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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-03-21 CHC MIN . City of Stillwater Charter Commission March 21, 2005 Present: Mary Ruch, chair Wayne Anderson, Richard Colemier, Ned Gordon, and Patrick Needham Absent: Gene Bealka, John Lund, Dorothy Molstad (she arrived at 8 p.m. as the meeting was adjourned) and Dwayne Nelson Ms. Ruch called the meeting to order at 7 p,m. Approval of minutes: Mr. Needham, seconded by Mr. Gordon, moved approval of the minutes of Nov. 15,2004. Motion passed unanimously. . Review of ordinances referenced in the City Charter: There are a number of City ordinances and state statutes referenced in the Charter with no title. Mr. Gordon had volunteered to develop a list of those ordinances by title, Mr. Gordon stated he had not completed the task and asked that this matter be deferred until the next Commission meeting. He also suggested that perhaps the listing of state statutes should be referred to City Attorney Magnuson, as he was unsure as to a resource to use. Ms. Ruch pointed out that state statutes can be pulled up on the Web. Mr. Anderson suggested searching the Minnesota Reviser of Statutes site, which he said is easy to use. Mr. Gordon said he would have a list of both the local ordinances and statutes available for the next meeting, Mr. Gordon also had volunteered to review the Charter for grammatical consistency. He distributed a list of suggested language changes, Mr. Gordon noted that the changes only addressed grammatical issues, such as capitalization, singular/plural agreement and gender references, and in no case changed the substance of the Charter language. Much of the discussion centered on the use of the terms "officer" and "official." One of the proposed changes was changing "office," believed to be a typo, to "officer" in Section 1.6.4. Because "official" is defined by the Charter and "officer" is not defined, it was suggested that in that section "office" be changed not to "officer" but to "official." Mr. Colemier said if that is done, there are a number of other references to "officer," in Sections 708 and 709, that should be changed as well. After discussion it was decided the easiest approach to use would be to incorporate "officer" into the definition of "official" - "officer or official" - rather than list all of those reference changes individually. . There was some discussion as to how to proceed and whether the proposed language changes would require a Charter amendment. Ms. Ruch pointed out that previously the Commission had suggested several minor revisions to the Charter to correct some inconsistencies and the City Council had made those revision simply by action on its Consent Agenda. Mr. Gordon noted that it appears the Commission's goal is to get the Charter posted on the City Web site, Ms. Ruch said she would talk to City Clerk Diane Ward about making the suggested corrections and how to proceed with getting the . Charter on the Web site. Mr. Gordon suggested that if the Charter utilizes the Web site a good resource would be Stillwater Area High School students; the Brown's Creek Watershed District enlisted the assistance of high school students in developing the Watershed District Web site, he said, and the students did a terrific job. Mr. Gordon moved to submit the changes as delineated in his list of March 21,2005, to the City Council for possible action/approval. The changes included the addition of the language defining "official or officer." Mr. Colemier seconded the motion; motion passed unanimously. Mr. Gordon then suggested waiting to submit the changes until everything is completed, including the appendix referencing City ordinances and state statutes by title which should be complete by the Commission's next meeting. It was agreed to include this matter as an item on the next meeting agenda. . Attorney Magnuson's comments/memo: Ms. Ruch distributed Mr. Magnuson's memo, which included his response to several Commission questions. In the memo, Mr. Magnuson suggested rather than attaching the document "How to Amend the Charter" as an addendum to the Charter, the Commission should consider a language change referencing Minnesota Statute 410.12 which designates the method of amending a Charter. Ms, Ruch suggested that the Commission should pursue posting the "How to Amend the Charter" document on the Web site, stating she thought citizens should be aware of the process and other issues such as the cost of holding special elections. Mr, Anderson said he didn't think the City would have a problem with posting the document on the Web site. Ms. Ruch said if the Commission encounters a problem in posting the document on the Web site, it can go back to pursuing a Charter amendment. Mr. Magnuson also responded to a question about City-owned property in the area of the Aiple property and Dick Anderson's building. Mr. Magnuson's memo indicted that Mr. Anderson owns the property that his building was constructed on. Mr. Colemier had obtained information from the County that indicated otherwise, and there was some discussion about that fact. Mr, Colemier said he would revisit the matter with County records. Ul'date on publications available for Charter Commission members: Mr. Gordon stated he had visited the League of Minnesota Cities office. One of the League's attorneys had sent him two document, a handbook describing the form and structure of Minnesota Home Rule Charter Cities and a research memo with Model Charter and commentary on each section of the Model Charter, which he said included some very helpful information. Mr. Gordon said he thought Commission members should have copies in their files and also that a copy should be available at City Hall and the Stillwater Public Library. Ms. Ruch suggested asking the City to make copies of the pertinent sections of the documents if doing so does not violate copyright laws. Mr. Gordon said he would talk with the League of Minnesota Cities regarding the cost of the documents and whether it might be possible to make copies. . . . . Mr. Anderson suggested the Commission should make an effort to determine what reference materials each member should have, as well as a larger set of documents available for the Commission's reference use, Ms. Ruch said she thought members should have the National Civic League's "Guide for Charter Commissions." Cost of the Guide is $10. Mr. Colemier pointed out that back in 2000 the Commission had gone on record favoring the purchase of 10 copies of the Civic League's publication. Mr. Anderson, seconded by Mr. Needham, moved to direct Ms. Ruch to purchase 10 copies of the "Guide for Charter Commissions;" motion passed unanimously. Other business: Mr. Gordon said he would look into what the Brown's Creek Watershed District did to get its Web site up and running. Ms. Ruch said she would talk with City Clerk Ward to determine how receptive the City might be to receiving assistance from the High School. It was decided the next meeting should be scheduled for June 20, 2005. On a motion by Mr. Anderson, the meeting was adjourned at 8 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Sharon Baker Recording Secretary