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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-23-2023 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 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 Matt Johnson,Alisa Benson,Richard Crosby III(left the meeting at 6:28 pm),and Victoria Seals.Representing Staff were City Attorney Soren Mattick, City Administrator/Engineer Adam Edwards,Finance Director Ron Olson and City Planner Melanie Curtis. 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 JANUARY 9,2023 This item was removed from the consent agenda 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF JANUARY 9,2023 3. CLAIMS/BILLS 4. APPROVAL OF 2023 TOBACCO LICENSES 5. APPROVAL OF RENTAL LICENSES 6. 2020 SANITARY SEWER I&I GRANT—RESOLUTION NO. 7334 7. APPROVAL OF PUBLIC WORKS MAINTENANCE RETIREMENT AND RECRUITMENT 8. ACCEPTANCE OF HENNEPIN COUNTY TREE INVENTORY GRANT 9. APPROVAL TO ACCEPT TRANSFER OF PROPERTY—RESOLUTION NO. 7335 This item was removed from the consent agenda 10. LA22-000055—ESKUCHE DESIGN O/B/O TRAVIS & SARA WILDENBERG,3838 CHERRY AVENUE,VARIANCES—RESOLUTION NO.7336 11. JOINT COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT FOR USE OF FIRE PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT—RESOLUTION NO. 7337 12. HENNEPIN COUNCIL JOINT POWERS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT Seals moved, Crosby seconded,to approve the Agenda and the Consent Agenda with items 1 and 9 removed.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JANUARY 9,2023 Council Member Benson stated that in reviewing the notes,there were several areas where the minutes did not reflect the audio recording. There was no video for that meeting on Jan. 9 but there were some Page 1of12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. pretty big issues with it starting with,there was no record of the discussion with the city attorney and myself regarding my request to abstain from the vote on the refurbishing of the fire truck. That whole section was not there. There are several other sections related to fire where details are lacking. So I'd like to understand more about how we can either send these notes back whether it's me making a motion to do so or whatnot,because it's really not an accurate representation of the meeting. City Administrator/Engineer Edwards said the City can send the minutes back to the contractor who prepares them and then bring an amended set back to the council the next meeting. Walsh responded that we'll just leave the minutes off for the time being and we'll just table it. Edwards clarified the council can table it or direct staff to send it back to the contractor. Walsh directed staff to send the minutes back and then bring them back and make sure they are correct. 9. APPROVAL TO ACCEPT TRANSFER OF PROPERTY—RESOLUTION NO. 7335 Jane Delaney, 1315 Woodhill Avenue, said her question was curiosity on her part. How does that work? Has the property already been paid for?Or was it paid for when it was bought? Walsh said he believes that when the City did the agreement a long time ago that it paid for it and this is just the transfer of title. City Attorney Mattick said the Council at the time had been interested in pursuing this parcel for a while so they did buy it from the property owner who by my recollection was still living there. They reserved for themselves what's called a life estate,meaning that the city went ahead and paid for that property,but they got to stay there for in essence,the remainder of their life and or until they moved away from the property. Their attorney did contact me and said they're moving so pursuant to the agreement that had been negotiated a while ago,then what remains of that property gets transferred to the city so that it's totally the city's at this point. Ms. Delaney asked what Mattick meant by what remains of it. Mattick said they reserved for themselves what's referred to as a life estate which is the ability to stay in that property as long as they lived, or until they moved which is what was negotiated. So they still have that right. Walsh stated,we don't owe them any money at this point. They just ended their rights basically.And so now the transfer was fully done by accepting this and then it'll be back in the Parks hands to say let's see what we need to master plan this whole fabulous park to suit what we're going to do now to put it all together. Seals moved, Crosby seconded to adopt Resolution No. 7335 Transfer of Property.VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. Page 2 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT 13. LA22-000051—PAUL TAUNTON,3600 IVY PLACE,AFTER-THE-FACT VARIANCES City Planner Curtis said this application is regarding after-the-fact variances to permit newly-installed hard cover within the 75-foot setback from the lake. The city received a complaint in September regarding a parking area under construction at 3600 Ivy Place. Staff confirmed that a new approximately 1100 square foot paver parking area had been installed within the 75-foot setback without