Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout12-07-2020 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 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,III,Matt Johnson, and Victoria Seals. Council Member Aaron Printup was not present. Representing Staff were City Attorney Shana Conklin, City Administrator Dustin Rief,Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart, and City Planner Laura Oakden. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. TRUTH IN TAXATION PUBLIC HEARING 1. 2021 Budget Hearing Mayor Walsh opened the public hearing at 6:01 p.m. Maggie Ung,Accountant, said tonight is a very important night for the Finance Department that concludes 5-6 months of work preparing the budget. Tonight's meeting is required by law to have a public hearing before the adoption of the budget. Mayor Walsh asked if any of the public would like to talk about the Truth in Taxation public hearing. There were no members of the public who approached the podium. Ms. Ung said the purpose of tonight's meeting is to discuss the 2021 Budget and Tax Levy. She stated in the past people have showed up to talk about the valuation of their house that the County has assigned and she noted this is not a meeting to discuss that. There will be an open book meeting in the spring and if people have concerns regarding valuation of their properties,they will be able to discuss it with the County Assessors at that time. She explained how property taxes are calculated;the Hennepin County Assessors determine through their formulas what each property is worth and comes up with an estimated market value. Market value is then multiplied by the tax class rate which is 1%for first$500,000 of property value and 1.25%thereafter. This equals the property's net tax capacity;Ms. Ung noted they will focus on residential as that makes up 98%of Orono's property. Another number used to calculate property tax is the tax capacity rate, which takes the total property tax levy of the City divided by the City's total tax capacity for 2021;this is the value put on each property by the assessors,multiplied by the property's tax rate, and added up together. In 2021,the Council is being asked to approve$6,610,620; the City's total tax capacity is$39,431,077,which equals 16.765%for the tax capacity rate. Mayor Walsh noted in looking at many cities,that is kind of the key number,that percentage of what they can charge;there are a lot of cities around the lake that are at 40%, 50%, 60%as they are taxing at a lot higher rate than in Orono.He stated going back to 2014,Orono is about the same number for roughly the last 7 years. Ms. Ung stated that does make her point that Orono has the fourth lowest tax capacity rate in Hennepin County. Mayor Walsh clarified that is out of 46 cities in Hennepin County. Ms. Ung then explained how property taxes are calculated: they take the property's net tax capacity times Page 1of15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. TRUTH IN TAXATION PUBLIC HEARING—Continued the City's tax capacity rate to get the net City tax on the property. Onscreen,she showed an actual example of a home in Orono of which the value is$1,026,000 for 2021; using the 2021 value assigned to this property, 1%of the$500,000 of the estimated market value and then 1.25%of the remaining $526,000 of the home value is $11,575. She said they multiply that number by the City's tax capacity rate of 16.765%and that comes out to$1,940.54,which is the City's portion of the property tax. She showed a property tax statement onscreen and noted the City's portion,the County's portion,and the School's portion, as well as other taxing districts. She stated this reflects the conservative nature that the Orono City Council has,which is to try and keep the property taxes as low as possible while still being able to fund and improve needed infrastructures and services. She showed a graphic comparing Orono's tax capacity rate compared to neighboring and connecting cities,of which Orono was the lowest. In Hennepin County,the average tax capacity rate for cities is 38.4%. Metro-wide there is an average of 79%residential and 18%commercial; in Orono the majority is 98%residential with only 2%making up commercial. Ms. Ung moved on to the budget information and showed the tax levy they are asking the Council to approve tonight. The majority of the$6.6 million will go towards the General Fund of $4,921,140. There are two new levies to share,the building fund and parks levy;the building fund levy of$310,000 will go towards development and improvement of buildings, and the parks levy of$50,000 will go towards parks improvements and expenses. The pavement management levy is designated towards the improvement of road infrastructures. The last two levies are for outstanding bonds that they sold in the past and are now trying to pay those off. This year one bond was paid off, and they expect to see the other two drop off by 2029. Ms.Ung showed another way to look at the tax levy; as previously stated,the tax capacity is$39,431,077 and the City's total levy is$6,610,620 and that brings them to a total tax capacity rate of 16.765%for 2021 which is .25%above last year's rate of 16.512%. For the average homeowner, if one has a home that has a$250,000 market value and market value did not change for 2021,their City's tax portion would be increased by $5.95. On a$2,000,000 dollar home with no change in value,their City's tax portion would be increased by$60.09. Some homes have increases and decreases in values so looking at a 5%increase in the value of a home, a home with a value in 2020 of $250,000 now increases$28.79 for 2021;a home with a decrease in value of 5%(a$250,000 home is now valued at$237,500)the City tax portion would decrease by $16.89. Ms. Ung moved on to the budget and provided summary information. She noted the detailed budget would be made available on the website later in the week. Revenue is increasing 1.3%overall,the biggest decrease is in the intergovernmental due to the way they handle the grant money for accounting purposes. Because Orono is not the grant distributor,they will also see this decrease in the expenditure side. Taxes make up over half of the revenue,and public safety charges make up about 1/4 of the revenue budget, due to police contract with neighboring cities (Mound, Spring Park,Minnetonka Beach). This helps Orono keep property taxes down to 53%;typically,they would see the other cities' budgets depend on the property taxes about 65-76%. She showed a graph that breaks down the revenues. She gave a year-to-date update on permit revenues, and said overall through November they are at 85.7%of the budget for 2020; building permit is about 80%;planned check site exam is at 76.4%;mechanical permit is at 163%; plumbing is at 89%. Expenditures are increasing by 1.28%, so the percentage increase on the Mayor and Council is 25.5%;this is due to the meeting minute price increase and noted that is a small amount compared to the overall budget. There is also a 54%decrease in election due to 2020 having been budgeted for the presidential election(they will see another spike in the budget line item in 2024 for this reason). She noted another way to look at the budget by use:the personal service line item has increased for Staff increases and costs of living;this is offset by eliminating the building official position. They will see an increase in professional service for the outsourcing of those duties which is the 10.5%increase in professional service. As for the decrease of other expenses, it is to offset the way they account for Page 2 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. TRUTH IN TAXATION PUBLIC HEARING—Continued grant disbursements. She noted another resolution being asked of the Council to approve is a balanced budget,so both revenue and expenditures equal$9,260,500. Also presented to the Council for adoption tonight is the Special Revenue Fund budget;they budget for the park and drug felony forfeiture as well as TIF,which is used for the Orono Senior Complex, which means the increase in the value is captured, collected through Orono and then they send the funds for the infrastructure of the senior building. She spoke about the enterprise fund budget,and the main revenues are the charges for service and main expenditures are operating expenses. These funds are self-sustaining with the goal of maintaining a 25% operation and 25%capital reserve if applicable. Ms. Ung showed the last slides showing the City's overall revenue for all of the funds and the City's overall expenditure,noting they will not add up to the same amount,but shows that they are spending money collected in the past that the City may be planning to use. Mayor Walsh asked if anyone was present for the public hearing of the annual budget. He noted they manage the budget all year long but start talking in detail and going through the budgets in June; it is a constant, ongoing process. Mayor Walsh closed the public hearing at 6:18 p.m. Johnson noted they could do all four in one motion. Johnson moved, Crosby seconded,to approve the 2021 Property Tax Levy,the 2021 General Fund Budget,the 2021 Special Revenue Fund Budget,and the 2021 Enterprise Fund Budget as submitted.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. APPROVAL OF AGENDA CONSENT AGENDA 2. SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13,2020 3. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 23,2020 4. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 23,2020 5. CLAIMS/BILLS 6. ADOPT 2021 FEE SCHEDULE 7. COST OF LIVING ADJUSTMENTS FOR NON-UNION EMPLOYEES 8. AUTHORIZATION TO DISBURSE CLAIMS 9. 2021 ANNUAL APPOINTMENTS 10. ADOPT 2021 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN 11. NON-WAIVER OF TORT LIMITS 12. 2020 INTERFUND TRANSFERS AND LOAN PAYMENTS Page 3 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. CONSENT AGENDA—Continued 13. REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL(RFP)SCHEDULE 14. 2019 STREETS RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT—PAY REQUEST NO. 7—FINAL 15. AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT DONATION FOR FUTURE CITY EVENT 16. AUTHORIZATION TO ACCEPT WILLIAM PERSELL RESIGNATION 17. LA20-000022—RANDY HAAPALA,HNH HOMES OB/O WILLIAM& KATHLEEN WANNER, 1095 FERNDALE RD WEST,VARIANCES& CUPS—RESOLUTION Crosby asked to add items 19)Recognizing Donations Received in 2020—Resolution,20)Big Island Park ADA Trail Project(19-033)—2nd Toilet Change,23)LA20-000069—All Energy Solar o/b/o Aron and Kali Johnson(clarified to be Aron and Kali Anderson),4760 Bayside, Variance—Resolution,25) LA20-000070—Boyer Building Corp., 3145 North Shore Drive, Variance—Resolution,and 26) Declaration of a Nuisance at 3895 North Shore Drive. Crosby moved to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. Johnson said regarding Item 19)Recognizing Donations Received in 2020—Resolution,he wants to thank everyone for the donations that have given to Orono and he noticed that Richie Anderson of North Shore Marina,who donates the funds for Xerxe,the dog for the Police Department was not listed. Rief noted he believes they accepted it before the beginning of the year. Johnson asked to add Mr.Anderson to that list as a contribution to the City. Motion seconded by Johnson. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments. PRESENTATION 18. 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report Presentation Ms. Ung noted that Bonnie Schwieger from Abdo,Eick&Meyers,LLC is here tonight to present the 2019 audit results. Ms. Schwieger, an audit manager from Abdo,Eick&Meyers,gave the results of the 2019 Financial Statement audit. She noted she is giving a presentation that is not the detailed financial statements,but if anyone has questions about those statements,they can go into them as needed. She stated they gave a clean and unmodified opinion and is consistent with what Orono has received in the past. They also do not have any findings in the report,and noted if the Council remembers, last year they received some internal control findings, and with some of the new financial policies adopted,those were taken care of so they were removed from the report. She noted it is a very clean report and they are happy to be issuing it for the City; she stated they also look at compliance with Minnesota State Statutes and there were no Page 4 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. PRESENTATION—Continued issues there and no compliance areas to report. Ms. Schwieger then went on to the General Fund results and showed a chart onscreen from the last five years which shows the fund balance at the end of each year compared to the next year's budget so the City can see how much they have in reserves at the end of the year to cover the next year's budget. She noted in 2019 Orono had about 47%to cover the 2020 budget; the City also has a policy of how much they want to cover the current year budget, and had 50%of the current year budget in their 2019 reserves. In revenues, Orono was significantly over budget due to building permits, some grants,and charges for services that were over budget. Mayor Walsh stated that is a positive problem. Ms. Schwieger answered yes; she said expenditures were very close to budget with only about a$4,000 variance there. Orono was able to transfer out a significant amount to the pavement management fund at the end of the year, about$700,000. An overview of revenues;taxes is the largest source,another category includes grants,charges for services, fines and forfeitures and miscellaneous items. She said overall, fairly consistent revenues with the past three years. Under General Fund expenditures by type, public safety is the largest program because of contracted services and there is a slight increase for some capital needs. Ms. Schwieger mentioned that other category includes culture and recreation,and economic development. Separate from the General Fund is the Special Revenue Fund(SRF),noting Orono has several SRF's and they are all very restricted resources;the Park Fund is a significant one that changed in 2019 as there were some big park projects that took place and they saw a decrease there. Otherwise,there was fairly consistent activity in the other funds. Ms. Schwieger showed a graph onscreen that showed the debt service fund shows what the City's principal and interest payments look like over the next 10 years until the last bond matures. In 2023, Orono will see a drop and another drop in 2026. Johnson noted that is another positive problem. Mayor Walsh said that is about a$400,000 drop. Ms. Schwieger continued on with the Capital Fund balances; pavement management and municipal state aid street have some pretty big negative balances but are not something to be too alarmed about; it is just something to plan for in the future. She believes there are some funds that will come in and clean out those negative balances along with what Orono currently has planned. She noted the rest of the funds are assigned for different capital and equipment purchases. Next is the internal service fund;the governmental funds and enterprise funds chip in for all of these different things and they are using these to save up different resources. Continuing on with the water fund, she explained the charts onscreen showing the cash flows coming in and comparing it to how much Orono can cover with their operating receipts. In 2019, Orono was able to cover both the operating payments and debt payments,which is great. In looking at the bottom chart,there was a pretty big decrease in cash,but there was about $350,000 in capital that was paid out of cash reserves and that is where they see the big decrease in cash. She stated they have a cash reserve goal of 25%of Orono's operating costs and 25%of the capital costs to be in the cash reserves at the end of the year. Next is the sewer fund; receipts have been more than enough to cover disbursements over the past four years. Regarding the cash balances, although there was about$500,000 in the sewer fund,they were also able to meet that cash reserve goal for the fund. She showed similar charts onscreen from the storm water fund,noting for the operating receipts and disbursements,there were some one-time items in 2019 and they can see they were sufficient to cover the cash reserve goals. The recycling fund is smaller and generally not able to cover—over the last three Page 5 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. PRESENTATION—Continued years—the operating disbursements;however,the cash balance has not changed too much and is still able to support those operations. Regarding the cable fund, Ms. Schwieger noted Orono does not have a reserve goal and there is not a lot of activity that flows