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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-27-2023 CC MinutesMINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 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, Public Works Superintendent David Goman, Finance Director Ron Olson, Community Development Director Laura Oakden, and Fire Chief James Van Eyll. 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 as presented. CONSENT AGENDA 1. CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13, 2023 2. COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES OF NOVEMBER 13, 2023 3. APPROVE WORK SESSION DRAFT AGENDA 4. CLAIMSBILLS 5. APPROVE ALCOHOL SALES LICENSES 6. APPROVE CALENDAR OF OFFICIAL PUBLIC MEETINGS 7. APPROVE RECORDING SERVICES AGREEMENT 8. RESOLUTION 7421—DESIGNATE POLLING PLACES FOR 2024 9. RESOLUTION 7420 —ACCEPT DONATIONS FOR TREE LIGHTING 10. APPROVE UTILITY RATES ll. AUTHORIZE PAID -ON -CALL FIREFIGHTER This item was removed from the consent agenda. Crosby moved, Veach seconded, to approve the Consent Agenda with Item 11 removed. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. Walsh noted donations at a value of $8,700 for the upcoming tree -lighting ceremony from Kottemami Orthodontics, Orono Dental, Otten brothers, Ben Goodwin, the Walsh Fanuly, Lisa Erickson/Edina Realty, Orono Lions Club, Holiday/Circle K and Culvers. 12. TRUTH IN TAXATION Page 1 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Finance Director Olson explained now property taxes are calculated, beginning with the Hennepin County Assessor's Estimated Market Value. The preliminary budget and tax levy was approved by the Council on September 11. The final budget and levy will be adopted December 11. He noted the City of Orono's tax Capacity is the second lowest in the area. He also showed the City's proposed general fund revenue and expenditure budgets for 2024. Total estimated revenues and expenditures are $11,536,630, an increase of 4.9 percent from 2023. The total proposed levy is $9,415,100. Compared to 2023, the levy is increasing by $1,028,100 or 12.3%. Mayor Walsh opened the public hearing at 6:35 p.m. Denise Reilley, 3405 High Lane, spoke to object to the budget and the resulting 26 percent increase in her personal Orono property taxes. Since Walsh has been mayor, she said, the City's levy has increased from $5.2 million in 2017 to a proposed $9.4 million for 2024, which is an increase of more than 80 percent. She said part of the increase is to fund a new Fire Department including the hiring of a Chief and firefighters and the purchase of trucks. However, the contract with Long Lake runs through 2025. This past summer, Long Lake requested and was granted an injunction to keep Orono from breaking that contract, she said. This past week a judge found that Orono had violated the injunction and ordered Orono to pay Long Lake's attorney fees and other charges, including $2,000 per violation. She said she objects to her taxes being used to pay attorney's fees and other costs due to the City's actions and pointed out those costs are probably not yet reflected in the budget. She asked that there be a moratorium on the new Fire Department until after a referendum, which would be the election that occurs before the end of the contract. Kim Carswell, 261 Cygnet Place, said the Council keeps talking about tax rates remaining stable but the funds the City pulls in has increased more than 80 percent since 2017 so it is spending what it has rather than prioritizing needs. Continuing to talk about the tax rate remaining steady is not clear communications to the citizens as to how much money the City keeps bringing in and spending, she said. James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, said the examples are based on property values remaining static. No one's property values have remained the same. He said the presentation slides didn't show that so that is not Truth in Taxation, which he referred to as an oxymoron. He noted the inflation of property values and the increase of the City's tax capacity as a result. That doesn't mean the City needs to keep spending all that money, he said. The more property values go up the more money the City has to spend, and it's not well accounted for. He also pointed to enterprise funds as actually being costs to taxpayers such as water and sewer. He said those are taxes described as fees. Enterprise funds carry balances and create a slush fund that can be transferred to other accounts, which is not as clear to the taxpayers. Kelly Prchal, 4705 Watertown Road, also said she objects to incredible spending on an unnecessary Fire Department and she objects to tax dolkars going to fines being caused by this spending and recruitment of firefighters. The budget has a line item for fire services from Long Lake for more than $600,000 in 2024 and a line item for Orono Fire that is higher than that, at more than $700,000 without yet providing any services, she said. She asked why the City is moving forward with duplicating fire services when neighboring communities are joining together. Luann Tolliver said she was there because she is very concerned about the 12.2 percent levy increase notice she received from Hennepin