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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2004-11-15 CHC MIN . . . City of Stillwater Charter Commission November 15,2004 Present: Mary Ruch, Chair Gene Bealka, Richard Colemier, Ned Gordon, Dorothy Molstad, Patrick Needham Absent: Wayne Anderson, John Lund, Dwayne Nelson. The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Chair Mary Ruch. Approval of Minutes: It was moved and seconded that the minutes of the July 19,2004 meeting be accepted. Motion passed. Review of the Charter Amendment Process: Everyone got a copy with their minutes. Ms. Ruch reported that she and Mr. Anderson had worked on it. Most of the information comes out of a research memo done for City officials by the League of Minnesota Cities regarding the Home Rule Charter Commission Procedure. Ms. Ruch reported that the Commission has not followed it in the past. If the Commission sends something to the Council in the form of an ordinance, the Council has to act in an expeditious manner. The Council, Commission or citizens can propose an amendment. It does not take a large number of citizens to propose something. Ms. Molstad asked if there were any recommendations made to the Council that were never acted on. Ms. Ruch responded that she wasn't sure ifthere were any or how many. Ms. Ruch commented that the special election was very expensive. Mr. Gordon mentioned that many of the ordinances are listed by number only so most people reading them would have no way of knowing what the subject was. He suggested having a cross- reference section. Mr. Colemier thought that was a good idea. Mr. Bealka asked if the ordi- nances were primarily directed at finance and personnel. Mr. Gordon thought it might be helpful to take all ordinances cited and put them in an addendum as a reference list. This would be useful to anyone looking at the document. Mr. Bealka asked if there were any kind of in-service work- shops for this. It was thought that the League of Minnesota Cities might offer them. Ms. Ruch said she had gotten information from the National League of Cities which was distrib- uted to new members as they came on to the Charter Commission. After a while, the materials ran out and there was no further money budgeted to replace them. Members are supposed to re- turn their materials when they leave the Commission but usually don't. Ms. Ruch said the mate- rials were worthwhile. Mr. Gordon stated he gets to St. Paul at least once a week so he'll try to stop in at the League and get some information. Ms. Ruch will look up the national organization from which she's ordered materials and get a list of publications. She said that she didn't think they were available locally. She added that the Commission has a $1200 annual budget with very little being spent so there should be funds to cover some materials. Ms. Ruch noted that page 5 of the League handout referenced A Guide for Charter Commissions, which she believed was the publication that she had ordered quite some time ago. City of Stillwater Charter Commission November 15,2004 Page 2 . Ms. Molstad asked if there was anything on the City's website. Ms. Ruch responded only the minutes were available. The charter is not. It was moved by Mr. Colemier that the Charter Amendment memo be added to the charter as an addendum so future members will have some idea how to do it. Mr. Gordon seconded the mo- tion. Discussion followed. Mr. Gordon inquired if it should it be a separate article. Mr. Colemier responded in the negative, advising it should be an addendum. Mr. Gordon remarked that the group had talked about changing the first paragraph. The motion was amended: the first and last sentence of the opening paragraph in the How the Charter is Amended memo should be included but not the text in between. Ms. Ruch asked if the ordinances referenced in the charter should be included in this motion. The group said no. Mr. Gordon felt those warranted more study, which he volunteered to do. Mr. Colemier called for the question. Ms. Ruch asked how many were in favor. Motion carried unanimously. Mr. Colemier asked what the Commission was driving for in the ordinance reference. Mr. Gordon said he will come back with a recommendation to either add as an addendum or simply attach as a guide for Charter Commission members. Ms. Molstad wondered how current her ver- sion of the charter was and how current the referenced ordinances were. . Ms. Ruch will contact Dave Magnuson about the form for the memo and if adding it to the char- ter would be considered an ordinance; if so, it will require action by the Council. In that event, the Commission may want to talk about it again. Discussion of Ordinance Regarding City Owned Land Ms. Ruch asked if everyone had a copy of the ordinance (#789). It was sent by separate mail- not included with the meeting packet. Mr. Gordon stated there was some additional wording in Article 16.02. When the ordinance was read last time, Ms. Ruch got the feeling that people thought it was incomplete. What did Mr. Gordon think? The Council has to prepare a 50-300 word description of the land for sale. Mr. Gordon said it was all in the charter. Ms. Ruch distrib- uted extra copies of the charter for people to review. Ms. Ruch said that she thought it was limited to land bordering the river and open space. Mr. Colemier reported that the City is conforming with the ordinance, based on his research. He re- ceived Exhibit A from the City Engineering Department. He pointed out on page 1 that some property was owned by the City and some was leased. Exhibit C was a list of the legal descrip- tion of everything on Exhibit A. The land in pink on Exhibit A was owned by the railroad and leased to St. Croix Boat and Packet; the City acquired the land subject to the lease. Exhibit D was the City's list of all the property it owns. Mr. Gordon said everything abutting the river was being handled properly. Mr. Colemier said the only property he did not get involved with was property the City owned in Wisconsin. Mr. Bealka noted that that property was in "perpetuity." Mr. Bealka was trying to find the boat launch (old ill #3245158) listed as belonging to the DNR. He will check with the City to find out exactly where it is. . City of Stillwater Charter Commission November 15, 2004 Page 3 . The lease of the property in question is $6000/year. Mr. Colemier said there are some businesses that pay $6000/month. The issue of where the bridge would be located had things unsettled for quite some time. Ms. Ruch reported that it appeared the property in question has only been owned by the City since 2000. The lease is an annual lease. Ms. Ruch felt the Charter Commis- sion had no influence on how the land was being used or what the City should do with it. The members agreed. Ms. Ruch thought the use of the property had changed. She noted that on page 3 of the lease there was language allowing for termination with 30 days' notice. Ms. Ruch won- dered if she should ask Dave Magnuson whether construction of the building complied with the ordinance and also the use of the land for parking. . Ms. Ruch asked if there was any further discussion on this issue. She thanked Mr. Colemier for doing a great job on researching the topic. Other Business Mr. Gordon remarked on grammatical errors in his charter materials which he will bring to the next meeting. Mr. Colemier said he should talk to Sue Moore to see if he could get a copy on a disk. Next Meeting: Ms. Ruch asked if three months out was reasonable. That would be the third Monday in March. . Motion made, seconded and approved to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned at 8: 10 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Barbara J. McDonald Recording Secretary /bjm .