through;there were some capital purchases this year and that is where they see a decrease in cash. She then gave an overview of all of Orono's funds, noting it is important to understand that although the City has a few bank accounts with a lot of cash held, it is broken out into these separate funds they just talked about. She showed a chart onscreen that illustrates over the past three years what of all those separate fund cash balances look like and what pieces they each hold. The next slide looked at cash balances as far as how Orono can use them. She explained some special revenue funds are restricted and they also have some restricted debt service funds;there is a portion assigned for capital and the unrestricted there is the general fund which is for operations, and they also have the enterprise fund. She clarified this gives an overview of how Orono can use their cash balances for different things. Ms. Schwieger said they take information from all of the other cities in the State of Minnesota and put them in to charts that compare how Orono is doing compared to Hennepin County, and also compared to Class 4 cities,which is based on population. The first chart illustrated their tax rate compared to Hennepin County and Class 4 cities,noting Orono is very low on that comparison. Orono's taxes per capita,as they have a higher home value, can still be very high in comparison to those other cities. She showed a chart on debt per capita compared to those peer groups over the past four years. As seen on the debt maturity schedule, it will continue to go down until they issue more debt. Current expenditures per capita will be higher because of the City's public safety contracts;this does not take into account the revenues that come in,but rather looks at the total public safety spending which is higher than other cities in the area because Orono serves other communities. Capital expenditures per capita were higher as well; however,Orono has more projects going on so that fluctuates quite often. She showed a chart outlining water fund debt service coverage,which focuses on how much operating receipts does the City have coming in to cover the debt payments and the higher that is the better—they want to have enough revenues to cover debt payments going out. The Council thanked Ms. Schwieger for the presentation. PUBLIC HEARING 21. LA20-000072—3570 Ivy Place, CUP—Permanent Dock Jeremy Barnhart said last December the Council approved a Conditional Use Permit(CUP)for a permanent dock at 3570 Ivy Place;when the Council approves a CUP,they approve a plan and if any changes to that plan are desired by the Applicant or the City it needs to go back through the CUP process. He noted there is no minor change clause in the variance process, so they are going through the public hearing process for this dock. The Applicant missed the deadline for the December Planning Commission meeting and is asking the Council to waive the Planning Commission review and have the Council hold the public hearing. Barnhart explained the code allows the Council by unanimous consent to waive the Planning Commission review and then the Council would hold the public hearing and react to the application. The Council has done this occasionally in the past(2 applications in 2018);the Applicant is seeking the Council to waive the review to allow construction in January 2021,rather than waiting until February. The Lake Minnetonka Conservation District has approved the revised dock configuration and Staff has analyzed the proposal based on the criteria for CUP and is recommending approval. There are two actions needed tonight 1)The Council waives the Planning Commission review of the public hearing, and 2)The Council opens the public hearing and reviews the proposed application. Staff recommends approval of the dock application. Page 6 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC HEARING—Continued Seals moved,Johnson seconded,to waive the Planning Commission review. Ayes 4,Nays 0. Mayor Walsh opened the public hearing at 6:36 p.m. Mayor Walsh closed the public hearing at 6:36 p.m. Seals moved,Johnson seconded,to approve the Resolution LA20-000072. Ayes 4,Nays 0. PLANNING DEPARTMENT REPORT 22. LA20-000048—Timothy Whitten o/b/o Irwin Jacobs 2018 Rev Trust, 1700 Shoreline Drive Preliminary Plat—Resolution Mayor Walsh clarified the expectation of the Council on this:they are not making a decision or having conversation around this,but rather the Applicant will give a quick update. He noted this is not a public hearing as it still needs to go back through the Planning Commission. Patrick Steinhoff of Malkerson, Gunn, and Martin,220 South 6th Street,Minneapolis, is the Attorney for the Applicant, which is the Irwin Jacobs Trust. Mr. Steinhoff gave an update on the application based on issues from the last meeting on October 26, 2020. One issue was a suggestion that they were moving too fast,making changes on the fly in response to public comments without allowing sufficient time for the public to consider them. At the suggestion of City Staff, City Attorney, and City Planner,the Applicant has agreed to return the application to the Planning Commission for a full public hearing. Right now, they are updating all of the application materials, and once Staff has given feedback,there will be neighbor meetings,they will invite Councilmembers to view the site, basically starting the application from scratch. As to the nature of the changes to the Application;the Council may recall there was lots of discussion regarding average lakeshore setback(ALS) in past meetings. The Applicant is revising the plan to move all of the lots so they have house pads behind the existing ALS, and that required them to eliminate a lot and that will hopefully eliminate the ALS as an issue. Another change to the plans regards some objection to the road so they are redesigning the road to make the cul-de-sac shorter and if Staff identifies any other issues,the Applicant will address those as they come up and make adjustments to the plan. The plan is to give the Council an application that conforms to the ordinances and then they can make adjustments based on feedback. Mr. Steinhoff welcomed questions and noted Tim Whitten is also in attendance if there are questions. He looks forward to the public hearing on the application. Mayor Walsh noted they are not looking for questions at this point,but they do look forward to seeing the Applicant at the public hearing before the Planning Commission. Once it gets through that process, it will get back in front of the Council. He appreciates the update and where the Applicant is going with it. 24. LA20-000071—Jacob Stickney, 15 Stubbs Bay Road/PID 3211823340006,Variances— Resolution Ms. Oakden noted the Applicant is requesting the lot area, lot width, and side yard setback variances. The Applicant is planning to construct a new home on the property which currently sits vacant;the proposed home has a similar front yard setback as the neighboring property to the north. During the Planning Commission, neighbors did attend and voiced some concern regarding the original proposed house 24. Page 7 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 24. LA20-000071—Jacob Stickney, 15 Stubbs Bay Road/PID 3211823340006,Variances— Resolution—Continued placement as pertained to the side yard setback. The Applicant heard those comments and has submitted an amended plan to address those neighbors' comments. It equals out to the house shifting a few feet from what used to be a 15-foot side yard setback to the north and is now an 18-foot side yard setback to the north. The south side yard setback will be 15 feet which is more abutting the Bederwood park area. The neighbor submitted an email in support of the amended plan, saying it addressed their concerns asking for a larger side yard setback buffer between the two houses. The Planning Commission reviewed the presentation,held a public hearing,and discussed the proposed variances. Commissioners overall were supportive of a home being built on the lot,with Commissioners McCutcheon,Kirchner,and Gettman having concerns with the original proposed side yard setback. The vote was 4 to 3 to approve the application as proposed that night. Again,the Applicant has amended to address those neighbors' comments in front of the Council today. Staff recommends approval;the Council should review or amend the proposed draft resolution. Johnson asked if this is a 5-acre zone. Ms. Oakden answered that is correct. Johnson asked if this was a 2-acre zone what would the setbacks be. Ms. Oakden said in the 5-acre zone it is 50 feet, and in a 2-acre zone, she believes it is 30 feet. They do allow smaller side yard setbacks for narrow lots, and she believes this would be considered a narrow lot for the 2-acre zone, so it would be 10%of the lot width. The side yard setback for principal interior is 30 feet,no less than 10 feet or 10%of the lot width. Ms. Oakden believes this lot is 123 feet wide,so it would have 12-foot setbacks if it was in the RR1B zoning district;however, it is in the 5-acre RR1A zoning district, so it has 50 feet and they do not allow any narrow allowances for narrower lots in that district. Seals said her only concern, as this is in her neck of the woods and she drives by it all the time, is that none of them even knew it was a lot—they just thought it was part of the other lot that exists. It is literally right next to what will be a very busy soccer field with soccer balls being kicked at their second story windows. She thinks it is really close,but the setback is the setback,and she thinks they need to be cognizant of what they are building next to and may need to have a future conversation. She thinks they have had too many conversations with people who stated"that wasn't happening when I built[soccer games, lacrosse games, etcetera]."Seals noted it is a busy park and the goal of the City is to have the parks being used, so that would be a caution,as long as the owner of the lot is okay with that. Mayor Walsh appreciates the Applicant bringing it down and addressing the neighbors' concerns, as he was at the Planning Commission meeting. He thinks that was valid and appreciates them doing that. Crosby asked if the neighbors are present tonight. Mr. George Stickney said they had a good talk at the Planning Commission meeting and they were okay with it. Page 8 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 24. LA20-000071—Jacob Stickney, 15 Stubbs Bay Road/PID 3211823340006,Variances— Resolution—Continued Mayor Walsh said the neighbor is basically 18 feet from the property line and just wanted the other house to be 18 feet,kind of equidistant. Johnson noted the other component that came up at the Planning Commission was if they decide to put a deck on,they will need to get a variance application to do it. Ms. Oakden said there is a deck contemplated as part of this plan,and noted it is right under the red line onscreen. George Stickney,340 Peavey Road,representing the Dunn Family,who will be selling the property to the buyer building this house, said as they can see with the constraints of the lot something has to be done; every one of the