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Home My WebLink About08-11-2025 CC Minutes ��0 �0 Minutes City Council Regular Meeting Monday,August 11, 2025,6:00 PM tt'e' s t�oe�C City Council Chambers 2780 Kelley Parkway, Orono, MN 55356 Mayor Tunheim called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Orono City Council members present: Mayor Bob Tunheim, City Council Members Alisa Benson, Steve Persian, and Jacqueline Ricks. Members absent: Jon Schwingler Staff present were City Attorney Soren Mattick, City Admin strator/Engineer Adam Edwards,Finance Director Maggie Jin, and City Planner Matthew Karney. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY HRA Annual Meeting The Bylaws of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority(HRA)provide for a meeting to be held annually. Due to staff turnover,the last meeting was in 2023. and the HRA was asked to approve the minutes and elect officers. Mayor Tunheim opened the HRA annual meeting. Benson moved,Ricks seconded to approve the agenda and the minutes from March 13,2023,and elect officers(Tunheim as chair,Benson as vice chair, and Jin as secretary).VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. The HRA annual meeting was adjourned at 6:03 pm. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Benson asked to add a discussion of a LID liaison to the agenda. Ricks asked to add Parks Commission Leadership. Tunheim asked to defer the closed session on the performance of the administrator to the next meeting in the hope of having the full Council present. The agenda was approved as amended by consensus. CONSENT AGENDA 1. City Council Minutes 2. Claims/Bills 3. Annual Appointments—Resolution 7603 4. Fireworks Display, SEP25-000008—August 20 5. Contract—School Resource Officer—Westonka School District 6. Resignation of Part-Time Firefighter 7. Hire Part-Time Firefighters 8. Alcohol Sales—Compliance Review 9. Request for Proposals—Health Insurance 10. Request for Proposals—Recycling Collection 11. LA25-000016, 2545 Dunwoody Avenue, Conditional Use Permit—Resolution 7605 12. LA25-000023, 1390 Rest Point Road,Variances—Resolution 7606 13. LA25-000069. 2300 6th Avenue N., Green Haven Farm,Final Plat—Resolution 7604 Page 1 of 4 7'9-0'V Minutes City Council Regular Meeting ,, Monday,August 11,2025, 6:00 PM c`� City Council Chambers 2780 Kelley Parkway, Orono, MN 55356 14. LA25-000026, 1080 Ferndale Rd.West,Variances—Resolution 7607 15. Donations for Park Signs—Resolution 7602 16. Hire Seasonal Employee Benson moved,Persian seconded,to approve the Consent Agenda as submitted.VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. PRESENTATIONS 17. Gillespie Center Update Rhonda Nelson, Executive Director,gave a presentation on the Gillespie Center and its mission and programs. The City of Orono donated$12,000 to the Gillesp'e Center for 2025. She requested another donation for 2026. The request was referred to the budgeting process. PUBLIC COMMENTS Kelly Kaiser,3043 Tuxedo Blvd; Kendall Nygard, 1386 Res Point Rd; Jay Nygard, 1386 Rest Point Rd; Lyle Shaw, Shadywood Rd; and Bill Docherty,2540 Sandstone Lane,provided comments. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT REPORT 18. LA25-000025, 1530 Orchard Beach Place,Variance The City Council is requested to review the Staff report,receive a presentation, and discuss a variance request to build a pool cabana on a patio currently under construction. Staff had recommended denial. The Planning Commission recommended approval based on a service road easement, creating an unusual average Lakeshore setback. The Council discussed the item and asked questions of staff and the applicant's representative,Josh Koller, Southview Design. Councilmembers noted that practical difficulties had not been met. Benson moved,Persian seconded,to deny the variance request. VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. FINANCE DIRECTOR REPORT 19. Request for Proposals—Professional Auditing Services The City Council is requested to review the Staff report,receive a presentation,and discuss seeking Requests for Proposals for auditing services. Finance Director Jin explained that the City seeks new RFPs for auditing services every five years. Persian moved, Ricks seconded,to approve seeking RFPs for auditing services. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. CITY ATTORNEY REPORT Page 2 of 4 Minutes City Council Regular Meeting Monday,August 11, 2025, 6:00 PM ' �` City Council Chambers 2780 Kelley Parkway, Orono, MN 55356 (q'CfS Ho¢t City Attorney Mattick said the City staff are continuing to work with the collective bargaining units. CITY ADMINISTRATOR/ENGINEER REPORT 20. Work Session and Council Training Schedule City Administrator Edwards went over the upcoming work session schedule and topics and updated the Council on current projects. LAKE IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT LIASON Benson suggested that since the addition of a Stubbs Bay Lake Improvement District(LID), the City consider assigning a non-voting liaison to LIDs to keep communication open and share resources. For the two existing LIDs, accepting the liaison would be voluntary,but could be established as part of the bylaws of any future LIDs. Council consensus was to direct staff to ask the two existing LIDs to accept a board liaison from the City. PARKS COMMISSION LEADERSHIP Ricks and Persian expressed concerns with the leadership of the Parks Commission. The Council directed the City Attorney to look into Commission appointment rules and procedures. COUNCIL COMMITTEE REPORTS Councilmembers reported on attending a LID board meeting and progress on the Joint Powers Agreement for fire services. MAYOR/COUNCIL REPORT Mayor and Council provided reports. The City Council discussed the Holiday Tree-lighting in its current form and the amount of staff time and expense involved. The consensus of the City Council was to cancel the tree-lighting for this year and take time to study what that event or another community engagement event could look like in the future. CLOSED SESSION The Closed Session for the annual performance review of the City Administrator was postponed to August 25, 2025,to ensure participation by all Council members. ADJOURNMENT Ricks moved,Persian seconded,to adjourn the meeting at 8:00 p.m. to Monday, August 25, 2025, at 6:00 p.m.VOTE: Ayes 4,Nays 0. Page 3 of 4 4`0A/O Minutes City Council Regular Meeting A ,, Monday,August 11,202f, 6:00 PM het c` City Council Chambers 2780 Kelley Parkway, Orono, MN 55356 7kEs H 00. ATTEST ‘ ...--s ti� r2 Z-- Christine sian, C lerk Bo Tunheim,Mayor Minutes approved by Orono City Council August 25, 2 25. Meeting videos and transcripts available at oronomn.gov Page 4 of 4