County. She said if some areas of the budget increase it is necessary to decrease other areas, adding that's how she has to run her budget. She said she can't spend more money Page 2 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m* than she makes so she asked the Council to think before approving that. She said Orono property owners are not an endless revenue source. Brian TLAI eV lle, 997 WildhLirst Trail, said he has been attending City Council meetings for about a year and has had to watch votes being taken that are adding millions in one vote for a Fire Department. He has listened to speeches from Council for a year on how the City needs to solve a $500,000 problem by spending $3 million in one night. The opinion was Long Lake was deficient in providing services for the future, he said, yet this Council voted down increases requested for Long Lake Fire for equipment and other needs prior to that. During the time the Council said it was talking about a new Fire Department, the Council bought a new fire truck and updated it. The City has owned that trick for a year but he said he was curious if it has left the garage. Suddenly one day, the Council was not talking about it; it was decided so get on board. He noted that was Council Member Johnson's lecture to Council Member Benson. The City has spent millions on equipment and is proposing $3 million for a temporary fire station. Take on top of that the legal problems this Council has had way beyond surrounding cities, he said. Not every home in Orono sits on the lake. Not every home has residents making $300,000 or $400,000 per year, he said, adding the City is driving out residents who will not be able to afford those increases, people who work in this City. He said it has been an amazing year watching politics up close and he is extremely disappointed. Mayor Walsh closed the public hearing at 6:52 p.m. Benson said she agrees that asking residents to pay for duplicate fire services for 2024 and 2025 is not responsible. She said the amount of money the City intends to spend on the Orono Fire Department in 1024 is not well -placed. She also said the City is not paying down debt according to schedule in 2024 but is instead increasing debt due to the Fire Department. Walsh said Orono is one of the lowest tax cities and has reserves to pay for roads or other needs. He said the enterprise fiords pay for needed items in the City like road projects, so they are not slush fiords. He said expenses have gone up in nine years due to inflation and personnel costs but also because over nine years, the City has made a concerted effort to fund all accounts. At one point, he said, the City had zero dollars in the budget for road improvements, parks, and public works. A pavement management plan is no plan with no money. The pavement plan is now caught up, he said. He listed the park improvements that have been made in that time. There was no technology in the City nine years ago, he said —just file cabinets and boxes of paper. Now everything is on microfiche and online. He also said the City has been protecting taxpayers from bogus claims. The Orono Fire Department will provide what is needed for the long-term needs of the City, he said. The Orono Fire Department will continue to move forward. It is in the best interest of citizens and will begin on July 1, 2024. Benson said if the Fire Department was removed, according to her talks with Olson, the levy would be a four percent increase instead of 12.26 percent. Walsh said because so much has not been done, Orono would be giving all that money to Long Lake for fire equipment. This plan. provides for fiuture replacement which will be budgeted, he said. Johnson said he owns multiple properties in the community and budget decisions the Council makes impact Council Members as well, as they are also residents of the cornnnunity. He said property values are set by the County and he would encourage people to have those conversations with the County. Regarding enterprise funds, he said infrastructure and depreciation are included in rates so the City does Page 3 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. not have to do large-scale assessments. Orono budgets for road and infrastructure improvements rather than leveling assessments, he said. It was necessary to pre -spend money to get the Fire Department going, he said. The City considered that in deciding the best path forward. The City is purchasing equipment that are long-term assets and have real value going forward. He said his comments that voting against Fire Department is irresponsible is because the decision to start the City's own Fite Department has been made and now it is necessary to make the purchases to fund it. This puts the City on the best path going forward. He said he doesn't want to pay more taxes either but he also thinks the City is on the right path and this is the equation that gets the City into the best stability in the future. Crosby said the Fire Department is a very emotional issue and that he himself was part of the Long Lake Fire Department for 10 years and considers many of the firefighters as family. This topic has been pushed back and forth from City to City. People question how Orono can