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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-22-2023 City Council Minutes (2) MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 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, and Victoria Seals. Representing Staff were City Attorney Soren Mattick, City Administrator/Engineer Adam Edwards,Public Works Superintendent David Goman, and Finance Director Ron Olson. Mayor Walsh called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. SWEARING IN CEREMONY OF JUNIOR CADETS Police Chief Coney Farniok presented Jacob and Anna Stankevitz as new Junior Cadets under the Growth Through Opportunity(GTO)Program. The Junior Cadet program is designed for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to gain skills and experience by volunteering with their local Police Department, City staff and Parks Department. Mayor Walsh conducted the swearing in ceremony. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Agenda was approved by consensus as presented. CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MAY 8,2023 This item was removed from the Consent Agenda 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF MAY 8,2023 3. CLAIMS/BILLS 4. APPROVAL OF TRANSIENT MERCHANT LICENSE—RENAISSANCE FIREWORKS 5. NAVARRE PARKING LOT AND GOLF COURSE PARKING LOT AWARD— (PROJECT#21-040) & (PROJECT#23-031) 6. APPROVAL OF WAGE ADJUSTMENT FOR LELS LOCAL#40 7. APPROVE HENNEPIN COUNTY ASSESSING SERVICES Crosby moved, Seals seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda with Item 1 removed.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF MAY 8,2023 Benson asked that the May 8, 2023 meeting minutes be corrected to change the word receiving to reading in her Council Report referring to notes of the Future Fires Services meetings. Benson moved,Crosby seconded,to approve the City Council Meeting Minutes of May 8,2023 with one correction.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. Page 1 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT 8. MEETING MANAGEMENT—AGENDA & VIDEO RECORDING AND ENCODING EQUIPMENT Finance Director Olson gave a presentation on agenda management and video recording and encoding for City meetings. He said there are two parts that were included in the 2023 budget. The first would allow the Clerk to create the agenda more efficiently and have all staff use the same agenda item template through an agenda management tool rather than a Word document. Council members would need to log into a cloud site to view the agenda.Any changes would be made to it in real time across the board. The second part of the proposal would update video recording of City meetings. Security and Sound and Granicus have been the City's providers for this. Granicus was the low quote on the videoing and posting. The proposal would add cameras and replace the encoder that has been failing.In addition, it would allow Granicus to video meetings remotely and handle the encoding and posting to the City website rather than taking staff IT time for that.For an additional cost the videos could also include edited closed captioning. Streaming and other social media linking could also be options in the future. Olson said the more robust option is the most expensive,but staff believes it is worth the investment. The proposal calls for one-time costs of about$93,000 including $28,836 for AV upgrades with Security and Sound and the remainder for services and equipment from Granicus. There would be annual costs of about$30,000 for agenda management, remote broadcasting, and closed captioning with post-meeting correcting. Walsh said he would support going to the most current technical solutions and moving forward, including closed captioning. Benson said she thought the closed captioning is important for many people so she appreciates that aspect of the proposal. Johnson moved,Benson seconded,to approve the meeting management and video recording and encoding solution as outlined in Table 3.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0 CITY ATTORNEY REPORT City Attorney Mattick had nothing to report but noted there would be a closed session at the end of the meeting. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT 9. NEXT WORK SESSION DRAFT AGENDA City Administrator Edwards proposed two items for the agenda that he said have been planned for some time. One would be a discussion of the latest legislation around THC and marijuana legalization and what implications that might have for municipalities and the second, a first look at the 2024 budgeting process. Johnson moved, Crosby seconded,to approve the next Work Session draft agenda as submitted. VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0 Page 2 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Walsh opened public comments asking attendees to hold comments on the Fire Department to the public comments following that agenda item. Richie Anderson, 3205 Crystal Bay Road, asked the Council to consider establishing a Citizen of the Month and he nominated Cass Holloway as the first recipient. He said he was nominating him for standing up to an individual who he characterized as the schoolyard bully at the May Coffee with the Mayor, adding that Holloway left without creating an altercation. Chelsea Wetrick,Independence, questioned why when other cities are combining Fire Departments the City of Orono is trying to go it alone. She said it was due to the Mayor's ego. She also pointed out that the Mayor now has a four-year term, stating that if he didn't,he would no longer be in office as liars and cheaters get called out quickly. She suggested he use the resignation letter Jay Nygard had prepared for him. James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, asked Orono and Long Lake to get back to the negotiating table and settle the dispute before irreversible and costly things happen.He said the fire fighters are stressed and in- fighting in the Department is happening.He said the citizens should be concerned about their fire service and taxpayers should be concerned about the cost. From his rough evaluation of the needs assessment that the Chief has done,Mr. Elder said operating costs for the Fire Department,which are around$550,000 now,would increase to$1.6 million thereafter because of these expenses. Due to the divisive nature of the situation, he wondered if other cities would be willing to partner with Orono in the future. Mike Hart,2510 Casco Point Road, said as a 21-year resident of Orono he wanted to talk about the Public Works facility and the Fire Department the City is proposing to change.He said when major changes are proposed the City should go out of its way to provide information and obtain input from the public.His observation the past few months is that the Mayor and the Council are making these decisions with very little input from the citizens.At breakfast with the Mayor in March,he was promised that by the May meeting,residents would have all the costs and needs and final projected costs for the changes being proposed for the Fire Department. While the report was fairly thorough on the fire apparatus, he said,no detailed costs were included in that report, including one of the largest,the remodeling of the current Public Works facility to serve as the new fire station. The council has already made the decision to break away from Long Lake with no accurate cost being shared with the residents. He said there will now be duplicate costs for the next two and a half years with two Fire Chiefs being paid for by the Orono residents, among other very large expenditures.He asked about the lives of the firefighters on the Long Lake Fire Department, saying they are having to make difficult personal decisions on what Department they will ultimately represent based on the decision of a few people up here,not the residents of the City. He ended with a quote from the Mayor from eight years ago criticizing the decision-making process of the City at the time and its failure to obtain public input. Brad Erickson,Independence, said the Mayor sent him a Holocaust video invoking the extermination of six million Jews a couple of years ago and yet he,Erickson, is the schoolyard bully. He called the Mayor a fear monger and accused Crosby of engaging with hate groups. He said information has still not been provided about representatives of the City on January 6, 2021. He said the Mayor runs the City with the politics of fear and he would not survive another election, so the fire issues should be saved for the next Mayor.He said both the video and Crosby's actions on January 6 are a big deal and he would do Page 3 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. everything in his power to make sure they no longer sit in those seats. He said both have a lot to hide and don't have as much support as they think they do. Jason Hedeen, 2508 Arcola Lane, said he had been watching from a distance and can't believe how silly some of these people are. He said he has engaged some of these people online and there is nothing behind • what they are saying. If he asks for details there is nothing,he said,and he is sick of it. Jay Nygard, 1386 Rest Point Road, said he was disappointed in Richie Anderson who had been a good steward of the community for so many years and then tonight came out with a purely political statement which is entirely inaccurate.He said he was at the May Coffee with the Mayor and it was Cass Holloway who was the bully and that it was on video. He said he and Holloway have discussed it since and he understands his frustration but can't condone the approach he took that day.Nygard said once again he was here to talk about the Mayor and his comments because once again the Mayor's own past comments have been used against him.He quoted the Mayor from 2012 when he was running for office saying that he applauded the Long Lake Fire Department and stated fire safety was going very well and the partnership should be continued. A resident of Lake City Minnesota said he was visiting friends and family in the area and he would like to know the status of residents' calls for resignations from the Council as he had never heard so much applause for resignations. FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT 10. DRAFT FIRE DEPARTMENT NEEDS ASSESSMENT PRESENTATION Fire Chief Van Eyll presented the Orono Fire Draft Needs Assessment,reviewing