lots to the north, including the Krumps who have agreed to say this is suitable,have a15.5 setback on one side and are closer than 15 feet,27 feet on one side and their barn is 19 feet. The neighbor just above them has a 13-foot setback on one of the buildings on a 2-acre lot. There is another 2.4-acre lot which is closer to the street than this property. In looking at the exception past the property, there is a silly driveway access up off of Watertown Road, so there is another 33 feet of woods that will stay there. He mentioned at the Planning Commission meeting, if they built that driveway it would be so costly,they would never do it. He noted they would have to clear cut all the trees and go up a mountain to get to the house. He said this is a really nice plan and everyone seems to be in favor now that the Krumps are. Crosby asked what the total size of the lot is. Mr. Stickney replied it is 1.22 acres,the lot to the north is 1.22 acres,and the other two lots are 2.48 acres and they all fail and are closer to the road than this property except one of the homes. He said they kept this house 50 feet from the road and that is good; if they kick it back any further that is where the septic has to be. They are already placing the front setback beyond the line of the other properties to the north. Johnson moved, Seals seconded,to approve LA20-000071, 15 Stubbs Bay Road/PID 3211823340006,Variances—Resolution. Ayes 4,Nays 0. 27. Authorize Text Amendment Related to Special Lot Combinations Barnhart said this request is an authorization to start the review process, as over the past few weeks they have received requests for special lot combination. He noted they have done this in the past, but looking at the code to gauge whether or not it is an appropriate special lot combination, it is only referred to once in the City code and that is for the seasonal recreational zoning district(basically Big Island). Staff felt it was appropriate that the Council have some input in what is an appropriate special lot combination. Special lot combination is an agreement between the City and the property owner where they agree to consider a couple of lots as one lot for building purposes and the property owner agrees to give up certain rights for the building that does not have the principal structure. Barnhart noted they see if frequently with driveways going through one property into another to serve it or one lot houses the dock or a garage and the principal structure is on another lot. He is looking for authorization to look into it a bit more and bring back some proposals for the Council's consideration. Page 9 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 27. Authorize Text Amendment Related to Special Lot Combinations—Continued Johnson would like to see these types of amendments and setting up a priority on which ones they are working on and where they are at, rather than piecemealing them one at a time. This would really be Mr. Rief assigning Staff time when it makes the most amount of sense towards the projects and then he feels comfortable saying"let's do this." He does not know how high of a priority it is,noting Council relies on Staff to tell them they have a high priority to do something. Johnson noted they have done numerous revisions to their text amendments and would like a plan to it. Mayor Walsh said it is not a bad idea to review that again as the Council has punched a lot of things through over the past few years from the development review committee,which has slowed down,and now some of that has come up and jumped at them. Crosby asked how many they have discussed in the past year. Barnhart said they have probably looked at a dozen or so text amendments. He prioritizes those with several factors; seasonally(related to boat storage or docks,getting those done before dock season), others Attorney Mattick's office has written already Barnhart can push through fairly quickly. Some are much more involved, such as the park dedication,which will likely take several months and is on a back burner in terms of getting some other higher priorities out. He is happy to share the list with the Council again and if they would like to do a work session they can. Mayor Walsh thinks it is a good idea to spend 15 minutes going through the list again and they can start moving things forward. He noted this one was a complicated one versus other easier ones. Johnson noted it does take Staff time and they want to make sure they are hitting all of their other everyday types of things such as complaints. Some of these things are reserved to fine tuning when other priorities are met. Mayor Walsh said sometimes they do not know what they do not know and applications come up and they ask why they have a certain code and must address it. He remembers the Council told Barnhart when these types of things come up,to let them know and Mayor Walsh appreciates him doing that as they are trying to do best practices all the time and fix things as they go. He noted sometimes thing pop up through no fault of Barnhart's own. Johnson said another thing that is relevant is Staff looking at these and saying this will be very involved or it will be a quick one. He noted that should all be on the list for when the Council is in the prioritizing process. Mayor Walsh would like to add how important is it, considering how many of these things they see, noting some get complicated. He would rather have all those items come to the Council and they can make the decision on a case-by-case basis. He does not want to put Staff in harm's way and would rather the Council have those problems and make the decisions than put those burdens on the Staff He noted the Council wants to make it as easy as possible for the public to get things done, so they must balance the two. Johnson said this one would be interesting because it becomes a question of"undoing it"once they decide to do it. Page 10 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. 27. Authorize Text Amendment Related to Special Lot Combinations—Continued Mayor Walsh noted they would just table the issue at this point. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Seals had nothing to report. Johnson had nothing to report. Crosby asked to shout out on December 7,2020 to Pearl Harbor Day,to think about their Veterans and a moment in history that many Americans will never forget. He will never forget it, as their Veterans' sacrifices need to be recognized as often as possible. Mayor Walsh told everyone Merry Christmas,Happy Hanukkah,have great Holidays and a safe New Year. There is rain and slush coming so he reminded everyone to drive slowly. A member of the public spoke up and asked about 3895 North Shore Drive. Mayor Walsh clarified they had passed that at the very beginning of the meeting. The member of the public asked if they could explain an overview of what the City Attorney does regarding a nuisance. Rief said he can explain and noted typically Orono handles nuisances by going through the prosecution side for criminal-type offenses. They were advised by the City prosecuting Attorney that he does not have enough teeth in the way he was going to do it, and to be successful at accomplishing the goals of getting compliance on this property,they came back to the City Council to go through the civil route and go through civil litigation process. That is how they are trying to handle mitigating the issues at the property. The member of the public asked if it just to get them to clean up the property. Rief answered yes,to get everything back into compliance. Mayor Walsh said part of the problem was the house went into foreclosure,was owned by a bank, and to sue a bank criminally there is no one to show up for that, so they could not really do that. He noted the City lost their leverage because of that whole process so had to move it over. Mayor Walsh said they took the best route they could to get it to work and get it cleaned up. The member of the public asked if there is anything else,they can produce to get the Attorneys that are litigating this. Rief said not unless there are new offenses that are showing up. The member of the public asked about the burning of garbage that has been going on in the middle of the night for the last 10 days,noting there is all kind of night-time activity. Page 11 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT—Continued Crosby stated if there are illegal burns,they can call 911. The member of the public said it is at 4:30 a.m. Mayor Walsh said that is about all they can do—call 911 to get the police to file a report and then they have documentation. The member of the public said the officer could see they were burning garbage and the stench was irrefutable,but because there was no flame the police could not tell them it was a violation. Crosby asked if the fire department showed up. The member of the public replied no, it was two Orono officers. Crosby said if the fire department does come,the Chief can issue a summons on an illegal burn. The member of the public said they should basically call 911. Mayor Walsh and Crosby answered yes. Mayor Walsh said the sad part is that they cannot control bad behavior; all they can do is work with the legal system as much as they can. That is what the Council did tonight to get to the next step—to bring it through as much as possible for these members of the public. Johnson said it is not a fast process. Shanna Conklin,one of the City Attorneys, said she is not one of the Attorneys who is normally at these meetings and does not have as much familiarity with that particular situation. She would let the members of the public know that it is important to document anything they are seeing,even if it is in a notebook or photos and then provide any of that to the City so they can take action appropriately as they pursue the matter further. Johnson asked if the members of the public have used the City's online complaint system. The members of the public replied that Barnhart knew who she was and she thought it was an anonymous website. Rief clarified that Barnhart does know who they are as he is in charge of the system,but nobody outside of the system—so Staff would know who they are so they can communicate with the complainant specifically—and if they emailed one of the Councilmembers directly. In a complaint situation,the complainant is not public information, so they do protect that information from the outside. The member of the public asked if there is a portion of the litigation where someone can physically go into the house and see how nasty it is. Page 12 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT—Continued Attorney Conklin said any time one is entering an abode, home, or property,they would need judicial approval to do that. That could be through a search warrant, or sometimes are administratively issued by a judge, other times it is part of the litigation. It is always dependent upon whether or not the judge finds there is sufficient evidence showing there are substantial issues within the property. This would be a determination as the proceedings move along. The member of the public said 5-6 years ago a young couple rented that property and they were sick all the time and could not figure it out. That couple pinpointed it to all of the black mold in there. It has been an ongoing problem. Johnson said the reason he asked about the online complaint system is because that keeps a record. Rather than a member of the public keeping a notebook, if they put a complaint in the system,the City keeps track of those complaints. If this litigation continues or needs more current data,they can go into the system to access that rather than relying on the public. It is a way to keep track of all of the complaints. Crosby asked if the house has been under foreclosure. The member of the public answered yes. The property owner told her husband that the bank does not want the property,he will let it go that way, as he owes them twice what he paid for it due to the equity that he took. Crosby said they would figure the bank would want to get their money back and foreclose. Johnson said they are doing a lot of figuring. Mayor Walsh noted they have not seen this house, either. Crosby said basically it looks like someone is buying a lot; it is not a house. H stated it is not big enough to build another home on. The member of the public answered because the house was built in the 1930's is maybe 6 feet from the lot line. Johnson said it is an unfortunate situation for the members of the public present. He suggested they keep logging the complaints and perhaps it will help them get to the end of this. Mayor Walsh said they have authorized it to go to the City Attorney so they will probably be in touch. The members of the public thanked the Council. Mayor Walsh said the next meeting is January 11, 2021. Page 13 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT Rief said Mayor Walsh stole his Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. He said there will be an internal workday on December 16,2020,which he sent out in a Friday memo as they have done in the last 3 years. It gives an opportunity to catch up on filing and shredding and all of the things that get put off and prioritized to when they have time. He noted they do not have meetings for 5 weeks and this gives an opportunity. Johnson said regarding the Friday updates,he does not need to see the same things every week. At least for him, it is good to see what is different. The idea behind it was not for Staff to tell the Council what they do all week, as there are things they do every week. Rather, include some of the things that are atypical. Rief explained what he was trying to do is show what was swallowing the majority of Staffs time. If they did not get to something else;elections, for example, swallows three Staff members for 30+hours a week each and that is where he was coming from on that side of things. Johnson said they have a sense of what the everyday is and asked to help Council understand what is new, or spending more time than a typical week. Crosby feels for these people because it is tough when neighbors do not have the same pride in ownership. Mayor Walsh noted it is bank owned with renters. Crosby said it is still good to have pride in yourself and your home even if you are renting. Seals said especially when one is causing damage to the neighbor's house-that is a whole other level. The Council continued on and Johnson noted Mound is on board with the trail,and Spring Park. Rief said he has heard some cursory commitments but not a full commitment and they have not asked Orono to plow it. Crosby noted a text he received saying that"Minnetrista is looking at raising Council and Mayor's pay; they show Orono's pay has not changed since 1997 and he is not sure if that is historically correct, but he is wondering if Orono is considering raising official's salaries or not. He is of the opinion that serving is a public service and something to supplement income but is curious about what if anything Orono is planning to do in that regard." Crosby responded they will not vote for a raise in pay as people struggle under tyrant lockdowns and it will not happen. Mayor Walsh said when he was on the Council and it came up, everybody thought it was a good idea until they looked at him and he said he was vastly overpaid. Then they said they would move on. Seals said there is the way to their heart: a philly cheesesteak every once in a while from Jersey Mikes. Crosby said when they serve the people,they serve the people. When folks are struggling and there are a lot of people struggling right now,whether their businesses are closed, or they are not able to work to full Page 14 of 15 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,December 7,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT—Continued capacity,one certainly does not take a raise. He said to any other cities considering this right now: shame on you. Don't do it. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Attorney Conklin thanked the Council, and stated she appreciates the Council letting her stand in for Attorney Mattick tonight. She will follow up with him with regard to the feedback on the public nuisance situation. The difficulty with the pandemic is that the court cases have become backlogged and it is very difficult to try to push them forward,but they are still doing what they can to have them via Zoom if possible, or in-person whenever that is necessary. She said Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved, Seals seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 7:20 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. ATTEST: I OOP , • Anna Carlson,City Clerk Dennis Walsh, Mayor Page 15 of 15