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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-24-2023 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 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,and Richard Crosby III. Victoria Seals was absent.Representing Staff were Leah Koch sitting in for City Attorney Soren Mattick, City Administrator/Engineer Adam Edwards,Public Works Superintendent David Goman,Finance Director Ron Olson and City Accountant Carrie Krienke. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved by consensus. CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 10,2023 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF APRIL 10,2023 3. CLAIMS/BILLS This item was removed from the Consent Agenda 4. APPROVAL OF NEXT DRAFT WORK SESSION AGENDA This item was removed frorn the Consent Agenda 5. EQUIPMENT LOAN AGREEMENT FOR COMMAND VEHICLE TO LONG LAKE FOR USE BY LONG LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT This item was removed from the Consent Agenda 6. APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION OF APPRECIATION FOR PLANNING COMMISSION CHAIR MARK MCCUTCHEON—RESOLUTION NO. 7539 7. APPROVAL OF CONTRACTOR FOR DEMOLITION OF 140 HACKBERRY HILL S. APPOINTMENT OF 2023 SEASONAL EMPLOYEES V3 9. EMERGENCY WATERMAIN BYPASS AT THE COFFEE BRIDGE Crosby moved,Johnson seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda with items 3, 4 and 5 removed. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. 3. CLAIMS/BILLS Johnson said he wanted to ask about the billed overages on the budget for Long Lake Fire and what is included in this amount. Page 1 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Finance Director Olson explained that according to the contract, if there is an overage,the City would pay its percentage of the operating budget. The invoice just says$46,010.50 as Orono's share of the overage. Olson said he contacted Long Lake for some detail. The amount includes $15,000 for the payout of the fire chiefs unpaid sick and vacation when he left; an overage of fire call pay of$21,000;winterizing the Zodiac boat; $17,000 for training for eight new fire fighters; and$5,600 for travel/mileage reimbursement where he said they normally budget zero. Olson said the fire call overage is nearly 50 percent which doesn't necessarily make sense.He said he would like more information on that and the training and travel. Johnson asked if under the existing contract the City is obligated to pay any overage they charge,whether Long Lake accrues for pay-outs for time off and whether there have been overages in previous years. Olson said that is how the contract reads.Last year the overage was$15,000. He added that Orono accrues for payout of benefits but evidently Long Lake does not. Leah Koch,attending for City Attorney Mattick,said she personally has not reviewed the contract but will make a note to clarify the City's obligations under the contract. Johnson said if everyone's in agreement,he would like to get more details on precisely what the City of Orono is being asked to pay and whether it is operational or capital improvements. Johnson moved,Crosby seconded,to approve the claims and bills minus the Fire Protection Services 2022 Fire Overages in the amount of$46,010.50.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. 4. APPROVAL OF NEXT DRAFT WORK SESSION AGENDA Walsh said he pulled this off the consent agenda because there were a couple of things planned for the May 22 work session that he did not think belonged there.He said he would move to postpone the Community Survey Discussion to December 11 and delete the meeting decorum discussion because political grievances do not have a place at Council meetings and work sessions. Johnson asked how items are getting on the work session agenda. City Administrator Edwards reminded the Council that having a draft work session agenda approved at the previous Council meeting is a fairly new process. Some items are routine and come up year after year. Other items are requested by Council members. Walsh and Johnson said they did not think the draft work session agendas should be on consent portion of the agenda because it is necessary for the Council to review the items and vote on them. Benson asked to clarify if the procedure will be to throw out suggestions for the next work session topics at a work session and then vote on them at a Council meeting. She said she was fine with throwing out ideas in the work session and taking the work session draft agenda off consent,because then we can be in agreement about what's coming. She noted that her only question is with regard to work session agenda items.It may be at times that one Council member has ideas or two that are valid ideas,and this is a place to discuss them.Meeting decorum is something that she feels strongly about given what's happening right now in our community. That is something that she thought was worthy of Council time,at least in a work Page 2 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. session. She asked if moving the topic of a community survey to December would make it too late to budget for it in 2024. Walsh moved,Johnson seconded,to approve May 22 City Council Work Session agenda with a community survey discussion postposed to December 11 and the meeting decorum discussion removed.VOTE: Ayes 3,Nays 1 (Benson). 5. EQUIPMENT LOAN AGREEMENT FOR COMMAND VEHICLE TO LONG LAKE FOR USE BY LONG LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT Johnson said he asked to have discussion on this item because he wanted to be clear about the request.He said to recap history,two Fire Department command vehicles were purchased. The City of Orono paid for 85 percent of one Tahoe vehicle that is being used by the Long Lake Fire Department and 100 percent of the second vehicle.At the time Long Lake Fire said they did not need the second vehicle and so it was assigned to Orono Fire Chief James Van Eyll as part of his contract.According to Johnson, Orono also provided Long Lake Fire with a Ford Explorer that was going out of service as a police vehicle on a short- term loan,but that is proving to be a longer loan. The former police vehicle has been painted and wrapped for Long Lake Fire. It was in a minor accident but has been repaired. The current request from Long Lake Fire is for use of the second Tahoe currently being used by Van Eyll. Edwards concurred with that summary. Benson asked if the City is obligated to provide the Orono Fire Chief with a vehicle and whether the vehicles Long Lake Fire currently have are meeting their needs. Edwards said the City does have to provide a take-home vehicle to the fire chief under his contract and he and Crosby said that the former police vehicle had been outfitted for Fire Department use. Johnson said he believes Orono has done its part by providing the extra vehicle already. Council members discussed the need to have a formal agreement with the City of Long Lake for the continued loan for the former police vehicle and also expressed a willingness to sell it to the City of Long Lake if they would like to buy it. Johnson moved, Crosby seconded,to deny the request from the City of Long Lake for an agreement to use Orono's fire command vehicle.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT 10. FIRST QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT City Accountant Carrie Krienke gave the first quarterly financial report with a slide presentation covering revenues,expenditures,permits and investments. She said at the end of the first quarter revenues stand at 13.3 percent of budget which is slightly below last year but on track where the City needs to be. Several sources of revenue such as property taxes and other government grants and funding sources are not received until June. Page 3 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. The general fund expenditures at the end of the first quarter are at 22.4 percent which is on target for the year. There are a few departments that are tracking over budget. The first one is the Mayor/Council due to the fact that member services in organizations like the League of Minnesota Cities are already paid for the year. There has also been a higher-than-normal utilization of trainings available to the Council.The next is legal services resulting from a number of lawsuits which have a cost of$80,000 to date. Staff is considering recording these expenses to the insurance fund as a way to keep the department at a budgeted level for the year. The next is fire protection which has already been discussed. Engineering is at 50 percent right now. This is for the overage for GIS as the City continues to improve the cartograph database. The department is a very small piece of the general fund budget, she said,and staff will monitor this department budget through the rest of the year.Building permit revenue increased in January and February and decreased slightly in March with an overall first quarter increase in building permit revenue of 3.6 percent from last year. The City's investments have earned interest of$71,924 the first quarter of 2023 compared to$20,300 for the same period last year. Olson reported the auditors will start their audit next Monday at City Hall. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT 11. POSITION DESCRIPTION AND RECRUITING APPROVAL/UTILITY MAINTENANCE Edwards said Public Works is looking at some organizational changes bringing forward the creation of a utility worker position.This does not change the overall number of employees in Public Works,but would reclassify two of the positions from general maintenance workers to utility workers.He said reasons include recognizing the additional licensing and expertise required by utility workers with the ever-increasing technology base within City utilities. It would bring some of the things that the City currently has to outsource to contractors in-house after sending a couple of the workers to required trainings. It would also create some growth opportunities with the department. Currently if you come in as a maintenance worker,the only opportunity you might have for some kind of increases is if one of the two supervisors was to retire,you might be able to apply for those jobs.Edwards said if the most senior employees were selected for these positions the budget impact is estimated at a$5,700 difference for each position which is easily within the budget. It is also important to recognize that those two positions would be budgeted out of utilities,which are enterprise funds. So it's just one more piece that we're trying to get focused,to get a more skill set within the utilities. That doesn't mean that the individuals will not be helping on the streets or parks.But their primary focus will be on the utilities. We have 52 sewage lift stations that we maintain,a number of fire hydrants,three water treatment facilities,and it's becoming more focused in those areas on preventive maintenance. Walsh pointed out that some years ago none of those 46 lift stations had backup generators and now most do. And by doing that,you've got more preventative maintenance.We outsource that,and now we're bringing it in-house. So I think it's a smart thing to do. Johnson said he likes hearing that we are finding ways to train our own people and outsourcing less.And that's part of what this will allow the City to do. Page 4 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Johnson moved,Crosby seconded,to approve the Position Description and Recruiting for a Utility Maintenance Position.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Attorney Koch had nothing to report. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT Edwards said the City had spring cleanup at City Hall over the weekend with more than 400 residents participating. There were a number of construction debris items this year which is positive thing is it gets it out of our ditches and our drainage leads. The City is now in the process of having that material removed and getting things cleaned up for the summer.He said last week the police department was partially involved in a car chase that ended up with a vehicle accident that took out a major power line in the area. Eighteen of those 46 lift stations were without power for about three hours. Of those 18,nine of them had backup generators.For those other nine,the Public Works' staff had to tow portable generators around,pump the lift station down and move on to the next one. They were out for about three to four hours. Johnson said he was at the brush site this weekend on Saturday and it was very busy. He said staff was doing a good job of educating residents on some of the changes and gaining their cooperation, although a few people managed to drop off wood that was too large to be chopped up. Edwards said the City did a lot of public education in the newsletter and out on the City website, along with some emails and new signage, but will have to continue education. Organizational changes this year included two separate locations for accepting brush and other organics like wood chips.Leaf and grass drop offs are now condensed and moved to the facility on McCulley Road in an effort to streamline wait times for the public. 12. PUBLIC WORKS FACILITY (21-039) — IT, AV AND SECURITY SYSTEMS INSTALLATION APPROVAL Edwards said this item is a is a continuation of the new Public Works facility project to approve all of the audio video IT-type items for the facility.Last fall we went out for bids for construction of the shell and the site work. Audio video was one of those things that that was recommended that we do as a separate item. This will include security cameras,access control,voice and data throughout the building. The $139,000 cost was built into the overall budget of the project but was not included in the bids last fall. Benson asked about the total cost of the construction project, additional expenditures expected this year and whether the cost of the project is budgeted in facilities. Edwards said there are other items that have not been brought forward yet such as furnishings, internal equipment and bringing the building into service.Everything for the building comes through the facilities fund, a fund with different revenue sources such as the facilities levy and the bonded money which is Page 5 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. currently invested for the building project. This money will be drawn down as needed to pay for the construction project and outfitting of the building,all of which is in the total budget,he said. Walsh moved,Benson seconded,to approve the proposal for IT,AV and Security Systems installation at the new Public Works facility. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS Kathy Sweetman 475 Deborah Drive,said tonight, she rose here to speak because of her concern regarding the dysfunctional pattern of communication regularly on display during the Orono City Council meetings.Also, she would be remiss not to comment that this evening,things have gone very well. She has observed;however,that verbal abuse pervades these meetings,and frequently. For example,instead of addressing a person's argument or position,the person's personal characteristics are viciously attacked. Name calling, cursing,accusatory speech,yelling and gaslighting are frequent in these meetings. The result is pervasive fear and intimidation.The Orono City Council code states that one of the chief roles of the Orono Mayor is to exert leadership in City affairs. She'd add that effective leaders also pause and listen carefully to others.Effective leaders respectfully consider input from diverse perspectives and move to maintain respectful civil communication while addressing civic matters.These essential leadership qualities are not displayed by Orono City Council leadership. Rather,it has embraced verbal abuse as though it's normal.And she would like to clearly say it is not normal,and it is not good for our City,nor is it good for our community. She does not claim to have a solution. But if the great Greek philosopher Plato is correct,that silence gives consent,tonight she must openly object. She