fire and EMS needs for the City of Orono and how to best provide those services. He said the assessment identified needs for improvement which does not mean the firefighters have not been doing a good job. He said he understands how stressful this is for the fire fighters and their families. He added he felt Orono is the only city he can work with to keep the fire fighters together and the only city that can support the organization and allow the creation of the Fire Department the firefighters and the citizens deserve.His presentation included a PowerPoint with a history of fire service in the community, saying the City has been served over the years by four Fire Departments, sometimes at the same time covering different areas of the community. Currently it is served by one Department and the contract expires at the end of 2025. He said Orono is paying 84.76 percent of the budget for the Department, accounts for 72 percent of the calls, and the current fleet is at or near the end-of-life. The 2023 Orono budget for fire is$895,000 which is more than is called for contractually. He said the main question that has come through on the comment cards is why start a municipal Fire Department. The main reason,he said, is that the contract is ending, giving Orono the opportunity to start a municipal Fire Department with local oversight as it has with the Police Department. It will improve the level of service and facilities and equipment. He said the Fire Depai tiiient and the Police Depaitment do work well together but the change would allow for more coordination and shared training. Regardless of the way of going forward, capital expenditure must be increased, he said. The assumption is the Department will be able to continue to use its solely-owned equipment and buy out the Long Lake share of the jointly-owned equipment. The proposal would achieve NFPA compliance in 10 years. Van Eyll said most of the City, 71 percent,would be best served by a duty crew of four fire fighters. Currently,the Department is not meeting rural area response times and Orono is in a suburban service area.Duty crews would allow appropriate response so there would neither be too few or too many fire fighters showing up for a specific call. Page 4 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Johnson pointed out this is not because the fire fighters are not doing their jobs but because of the limitations of an all-call system where Hennepin County calls everyone from any station because there are not enough fire fighters during the day for the Navarre Station. Duty Crews would put four fire fighters on duty during the day when the City is most vulnerable,allowing for four or five minute response times. Seals asked how duty crews would affect current volunteer fire fighters and their call ratios. Van Eyll said that had not been determined but it would be worked out so that fire fighters did not lose or have reduced pension credits because of duty crews. Returning to the Power Point,Van Eyll outlined four possible courses of action and the costs and pros and cons of each. One, Orono assumes control of the existing Long Lake Department;two, establishment of a joint fire district with up to 11 other cities;three, an Orono Municipal Fire Department with only paid on-call fire fighters; and four, a municipal Fire Department with both duty crews and paid on-call fire fighters. Staff recommends option four. He said options one and two would increase per-household costs and result in Orono subsidizing other cities and option three would not move the City past rural response time standards to suburban and would make recruitment difficult because of being strictly paid on call. The increased cost of Option Four would be an additional$88 per household with partners. Costs would be higher without partners. He recommended adopting option four which would create a suburban area demand zone with 24/7 duty crews and offering contracts for services to surrounding communities using the Minnesota League of Municipalities formula for sharing costs.Van Eyll said Long Lake's current proposal for taking over the Fire Department would be very costly to the City of Orono with an average increase per year per household of$371.86. Johnson pointed out that Orono has already been paying for 85 percent of the Fire Department costs and so much of what Long Lake is asking would be like paying again for the same items and service. He also said Orono has to ask itself if it is satisfied with a rural level average response time of 16 or more minutes on a medical call. Seals noted that she is married to a local fire fighter and part of her wanted to just agree to Long Lake's proposal because the situation is hard on fire fighters and their families. However, she said it is the taxpayer's money and she questioned if taxpayers would be comfortable with giving away half of a fire station and then paying the proposed lease costs. Van Eyll said the staff recommends establishing the Fire Department and assuming control of the Navarre Station as of July 1,2024, allowing for a gradual transition. He said that recommendation would include increased costs and the possibility of disputes between Orono and Long Lake