Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.06.03 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR January 6, 2003 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ristow at 7:00 p.m. Judge Karen Asphaug administered the Oath of Office to Councilmembers Fogarty and Soderberg. Their term will be from January 1, 2003 - December 31, 2006. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Ristow led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Ristow, Cordes, Fogarty, Soderberg, (vacant seat) Audience: Andrea Poehler, City Attorney; Ed Shukle, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Dan Siebenaler, Police Chief; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Kim Soderberg, Mike Heinzerling, Cheryl Retterath, Mike Zitek, Kent Newburg, Jim Bell, Joanne & Jim Payne, John Fortney, Bruce & Sherri Conner 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty pulled item 7a) Council Minutes (12/16/02 Regular) to abstain from voting. MOTION by Cordes, second by Soderberg to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Introduce Promoted Employee - Finance Ms. Linda Barlage was promoted from part-time to full-time in liquor operations. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Soderberg, second by Cordes approving Council Minutes (12/16/02 Regular). Voting for: Ristow, Cordes, Soderberg. Abstain: Fogarty. MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Soderberg, second by Cordes to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: b) Adopted RESOLUTION RI-03 Historic Preservation Consultant Services- Administration c) Received Information School and Conference - Police Council Minutes (Regular) January 6,2003 Page 2 d) Received Information Capital Outlay - Police e) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Council Vacancy - Administration A vacant council seat exists due to Councilmember Strachan's appointment to State Representative. Staff requested Council establish a procedure by which to appoint a person to fill the vacancy. Council was provided with past Council minutes where this situation had occurred previously. Councilmember Soderberg stated the last time this occurred was in 1988. At that time applications were taken. Prior to that time there were no clear indications as to the process. Because there was a large field of qualified candidates, Councilmember Soderberg felt the third highest vote-getter in the 2002 elections should be considered to fill the vacant seat. Mr. Bill Fitch had made a comment at a previous Council meeting that we do have a representative form of government, which is true. Councilmember Soderberg stated we all want to serve the wishes of the people. We all know what the residents want. There was a 90% voter turnout, and a number of residents have spoken in favor of this position. Mayor Ristow and Councilmember Cordes had previously stated they were not opposed to this idea, but wanted to wait until this meeting to hear Councilmember Fogarty's position. Councilmember Fogarty stated this situation has never occurred. In 1988 the elections were two years prior, not two months prior. She felt the residents saw this as a foreseeable outcome when they voted. They knew there could be a desire to appoint the third highest vote-getter which Councilmember Fogarty felt should be done. Waiting for those results was the right thing to do. The voters spoke, one incumbent was clearly re-elected, one clearly wasn't, and in between you find the seven other candidates. Councilmember Cordes stated the citizens of Farmington voted for two candidates. Those two candidates are sitting up here. Contrary to how Councilmember Soderberg read the past minutes, past practice has been if there has been a vacant seat on the council, it has been an appointment process. Councilmember Cordes stated the minutes do not reflect this, but she has had the opportunity to talk to quite a few people who were involved in those proceedings. Most of the proceedings had been done by application process, thus the precedence has been set. Councilmember Cordes stated she has had a few months Council Minutes (Regular) January 6,2003 Page 3 to think about this and after referring to state statutes and guidelines set by the League of Minnesota Cities, it is stated the Council is not obligated to appoint any candidate previously defeated in the election for the office. Councilmember Cordes stated she supported going with past precedence and do an application process and appoint from the applications received. Councilmember Soderberg stated this does not change the fact we are making appointments, merely the mechanism by which we do an appointment. Taking the third highest vote-getter from the election does indicate we are making an appointment. It is true we are not obligated to take any defeated candidate, but we did have nine candidates, unprecedented in our history. Councilmember Cordes stated she has been coerced into voting for two things she did not want to vote for in the past year, and that will not be done tonight. She wanted to go with the application process. Mayor Ristow stated there was another appointment in the 90's when Councilmember Derington left and Dirk Rotty was appointed. This occurred in 1992. Councilmember Cordes stated there was also another situation where Councilmember Jack McKnight resigned due to the illness of his wife, and there was an appointment process. Councilmember Soderberg stated all of these