providing simple security,things to protect their current investment, and asked how are they going to raise a million dollars to build the facility. They're claiming it's not safe and they have storage concerns,there's no locks, etc. They are not doing the basics of what they're saying. He stated this is not a partnership;the City is trading a park for some public bathrooms and a bench. If the City wants that type of stuff, sell part of the land,take the proceeds of that,put in a playground, put in public bathrooms.A small fraction of the size could be sold and the footprint that this new building would take.As far as the baseball analogy, 90 people don't play baseball;thousands of people play baseball. He can take his kid to the park and swing a bat and play for the afternoon. He cannot go to this facility because it is a private club that he has to sign up for which is extremely expensive. This is not for the enjoyment of everybody in the community. It's for people who have a lot of money; it is a very expensive sport. He hopes someday his kids can go out and row,he thinks it is great and fantastic, but the proposal does not solve anything different than the current situation. Everything will currently exist as-is, as it will in this building, but now the City will not have a park. But the City will have bathrooms and a bench. Ms. Eleanor Winston, 765 Spring Hill Road, Orono, said she has lived on the east end of Long Lake longer than most people present have been alive. What bothers her is the size and placement of the building. She said the little park started out many years ago as a resort,had platform cottages on it, and people would bicycle over there. It's nice that other parks have been developed for athletics like Bederwood, but it's also nice to have a park on a lake that is still in the natural way as its donor gave to Orono because it was such a nice, natural setting. She said it's a big building for such a small park and sits right in the middle. It does not look on the drawing the way it will if people go to the park and look and drive in the driveway. She cannot see how it will not affect the activities in the park, especially now that Three Rivers Park is looking at routing their Diamond Lake Trail up to Rogers from this area,along the East Lake Trail,because that is going to bring more people by the park. She noted at one of the other meetings the rowers said they come early and are just there for a few hours, but what's saying that the Page 11 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. rowers can't stay and fill up the park and take over the park. They will be tripping over people and people will be in the way of the boats when they are carrying them to and from the building. Mr. Darrell Tamosuinas, 1525 Long Lake Boulevard, said he knows this is very preliminary. He thinks some of the confusion is that there's been a lot of discussion already at the Park Board and other things and many citizens just learned about this. People then feel like they're playing catch-up, and he thinks that is probably what is raising an awful lot of ire or angst. He said it is good that the City Council is getting this input and it sounds like it's a very formal process. He thinks everyone is experiencing and continues to experience change. One of the nice things about Orono is you can still get a feel for the country,you can still get a feel for the nature in this community, and there are a lot of places people can experience that. Sometimes you don't have the opportunity, but in this case,we have the opportunity where we don't need to experience change. Somebody donated the property because they liked the way it was and they wanted to see that in perpetuity. He stated that this proposed project has a much bigger impact. This is being called a public-private partnership, but the LLRC will be using not just the park with whatever disruption that is. He has lived in Orono since 1991 and has used the park considerably over the years with his daughters. It's not something that has to be done because there's been an excessive amount of erosion or whatever. Also,somebody prior to us said, "You don't have to change because I'm going to donate this and this is how you can use it and I'd like to see this go on for lifetimes." He said he went to Birch's to look at the property and there's some property where the smaller boats are held where some sheds could be put. Although he does not know who owns the land,there could be some alternatives in that area. He said the LLRC would not just be using the park,they would be impacting the entire lake. Resident of 985 Old Long Lake Road, said he is in a big family. He has two brothers who are nine and eight; he has two sisters that are 21 and also eight. He shared some memories that Summit Beach has for him. He had a party there for his 13th birthday with all sorts of activities like football,volleyball, and swimming. It was a super fun time and it felt like they got to do so much in that little bit of time. Secondly, it would be like private rowing. They have met a lot of new people there because of the usage and accessibility, one being his mother's best friend. They met because their father was from Minnesota and the mother was from Spain, and they came back from a vacation and it was so much fun. His two brothers made good friends. Thirdly,the park is a nice place to kick back and relax and enjoy nature. People can pull up a hammock and read a book and relax. Ms. Stachia Fey, 1570 Long Lake Boulevard, said she wrote a letter and received an email from the City. She thinks there's a misconception that everyone got a letter from Julie,whoever she is,because she did not, nor does she think everyone on her street did. She has been a resident for 18 years and is a paddleboarder and carries her paddleboard from across the street all the way down a huge hill to get it down to the lake every time she wants to use it. She feels like taking away that beach is going to take away a part of the soul of Orono. It's part of where her son grew up. There are so many memories she has at the beach. She does not see how a building can go up if the land was donated to the City from the Daytons to use for natural resources. She asked how a building could be built on that land. She found out about the proposed project the night before at 10:00 and did not sleep the whole night because she was so worried.The letter the City received from her was written at 3:00,4:00, 5:00 in the morning because she did not know about this situation. She said Fithouse has great rowing machines. People can utilize the current community fitness centers the residents already have. The beach is a gem,there is nothing around like it, and she does not think it is fair to residents like her to take it away for 90 people. Resident of 985 Old Long Lake Road, stated that since she came to live in beautiful Orono in 1999, she fell in love with the access to the lake and beach and is blessed to rent a house four houses away from Page 12 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Summit Beach. Her kids are 21, 17, 9, and two 8-year-olds, and they have many memories every summer about the beach. What makes Summit Beach different is the rope swing, which is by far one of the most exciting things about the beach. She wishes her 5-year-old grandson can have the opportunity to go to the beach like her five children did. Being a mother and grandmother, Summit Beach allowed them to have something her children could enjoy and at the same time exercise and be children without having to worry. She asked the City Council from the bottom of her heart not to take the beach from them. Summit Beach holds a special place in their hearts. She is pretty sure she is not the only family that has memories of birthday parties or friends that meet there or just having an amazing time at Summit Beach. Ms. Alisa Benson, 1220 Lyman Avenue, said what people are hearing is a lot of emotion because it is a wonderful community and,unfortunately, sometimes we as a community forget to partner with each other. We bring to Council things and sometimes ask the Council to solve/resolve things when maybe they need to talk to themselves. She stated she does not have anger as she approaches the City Council; she feels sadness. The stories being told are emotionally touching and she feels gratitude that there are individuals who put community ed classes out there and said she has taken rowing in community ed and it was amazing. What she is hearing is a lot of brain power,passion,and energy in the room and she has not been engaged with the individuals bringing this proposal forward.There is an Orono athletic center that was just built that presumably has rowing machines, or it could. What Orono does not need is lakefront property for rowing machines. She said she has a good wingspan,and there are mature trees in the park that she can't get her arms around. She spent a couple of hours at the park the previous day, and she hasn't heard any talk yet about partnering with residents and communities. There are business owners and citizens that have good ideas. She is not anti-rowing or anti-storage sheds. She thinks sometimes in Orono people lose sight of needs versus wants. She indicated she was not present to disparage the sport or equipment. She is not into spreading misinformation or treating people poorly; it's not okay. However, a need versus a want are two very different things.The proposals she has read and sketches she has seen look to be wants, not needs. If storage sheds are a priority,maybe the wonderful community could help make that happen, but not on lakefront property and not where the City would be ruining stuff. She noticed the trees are not diseased or rotten and there is a lot of wildlife out there. There were probably about 20 kids out on the beach. Residents are enjoying the park fully.Nature does not need Orono's help; it does really well on its own. She noted it would be great to find a solution for LLRC,but not at the expense of nature which, in the vision statement of Orono, is to be the residential community of choice and remain widely recognized for its preservation of natural rural beauty, quality of life,and recreational assets. She thinks Orono can have both and a solution can be figured out, but not on that property. She said she comes from California where beachfront property is always public. In Orono there are two public beaches;the rest are privately owned. She asked wouldn't it be wonderful if some of those private owners would sell their land at a discount to a non-profit. She suggested talking about those things because she is into solutions, not into complaints. She is not into disparaging community non-profits. She asked to please engage Orono's citizens and listen to them and their ideas because they want to help. Walsh said it had been about a half hour and asked Mr. Burrell if he wanted to respond to anything. Mr. Burrell said he would not respond to everything that's on the record; it is their right to come up and speak. He stated LLRC has always said they are interested in looking at what is possible for the club to build a permanent home. He wants to be crystal clear that they are not taking away the beach; it has never been their intent. They know it's a park that will have multiple uses;it's going to continue to have that. They are not building on the beach;they are not taking away things that go on the beach. That is not going to happen at this park with anything that will be proposed going forward. Page 13 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Ms. Beth Davis, 220 Wakefield Road, said her kids spend a lot of time at the beach. They put their hammocks up where the building is proposed. They love the beach. She stated she received Julie's letter and is thankful that Julie sent it or she wouldn't have known anything about it. She indicated, in Julie's defense, it's nice to be notified. She said Julie underestimated the size of the building in her email but is glad they were able to find out about it at this stage of the game. Crosby thanked everyone for sharing their thoughts. He knows it takes guts to walk up to a microphone and address the Council. He agreed with the lady who said everyone needs to be a little kinder to each other. If there are boats on the lake going after rowing boats, it is not acceptable; and Orono residents putting each other's safety at risk is not acceptable. Everyone needs to take it to a higher level and have this discussion on a nice, civil, friendly discourse. Printup stated he liked the comment from somebody about it's a good idea but the devil is in the details. He is okay with starting the conversation but not okay with selling City land. Seals said the City Council does not sell City land. Printup commented that the issue comes up from time to time,that the City is selling a fire lane or a park, but the City does not do that. Walsh stated the Council is not going to make any decisions regarding building size but they are giving guidance to the Applicant so they know if they should move anything forward. The Applicant has put effort in talking to neighbors, obviously. The question is, is the City interested in having the discussion about a public-private partnership with some kind of facility that works for the beach,the residents,the LLRC, and how that is going to be sorted out. Regardless of who knows about it or not,there have been meetings for the Park Commission,the Fire Department has hosted some meetings,the topic has come up at the work session. The question is, does the City Council want to continue to talk about the public- private partnerships. There are a lot of them in the parks already, and it is not Orono who is taking care of a lot of the things that are at the parks. Soccer teams, baseball teams, and lacrosse teams are funding and using those facilities, so they are the ones who are making sure the sand is good,that things are getting fixed. The City is mowing the grass and doing things in the park as well. It's a partnership for both people. Orono has a very well-to-do community, and he asked if the community wants to have rowboats sitting in the woods where they have to put locks on them. He asked if the City Council wanted to continue the conversation to see where it goes with the Club,with the community. There would need to be more input and strategy sessions on what works,what doesn't, how big, how small, etc. Crosby said he would like to see what kind of community tie-in there can be such as more community input, something with the school district. Seals stated at one time there was a structure on Big Island where community ed did things. Crosby asked if that was the one that was burned. Walsh said that was burned down. Seals stated there was a partnership there and there was a value to the community and it wasn't restricted. She said it sounds like there's no alignment with a lot of neighbors and community and asked if there is a happier medium. There will be more discussions going on, but the size of the building needs to be kept in Page 14 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. mind, making sure it doesn't invade the beach, and that there's improvements and that everyone can use it. The conversation was started but there are no details yet because nothing has been decided. Even with the details,that's when the decision comes. She feels like that is where the community alignment comes in and there's discussion. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, but there has to be a discussion. Johnson said the City Council always needs to consider some public-private partnerships that are going to enhance some of the resources that are there. What the Council heard is the residents did not feel like they were being informed of what was going on,there's probably some fear that this is going to get railroaded through and people that are affected the most weren't in the know. He stated he is relatively new to government; and the truth is, if there were good communications processes in place, especially those nearby residents,this would not occur without them knowing. There is going to be a lot more time for residents to be publicly involved and steering the future. He said there is no reason in his mind to say the City Council should stop it right now. People should bring up ideas. It doesn't mean they make it all the way through,but the City is open to ideas about how to better utilize it, and the City does not want to take away the privilege that somebody already has. There has to be a way to balance the two. He asked if there was some sort of condition in which the City accepted the property as a donation that included a provision that stated that there can be no development. Seals said that would come up if it went to the Planning Commission because it came up with Big Island. Johnson stated some people were making a reference to it so it helps to understand everything. He said the proposed project has his support to find something that is workable for the City as a whole and for their organization. Seals indicated that if there is an easement like Big Island has, it tells the City exactly what they can and cannot do. It would not be a bad idea to figure that out earlier than later. Walsh said the City spent a lot of brain power over the years on the East Long Lake Road project. It is not falling on deaf ears to make sure the City does well thought-out projects. He knows there are a lot of people that didn't want that project,they loved that cut-through,but the road was falling to the lake and environmentally it wasn't really a good idea. After a lot of input,the Council said it was the best thing for Orono, and it was a great project. He stated at a Park Commission meeting they discussed all the