afford it. Going from funding 87 percent to 100 percent is getting questioned, he said. Long Lake is going from 7 percent to 100 percent when Orono drops off and they are not having these discussions. This Council voted to move ahead with the Orono Fire Department, he said. It is happening. To not fiind it appropriately would be a dereliction of duty. He also pointed to Orono having one of the lowest tax rates in the area. He said it's all tied to the property values, stating residents should be contacting Hennepin County. Veach said this is her first budget meeting and she is learning. She said she is sensitive to fixed incomes and people who have lived and worked and want to retire here. She said she believes in what the City is doing. The budget is the maximum you can spend, she said. Benson said it comes down to what the Council has control over and what they don't. She said she wants to take responsibility for what they can control. The Hennepin County assessor is legally responsible for keeping property values within five percent either way, she said. It's not a number pulled out of the ether. The Council does have control over the levy. Property tax formulas are confiising. Her responsibility, she said, is to help make it clear to the public. She explained there can be a flat rate of taxes from one year to the next but because of value increases, an individual can have a higher tax bill. 13. ORDINANCE 285 CANNABIS MORATORIUM Community Development Director Oakden said during the 20221egislative session, the Minnesota Legislahrre amended its code to permit the sale of edible and nonedible cannabinoid products that contain no more than 0.3 % of Tetrahydrocannabinol, commonly known as THC ("THC Products"). The City's ordinance setting regulations for the sale of lower -potency hemp products containing THC products has now expired. The new law establishes that the sale of cannabis and THC-containing products are still subject to local planning and zoning restrictions and must comply with local zoning code. The new law provides no guidance on how cities are to zone the new businesses, leaving it to local control, she said. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 342.13(e), a unit of local government may adopt an interim ordinance to protect the planning process and the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens. Prior to adopting the interim ordinance, the governing body must hold a public hearing on the topic. The interim ordinance can regulate, restrict, or prohibit the operation of any cannabis business within the local government's jurisdiction until January 1, 2025. She said a moratorium on this new type of business will allow staff time to develop potential parameters and recommendations for future text amendments to the City Code regarding zoning, including setbacks, district requirements, and any licensing standards. It is hoped the new State agency, the Office of Cannabis Management, will provide some guidance for municipal regulations and licensing programs. Oakden said staff recommends approval of an interim ordinance prohibiting the operation of cannabis businesses until Jan. 1, 2025. Page 4 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6&.00 o'clock p.m. Mayor Walsh opened the public hearing at 7:21 p.m. There were no public comments. Mayor Walsh closed the public hearing at 7:21 p.m. City Attorney Mattick said the proposed ordinance does not impact products with 5 milligrams per dosage such as low-level gummier. It does cover more than retail sales and impacts manufacturing and distribution of products of higher dosages. The ordinance would give the City time to look at planning and zoning for this issue. The City would not be taking away anything that currently exists. The State agency is not yet issuing licenses. Veach moved, Crosby seconded, to adopt Ordinance 285 placing a moratorium on cannabis businesses in the City until Jan. 1, 2025. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. 11. AUTHORIZE PAID -ON -CALL FIREFIGHTER Fire Chief Van Eyll said this recommendation would hire Pat Cotton as a paid -on -call firefighter. He has experience with another department and holds Fire Fighter 1 and 2 and EMR, Van Eyll said. He recommended a conditional job offer with an effective start date of Nov. 28, 2023 for limited administrative duties with pay of $16 per hour. Training and other duties would start Jan. 1, 2024 contingent on passing the background check. Benson pointed out the individual is currently serving Long Lake Fire and she questioned whether the hiring of the candidate was a violation of the injunction. Veach said she spoke with the attorney representing Orono in the Long Lake lawsuit who confirmed in writing that it would not be a violation as the candidate applied of his own volition, so the hire is not in conflict with the court order. Walsh moved, Crosby seconded, to approve the hiring of Pat Cotton as a paid -on -call firefighter effective Nov. 28, 2023 at the ► ate of $16 per hour. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 1 (Benson). COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT Oakden said the Department is finished with planning items for the year and is working on updating the retaining wall ordinance as adopted by the Council, closing out permits, and updating the website. There are still new permits and projects coming through. Staff is trying to close out permit requests from the summer before the snow flies so the inspector is still busy. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Attorney Mattick reported the previous week the City received a favorable ruling on Barbars Schmidt vs. City of Orono. The court ruled in favor of the City of Orono and dismissed that claim in its entirety with prejudice, which means the case is done and cannot be refiled. It does not preclude an appeal. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEERREPQRT Page 5 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. 14. PUBLIC WORKS BUILDING CHANGE ORDER #2 City Engineer Edwards said the change order encompasses some revisions in the construction which is going well. The change increased some costs but actually reduces total costs, he said, because it does not include installing a generator as planned. Changes are still within the contingency amounts. An earlier change order added $50,000. Benson pointed out the City had bonded $13 million for this project but is now over budget at $16 million. Crosby moved, Johnson seconded, to approve change order #2 for the new public works building. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. REQUEST TO SCHEDULE SPECIAL MEETING Edwards said the attorney representing the City in the lawsuit with the City of Long Lake is proposing a special Council meeting on Dec. 4 at 5 p.m. in closed session to update the Council on the litigation. He was out of the country for the regular Council meeting that evening. Walsh moved, Johnson seconded, to schedule a special Council meeting at 5 4 to I- nto closed session to discuss litigation. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. Edwards said the City has received five applications for the position of finance director and will begin interviewing next week. COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS 15. LLFD FUTURE FIRE ADVISORY BOARD UPDATE Veach said they started by reviewing the previous meeting since notes had not been recorded so minutes were made from memory and at the meeting some changes were agreed upon and will be posted. The second part of the meeting was rumor control, which was new and not particularly effective, she said, adding that's not really the purpose of the meeting. The real purpose was to discuss the budget. At this point, the main discussion is duty crews. Guidance is fluid and is changing, she said. Crosby said the main concern regarding duty crews is shortening response time at Station 2. He said he reiterated the invitation to have the Long Lake Fire Chief attend the Orono City Council meeting. In response to questions, Veach said the additional meeting was held for the purpose of looking at staff time expense around the duty crew model since the Advisory Board had not had a chance to do that. Crosby said there was some progress made but the information. on the duty crews fell short in his opinion. Benson said she was asking because the Council has only one more meeting this year to approve the 2024 budget for Long Lake Fire. She wanted to know if the City has the information needed to consider the budget at the next meeting. Page 6 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Edwards said the City may not have enough information on no the duty crews are working by Dec. 11 but will have enough information to consider a revised budget. Benson said she had listened to an audio recording and was wondering about references to a poll of I refighters regarding Department culture. Her purpose in requesting was to know if something more needed to be known about that to consider the budget. Veach said she had suggested a poll at the meeting but had not directed that it be done. Johnson said he would like to make a formal request to get Long Lake's statistics for five years of response times from Stations 1 and 2 separately since they had disputed Orono's statistics. Benson said she did not see a need for that information on that topic to consider the budget. Walsh and Johnson said they believe data on response time is critical to pass the budget. Edwards said he would make that request from the City of Long Lake 16. BUDGET COMMITTEE MEETING Veach said the Committee discussed whether the budgeted amounts would be correct to cover personnel needs and they received confirmation that the budget is enough. Benson said since she is the alternate for the Future Fire Services meetings she would like to be notified if one of the two assigned members could not attend. Edwards said if assigned members could not attend a meeting, they could notify him and he would notify the alternate if that applies. Benson said the Northwest Hennepin League of Municipalities is a group that she attended a few times early in the year and then the Mayor started attending. She asked Edwards, since there has not been a report from these meetings recently and learned member cities took a vote and declined to have Orono be accepted as a member of the group. She asked if the City of Orono could initiate contact again with this group in the new