Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutApril 21, 2005, Charter Minutes COLUMBIA HEIGHTS CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES APRIL 21, 2005 7:00 P.M. MURZYN HALL CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Vice President Mike Patiuk at 7:00 p.m. ROLL CALL Members present: Bob Buboltz, Barb Gertsema, Mike Hartel, James Johnson, Nancy King (7:05), Kathleen Korday, Scott Kyseth (7:10), Carolyn Laine, Mike Patiuk, Lori Ritzko, Dan Vogtman (7:05) Members absent and excused: Nicole Druckrey, Joe Sturdevant, Joseph Sturdevant Members absent and unexcused: Clara Schmidt Current membership stands at fifteen members, which is the maximum. Also present: Carole Blowers, Recording Secretary; Council Liaison Mayor Gary Peterson. The City Attorney was not present at the meeting (out of town). APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Commissioner Hartel, seconded by Commissioner Korday, to approve the minutes as presented for January 20, 2005. Motion passed unanimously. CORRESPONDENCE The Recording Secretary reported the following correspondence and events since the January meeting: ?? The Charter Commission’s 2004 Annual Report was forwarded to the Chief Judge and City Clerk. ?? Correspondence was sent to the League of MN Cities Research Department by the Recording Secretary to obtain information on cities of like size about wards/districts, including advantages and disadvantages. When this information was received, it was mailed to commission members and the City Attorney for their review before tonight’s meeting. ?? Commissioners Nancy King and Bob Buboltz asked the Chief Judge to reappoint them for another four years, and her oath of reappointment was forwarded to the Chief Judge. ?? Lori Ritzko’s application was forwarded to the Chief Judge for consideration of appointment to the Charter Commission; the Chief Judge appointed her; a welcome packet was prepared for Lori, and her oath of office was forwarded to the Chief Judge. ?? Applications from four citizens were forwarded to the Chief Judge, and Carolyn Laine was appointed. A welcome packet for Carolyn was prepared as well as her oath of office; her oath of office was forwarded to the Chief Judge. th ?? The April Charter Commission agenda was prepared and mailed to members on April 12, 2005. ?? The Recording Secretary submitted a response to the City of Plymouth regarding questions they had on councilmembers being able to also be members of the Charter Commission. Page 1 April 21, 2005 ?? The Recording Secretary gathered copies of all ordinances affecting the city charter since 1999 for a person who requested this information. ?? The Recording Secretary prepared new charter pages to reflect changes of Ordinance No. 1480 passed on January 24, 2005, (second reading) by the City Council and will go into effect on April 24, 2005. ?? The Recording Secretary prepared memos to the Mayor/Council, all division heads, etc. to advise of the charter change and the appropriate page to change in their copy of the city charter. ?? The Recording Secretary prepared a memo to all Charter Commission members and the Columbia Heights school librarians to advise of the charter change and the appropriate page to change in their copy of the city charter. STATUS OF MEMBERSHIP The Charter Commission currently is at its maximum membership—15 members. Commissioners Buboltz and King both have been reappointed to another four year term. Our newest members are Carolyn Laine and Lori Ritzko. All members briefly introduced themselves and they talked about how long they have lived in the community. New membership rosters were sent out to members in their last agenda packet. OLD BUSINESS Discussion of Chapter 2, Section 15, Official Bonds The proposed change to Chapter 2, Section 15 was passed by the City Council in January of 2005 and will become effective April 24, 2005. Commission members were given copies of the pages to reflect this charter change for their individual copies of the city charter. Discussion of Chapter 3, Section 19, Procedure on Ordinances and Chapter 3, Section 22, Signing and Publication of Ordinances and Resolutions In January, the City Attorney reiterated that these sections of the city charter were recently discussed at the time the refinancing of the existing bonds for Parkview Villa was being discussed. Our Financial Consultant, Mark Ruff, from Ehlers and Associates, had commented on the long period of time (30 days) for an ordinance to take effect. In this particular instance, the city could lose out on some great interest rates for the refinancing of the existing bonds because of the 30-day wait period. So, there has been discussion not to shorten the length of time an ordinance takes affect for all ordinances, but only if it is pertaining to “refinancing” of current bonds, which would greatly streamline this process. Per request of the Charter Commission members in October, in January the City Attorney put together some new language which is stated below. He stated that after reviewing this issue and the city charter, he feels that this change could be addressed simply by adding a sentence in the last paragraph of Chapter 7, Section 72 of the city charter. The Charter Commission passed, on their first reading in January of 2005, that the last paragraph of Chapter 7, Section 72 should read as follows: Before any bonds are sold, there shall be a four-fifths vote of the council authorizing the issuance of the bonds by ordinance. However, bonds to be sold for the refinancing of any Page 2 April 21, 2005 existing bonds shall be authorized by four fifths vote of the council by resolution. Following its passage, the ordinance shall be published at least once by publication in a legal newspaper having general circulation in the city. The registered voters of the city shall have thirty days from the date of publication to initiate a referendum on the ordinance authorizing the issuance. Subsequent to the passage of the authorizing ordinance, its publication, and the thirty-day period, the bond sale shall occur within sixty days. During said sixty day period, the City Manager shall have the authority to establish a special meeting upon at least seventy-two (72) hours advance notice to each member of the council. At that special meeting, the City Manager is authorized to receive the actual bid(s) or sale of the bonds to be negotiated. The actual award or sale of the bonds shall be approved by a resolution passed by a four-fifths vote of the council. Commissioner Vogtman stated he didn’t think the charter should make it too easy for the Council on the issue of bonding, and the council should use due diligence. Bond rates can fluctuate (go higher or lower), but he didn’t feel they would fluctuate that quickly. He suggested changing the waiting period to 10-15 days instead of changing the whole process or method. Some felt we should do something on this issue before the next bonding event may arise, so that the city could take advantage of possible savings. Commissioner Korday views the stock market as more volatile than the bond market. She wondered what other cities have in their charters regarding this issue, and feels more research needs to be done. The Recording Secretary will contact the Research Department at the League of Minnesota Cities to learn how other cities handle this subject, and to obtain any further information they may have regarding this issue. Mayor Peterson felt we should ask our financial advisors (Mark Ruff from Ehlers and Associates) to clarify if it has been an issue the way the city charter currently reads. After further discussion, it was the consensus of members present to invite our city’s financial consultant to come to our next Charter Commission meeting to discuss this issue further. Motion was made by Commissioner Vogtman, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, to table the second reading on this proposed charter change until we have more information. Motion passed 6-5-4 absent. NEW BUSINESS Upcoming 2005 Community Prayer Breakfast Mayor Gary Peterson invited all commission members to attend the 2005 Community Prayer Breakfast which will be held on May 11, 2005, at 7 a.m. at Murzyn Hall. The guest speaker is Andrew Wyatt, and musical selections will be provided by Youth Encounter. Tickets are $20 and are available at City Hall, Bobby & Steve’s Autoworld, and from the Mayor. Discussion on Topic of Wards/Districts in the City In January, the Recording Secretary was asked to contact the League of Minnesota Cities for any research they had on this issue, including pros and cons and size of cities that do have wards/districts. All commission members received this packet of information prior to tonight’s meeting for their review. Different ideas, such as having some representation at large and some from districts, were discussed. There are definite advantages and disadvantages to having the city divided into wards or districts. Some major advantages were cited, such as campaigns could be more focused and less costly, therefore possibly raising Page 3 April 21, 2005 interest levels for candidates who have limited funds. Being responsible for calls/complaints about a certain area of the city could also be considered an advantage for some to run. It was stated that some citizens feel they are left out if they don’t have a councilmember representing them from their area. The Mayor stated at a recent council meeting a resident suggested we increase the number of people on the city council and since we are talking about wards/districts, it would probably be a good idea to discuss this idea as well. Some felt since we are a growing community and first ring suburb, considering more councilmembers could be a good idea. Another suggestion was to increase the Mayor’s term from two years to four years. Vice President Patiuk stated he had some questions for the City Attorney regarding this issue, i.e., if there has to be a specific number of people in each ward, what would determine the boundaries, and questions about the process itself so we do not invite litigation. The City Attorney could provide more information to the commission on these questions at our next meeting. The Mayor stated he would like to see more young people run for council and more people get involved from our different cultures to reflect our city’s diversity. If the city was equally divided in four districts size-wise, the question was asked what would the population be in each quadrant. There would have to be a fairly equal number of voting residents in each quadrant. The Recording Secretary will contact the Public Works Department to see if their GIS system could provide this information for our next meeting. Charter Commission members were also encouraged to discuss this issue with their neighbors and friends to get more informal input on this subject before our next meeting. NEXT MEETING DATE The next Charter Commission meeting will be July 21, 2005, at Murzyn Hall at 7 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Motion by Commissioner Hartel, seconded by Commissioner Korday to adjourn the meeting at 7:58 p.m. Motion passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, Carole J. Blowers Recording Secretary Page 4 April 21, 2005