are appointment processes, it is just a matter of how you get there. Some of the earlier minutes indicate the members threw out a name and called the individual to see if he was interested in serving. Had it not been so close to the election, and given the controversy, it takes all ofthe politics out of it and places it back into the hands of the voters. We know what their wishes are and we are compelled to follow their wishes, which is to appoint the third highest vote-getter. Especially when it comes to something as significant as choosing a representative which is one area in which the residents have direct involvement. Mayor Ristow stated the bottom line is residents only voted for two. Councilmember Strachan resigned effective January 6,2003. Ifresidents had voted for three it would have been a different situation. Mayor Ristow stated he is not ruling out the third person. We had a situation not too long ago looking for a City Administrator. There was an in-house person. The Council at that time decided to go through past practice. That was to hire the consulting firm, and the interested employee contacted each Councilmember to get into the pool. We interviewed them and did it the fair way. That is how we appoint our boards. Mayor Ristow stated he has two good people interested so far, a letter has been received from David McKnight and Bill Fitch. Councilmember Soderberg stated Council can review all kinds of applications. Mr. McKnight has an extensive list of qualifications, but an impressive resume does not necessarily meet the same criteria that the voters would exercise. They are the ones who make a determination as to qualifications. Any resident of the city is a qualified candidate. Councilmember Fogarty pointed out in all the precedent she read, the person has to be appointed, there is no other way to do it. The people in the past have never had the option of appointing a third highest vote-getter. There never was a third highest vote-getter as many people ran Council Minutes (Regular) January 6,2003 Page 4 unopposed in those years. To say it has always been by application, they had no other options than to take applications as they did not have a large field to choose from. They most certainly did not have a third highest vote-getter. To say this is how it has always been done, well of course it is. They had no option to do it another way. Mr. Jim Bell, 201 Maple Street, stated if Council appoints one ofthe candidates who ran for the election, they are still going through an appointment process. That is no different than what Council has done in the past. Mr. Bell felt ifthere are candidates now stepping forward, like Mr. McKnight and Mr. Fitch, why weren't they running at the election? The nine candidates that ran for that election were interested in the seat, they are interested in city government, they went through the process, they campaigned, they got their word out. That is very important that people were able to see that. Joanne Payne got over 1200 votes out of the total. The public did say she was the third best candidate in their minds. That is very important. Speaking to Councilmember Cordes, Mr. Bell stated Councilmember Cordes has said she had been coerced twice into making bad decisions. Mr. Bell stated he cannot imagine a Councilperson being coerced into making a decision. He feels she voted the way she wanted to vote. Councilmember Cordes stated at some point in time, those decisions will come out, but she is under legal advice not to publicly state those. Mr. Bell stated it is very, very difficult, unless there are deals being made at a Council table, to be coerced when you have a vote in front of you. Councilmember Cordes stated you can think what you want to think right now. Mr. Bell stated he will be curious to hear about that. Councilmember Cordes stated she will be more than willing to tell about it when she can. Mr. Bell stated his opinion is if Council does use the appointment process and not take the third highest vote-getter, at least take one of the nine candidates that had the initiative to run for the seat. Mayor Ristow stated he appreciated Mr. Bell's comments and for others who know Jim, he is no longer a city employee and he is retired. MOTION by Soderberg, second by Fogarty to appoint the third highest vote- getter in the election. Voting for: Fogarty, Soderberg. Voting against: Ristow Cordes. MOTION FAILED. MOTION by Cordes, second by Ristow to solicit applications for the vacated Council seat. Councilmember Soderberg stated if Council is going to take applications for the vacated Council seat, he would like the Council to agree that the appointment be by unanimous vote, and if it is not unanimous the person will not be appointed. Councilmember Cordes stated she would not agree to that, because at one point in time they made a unanimous vote and there were also stipulations on that that were not followed. So she would not agree to that. Mayor Ristow stated he also would not agree to that. Councilmember Cordes stated she would hope it would be unanimous, but she would not agree to that. Mayor Ristow stated in the past it has been unanimous. You know as well as I do, as Councilmember Cordes indicated, there are some legal ramifications that Council Minutes (Regular) January 6,2003 Page 5 are out there and once they are cleared up, I will be the first one to tell my side of the story and you know what the side of the story is, but I cannot