during the last 18 months of the contract. The other option would be to stand up the municipal department on Jan. 1,2026 which would defer some costs to later years,make a clean break and possibly minimize disputes,but would allow a shortened transition time and a delay in getting a Fire Department ID number from the State Fire Marshall's Office. Walsh asked for questions from Council. Benson asked about Station One in the event that the contract comes to an end without a resolution. Page 5 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Van Eyll said that is an unknown right now but it is hoped a shared use agreement could be worked out. The ideal would be complete ownership by Orono but that seems to be a non-starter for Long Lake, he said. Benson asked about the differences in how costs are calculated between the different models. Van Eyl1 explained the difference between straight market value and the League of Minnesota Cities formula for a shared fire district. Benson asked about cost per call and how it compares to other cities. Van Eyll said costs were based on call hours and market value, not cost per call. He said he would have to go back to figure that out. Johnson said not all calls have the same cost, so he questioned the value of figuring out average cost per call. Benson said she was interested in the Excelsior Fire District model where the Department serves five cities. The Excelsior Fire Chief, in comments at a Future Fire Services meeting, stated that for one city to go it alone would have been more expensive even if it pays more in expense than it has in usage,Benson said. She asked why more weight was not given to a shared model in the presentation. Van Eyll said the Excelsior group started out with a formula and went to straight market value. He said he does not recall that statement but discussed several surrounding joint fire districts and said it works for some communities, especially small cities,but does not work as well for cities with high home market values because they end up subsidizing the other communities. Walsh said the quote from the Excelsior Fire Chief was the opinion of one Chief in one city.He said they have the details in numbers and that's what matters. Benson also asked how Van Eyll could say the proposal could be a model for other cities when most cities are going to shared Departments. Van Eyll said he meant a model in terms of well-being of the fire fighters and service to the community, not necessarily the structure of the Department. Benson asked if it was ever considered to have an outside study of the viability of the proposed Fire Department plan since there has been a concern by some that having the Fire Chief of the Department do the study could be biased. Van Eyll said the Orono Council considered that last year and decided on the current approach. Walsh said the City was relying on the decades of expertise of the Fire Chief in the same way it had relied on the expertise of the Police Chief. He said he did applaud the efforts of the fire fighters and said it was unfortunate that the situation with Long Lake has not been resolved,has been contentious at times and that the fire fighters have been caught in the middle. He said the City would continue to work with Long Lake toward a resolution.He explained he wanted to end council questions as the public was waiting and Page 6 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. he would begin calling on people who had asked to speak, calling on Orono residents first. There would be no votes or Council discussion tonight, he added. Mayor Walsh opened the public comments at 7:31 p.m. James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, asked why the two cities have not agreed to mediation, saying this has been going on for three years and the two cities don't seem to be able to reach an agreement. He said he strongly recommends mediation where the positions of both sides are outlined and a mediator can look at that and make a recommendation. He said it was clear Walsh doesn't want a mediator because of his rigidity. Walsh said the only thing in dispute is the value of Station One and does anyone want to sell it, because the City has already started a Fire Department and hired a Chief. The contract is coming to an end. He said he didn't know what a mediator could do with that. He noted the City has 100 comment cards and more than half support the City. Johnson said the City is not shutting the door, This is a needs assessment and it is important to evaluate the level of service each community is comfortable with. He said he fully anticipates conversations with Long Lake to continue. Ann Turbeville, 997 Wildhurst Trail, asked why according to the slide presentation,the latest negotiations were from four months ago and said the City should be able to figure it out with Long Lake. She added for Councilmember Seals to be on the negotiating team is a conflict of interest since her husband is a firefighter. Mattick said that has been discussed and the formation of a Fire Department does not result in a conflict as providing fire service is a core duty of the City. Something that would enrich her household such as a salary agreement would