permits.. Two new unpermitted patio improvements were also constructed within the 75-foot setback totaling approximately 1,000 square feet. The property was platted in 2018, and the home was constructed in 2020. The original development plans contemplated a shared connected backup area between the two properties. The property at 3570 Ivy Place installed their portion of this shared driveway connection. When the home was constructed at 3600 Ivy Place the builder chose not to install their portion of the shared driveway connection.No hardcover is permitted within the 75-foot setback from the lake with only few exceptions. The new parking area is 31 feet from the ordinary high-water level, and the two new patio areas are setback 43 feet and 50 feet from the lake.At the November Planning Commission meeting,the Commission held a public hearing and voted four to zero to deny the after-the-fact variances for the improvements. Following the planning commission meeting,the applicant provided an exhibit demonstrating turning radius as well as a stormwater management report in an effort to support their unpermitted improvements.Those were included in your packet. We received one neighbor comment and it is in your packet. Staff recommends denial of the after-the-fact variances. Additionally,because this application originated as a property violation, staff further recommends the applicant be provided a timeline for removal should the Council vote to deny the variances. We're asking council to direct staff to draft a resolution for denial. Walsh asked since staff recommends a timeline for removal what timeline would you have as your recommendation? Curtis said she would suggest that that they be removed at a time when the vegetation can be reestablished so that the lake doesn't experience anyy sediment from the removal. They could be removed now; it just would be open and bare at that point until the spring. Council Member Seals said it's been since 2018 but between the two properties was there not a turnaround at one point that was in the development plans? Curtis said in the landscape plan submitted with the development it does show a connection kind of a turnaround circle drive between the properties. The neighbor to the south did construct that backup area to be connected. 3600 Ivy planted arbor vitae along the property line and chose to put a backup apron kind of in this location. Seals asked if all of the everything was removed that was out of scope, not approved, if they were to connect that would they still have enough ability to do it with the hardcover ratio. Curtis said the hardcover total on the property is not over what is permitted.It's just the location in an area that we don't allow hardcover, so I believe they'd be able to accomplish that. Page 3 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Paul Taunton, 3600 Ivy Place,the applicant, said he didn't know that he needed to pull permits.I wasn't trying to do something underhanded or disrespectful to the City of Orono on the eight-foot entrance going into my driveway.I moved into the house on June 27.Denali was the builder. That turnaround that you're referencing was never presented,nor does my neighbor talk about it other than my neighbors saying,hey, you're just an accident waiting to happen.Your family,there's five people that live in my home,your family cannot park on that easement that we've been given and you cannot turn into my driveway with a vehicle. Unless you're driving a golf cart,you cannot make that turn into my driveway. I am concerned about the pervious pavers that I put in,the driveway that I put in.I did not know that I needed to pull a permit or I would have pulled a permit. When it was brought to my attention I immediately got in line and followed the protocol to pull the permits. I am also concerned about the erosion of the property. It's a flat line. I hired a group of surveyors and engineers that came out to put the drainage tile around the whole property so that there would be no erosion or drainage into the lake. That was before we moved into our home.When I put in the pavers,the patios,I had another engineer company come out because I knew that I did not want to recognize that I had now exceeded or that there was some concern about erosion or from a massive rain. So they came out,a neutral party, and they made their declaration.They gave like a 45- page report stating there's absolutely no risk of any water runoff into the lake. The drainage tile that I put in was more than what was called for. I did that because I, like the City,want to protect the lake. I apologize that I did not pull permits in advance. That wasn't some strategy of mine to be that guy that does it and then asks for forgiveness.I went to a neighborhood party when I moved in and I had four different neighbors complain about where we were parking.When you take a left turn down Ivy it's a single road.Well,that's where we were parking. They were complaining,hey,you can't park on the road. My neighbor wrote a letter to me after numerous conversations saying you can't park