year. PUBLIC COMMENTS Nancy Brantingham, 3185 County Road 6, recapped the injunction imposed on the City of Orono last summer and the recent decision handed down by the court fmding Orono in contempt of the injunction, which included prohibitions from recruiting and hiring Long Lake firefighters. She pointed out that Orono attempted to hire another Long Lake firefighter on that evening's consent agenda and when asked for an explanation, Von Eyll stated the hire had experience with another fire department, conveniently omitting that the other fire department was Long Lake. Hemy Brantingham, 3185 County Road 6, added that the judge's order included a fine of $2,000 per instance of recruitment or of planning to make changes to either fire station. without involving Long Lake and further ordered Orono to pay Long Lake's attorney's fees and all costs incurred by Long Lake. The finding was civil contempt. Once again, this Council has failed to act in best interest of the citizens Page 7 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. including by running up unnecessary legal fees, he said. It is disheartening and embarrassing to say the least. None of this meeting tonight really had anything to do with taxes, he added. It had to do with the Council's bullheaded, steamroller decision without the support of the citizens of Orono. He said the decision -making process was so clear at the meeting that night. James Elder, 195 South Brown Road, said the discussion the Council just had was emblematic of what is going on. The Council can't decide what was said at the Fire Advisory Committee and he has doubts about the safety of the Navarre station, he said. If Council Members can't get along to run the Orono Fire Department planning any better than it did at that meeting, he said he thinks the people in that fire service area will be at risk. Kim Carswell, 261 Cygnet Place, said one of reasons Orono continues to cite for needing its own Fire Department is the perception that Long Lake has not invested in the Fire Department and Orono will. The capital needs of the Long Lake fire department have not been firnded at an adequate level to sustain equipment needs, according to Mayor. In fact this is not because of the City of Long Lake, she said, but because of the continued refiisal of the City of Orono to invest capital to keep that department up-to-date. You don't negotiate a transfer of control, she said. This holding back of investment has cornered Long Lake into a takeover stance. Dave Pierson, 2160 Webber Hills Road, said he has been a resident of Orono since 2005 and like many residents, did not pay much attention to what was going on. On the consent agenda some years ago the Mayor increased his term from two years to four years, he said. What he heard tonight was disappointing, Pierson said. The fire station decision was also made on the consent agenda with no information, he said. Of the three Council Members, he said he doesn't know of a time when they didn't vote with the Mayor. Citizens need to look at the four-year term because they have no way to hold the Mayor accountable with a four-year term instead of a two-year term. He said the City needs to go back to a two-year term so citizens can hold the Mayor accountable along with the rest of the Council. Brian Turbeville, 997 Wildhurst Trail, said he started attending meetnlgs when the Fire Department became an issue. He heard call after call for a public meeting but what started out as `we're thinking about it, this is a good decision if we decide to start our own Fire Department' and despite call after call for a public meeting, statements suddenly turned into `this decision was made and it's irresponsible not to vote with me'. The Council is to be held to a higher standard, he said. The Council's contempt for the people who show up to speak is daunting, he said, stating that people who say what Council Members want to hear can go more than three minutes and are allowed to turn and talk to the audience. Those who don't say what the Council wants to hear get shut down. Kevin Reilley, 3405 High Lane, said what everyone wants is an effective Fire Department. If it is not an effective Department today, he said, steps to fix it would not be as expensive as the cost to start a new Department. For Orono to go on its own duplicating the whole process is not cost effective. Kelly Prchal, 475 Watertown Road, said she doesn't get it. She doesn't understand why the Council continues to move forward without public support, and why they are alienating Orono from a sister city. She said the community is being fractured by the Council's actions. She asked why after 100 years, Orono is not willing to negotiate in good faith with Long Lake to share services and why is it a good idea to isolate Orono and have other cities not willing to work with it. She said she also doesn't understand why the Council could steal the Fire Chief from Long Lake and then have him do a needs assessment that MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. his livelihood depends on. Orono is a lovely community, but the Council is breaking it apart and spending millions and millions of dollars to do it. Denise Reilley, 3405 High Lane quoted the judge's recent order for contempt directing parties to resume mediation and mediate in good faith and said if the judge could hear this meeting with some Council Members saying the City is going forward, she wonders if the judge would hold the Council in contempt again. She said she did not think contemptuous behavior is entitled to official immunity, suggesting if the Council continues to not follow the judge's order, Council Members will be paying themselves; the City will not pay it. Kathy Sweetman, 475 Deborah Drive, quoted Thomas Jefferson as saying the govermnent you elect is the government you deserve. She said she now could see tonight what her previous inattention to the functioning of the City government has wrought. She said the meeting that night was a display of disfunetion, obfuscation, and gaslighting. The citizens are responsible for electing them, she said, calling on all residents of Orono to pay attention to what is happening and vote to replace this Mayor and his acolytes in the next election. Kr-ista Berbig, Long Lake, said this topic is very emotional for her. She said the Fire Department has an amazing, well -trained group of men and women who are serving the community. Just last week they responded in the middle of the night and saved a house from burning down, she said. It's those on the outside promoting the narrative that they are being pitted against one another. Most people don't understand that firefighters aren't sitting at the station waiting to respond. They have to get in their cars, come to the station, put on gear, and wait until they have a crew, she said. Long Lake is trying to test duty crews and so far, Orono is not paying a dime for that. She added, to expect the Long Lake Chief to come into this hostile environment is outrageous. He can read what was written in the paper about Cody Farley. Why would he come here, she asked? Kelly Grady, Long Lake, said at the last meeting the Mayor claimed Cody Farley fabricated his affidavit to the court and that it was a complete lie. Anyone who knows Farley knows he would not put himself and his farnily in that position facing a Mayor who is currently involved in litigation with residents, she said. She said the court found interactions between Orono and Farley violated the injunction and were attempts to intirnidate him. Orono's allegations that Long Lake is creating a hostile work environment for the firefighters is based on nothing more than hearsay and is refuted by the sworn depositions, she said, adding that is a quote from the judge. Orono is attempting to blame Long Lake for the loss of a Long Lake recruit when that was entirely due to the actions of Orono, she said, calling on the Council to stop using firefighters as pawns to further their narrative. Brad Erickson, Corcoran, offered congratulations to Long Lake for the court ruling. He said Crosby made his case for him by calling him out a few meetings ago. He said now he's being called an anti-Semite. Crosby called him a Nazi and now people on Nextdoor are calling him an anti-Semite, he said. He said he just wants to know what Crosby was doing in Washington DC on Jan. 6, 2021. He said he has video of Crosby at the Minnesota Governor's mansion. He said the Council couldn't make a good decision if it slapped them in the head, adding judges don't award legal fees for no reason. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Crosby said he was looking forward to the City tree lighting. When it comes to the Fire Department there have been a lot ofhalf-truths going on. Page 9 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 27, 2023 6:00 o'clock p.m. Benson said at last year's Truth in Taxation hearing someone talked about being retired and said their income would not be increasing, and it is important to keep that in mind. Earlier this month she attended Interfaith Outreach Community Connection Day. They offer programs for those experiencing food insecurities and other difficulties in the western suburbs, she said. Orono is not immune to poverty. There will also be a community food and toy event for WeCAN through the Long Lake Fire Department. There is more information on the City of Long Lake website. She noted the City of Plymouth recently received a national award for public engagement. Veach and Johnson had nothing to report. Walsh said the same 12 people who show up at the meetings don't like them. He said the area's State Representative recently said it is amazing what Orono can do with a budget. He pointed to the City's planning and action with roads, infrastructure, and support of police. He said the tree lighting is coming up on Saturday, Dec. 2. Coffee with the Mayor will be Dec. 13. He quoted from the press release of the attorney's representing the City in the City of Long Lake lawsuit saying that the City of Orono respectfully disagrees with the court's decision and consistent with the court's order, will continue to persevere with establishing the Orono Fire Department and that he expects the City to prevail. ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved, Johnson seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 7:51 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. llenms Walsh, Mayor Page 10 of 10