be a conflict,he said. Crosby pointed out to meet the demands of Long Lake would enrich the City of Long Lake,not the individual fire fighters. Johnson said conversations with Long Lake have gone on for over a year and have continued. Long Lake made its offer in January and Orono stated it needed to do a needs assessment. Brian Turbeville, 997 Wildhurst Trail, said he and his wife had attended most Council meetings for seven months. He asked why Orono is starting its own Fire Department or taking it away from Long Lake and asked if it is better for the bigger of the communities to control the Fire Department, explaining he can see it both ways. He said the needs assessment and public input came after a Fire Chief was hired, after a truck was purchased and improved and after the request to move fire pension fund from Long Lake to Orono. One point that did not come up previously, he said, was the response out of Fire Station Two. He asked if there would not have been a way to work on that without taking over the Department and said he feels Orono is bullying Long Lake. He said when citizens say something doesn't sound right they get a pat on the head and told to sit down. John Withrow, 425 Oxford Road, said he had the utmost respect for the Police and Fire Departments and both communities. He said if anyone in the business world accepted an offer like Long Lake's they would lose their job. If Orono is paying 85 percent it can go it alone,the math seems pretty simple. He said he Page 7 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. thinks Long Lake is asking for a huge amount of money for something Orono residents have been paying for all along and that is ridiculous.He said he represents the silent supermajority who just wants the Fire and Police to be there if they need them. Going it alone is not ideal,he added,but it seems like the neighboring community is trying to hold Orono hostage for$4 million so the City can donate part of a building and pay them back for it. He predicted Long Lake will come back to Orono to ask for a service agreement and the City should support that because it would be the right thing to do.He said he is interested in what will work over the next 20 or 30 years. Jeff Strandberg,3 895 Bayside Road, said he just wanted to ask why. Why does Orono have to do this, why couldn't Orono just have stayed with Long Lake and re-negotiated?He noted city attorneys do everything from misdemeanors to contracts and should not litigate, especially in a dispute of this magnitude. Steve Persian, 1005 Hunt Farm Road,former Fire Chief in Long Lake, said in 2000 the response time was under five minutes with the station on Brown Road. While it's important to improve response time,he said,he didn't think it's necessary to build a brand new Fire Department to implement duty crews. He said he believes Long Lake has made more offers and shared more options than the one that was presented this evening. He asked the Council to continue to have discussions, saying there is a lot of spirit for joining forces for improved services around the country. He told the Council they are in a position to take Orono to that level. He noted when some of the Council Members ran for office they talked about servant leadership, but there are times it doesn't seem like that is taking place. Cody Farley, 320 Dupont Street,Long Lake, said he is a 16-year member of the Long Lake Fire Department and a member of the Relief Association but was speaking at the meeting as a citizen of Long Lake. He said the Department has known for a long time that daytime Station Two response time is its weakness.However, he said,the Council needs to take into consideration that average response time includes the majority of calls that are non-life threatening emergencies where the response is not lights, sirens and speed. While the Orono Police Depai anent has a great response time because they are already on the road,he said,the previous week the Fire Department responded to a heart attack call curing the day from Station One and actually arrived on the scene before the police because it was a true emergency. You have to look at all the facts,he said,before comparing apples and oranges. He also said Orono residents don't only have emergencies in Orono.Residents are in and out of each other's communities all the time. He said everyone should collectively want the service in all communities to be the best it can be. Kelly Grady, 271 Greenhill Lane, Long Lake, said she is a fire wife and has been for better part of a decade. She said she has spoken to Council members, fire fighters and citizens for many hours and feels many lack an understanding of why the situation is at this point. She hasn't heard any issues, she said, that would lead to the drastic changes that are being proposed. She feels the concern is more about control and not about improving public safety. Responsibility for the stalled communications and the state of the equipment and the facilities is shared by both communities and the Fire Chief who was the Long Lake Fire Chief prior to serving in Orono. She said she wants to protect an asset that has served this community for 100 years instead of burning things down. Someone that evening talked about Orono giving it away to the City of Long Lake, she said, adding she takes umbrage with that because when a person calls 911 and fire service shows up, she didn't think that person felt that they were giving their tax dollars away to the City of Long Lake. She said the Fire Department is part of her family and Van Eyll has been part of her family,but she doesn't think he is an unbiased person.An independent audit or mediation is very Page 8 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. necessary, she said. The only thing that the fire fighters have requested from every Council is to stay together so that they can continue to provide the level of service that they have served in this community for over 100 years, according to Grady. Any agreement that doesn't allow that is despicable. Kelly Prchal,4705 Watertown Road, Maple Plain,asked what kind of mediation has gone on to further the negotiations. She said she agrees that Orono can't accept what was proposed so it should then move forward with negotiations. She said she, along with others,have suggested mediation with a third party. She also noted the information that the current fleet is near its end of life,requiring a massive need for equipment and costs. She said in business when capital equipment is purchased the owners plan for its useful life and budget for replacement. She asked when Van Eyll says staff recommends option four, she wonders who is staff. She wonders what the fire fighters want.When talking about the possibility of partners offsetting some of the costs,what is the reality of Orono realistically being able to partner with other neighboring cities. There is not seeming to be a lot of interest in that, she said. Her concern is about having enough volunteers to respond in a timely manner to calls. She said the other thing not addressed at all is the pension and if all this keeps moving forward without public involvement,how will the City make sure that those fire fighters who transition from Long Lake to Orono are kept whole for their years of service. Penny Saiki,2874 Casco Point Road, said many residents moved out to Orono for the character of the City which is less urban and more rural. When talking about a response time more similar to Minneapolis they don't want that. She said the whole thing about the Long Lake station,Orono would be leaving Long Lake in the lurch and they won't have a service. If Orono pays 85 percent, she said, it could be argued that the other communities with fewer calls are paying 15 percent and subsidizing Orono. To break it up and start from scratch, she said,could mean a big increase in homeowner's insurance for Orono residents because they would not have a proven fire service. Mayor Walsh closed the public comments at 8:11 p.m. and brought the meeting back to council. Benson, asked if a commitment by the cities who have partnered historically with Long Lake Fire, Orono being one of them,to better fund capital expenditures,would solve many of these issues. Van Ey1l said that was rejected by two out of the three cities. Walsh said the contract is ending and the City has decided it is better served if Orono has control. Long Lake has not disputed that notion but there are all these processes to go through,whether it's a Fire Chief, the Fire Relief Association,as well as getting a Fire Department number, all that stuff has to be done,he said. Benson clarified that the City of Orono made the decision not to pursue a new contract when the contract ends and without a mediator. Walsh said these types of services change all the time without mediators. Benson asked if that was without community input. Walsh said community input is called an election. Page 9 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Benson asked Van Eyll to explain the joint cooperative arrangement for public safety purchasing. Van Ey11 said that was put together by communities to have similar equipment between Departments for the purposes of mutual aid,and it is not about purchasing. Walsh said at the next meeting there would be a discussion by the Council and a vote on which option to pursue. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Crosby said there are some interesting topics. One person at the meeting brought up the Pension and Relief Association.He said he would support that if fire fighters leave Long Lake and come to Orono they would be fully vested and not lose a penny in pension. It's important to keep fire fighters whole,he said. Crosby said he was surprised they didn't have this kind of outrage when Long Lake walked away from the Orono PD years ago.He said the Council doesn't ask for input on every subject because they are elected to do the job.If the Council did that,he added,nothing would get done. Crosby pointed out Orono pays 85 percent of the fire bill and asked in what business does one party pay 85 percent and the other seven percent and they are the one that is in control.He said he still has respect for Long Lake and still hopes the two communities can work something out,but it would be in the manner of Orono running that Department. There's not a business out there,he said,where the seven percenter is the decision-maker. This is something better for the City,he said. It's going to be more efficient, better run. If the duty crew model is the model that gets implemented,that is not going to have a negative impact on the existing firefighters, according to Crosby. It will not impact their call percentage,but will provide a proper response time during the day. Crosby said as a former firefighter, he can say that daytime response is extremely difficult because people have full-time occupations. The citizens of Orono are the Council's interest,he said, and they will do everything they can to make sure that the City has a proper Fire Department in place. Benson said questions have been raised in the past at meetings on open litigation between Mr. Nygard and others. She said she contacted the League of Minnesota Cities insurance trust, and they have provided her with letters explaining how this trust covers this litigation and said it was public information so she could make the letters available. She thanked all those who responded with comment cards, came to the meeting or watched online. She said she also attended the Long Lake open forum. Benson said she is not an expert but has done a lot of studying. Fire suppression is about control, she said, while fire service is about community. She said she wanted to ask some open-ended questions for the rest of the Council to consider as this moves forward, for example: How Orono has kept residents abreast of changes? Is the City open to using mediation in future negotiations? How did Orono inform residents on the impact the bonding sale in 2021 had on the increase in their tax levy this year? How has Orono informed residents about the impact the creation of a Fire Department will have on their tax levy in the near future? How have they shown the City of Orono is a friendly neighbor? What guarantees there are that neighboring cities will be interested in joining Orono for fire service? Is control over a fire department worth the price that will be paid by our residents to build, operate and staff a fire department now and into the future?Is paying 84% of budget when we make up 72% Page 10 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. of the calls going to be more or less of a burden than paying 100% of the budget perhaps 100% of the time? Walsh reported Chris Fischer,Deputy Chief, had his retirement party in St. Michael,which was fitting as St. Michael is the patron saint of law enforcement. He attended the Hackberry Park meeting where the City heard from neighbors. Although the City will need to spend quite a bit of money, he said, it will be an exciting project that will do some amazing things, address water problems in the park, and last for many decades. He said he also attended the League of Northwest Suburban Municipalities meeting where the topic was law enforcement. He said he would not add anything to fire service discussion at the time and ended with two quotes on friendship and loyalty from Jim Brown, a former Vikings player who passed away the previous week. CLOSED SESSION: ATTORNEY- CLIENT PRIVILEGED DISCUSSION Mayor Walsh announced the City Council would enter into closed session at 8:31 p.m.,as permitted by Section 13D.05, Subd.3(b)to discuss the threat of litigation by the City of Long Lake regarding the Contract for Fire Protection. (The City Council was in closed session from 8:31 p.m.to 9:01 p.m.) Walsh moved, Crosby seconded,to reopen the Orono City Council meeting at 9:01 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. (There was no recording for the remainder of the City Council meeting after 9:01 p.m.) Benson asked both Attorney Mattick and Adam if the recording equipment was back on once the closed session ended and the meeting officially reopened. Edwards indicated that the technician had gone home and no further recording was taken Seals announced that she was resigning her position as city council member and that this would be her last meeting. Mayor Walsh moved, Crosby seconded,the following: 1. To accept Seals resignation effective at the adjournment of the meeting; 2. Direct staff to immediately post the council seat vacancy until Wednesday June 7th at 4:00 p.m. CT; 3. Change the city council work session start time for June 12' from 5:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. to conduct interviews of council member applicants; 4. Add to June 12' regular council meeting a council action to appoint a replacement council member as the first order of business; 5. Amend the Annual Appointments to replace Victoria Seals with Dennis Walsh on the Fire Advisory Board and Fire negotiating Committee. Page 11 of 12 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING May 22,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. VOTE: 4-1 (Nay Benson) Walsh moved,Crosby seconded,to create a Legal Committee to discuss lawsuits before closed sessions and to appoint Dennis Walsh and Matt Johnson to the committee. VOTE: 4-1 (Nay Benson) ADJOURNMENT Seals moved,Johnson seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 9:12 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. ATT ST: A na Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 12 of 12