here. That's why I put in the driveway as a place for us to park,a place for cars. UPS couldn't make deliveries.Amazon could not make deliveries because it was just too narrow.And they weren't willing to walk 400 feet to the beginning of my driveway. So that's the situation that I was in.And again,I apologize for not pulling permits in advance. But if I hadn't put something someplace for us to park my neighbors would be going nuts. It's just how tight it is right there. My internet's been knocked out four times just from the plow just since I moved in,just from this winter. It's clearly an unusual circumstance here. When I purchased the lot we reduced the size of the house,we moved the house as close as possible to the neighbors to my neighbor.I'm literally right on the line. There was never any discussion about me using his driveway as a circular drive. That dialogue never happened. I know they don't want that. That wasn't even an option. The only option was when I put that driveway,that parking area. I was very conscious that I didn't go any closer to the shoreline than what was already allowed.I stayed that same distance. It wasn't excessive. It was just enough for a car to turn around and for us to park. I wasn't trying to be reckless or disrespectful or just flip my nose.It's a situation I was trying to be respectful for what I had learned. Council Member Johnson asked to clarify,they did their as-built,then we received complaints.And then we did a site visit.And the complaint was for the front driveway pad.And then during our site visit is that when we saw the other two places? Curtis said the City's inspector went out and observed the construction that was just finishing up on the driveway and basically confirmed that violation.I contacted Mr. Taunton and when I received his updated current conditions survey, it reflected these two patio areas. So the initial violation wasn't addressing Page 4 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. those two additional patio areas but by the time we were at Planning Commission,we had included them in his after-the-fact hardcover setback variance for review. Johnson said at the Planning Commission meeting the representative of the of the applicant said that the patios were kind of new information to them at that time. Curtis said the city requires a hard cover permit to install patios and driveways. They would not have been approved at a staff level where they're located. But we did not know they were there when the driveway violation happened. Mr. Taunton said I was not aware that you needed to pull a permit for pervious,you know,that water sinks through it. So I was not aware that I needed to pull a permit. If I needed to pull a permit,I would have pulled one. They're not big patios. Again,I thought if it was pervious that you did not need to pull a permit. Johnson said with respect to my opinion on it, it wouldn't matter if he knew about a permit or not. This is not allowable hardcover. This is a design flaw. It's just not up to the city council to fix a design flaw.And I'm not sure if what Victoria brought up,that little extra extension between,I guess they don't have to actually have a drive-through--it could stop short but that. But again, it's not our job to get into the design side of it either. From my opinion,this is not allowable hard cover and it needs to be removed. I would be supportive of waiting until the spring or until it can all be dealt with at one time, including the replacement hard cover. Walsh said he didn't think it's really a design flaw as much as we just know that developers want to maximize the amount of space they can build in. And sometimes they build too much house, and they don't leave enough driveway, or enough room for a really big fire pit. But the problem is,that's what they did is they maximized the house and didn't leave room for a lot of stuff.And there's lots of houses like that,that people buy and they find out after the fact they can't add a deck and they can't do anything, because they made the house so big. That's what I think what you've got here is a brand-new house that just maximized everything you could do and left you at the bare minimum amount of driveway and not a lot of room except in that little itty bitty kind of point to build a put a fire pit. But I agree with Matt,that's a creation of the development itself. You can't create your own practical difficulty. Seals said she appreciates the applicant apologizing. I was just asking staff about codes and ordinances so I can see where that can happen. I don't think there's an assumption that you had malicious intent. I think we've been pretty consistent about the 75-foot setback.I remember this whole development very distinctively. There were conversations around whether there should even be a lot because there were conversations as to whether they filled in the wetland and all those things. I feel like there's been, I don't want to say a lot of giving,but we did talk through a lot of discussion around turning around with the fire truck, and all those conversations did