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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-14-2023 City Council Minutes MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 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 Maria Veach. Representing Staff were City Attorney Soren Mattick,City Administrator/Engineer Adam Edwards, Finance Director Ron Olson, Community Development Director Laura Oakden,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 The agenda was approved by consensus. CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF JULY 24,2023 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF JULY 24,2023 3. CLAIMS/BILLS 4. APPROVAL TO HIRE ALICIA JOHNSON—RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TECHNICIAN 5. APPROVAL OF RENTAL LICENSES 6. APPROVAL OF ANNUAL GUN CLUB PERMIT 7. APPROVAL TO ACCEPT DONATION— RESIDENTS OF PELICAN POINT(MOUND) --RESOLUTION NO.7389 8. APPROVAL TO ACCEPT DNATION—MINNETONKA BEACH CIVIC ASSOCIATION —RESOLUTION NO.7390 9. AUTHOIRZATION TO ACCEPT JULIA KNAPEK RESIGNATION 10. APPROVAL TO AMEND WAGE SCALE FOR JAMES NELSON—UTILITY WORKER 11. LIQUOR LICENSE VIOLATION—ORONO GOLF COURSE 12. APPROVAL OF 2023 BRIDGE FLOOD SEALING 13. LA23-000032,PAUL SKOOG,250 TONKA AVENUE,VARIANCE—RESOLUTION NO. 7392 14. LA22-000068,MARK AND LISA THOSTENSON,2815 CASCO POINT ROAD,ATF VARIANCES—RESOLUTION 7387 15. LA23-000033,EDWIN AND TRACEY STEPHENSON,559 PARK LANE, AVERAGE LAKESHORE SETBACK VARIANCE—RESOLUTION NO. 7393 Page 1 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. 18. NEXT WORK SESSION DRAFT AGENDA This item was added to the consent agenda by consensus of the Council. Crosby moved,Johnson seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted with the addition of Item 18.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT 16. LA23-000034,MATTHEW AND SUSANNE JOHNSON,1015 WILDHURST TRAIL, FINAL PLAT OF"WILDHURST FOREST"—RESOLUTION 7388 City Planner Curtis said she did not have a presentation this evening as the applicants have met all the preliminary plat conditions and the staff recommends approval. It was not on the Consent Agenda, she said,because the applicant,Councilmember Johnson,needed to recuse himself. Councilmembers said any questions they had were answered at a previous meeting. Crosby moved,Veach seconded,to approve LA23-000034, 1015 Wildhurst Trail, Final Plat.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0,Abstain 1 (Johnson). Community Development Director Oakden reported building permit revenue is slightly ahead of the same period in 2022. That means the department is busy processing those permits and doing those inspections, she said. There were also eight or nine land use applications submitted in the last month. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT 17. SECOND QUARTER FINANCIAL REPORT Finance Director Olson gave a presentation on the second quarter financial report,with slides covering revenues,expenses and investments.He said revenues are at 58.6 percent of budget.Highlighting a few areas, licenses and permits are at 68 percent and charges for service at 77 percent,he said,noting most of those funds have been received for the year. Golf course revenue is at 51 percent.Olson said the golf course had another record month in July which is not shown yet. Compared to the last four years revenues are still following the familiar trend. In terms of expenditures,Mayor and Council is at 60%of budget and will probably end up over budget due to higher than budgeted training. On legal services,the City is trending a little over budget and that has to do with lawsuits against the City. Olson said Central Services will need to be watched closely as it includes gas and electricity and this past year was a long,cold winter heading into a very warm summer.Fire Protection is at 70 percent and will be over budget.That is due in a large part to a$46,000 overage billed by the City of Long Lake last year and costs involved in setting up the Orono department.It won't be a huge amount over,he said—perhaps$3,000 to$6,000.Engineering is already over budget because of spending more money on GIS than budgeted. It is expensive in the short term but will be much more efficient in the long run,he said,and better able to provide data to citizens. In general,the City will still be on target for expenditures for the year.Regarding investments,the City's inactive funds are all invested in CDs,or some government bonds. The City currently has$15.7 million invested. Page 2 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Benson asked about the$46,000 bill for overage from Long Lake Fire last year. Olson said it was unexpected and the bill was received in April but was related to the 2022 budget. The reason for the overage was increased calls. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT 18. NEXT WORK SESSION DRAFT AGENDA This item was added to the Consent Agenda PUBLIC COMMENTS Nancy Brantingham, 3185 County Road 6, said the Mayor has made it clear he doesn't feel he needs any more input on the fire department. She asked why the Fire Department Advisory Board report is after public comments on the agenda and stated that the Council has lost a lot of trust in the community around the fire department issue. She said she found the placement of the advisory board report a puzzling choice when the Council could be working to help people understand how and why the community got to this point. Janie Delaney, 1315 Woodhill Avenue, said the League of Minnesota Cities has recommended that cities review policies and ordinances on managing natural and native landscaping and asked if there has been any discussion about that. She also asked if Orono has considered joining the GreenStep City program that includes 29 basic steps for cities to follow for conservation,climate change plantings and green buildings, adding she would like to see the City consider that. Kelly Grady,271 Greenhill Lane,said she has spoken to the Council previously about the fire department and that moving public comments around on the agenda comes off as shifty and doesn't really allow the public to participate in an open dialogue with the Council if everything is being discussed before after public comments. She said there is a still a fundamental lack of understanding about what fire service problems are trying to be solved with a new fire department and she would like the Council to elaborate. In 2023, according to Grady,the Long Lake Fire Department responded to 311 calls in Orono,which has a population of roughly 8,000 people.By comparison,the City of Plymouth,which has a population of 80,000 people,has a similar Duty Crew and paid on call structure that the Orono Council just pushed through.Plymouth has about 2,300 calls per year so she wondered how Orono can justify a need of a similarly structured and sized department for the call volume that's coming through. She pointed out that in September of 2022 the Orono City Council approved roughly a$543,000 or$544,000 budget for operating costs, but a$0 capital improvements budget for 2023 fire service. She said she would like to understand how the City is going to manage and create a department that will be run very similarly to the way that it is run now and not increase taxes. She called for a detailed budget for the new department, saying that what has been presented so far is not complete. She added the City is under an injunction against attempting to recruit Long Lake fire fighters and yet this seems to still be happening. Chelsea Wetrick, Independence, said she would like to remind Crosby he works for the people,not himself. She said it is untrue that he is attacked on a constant basis or that he appreciates opposing Page 3 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. comments. He has said he won't respond to insults or craziness, she said,but it is not an insult when he is being asked to clarify their questions. She said in October, Crosby stated he was not a member of the Proud Boys. That was the only meeting he attended in October, according to Wetrick, and he talked about going door knocking with Eddie Rice. She said if he really wants to work something out they can chat after the meeting. Brad Erickson 2485 Independence Road, Independence,mentioned that he is one of the people who has a lawsuit against the City and the Mayor and certain Council Members.He said all the Mayor would have to do is apologize and he would forgive him. He said he brought the Mayor a copy of the Diary of Ann Frank as a gift,adding this 14-year-old girl lived a half hour away from his grandparents and was taken from her hiding place and murdered by the Nazis.Now the Mayor has tried to bring this into the Council chamber and this community,he said,adding that this is not going to go away and it's not going to stop. Erickson said it doesn't matter where he lives,he is down there front and center every day in a godforsaken town that's run by idiots and imbeciles.He added the Mayor and Crosby are lucky they live in a civilized society but like Trump,who has also started comparing the charges against him to the holocaust,they will not be reelected. Claire Barrett, 1085 Brown Road South, said residents of Orono have been putting up with this far too long. She cited a definition of disorderly conduct and said that has been happening over many,many Council meetings. Barrett said she is all for public discourse,agreeing to disagree and civil conduct. What happens here is not civil conduct,she said.It's abusive to the process. It's abusive to the elected officials,to the City staff and to anyone else in the room. She said she would continue to attend Council meetings but if the two non-residents who come up and participate in disorderly conduct come back she will leave the meeting in order to deprive them of their audience and she encouraged others to do the same. She said she continues to be proud of Orono's elected officials and appointed officials and City employees. COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS 19. LLFD ADVISORY BOARD Veach reported on a recent meeting of the Fire Department Advisory Board. She said the Long Lake Fire Department was not represented as the chief had a last-minute emergency,so there are no updates. There was some talk of duty crews but the other cities present agreed more information is needed before making a budget or talking any more about that subject.An amended budget was presented but it was felt they needed to wait until the Long Lake Chief can be present. There was information needed for the budget that could only be provided by Long Lake. Crosby said there was some discussion of the fact that Long Lake Fire Department salaries are beginning to fall short of the metro average.He is proposing,know that it still needs to be ironed out,an increase in the hourly pay to$15.65. The City of Long Lake was proposing$15.50 per hour.Crosby said pay isn't the reason most fire fighters serve but that the department should be more competitive and consistent with surrounding departments.He called it a productive meeting. Benson asked about minutes of those meetings.City Administrator Edwards said the City receives them and they can be provided to the Council. Page 4 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. 20. POLICE COMMISSION Johnson said he wanted to start by endorsing the decision to add Council Committee reports to the agenda,noting for those wondering about placement that this was the first time for this addition.He and Benson are on this committee and attended the last meeting. Switching to topics of the recent police commission meeting, Johnson said there has been an increase in car thefts and people are urged not to leave their keys in their cars and even at home,to make sure their fobs are not close enough for thieves to be able to start cars and steal them. He said they also talked about the embedded social worker program. This was started as a trial program with the County where there is a social worker available as needed to help with some of the mental health issues which takes that away from the police and gives them a resource. He said it is important that this remains a County resource and that they continue to support it instead of pushing it back down to the cities.Hennepin County's getting a significant amount of taxes,he said,and this is a good way to provide service in exchange for those taxes.Johnson said in one year the police had referred 73 cases to the social workers so it is effective and necessary and the police are in support of it. He added the police department is committed to community outreach. One example his family experienced recently is that three of his nieces and nephews were stopped by the police while biking and the two who were wearing helmets received praise and ice cream certificates.He called it a great experience for the kids. There was also discussion of the changes in the legalization of marijuana. Lastly,he said,it was evident at the meeting that the cities in attendance are proud to be served by the Orono Police Department. Benson added her praise for the community engagement program and said it was great to see officers at events like National Night Out and the high school wellness fair. There was a report at the meeting that recruitment and retention of police continues to be a state-wide and national problem although Orono is still known to be a great place to work and currently only has one position to fill.The police also have a cadet program. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Crosby said he recently was able to golf at Orono Orchards and enjoyed the facility. The fire advisory meeting went as well as could be expected without the chief present,he said. Benson said she had the privilege of attending several community events recently including the Fire Department Fun Run. She said it was very well-organized and she continues to be impressed by the commitment of the fire fighters to the community. She was also able to ride along with police for National Night Out or Night to Unite. She said some people approach her at these events to share a concern and almost apologetically say they don't want to complain. She said her message is that she does not view any engagement or interaction with residents as complaints but rather an opportunity to connect, listen and understand, and she hopes people won't hesitate to bring concerns to her. She said she heard a lot about the GreenStep Cities program at the League of Cities meeting in June and would welcome the opportunity to discuss that in the future. Johnson said the LMCD is working through the issue of being able to levy fines but it is unclear if their charter allows them to do that. He has noticed a lot of wildlife including deer and turkeys in the roads. Page 5 of 6 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING August 14,2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. There may be a possibility of working with Three Rivers Park District on population control if they become a hazard. Veach said her neighborhood hosted National Night Out a week late to accommodate a neighbor who can never attend on the usual night, and it was a great event. She was also able to help at the Corn Days event in Long Lake. Walsh said he was also out for National Night Out and hit about five locations with the Police Chief. One neighborhood had a musician and another had a food truck.He also attended Corn Days. The next Wednesday is Coffee with the Mayor. Orono was recently named the 17th safest city in Minnesota thanks to good policing and good community members,he said. He ended with two quotes from Elon Musk. ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved, Crosby seconded to adjourn the meeting at 7:11 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 5,Nays 0. ATTEST: 1111 Anna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 6 of 6