additional improvements at Summit Beach like playgrounds, benches, etc. Things are not happening in a vacuum and they are not happening in a one-week time. It's a constant process and evolving over a period of time. It is good to hear everybody's thoughts and processes,but he thinks public-private partnerships have pretty much made all of their parks champion; and if common ground can be found for everybody, there should be some dialogue continuing forward. If there is an easement that says it can't be done,that ends the conversation right there. Crosby said he agreed with the previous City Council Members that there should be a conversation moving forward,get public input, but do things in a respectful manner. Rief stated he will look at some sort of framework to value the park as it is today and what the new vision for the park could be and its value then.He said Staff could help establish that. Walsh said it would be more information and he hoped there could be more dialogue in the future. He thanked everyone for coming. Page 15 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. RECESS& RECONVENE Mayor Walsh recessed the meeting at 7:25 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 7:28 p.m. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT 8. SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT Olson stated revenues are looking pretty good at this point in the year with 55%of revenues. Last year at this time the City was at 58%of revenues. They did receive on the tax settlements another$900,000 on July 3, which is not recorded, and last week the City received$217,000 which would be the first and 70% of the late payments that were made after May 15 but before July 15. He thought by the end of the week the City should receive another$85,000 in tax settlement. He clarified this is general fund taxes. He said the City is around 50%for property taxes, which he was previously concerned about, but at this point the City is on track. Licenses and permits are at 52% for the year,which is pretty good. Building permits are down from a year ago, at 44%of building permits. That number is generally new construction. Johnson said that can be made up with other types of construction such as remodeling permits. Olson stated Johnson was correct. The City is$18,000 under 50%of the building permit money, which can be one single permit. Johnson said that he thinks there will be a surge in building permits soon. Walsh noted the City kind of depends on that for extra revenue. Olson stated the City receives the police state aid in October and receives the state training aid from the POST Board later in the year. Council Members and Staff talked about the golf revenue increase which they thought was due to people being off of work and the nice summer. It is particularly interesting because the golf course was not open right away in the spring, although it was one of the first activities that opened up. Olson displayed a graph showing building permits for 2020 and said overall the numbers were okay. Council Members discussed a building permit in the neighborhood not yet received by the City. Olson stated they are over budget for the year already on the mechanical permits with$62,000 in revenue, although one permit accounts for$31,000. He went over the plan review number and indicated a lot of times a plan review will come before a building permit is issued. He talked about the 2019 and 2020 numbers in that category and said that a plan review can almost be looked at as a leading indicator when it comes to building permits. Walsh said there is one more meeting in August to get July's numbers before they need to start setting the budget lobby. Council Members and Olson discussed the timeline for setting budget numbers. Page 16 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Rief stated that last week Edwards had 24 site plan reviews, which is a big number, so the numbers are trending upward. Olson said they are planning to build a dock at their lake and the guy at the lumberyard said if you know you are doing a project, buy them now because he is hearing from his suppliers there could be a shortage of building supplies. When Olson asked him why that would be, he was told it goes back to the beginning of the year and some of the disruptions. His guess is there's a longer time from cutting the tree to getting it to market, so some of the supply chain disruptions might come into play. He then displayed a graph for the second quarter information and noted the City is below the last four years; however,the City is over 50%. Six weeks ago,he felt they would finish revenues at 98%, but now he believes the City should hit 100% of revenues based on what he is seeing. Regarding expenditures,the City is doing well. Last year at this time the City was at 47%of the expenditure budget;this year the City is at 44%. There're two departments that might go over budget; one is Mayor/Council,which is not related to anything the group is doing, it is the cost of the recorder, Jackie Young having retired. Human Services were at 76%of budget;the City paid the Gillespie Center for the year after they came and spoke. The only thing left to pay in that line will be the summer activities through the school district, so it will probably be around 100%. The golf course may go over budget for the year; the good news is,the revenues are going way up. He stated when the golf course was closed there was a lot of maintenance done, so it's the repairs and maintenance and buildings and grounds supplies line items that are high. There is not a lot more maintenance planned since so many things were done earlier in the year, partly because of COVID. Council Members noted it is just like the residential area; people are taking care of maintenance issues. Olson stated that, all in all,he did not see that there was anything to be concerned about in the budget at this time. There is a good reason for anything that looks suspect, and Finance will continue to watch the expenditure lines. He displayed information regarding the top vendors for the second quarter and discussed them. Council Members and Staff discussed that Unit 421 was for a dump truck that was approved in 2019 and costs associated with it. Rief stated the City goes with single-axle dump trucks because of the streets, so the City cannot buy dump trucks to fit what they need because they are municipal only. To get the best deal,the City goes through the state contract to get the chassis for X price,but the rest of the equipment goes through a different vendor to get the best price.He said pretty much all of the vehicles are built that way. Council Members commented that many of the most expensive items on the budget are totally out of the City Council's control. Printup brought up the Met Council and stated,related to utilities, 33%is Met Council for sewer. Olson said it might have been more than that. Printup stated it's a great piece of information for the public to know because it's not just that the City of Orono is billing everyone. The City is trying to keep it down on their end. Rief noted the number could be 37%. Page 17 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Olson said it is a big chunk of the monthly expenses. Walsh stated that is why the point-of-sale program is being implemented. The City has done their part and they need to keep working on it. Olson said one of these years there will be a dry year and Met Council charges should drop $100,000 or so and the sewer fund will look very good. Johnson asked about the credit card fees. Rief, Walsh,and Johnson discussed how credit card payments came about and what bills get paid that way. Olson noted the City still pays the credit card fees at the golf course, which is 23/4%. A round of golf used to be $10 and then the City would back out the sales tax.Now the 7.65%sales tax is added to it, so the City collects $10.76. He said it's more of a retail organization. Printup commented that a question can sometimes change policy and then policies that were in place long before the present City Council get fixed. Olson displayed year-to-date information and stated no one can really compete with the Met service. Johnson asked where the City is at with the RFP on health insurance. Olson said he talked with Connor from Paychex who said the City is in great shape and it is too early to get quotes. He will follow up with Connor to make sure things are going through. Olson said he told him if the RFP doesn't go well,he will be dealing with a different Finance Director when he gets to the City. Johnson noted it will be interesting to see how COVID will impact health insurance. Walsh said he just got his literature and it was 31/2%. Olson stated the loss ratio for health insurance was the best he'd ever seen. It was about 77%for the second quarter because nobody was going to the hospital or clinic for routine stuff. Rief said it is a positive for the health insurance companies but a negative for the hospitals because they are not having revenue coming in. Olson displayed information and gave a recap of investments. The total investment portfolio at the moment is $13 million. Part of the reason there's $1.8 million in the 4M Fund is because the City was getting the tax settlement. He said there are not a lot of places to go to get more than what the money market is. Crosby asked if the City was still buying municipal bonds. Olson said there are some but not a lot because they are way down,too. He did not think he bought any new ones in the second quarter because he would have had to go out to 5-6 years and still get under 1%. Page 18 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Normally 1/2 to 3/4 of the portfolio would be municipal bonds. He displayed the three new investments in the second quarter, and Council Members discussed the low percentage rate. Crosby asked if they were running on a transactional basis or on a fee basis platform. Olson said he did not remember but the City is not charged a fee directly. Crosby said if they did charge a fee, Olson would see it because it would be on the statements, so it must be transactional. Olson said there is$116,000 interest year-to-date so it's a little less than last year.That's a factor of the interest rates which have been sliding since the beginning of the year. The City has one 2.2%CD right now but it matures in August, and after that the highest one is about 1%. It will be a tough year for interest, but it's also not a huge money-maker. Walsh indicated the revenue from the permits is what he is tracking because that's an over-and-above number.As far as real estate taxes,the City budgets for 99%or 100%and it could go to 101 to 102% with all the fees and overpayments coming in. He would like to make sure that the City is at least getting to 100%. Living in Orono,most people are paying their taxes on time. Olson said the City does very well. He stated his worst tax collection since his time at the City was 97'/2%, which would have been in 2009 or 2010. Walsh said another good number to track is the budget money that is set aside just to see what percent the City is at so the City knows how much flexibility there is. If the City raises the budget,they have to balance that,too. Since the interest rates are so low, the City will have to put money into it, it's just how much. Olson stated those are numbers that will be looked at when going through the budgeting process. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Seals said she was excited to see fireworks on the water. She is excited to see people outside in the parks. As far as the LLRC, it is affordable to join. In reality,half the people will be happy and half won't,but there is probably a solution somewhere. Printup said he went to a wonderful event, Back The Blue. It has been fun supporting the police. Crosby stated he joined Printup at the Back The Blue event in Bloomington, and there were a lot of patriots supporting the police and letting them know that people care. There were a lot of active people, and he spoke at the rally and was told he did a nice job. He spoke about having an Officer's back and understanding that Police Officers, especially right now, are going through a tough time and people need to remember that when there is a dangerous situation,Police and Fire members are the ones who are there. They are heroes to him.Although there are some issues, Police Officers do an outstanding job and need to be respected and supported and not defunded but make sure they are properly funded. It will not be a fun experience to be calling 911 and not getting an answer. Johnson stated he and Walsh had the Police Commission meeting which gave them a chance to get an inside look at what the Officers are protecting them from and the responsibility that's included. One of the Page 19 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. things that came up was the Governor's Order of the statewide mandate of the masks. One of the components of that is they did not want the enforcement of masks to take away from their effectiveness in the field. Johnson moved, Crosby seconded,that Orono is having their Police Officers largely playing a role of education where they see appropriate and that is what the City Council is asking them to do. VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. Johnson said it was interesting that the very tight borders both north and south have impacted the amount of narcotics that are making their way into the United States. It demonstrates that if you patrol the border, there are positive effects. He said it affects the amount of drugs available in Orono,too. He stated that amongst the COVID issues,there are positive things happening. He noted there was another drowning on Lake Minnetonka off of a rental pontoon when a man was helping another individual in distress. Crosby stated he is probably overly cautious,but when he goes out on the lake with his wife and daughter, he puts on a life jacket. He looks at it as,there has to be somebody there that can help the other two. He wished the guy that jumped in to help the individual would have had a life jacket on. Johnson commented that alcohol is often involved in these kinds of incidents,although he did not know if that was the case in this situation. He also said the Police Department is doing a good job on a lot of fronts. Walsh said, as a master SCUBA diver, he is trained in water rescue, and it is very dangerous to try to help people who are flailing. He does not know if that was the situation. He stated it is nice to see kids playing and having fun in the water. He announced that he would be running for Mayor for the next four-year term and would be running with his favorite team: Crosby, Seals, and Walsh. He will be signing up in the morning. Early voting for the primary is August 4-10, and the primary is on Tuesday,August 1 1. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT Rief said there is now a mask order related to COVID and there are signs on the doors. The meeting is exempt but everything else the City does is not, so there are masks for Staff when they are in the common space. In their offices they are not required to wear one, especially on the phone. When people walk in to the office,they will notice the secretary is not wearing a mask, and that is because she is in a protected cubicle and she's by herself, so she is not required to wear a mask. He stated he wanted to make that clear because there has been some pushback about not wearing masks. Orono is following the guidelines and doing what they should do. The City has not received its CARES Act money yet that they applied for in the amount of$610,000. That money should be deposited shortly and the City will be bringing forward expenditures, and so forth,that are outside of what Staff can purchase as things come up.Right now,they have about$7,500 that they have applied to the initial FEMA grant. He expects to see that funding come back somewhere around October or November. Right now,they are between the$230-240,000 range in total expenditures related to COVID expenses. A lot of the expenses are around the elections and sanitizers, etc. They are looking for more election judges. Everyone is struggling across the state because it's a weird time and people may not feel comfortable dealing with the public. A majority of the judges are older. The City is looking forward to more people coming in, but they are looking at full-time Staff taking up some of the responsibilities. Page 20 of 21 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,July 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. Walsh said with COVID and the different items and equipment needed,the City should make sure they are putting everything they can put in so it doesn't come later and impact the City's budget because the City gave the money back. Council Members agreed with Walsh's comments. Rief said the Westonka School District requested that the City consider them as part of the funding option because it's not something that was laid out in the first CARES Act. The Cities and Counties get money but nothing was considered for the school districts. When the City figures out what it needs internally, it is something he would like to bring back and have a discussion on how to help contribute for some of the increased expenses the school district is having. Council Members discussed helping all the school districts out in whatever way possible while making sure the money is being spent on something worthwhile. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT None. ADJOURNMENT Seals moved,Printup seconded,to adjourn the Orono City Council meeting at 8:14 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. ATTEST: OF Aa Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 21 of 21