happen. I did talk to the planning commission and understood where they're coming from.I do support that we need to remove those three and protect the 75-foot setback. Page 5 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Benson said what's needed to have been said on this issue has already been said. I'm in agreement that it's important to follow the code as it relates to the setback here with regard to hardcover. Crosby said he'd be in agreement.It's unfortunate,but I think you said it fairly well.If you'd shrunk the size of the house,you would have had more room for the things that you need as far as driveway is concerned.But it has to be enforced. It's in the code. Mattick said in terms of that aspect,the resolution itself can deal with the land use item and the denial of the application. The rest of it is something that we can sort out at least administratively, once we start talking to the property owner about timelines,because that that is potentially an enforcement item. So I would leave that out of the resolution. Johnson moved,Seals seconded,to direct staff to prepare a resolution to deny LA212000051,3600 Ivy Place,after-the-fact Variances VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. Curtis said there was no further community development report. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT Finance Director Olson said he had nothing to report. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Attorney Mattick said he had two items.We do have a closed session so I will leave those items alone. I do want to point out a correction,however, on the closed session.It does list Jay Nygard,with the city of Orono. That should be Kendall Nygard. Otherwise,the caption on that is correct. This second item I wanted to touch on is confusion or some follow-up discussion that I think needs to be had on the idea of an abstention. It came up on our vote last week with councilmember Benson.And what I wanted to clarify was that when I'm asked about an abstention, a council member has a right to abstain.But from my perspective,when I'm trying to figure out what the nature of abstention is-- is it I simply don't want to vote on it.I don't feel prepared. I don't have the information? Or is it a conflict of interest?And so at the last meeting, I did want to sort out whether there was a conflict of interest. There wasn't in my understanding and speaking with you. So a council member regardless has the right to abstain,but it does matter on the conflict side of things. Because if someone has a conflict, it reduces the number of the council.You sit here as a five-member council. If someone has a conflict that prevents them from voting, you become a four-member council,because you have a recusal.If it's I don't feel prepared or I'm not willing to vote on it at this time the council remains as five which is why I talked about how it has the impact of being a no vote because we need so many affirmative votes. And if you don't get them either because of noes or abstentions,the vote can fail. So I did want to clarify,we cannot compel someone to vote;we cannot compel them to vote yes or no. They have the right to abstain. To me, it matters on why the abstention,which is why I started my analysis on that. Councilmember Benson,I don't know if there was anything else you wanted to address. Benson said she had her own thoughts on that, which she can do at the end of the meeting. Page 6 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. CITY ADMINISTRATORJENGINEER REPORT Edwards said he had just a couple updates. Since our last meeting,we've held two open houses, one on golf course improvements through the Parks Commission, and the other on the Fox street resurfacing project. Those were on the 10th and 11th,respectively.And then just as an announcement,there'll be a repeat,it's just the same open house again,for those who weren't able to make the first one. There'll be a golf course, improvements open house tomorrow here in the council chambers from 6 to 8 pm. Seals said it was her understanding the council will get an update on the golf course improvements after Parks looks at it. When will we get an update from the Fox Street Open House?How did the open house go? Edwards said the open house was fine. We had a handful of residents show up to express opinions about the project. Pretty much everybody was in support of what we were proposing to do so there was really nothing controversial. We didn't really learn any new. Sometimes on the road open houses we'll learn about a drainage issue that's particular to a certain part of the corridor or something like that. We didn't really get any of that kind of feedback. So right now,we're looking at just continuing to move the project forward. RECESS AND RECONVENE Mayor Walsh recessed the meeting at 6:28 p.m. The meeting was reconvened at 6:34 p.m. Council Member Crosby was no longer present at the meeting. PUBLIC COMMENTS James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, Orono. I want to add my voice to the requests for an open and public discussion of the costs and benefits of establishing a go-it-alone Orono fire department. I'm a retired firefighter like Councilman Crosby.But I'm agnostic regarding the name that goes on the truck. I don't care what it is.But what I do care about is the cost and quality of fire service. Based on costs already incurred to date,but absent any information from Orono, I've estimated that the incremental costs from both operating costs and capital outlays could reach or exceed$4 million.As citizens and taxpayers of Orono we have a right and you the obligation to present to us a good faith estimate of the costs and to justify how this major expenditure improves our current and future fire protection. I think we need a public examination of this endeavor as Long Lake did two months ago. It may well be that after full disclosure of the costs of a go-it-alone Orono fire department,the best solution would be to return to the bargaining table with Long Lake and come to a mutually beneficial agreement. That is my hope. Brad Erickson, 2485 Independence Road. It's very unfortunate that Mr. Crosby for the third time in a row found it necessary to run out of the meeting before I had a chance to speak to him. Walsh asked, and you live in Independence?Where do you live? Mr. Erickson said I live in Independence. My business is in Orono and has been. So don't act like this. You know where this is going.Let me share something with you, smart ass. This is the protest that your boy was attending down there at the governor's mansion. See this here?(holds up photo board)I don't Page 7 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. have a problem with mask mandates. What I have a problem with is when people like you and he start comparing them to the Holocaust. Okay,are we clear on this?Are we clear on this yet?This is one of the protests he was at. He wants to sit up here and throw me under the bus and call me a clown. Let's see here. Oh, shit. Little Red Riding Hood.Look there. There's your boy. That's him at the Capitol steps. Look how close his feet are to the steps, shit they are right there. Is that why they call him Capitol Steps Crosby?Where was he on January 6,I wonder, 2021? Walsh stated you can speak to the council. Speak to the council sir.Public comments are for the council. Mr.Erickson(turning to someone in the audience)asked are you Mr. Williams by the way?Is that you? You look like him. I understand you guys don't think it was a big deal,this January 6 bullshit.But it is a big deal. And he was there.And I know he was there. He knows he was there. When is he gonna start talking about it?Him and his tactical gear,bullshit weapons on his hip and shit. There he is some more. What's this Proud Boys shit? Some new Proud Boys shit now. Donate to their GoFundMe page.Mr. Crosby, look,he's standing right here taking pictures. Crowd funding for the Proud Boys.Right here in our city. What's this down here? Sorry, Connie, I had to link on Parler. Oh shit. Those sound like names that I'm familiar with. Aren't we all by now?He likes them on Parler. Look.He looks like a founding member. This is the new stuff--46 following the Minnesota Proud Boys. He's one of them. Crosby, Richard, Orono. Go figure,we are the Minnesota chapter of the greatest group in the US. Is that where we're at here at Orono?Are you part of this shit,Mr. Walsh?Because I think you are.I think you all know exactly what the hell's going on up here. There's so much I got some pictures on my phone that the FBI will be looking at. Okay. He was out there taking selfies on the steps of the Capitol in DC. Walsh said your three minutes are up.Your circus is over.You can sit down, sir. Mr. Erickson said this is the damn circus and you brought it here.Right here.I'll leave that for you. Follow your leader. Comparing our governor to Adolf Hitler,Fidel Castro, Mussolini,Pol Pot,Idi Ahmin, Hussein. What the hell's going on? Walsh said your circus is over. Sit down. He asked if there was anyone else for public comments.Hearing none,I'll bring it back to the council. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Benson said she wanted to address something that happened at the January 9 meeting,my first meeting as a city council member here in Orono. Our city attorney Mr. Mattick touched on it early in the meeting-- abstention.I just want to talk about that a little bit. Because it matters how I vote, it matters what the perception is about my votes.And it matters how the record reflects my votes as a council member.And that's true for everybody sitting up here. The issue at hand at that meeting was the $192,000 refurbishing of a used ladder truck that Orono had purchased in December of last year.And it was my intention to abstain from that vote authorizing that purchase,because it was not an insignificant amount of money. and I did not feel at the time that I had enough information,being that it was my first meeting,being that I had not been a part of those negotiations, and being that there were and are a lot of questions around the expenditures of this fire department from the public. I did not feel that I had enough time at that meeting Page 8 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. to give an informed vote either for or against.And that's why I had asked to abstain from that vote.And at the time,there was a lot of focus in that meeting.And I know because I've listened to the audio recording, there wasn't a video,but I've listened to and actually transcribed the audio recording from that meeting. And I, in seeing it now, can recognize that attorney Mattick did leave open an option for abstention.At the time I was in that meeting, listening to the discussion from our city attorney,I felt that there was a lot of focus on financial conflict,which there was none, or an option to, as I think attorney Mattick had said, well, if you just don't want to vote, and it was neither a financial conflict or a lack of desire to vote out of any lack of preparation, on my part.It was a third category,which was not feeling that it was a vote that I could do well, in an informed way,which is what I pledged to do for this city. So that's why I asked for the abstention. The discussion that followed did not leave me to feel that the abstention was a viable option,because I didn't have a financial conflict.And essentially, as it was explained again,that it would essentially count as a no. Well,I didn't want it to count as a no,I wanted it to count as an abstention, which is what it was,I've contacted or I did contact the League of Cities about this.And it's clear after talking to or hearing from our city attorney today that abstentions are viable options, and that they will be counted as such. So in the future,that's very helpful information to have.And I just wanted to clarify this because it's very important that I communicate clearly in meetings and communicate clearly with our staff and our city attorney. Because these issues are not insignificant,they are complex and fire, in particular, as we heard again tonight, is one that is has gained a lot of public interest and attention for good reason. And I don't take any vote as something that is simple, or without significance.I also want to say that I'm incredibly supportive of all of our emergency services,and that goes for fire and police.And that no vote on January 9 had nothing to do with a lack of support for our first responders.It had to do with my feeling at the time that I need to be informed about issues, especially ones that involve large financial outlays before I make them. So that's all I want to say about that.And if at any time anybody has any questions for me or concerns about that you're welcome to contact me. On a different note,I also attended the first open house for the proposal,the US sports grant proposal,to look at building some pickleball courts and hockey infrastructure at the Orono Golf Course. I attended the first one and I will also be attending the second one tomorrow night here at City Hall at six o'clock.And I found that it was a really good opportunity to meet community members,residents,members of the public and hear from them directly, which is really important. In city governance we have the ability as residents and community members to affect a lot of change in our communities.And I really appreciate people showing up for these events and talking to staff and elected and appointed officials,regardless of your views on the issue. I always appreciate feedback. Johnson said Long Lake has their city council meeting tomorrow. As of last night,their agenda was on there,but not their packet.But the fire services is on there and they're having a closed session to talk about it.I think once we hear back from Long Lake and their decision based on our proposal,which we have not received that feedback,then we'll have more to share.It's clear the residents want to hear more about that when we have more to share. That should be short coming here,hopefully. We've been saying that for a while, but that's what they've told us,Victoria and I,that after this meeting,they're going to hopefully send us a response to our proposal. Seals said not be redundant,but we are having another open house tomorrow, so if you can come, come. It'd be great to hear everyone's thoughts on the golf course. I think the one thing going into it,I do think it's important to look at, and Ron would be better at this, is that prior to COVID the golf course was in the Page 9 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. red, so we were keeping it alive through general funds.If you had to look at like,one of the benefits of going through a pandemic is the golf course had a new energy to it. I want to make sure we still have those conversations about how do we make our parks and places like the golf course more viable?It's not to say we do a pickleball court; it's to say, let's have a conversation about how do we get more people involved in using it?Because not too long ago,there was a golf course called Lakeview and it wasn't a city-owned golf course. But it was in the red and it got sold.And there's a bunch of really big houses over there. I don't think any of us want that. So I think the parks,not only staff,but the commission, is really trying to have good conversations about how do we make this a viable park?Because that's what it falls onto in the future.How do we get more people there?It doesn't mean that's where we land with pickleball.But how do we make it a place that we can never live without?Because looking back at that Lakeview conversation,hearing how many unhappy people were around, seeing it in the paper, I would have never thought it would have changed, but it did. So I think it's good that we have those conversations.And I think it's good that you hear the positive and the negative and the people that want it and the people that don't want it. There's people across all sides on this one. So glad to hear people are coming and sharing their thoughts.It's good to hear that also, even with Fox Street.I'm glad to hear that the plan makes sense. I've had a few of our neighboring cities reach out to us and trying to understand what we're doing with THC.Ironically,that was news to me that would be a hot topic.Most of them are in similar boats that we are to be quite honest,though, sitting with moratoriums,not sure what to do, waiting to see what legislature does. So I did share with Long Lake when I talked to them,I said you know what's ironic is I've had the most complaints about the Navarre smoke shop and the soon to come Long Lake smoke shop. So I think that's probably something coming our way,whatever we ended up deciding so it's a good conversation that I don't think we have the answers to. Walsh said he was also at the open house for the pickleball, hockey and golf It was fun to meet a whole bunch of the golfing league people. I think it was maybe 30 or 40 people that probably came, and a bunch of them were league members,and there was a bunch of other people. I think we probably had half and half people who like pickleball and who don't want pickleball. So it's about 50/50,but it was a small segment of the population,for sure. The diehards that were there, and they're people from the leagues,and we obviously have to balance what's best for the citizens of Orono,which is first and foremost who we represent.But it was good to be there.I'll be there tomorrow again, so it'll be good to see,I'm sure, some of the same people again, so maybe there's some of you out there that will be there as well. I've got my Orono Spartan shirt on tonight, ODT,my daughter's on the Orono dance team. They had a great competition this last weekend at Totino Grace with 12 other schools.And we have one this weekend and one the next weekend. So it's constant,but I just have to do a big shout out to them because I think the JV jazz took second place,JV blue jazz took first place,varsity jazz took first place,JV kick took first place and varsity kick took second, so they almost did a full sweep of everything. The girls were beyond excited. It was fun to watch all the hard work coming together over the season now we're a good month into it as they've gotten better and better and sectionals are coming up soon. So hopefully they'll continue putting that together and we'll see more Orono teams moving forward going to state and that kind of stuff And I just came also from an Orono hockey or the Orono Ice Arena,I'm on the board for the Orono Ice Arena and we're having a whole bunch of extra tournament games over there because it looks like the varsity girls and the varsity boys are most likely going to be ranked first, so they'll be hosting tournament games. There will be all these extra games and revenue coming into the ice arena,which is all positive. So lots of good things going on in Orono these days. Something our city attorney brought up to me because Page 10 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. he does represent a number of other cities,that in the legislature right now,I don't know if everybody knows, but there's legislators in session up at the state capitol. They're having about 30 to 40 meetings every single day and all the different departments or all the committees and one of the housing bills that I think everybody needs to pay attention to that is coming up that he alerted me to is they're looking at and right now in part of these some of these committees,they're passing these rules that they want to pass to make statewide,they're doing it without any amendments or any discussion. They're just saying,we control it. We're voting on it,we're moving it on. So they're doing a lot of stuff very fast. They're doing one in the housing bill that would eliminate single family zoning in the entire state of Minnesota, it would make every house automatically considered to be a two-family residence. That means in every neighborhood,you could have duplexes, essentially in your house,and there's nothing the City of Orono could do about it, it would take the zoning out of our control. So I'm telling you to maybe wake up on this item, call Andrew Meyers,who was our house representative on the Republican side and call our state senator Kelly Morrison and say you oppose this bill,that you want to make sure the zoning stays in the control of the local jurisdictions.If you want to see how it's turning out, go to Minneapolis. They've already eliminated single family zoning in Minneapolis. You can do quads in every neighborhood.But even if you just give away single family and you make everything essentially duplexes,you could have a whole lot more people living in your neighborhood and it will change the character of everything that you know of today.And if there's extra money in it. As my realtor professional over here will tell you, if there's extra money for developers as they're buying up houses and converting them to two families instead of one family it will be done. This big money will come in and they'll just start buying up swaths of houses and start renting out. So Kelly Morrison on the Senate side and Andrew Myers on the House side, call and make some noise and tell them you do not want this to pass. We only get one chance at this because once it gets passed you'll never put that rabbit back in the hat. Johnson said Andrew Myers is not in support of it. He was unsure about Kelly Morrison's position. Walsh said he doesn't know her stance in general but I know the Democrats are all passing this stuff out of committees without any discussion and any amendments--they're just passing it.And it's like a 45- page bill if I remember.And it's like that little paragraph in the middle of this housing thing that they're passing. So it's a small piece. But thank God,we got people who are looking for those things.And I think Soren had pointed out the cities that he represents too, like St. Louis Park and other cities, aren't happy with that either because it takes all the zoning out of our control, and we can't do anything about it,which is not good. In my last Orono article, Orono Times or whatever we call it that we send out to everybody I talked about a number of different things. But I think one of the last things I talked about was social media, and that if you want to find out what's the truth about matters, it's probably best to call the City directly or call one of us and we can tell you or point you in the right direction.But another one was a very confusing post about the terms of the council and the mayor in particular, making it seem like we did something in the middle of the night that changed the term from two years to four years. Well,I posted on Next Door the facts about that. Back in 2018,after the election, in December, staff did come to us and say that they thought it'd be more consistent to change the mayor's term from two years to four years because the council is all four years,just put more consistency.And so we took their recommendation.And we did change that from a two-year to four-year term in December of 2018. But it wouldn't take effect until the next election in 2020. So that gave everybody two year's notice--nothing in the dark,the papers printed it, everything that was going on. But there was a very confusing post thinking that we're doing Page 11 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 23,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. something in the dark that nobody knew about but everybody knew about and I just want to make sure everybody was clear again,that social media is not the place to go get your facts.All you gotta do is call somebody. Call somebody at the City that's got all the facts and will point you in the right direction. 14. Closed Session: Attorney- Client Privileged Discussion Walsh moved,Seals seconded,to enter into closed session at 6:58 p.m.,as permitted by Section 13D.03 to discuss strategy and settlement negotiation status in the following matters: •Kendall Nygard v. Orono,Case No. 022-CV-03191-NEB-DTS• Schmidt v. Orono,Case No.27-CV-21-7769 • T.J.Bonnett v. Orono,Case No. 27-CV-22-12243 and we're going to add the LMCD Dan Gustafson item that is on the LMCD agenda for Wednesday. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. (The City Council was in closed session from 6:58 p.m.to 8:26 p.m.) Walsh moved,Johnson seconded,to reopen the Orono City Council meeting at 8:26 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. Mattick noted that the council will now stand in open session and since it is still a regular council meeting the council can vote on items at this time. Walsh moved, Seals seconded,to direct Orono's LMCD Representative Richie Anderson to vote no on the Dan Gustafson Dock item on behalf of the Orono City Council if the item comes back for approval at the LMCD meeting. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. Walsh moved,Johnson seconded,to direct the city attorney to initiate litigation I injunction against LMCD if the LMCD board passes the Gustafson item with the nine docks.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. • ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved, Seals seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 8:38 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. ATTEST: nna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh, Mayor Page 12 of 12