tell it right now, because I was advised by legal counsel not to. When it comes out, it will come out. We will see who is sitting where then. Voting for: Ristow, Cordes, Soderberg. Voting against: Fogarty. MOTION CARRIED. The deadline for applications for boards and commissions and for the vacant Council seat is January 31, 2003. The date for interviews for boards and commissions will be set at the February 3,2003 Council meeting. Mayor Ristow and Council agreed all interviews could be held on the same day. Council directed staff to place an ad in the newspaper. b) Annual Organizational Matters - Administration State law requires Council address annual organizational matters during its first regular meeting of the year to make certain designations and appointments. Item 10b(3), appointing a City Attorney was postponed to the January 21,2003 Council meeting. Items 10b(II), appointing a Councilmember to the ALF Ambulance Board, item lOb(12), appointing a Councilmember to the CEEF Committee, and item lOb(13) appointing a Councilmember to the FarmingtonlEmpire Planning Advisory Committee were postponed to the February 18 Council Meeting, when a full Council would be present. COUNCIL MEETING ANNUAL ORGANIZATIONAL MATTERS JANUARY 6, 2003 10b(1). MOTION by Soderberg, second by Fogarty that Councilmember Cordes be designated as Acting Mayor from January 6, 2003 through December 31, 2003. Voting for: Ristow, Fogarty, Soderberg. Abstain: Cordes. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(2). MOTION by Cordes, second by Fogarty that the Farmington Independent be designated as the official publication from January 6, 2003 through December 31,2003. APIF. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(3). MOTION by , second by appointing the firm of Campbell Knutson, Joel Jamnik as City Attorney from January 6,2003 through December 31,2003. Voting for: Against: Motion Carried. (This item was postponed to the January 21, 2003 Council Meeting). 10b(4). MOTION by Soderberg, second by Cordes appointing the firm of Bonestroo, Rosene and Anderlik as the City's Consulting Engineer for the year of 2003. APIF. MOTION CARRIED. Council Minutes (Regular) January 6, 2003 Page 6 10b(5). MOTION by Fogarty, second by Cordes that the Anchor Bank of Farmington, League of Minnesota Cities 4M Fund, RBC Dain Rauscher, Miller Johnson Steichen Kinnard, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Wells Fargo Investments and Salomon Smith Barney be designated as the Official Depositories from January 6, 2003 through December 31, 2003. APIF. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(6). MOTION by Soderberg, second by Fogarty that the City Council By- Laws be approved as presented. APIF. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(7). MOTION by Cordes, second by Fogarty that all sworn personnel in the Farmington Police Department be designated as process servers for the calendar year 2003. APIF. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(8). MOTION by Cordes, second by Soderberg that the following bonds now on file in the office ofthe City Clerk be approved: United Fire and Casualty Public Employees Blanket Bond January 1,2003 through December 31,2003 $250,000.00 APIF. MOTION CARRIED. 10b(9). RESOLUTION NO. R102-02 Establishing Fees and Charges for licenses and permits for 2003 was adopted December 16, 2002. 1 Ob(l 0). Appointments to Boards and Commissions - A date to interview candidates will be set at the February 3,2003 Council Meeting. 10b(1l). MOTION by , second by , to appoint Councilmember as the primary and Councilmember as the alternate representative to the ALF Ambulance Board. Voting for: Against: Abstain: Motion Carried. (This item was postponed to the February 18,2003 Council Meetingfor the presence of a full Council. Councilmember Soderberg was the alternate so he will serve on the board in the interim). 10b(12). MOTION by , second by to appoint Councilmember as the City's representative to the CEEF Committee. Voting for: Against: Abstain: Motion Carried. (This item was postponed to the February 18,2003 Council Meetingfor the presence of a full Council). Council Minutes (Regular) January 6, 2003 Page 7 10b(13). MOTION by , second by acknowledging the designation of Councilmember, Kevin Carroll, Staff member and Todd Larson, Planning Commission member on the Farmington/Empire Planning Advisory Committee. Voting for: Against: Abstain: Motion Carried. (This item was postponed to the February 18, 2003 Council Meeting for the presence of a full Council). c) Schedule Strategic Planing Retreat - Administration Staff requested Council schedule a leadership and strategic planning retreat for 2003. Proposed dates were March 29 or AprilS, 2003. A similar retreat was held in 2002. Councilmember Cordes stated she is unavailable for those two dates. She would like to have a retreat, but in all fairness to the new Councilmember, she would like to wait to set a date until that person is appointed. Mayor Ristow stated it is very important that all Councilmembers attend. Last year only 2 or 3 Councilmembers attended, and it does not do much good if all members are not there. This item was tabled until the February 18,2003 Council meeting. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Cordes, second by Soderberg to adjourn at 7:45 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /l .~ ~y'" ~~#~~ }y7<-L&2J c--' Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant