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CHM 02/25/2002 - 00027158CITY OF FRIDLEY CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING February 25, 2002 CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Gordon called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Don Findell, Anita Gerrety, Craig Gordon, Harry Heck, Carter Hendricks, Janet Johnson, Nancy Jorgenson, Maynard Nielsen (7:07 p.m.), Regina Querimit (7:45 pm) Cindy Soule, Francis Van Dan (7:09 p.m.) Members Absent: Bill Holm, Deborah Monden, Dale Warren, and Suzanne Warren Others Present: Deb Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison APPROVAL OF AGENDA: MOTION by Commissioner Soule seconded by Commissioner Hendricks to approve the agenda. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF JANUARY 28, 2002, CHARTER COMMISSION MINUTES: MOTION by Commissioner Heck seconded by Commissioner Hendricks to approve the January 28, 2002, Charter Commission Minutes. Commissioner Heck requested two small changes to minutes on page 2, remove the repeated word petition and change uniformed to uninformed. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. As Commissioner Van Dan was not available immediately, the commission began discussing the glossary. Chairperson Gordon said that eminent domain should be added to the glossary. The commissioners discussed referring to the state statute or defining the term. The West Publishing definition was briefly discussed. Commissioner Van Dan was now present and the Commission turned the discussion back to Administrative Matters. 1. ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS Commissioner Van Dan reported that the Nominating Committee had met over the phone to determine the nominations of officers for the neat year. The Nominating Committee recommended as follows: Craig Gordon, Chairperson Don Findell, Vice Chairperson Debora Monden, Secretary Adopted March 25, 2002 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 25, 2002 PAGE 2 Chairperson Gordon opened the floor for further nominations. Commissioner Van Dan said there were two others that may be interested in the position, but because they were on the nominating committee, they would have had to resign from the nominating Committee. Seeing no further nominations Chairperson Gordon declared the nominations closed. Commissioner Hendricks MOVED and Commissioner Jorgenson seconded a motion to accept the nominations as reported by the Nominating Committee. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Commissioner Van Dan MOVED and Commissioner Jorgenson seconded a motion recommending unanimous election of nominations. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. Discussion of Glossary /Index The Commission returned to the discussion about eminent domain. Commissioner Van Dan expressed her concern with the West Publishing definition and the different legal interpretations of eminent domain. She felt there was one place that was controversial, which was the word power and the payment of just compensation. The Commission further discussed the issue and it was determined to have two separate definitions to review: one without "payment" and one without the word "just" as defined by West Publishing. It was suggested that staff send another request to Community Development to have them outline the procedures the city would use if an eminent domain proceeding is used. Commissioner Soule suggested adding the term Charter and Chairperson Gordon suggested adding the term Charter Commission to the glossary. Commissioner Van Dan reviewed the recent attempt in Columbia Heights regarding the City Council's desire to abandon the Charter, but could not abolish it without an election. Commissioner Hendricks suggested using the recent Newsletter article that was written about the Charter Commission when looking for a definition. He suggested possibly having a short executive summary at the beginning of the Charter explaining what the Charter was. Chairperson Gordon said a short definition should be part of the glossary, but possibly the history of the Charter Commission could be explained in the summary. Commissioner Van Dan suggested describing the power of the Commission, that it was a separate body appointed by the District Court, was an advisory body to the Council. She described Senator Betzold's petition amendment that changed the election process in the city. Commissioner Jorgenson said in the past the City Council had discussed televising all commission meetings. Commissioner Hendricks said that if meetings were televised, the Commission might have to change the format of their meetings. He suggested highlighting the Commission by having City Manager Bill Burns interview someone from the Commission on his weekly cable show. Adopted March 25, 2002 CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING OF FEBRUARY 25, 2002 PAGE 3 Commissioner Jorgenson said the Council met with the other commissions to review the results of the survey that was sent to all commissioners and said she would like to see the Charter Commission included in this process. She also would like to see the Commission formulate a relationship with the City Council. Commissioner Findell did not think the Commission could draw an audience to watch their meetings if they were televised. There was further discussion and an informal vote was taken to see if there was any interest in televising the meetings. There was no interest in televising the meetings, but there was interest in working with the City Manager to highlight the Commission on one of his cable shows. Ms. Gerrety wondered if people knew they could voice a concern at a Charter Commission and suggested putting that in the definition. Commissioner Hendricks suggested an outreach program to the community letting people know the Charter Commission works and how it can work with other groups. There was further discussion about community outreach and what the Commission's intent was. It was determined it was mainly to inform the community about the Commission and the process. Ms. Skogen was requested to look at the state statutes and newsletter article for a definition of Charter and Charter Commission. Commissioner Heck suggesting defining what a sinking fund was (Section 7.15.2). Commissioner Soule said she could possibly define what a sinking fund was and e -mail it to Deb. Commissioner Jorgenson suggested possibly defining discretionary funds and nondiscretionary funds. The terms will be added to the working glossary for the neat meeting. ADJOURNMENT: MOTION by Commissioner Hendricks seconded by Commissioner Heck to adjourn the meeting. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON GORDON DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED AND THE MEETING WAS ADJOURNED AT 8:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, "aA94J Debra A. Skogen, City Clerk/Staff Liaison Deborah Monden, Secretary Adopted March 25, 2002