does not consent,just silently witnessing abusive discourse.And she will stand in support of those who are seeking to restore civility and respect to our City meetings and to our community. She plead with the citizens of Orono to join together and speak out clearly to restore civility in our public discourse. Nancy Brantingham,3185 County Road 6, said she would like to speak on behalf of myself and said that she entirely supports Dr. Sweetman's comments.Also,because she believes that the citizens of this City have a right to be heard and Ms.Kim Carswell was not able to be here this evening. She asked me to read her statement and she is going to do so in support of my fellow citizen.From Kim Carswell at 261 Cygnet Place. This statement is in support of Kathy Sweetman's statement on civility. The way this Council shows up and interacts with the public suggests a lack of interest and respect for citizens. This lack of respect and interest is also observed within the Council when certain members speak. The disinterested stone faces that we see in the audience suggest a dysfunctional team leading the City. Today she asks the Council to build a code of ethics and she will be proposing one in future meetings.The Council expects civility from the citizens and the citizens deserve civility from the Council. Todd Newcomer, 1070 Old Long Lake Road, said he came here tonight to ask for an open forum communication about the Fire Department.He has been informed that on May 22 a presentation is going to be made, a couple of weeks are going to go by, and then a final presentation will be made on June 22 in this forum where people are only allowed to comment for three minutes. What he is asking for is a chance for the men,women,and the children that are protected by Long Lake Fire Department to have the opportunity to ask questions, hear answers, and have a dialogue back and forth about this,not just making the statement and letting it go forward. But a lot of the questions they're going to have on the what,the Page 6 of 10 MEMEL MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. when,the how,how much and more importantly,the why--a lot of these questions have come my way recently,because he is a retired firefighter. Some of those,just to name a few, are the why. What's wrong currently with a Long Lake Fire Department?Eighty percent of the costs are covered by Orono,but 80 percent of the calls are served by Orono.What's wrong with that?Does Orono have an oversight of the budget?And if so,have they ever looked into the budget?Has anyone ever been asked to increase the CIP?And if so,what was their response to that?And do they do it regularly?Why are the citizens paying for two Fire Chiefs?Right now you're paying 80%of Long Lake's Fire Chief, and a Fire Chief that currently is being paid with no Fire Department.And on that note,he's doing a needs assessment with no Fire Department. So there's a need for a Fire Department.That's an easy assessment. You guys have made an offer to Long Lake to purchase their station,the rolling stock and equipment.But that's already been paid for by the public. So why should the public do that twice?Let me just move to a quote that I thought was really interesting. "I feel very strong about the need for more transparency of how,when and to what our taxpayer dollars are being spent.As a business owner and operator, I've always found it very important to have and ask a lot of the right question,so when you make a decision, it is a well-educated decision,resulting in a better success rate or a solution the first time. These types of dialogue sessions need to be well-documented at the City Council level so all have a better understanding of the specific votes that are being cast.When there are major projects to be done,we need more public open houses and more public input. When citizens come to the Council Members with questions.I feel they deserve a better answer than what is currently at the City Council. That way we all have a better understanding of where our tax dollars are being spent."He really liked that quote and thinks it an awesome quote.And that was from you,Mr.Mayor. Chelsea Wetrick said she's not disappointed that he had a nice quote to read.It was from your slave owner this time. Yeah,roll your eyes. She finds it funny that he says that people shouldn't swear or attack personally when you two are the ones that call people out from your podium.And then you call people out and then run away for months at a time.It's very interesting.As you can see,everybody wants you to figure this out. So,what is your game plan?Are you just going to sit and wait for it to end,because it's not going to end?You're going to need to do something to fix it. Pay attention here.You're going to have to fix it,your poison you spread. You find this funny to all these other people who listen to you and your poison and you with your January 6 stuff.And you know,it's just, it's bull.And you want to talk about not swearing?Give me a break. We need new people in the Council. Everybody wants you to answer this, to figure it out.Again, it's not gonna go away. Figure it out,man up. Brad Erickson, 2485 Independence Road,said he has got a proposal this evening.We'll get to that in a minute.He did a Freedom of Information Act request and has no less than five emails here that came in in December,2020 regarding his links to the Proud Boys. Okay, so Victoria knew about it. You knew about it, of course you knew about it. You were there.And some other folks.And nothing was done. So, a lot of people up there knew and are sheltering this guy. So,my question is,who knew about the J6 stuff?And why isn't anyone coming forward and talking about that?His proposal this evening has to do with Mr. Walsh. This is his proposal--700 mayors across the country have spoken out against growing anti- semitism.He'll read some of the ones from Minnesota and he would challenge you guys to sign up on this.As a City,as a mayor, as an elected official,do the right thing for once.Blaine,Brooklyn Center, Burnsville,Edina,Golden Valley, Jordan,Mendota Heights,Minneapolis,Minnetonka,Plymouth, Richfield,Rochester, St.Louis Park--your alma mater, and St.Paul. We need to add Orono to this list. Page 7 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. He wants to remind you of what brought us to this point.You,Mr.Walsh. So,you can call me whatever names you want. But you guys brought me here. This is from you.Erickson said recently the Michigan GOP had a photo of all the rings that were collected from the Jewish people after they were murdered. You know what the difference was with the Michigan GOP or the Michigan State House?They voted the very next day to condemn that kind of rhetoric.You guys still have yet to do that. It's been a year. And then this was from the Minnesota GOP. You want to hear what David Hahn had to say about you Mr. Walsh? Walsh said his three minutes were up and asked if there was anyone else who wanted to speak. Richie Anderson,3205 Crystal Bay Road, said he wanted to give a quick update on the LMCC and commended the young woman giving her first financial report at the meeting. He noted she was being mentored by the City's Finance Director.And the Public Works incentive thing, is a fantastic idea, because we have great Public Works folks.And if the only way they can get a raise is to do what Adam was talking about, I think that's fantastic.He said the LMCC is searching for a new executive director and in the meantime,they have a wonderful interim person.We're suggesting an$85,000 to $120,000 salary out of a$500,000 budget.We're working on a budget.He has a finance committee group that he is the chair of, and also the treasurer.He said the LMCC has accumulated a large surplus from the amounts that member cities pay in,so the proposed budget for 2023 would charge cities less.We got it passed in an operations committee meeting, and that'll hopefully be the budget that goes forward. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Benson said her intention in bringing the topic of a community survey up in a work session was to bring the City of Orono up-to-speed with some of our surrounding communities and neighbors. Our last comprehensive third-party survey was done about 15 years ago as part of our comp plan. We have not done a comprehensive third-party statistically-significant survey since then. She knows there was a Survey Monkey or something internal done awhile back,but that's not the same as a statistically-accurate survey that's comprehensive. She is sensitive as a new Council member and wonders how else she is to know how well she is doing her job or how we as a Council are representing citizens if we do not take the time to ask them in a way that's comprehensive and organized.In reviewing the city-wide surveys from Medina,Wayzata and Minnetrista,they've all conducted surveys fairly recently,in the last maybe four or five years and we haven't done that in about 15.As somebody who appreciates data and being able to make informed decisions based on what she sees represented in our community,that would be something she'd find very helpful. So,her intention in bringing it forward at an earlier time in the year was to allow for the possibility of budgeting for 2024. She noted that beginning in February,March, is when other communities are doing those surveys. She added sometimes it's easy to imagine somehow that we have our fingers on the pulse of our community,through emails or conversations here and there. It's quite different to hear from 400 or 500 residents at a time and have that data crunch of those numbers run. She for one,would like to bring that to our community to offer that as part of the services we provide to the people who elected us. Benson said in other news,she attended the Long Lake Fire Department pancake breakfast yesterday,and it was very heartening to see how much care and effort goes into this event. It's been a while since she Page 8 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. attended the event. She noted they did a great job as usual. She also added that she had a chance to meet their new Chief, which was really exciting. She did talk to residents,both from Orono and Long Lake, and was struck by the common theme on the subject of fire service that comes up. She feels that Orono residents and the wider community do not have as good a grasp on this issue as they would like.Fire service is one of the most vital services that we provide to our residents. It's also one that we as a Council have the opportunity to elevate to center stage in terms of community awareness and engagement. She sees a significant benefit to the City of Orono hosting an Open House forum with the community before any decisions are made regarding the future of our fire service. She noted from her perspective,this is important for three reasons.First,it's an opportunity to build trust,this Council is aware that members of the public would like accurate, comprehensive information on this issue. Second, as elected members of Council,we have a duty to inform our residents about City issues, especially those that can significantly change their quality of life and their tax burden. The issue of fire service encompasses our community's history and tradition. Many Council Members have served before those of us who sit here now and many will in the future. It's essential that we demonstrate for the record and for future generations that we took the time in this moment to listen to and inform our citizens to the best of our ability. She supports the idea of a public forum. She would appreciate that prior to any deliberations or votes on this Council. Johnson said he wanted to give special thanks that the dock on Big Island got put out,noting that Richie Anderson of North Shore Marina stores our dock. They're a floating dock so they have to stay in the water. We had damage to them last year.Tonka Built installed the docks and then added rollers on there to prevent future damage so we can have this dock for a long time but thanks to North Shore for allowing us to keep them there and to Jake with Tonka Built for getting it installed. Crosby noted there was a woman in the audience this evening who had comments about decorum and Council.He stated,he agrees with her wholeheartedly.If things are looked at honestly,he thinks the Council has held itself in check remarkably well, due to the onslaught of slander,viciousness,lies, threats,physical harm, and so forth. We conduct ourselves in this manner for our community because we represent the community of Orono.He added,when we're slandered on a regular basis, and lied about in social media, it gets a little old, folks and it's damaging. He noted the irony of it is they don't even live in the community.He noted that he agrees with the remarks made those things should be conducted in a kind manner. He also added that the questions were already answered previously,months ago. So those things have already been addressed. The object is to get City's business done in a respectful manner,to handle each other in a respectful manner. That's for the benefit of every citizen and everybody in our community.He said along with Councilmember Benson,he would like to commend Long Lake Fire Department for another great breakfast. He wasn't able to make it,unfortunately,but those events are always fantastic to go to and they appreciate your support. Walsh said he was also at the pancake breakfast. It was a great event.He got to meet the new Chief and talk to a whole bunch of the firefighters and just great people.He said he also attended the Northwest Hennepin League of Municipalities and met with the new Sheriff of Hennepin County,Dawanna Witt. He met her last year when he was helping her get elected.And she's a great lady. She has run into the same problems that he thinks all the law enforcement agencies have run across. They're down 30 percent and they've had to turn down two cities that needed help with their policing because they just do not have enough staff.He added Orono is fully staffed to 30 officers. So we have walked the walk and talked the Page 9 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING April 24,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. talk and done what you're supposed to do to protect your community.He had another Coffee with the Mayor on the second Wednesday of the month. It's always interesting.If you'd like to come in May that's going to be May 10 at 9 a.m. with coffee and donuts. Walsh said the Orono Foundation just had their yearly bash last weekend. They raise money for the schools for all the stuff that the schools don't have money for. He said COVID had hurt the event the last few years but it's starting to come back and they raised a lot of money.Walsh named several members of the high school speech team who had qualified for State and National competition and congratulated them. The boys basketball team took third in the State,so hats off to them as well to get that far. Walsh said his own daughter,who is a level nine gymnast,was the State champion and her age level. She also went to regionals a week and a half ago and won the regional championship of the seven-State area. In a few weeks she will go to nationals. So it's an exciting time with a lot of stuff going on. You got to see a couple things we got to talk about tonight with the lift stations and all the things that we've done,the Public Works facility that's going up, all the things that we're doing to make sure Orono was taken care of going into the next century on the budget.Don't believe anything you hear on social media. It's all in our budget.It's been done well. Walsh gave a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, "It behooves every man to remember that the work of the critic is of all together secondary importance, and that in the end,progress is accomplished by the man who does things." ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved, Crosby seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 7:32 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. ATTEST: Anna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 10 of 10