03-18-2024
39
Charter Commission
March 18, 2024
7:00 PM
Fridley City Hall, 7071 University Avenue NE
Minutes
Call to Order
Chair Nelson called the Charter Commission meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Present
Audrey Nelson
Clifford Johnson
Doug Schmitz
Nikki Karnopp
Pam Reynolds
Rick Nelson (remote)
Ted Kranz
Mohammed Barre
Steven Kisner
Donald Findell
Valerie Rolstad
Kelli Brillhart
Greg Gardner
Absent
Ibsen Gabriel
Others Present
Beth Kondrick, Deputy City Clerk
Approval of Agenda
Motion to approve the amended agenda by Commissioner Rolstad, seconded by Commissioner Brillhart.
Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
Approval of Meeting Minutes
1. Amendments to January 9, 2024, Charter Commission Meeting Minutes
Commissioner Schmitz noted his attendance was mistakenly omitted from the January 9, 2024 meeting
minutes. Commissioner Kranz noted his attendance was listed twice.
Charter Commission 03-18-2024 Minutes Page 2
Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to approve the January 9, 2024 meeting minutes as amended.
Seconded by Commissioner Gardner.
Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
Administrative Matters
2. Resignation of Commissioner Granroos
Staff received an email from Commissioner Granroos resigning from the Commission. Staff noted the City
has one application on file from an interested candidate.
Commissioner Rolstad made a motion to accept Commissioner Granroos' resignation and invite the
applicant to the May meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Findell.
Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
The Commission asked staff to send a certificate of appreciation will be sent to Commissioner Granroos.
3. Preparing for the April 29, 2024 Joint Meeting with the Fridley City Council
Ideas shared by the Commission included:
Chapter 10 (franchises and related activities)
Review of Chapter 5, so far
Any resident feedback received by Council pertaining to the Charter
Discussion of the Council's 2024 goals, objectives and budget priorities
Councilmember Dave Ostwald's role as liaison to Charter Commission.
4. Charter Commission Training
An attorney from the League of Minnesota Cities will provide a presentation on the roles and
responsibilities of a Charter Commission at the May 20 meeting.
5. Commission Appreciation Dinner
The annual Commission Appreciation Dinner will be held on April 15 at Springbrook Nature Center at
6:00 PM. Official invitations forthcoming.
6. Election of Officers
The Nominating Committee presented the following slate of candidates:
Chair: Rick Nelson
Vice Chair: Clifford Johnson
Secretary: Audrey Nelson
Charter Commission 03-18-2024 Minutes Page 3
With no additional nominations from the floor, Commissioner Findell made a motion to elect the slate of
candidates as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Reynolds.
Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
Old Business
7. Chapter 5 Review
Staff presented the updated draft of Chapter 5 with the revisions and formatting as requested by the
Commission at the February meeting.
Staff reviewed the substantive changes proposed by staff as are outlined in the Agenda Report.
Actions directed by the Commission included:
Section 5.01 Definitions
Added definitions discussed at previous meeting.
Agreed to change "proposed initiative" to "proposed action" in the definitions of recall and
referendum to avoid confusion with the defined term "initiative."
Section 5.02 Powers Reserved by the People
Reformatted into bullet points per previous discussion.
Motion by Commissioner Gardner, seconded by Commissioner Rolstad to accept Section 5.02 as
revised. Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
The Commission later directed further clarification to the last sentence in Section 5.02 (Powers
Reserved by the People) regarding the role of State law and the State Constitution as authorizing
actions related to petitions for initiatives, referendums or recalls.
Section 5.03 Initiative, Referendum and Recall Regulations
The Commission directed further revision of Section 5.03 (Initiative, Referendum and Recall
Regulations) to examine:
o The $200 expenditure limit
o Section 5.03.3, as it compares to the last sentence of Section 5.02.
Commissioner Reynolds made a motion to table further discussion on Section 5.03 until the
September meeting. Seconded by Commissioner Rolstad. Commissioners Brillhart, Karnopp, Rick
Nelson and Rolstad voting no, all others voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried.
Commissioner Brillhart made a motion to table further review of Chapter 5 until the September meeting.
Seconded by Rolstad. Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried
unanimously.
8. Annual Review of Bylaws
As required in the bylaws, the Commission conducts an annual review of its bylaws.
Charter Commission 03-18-2024 Minutes Page 4
Commissioner Brillhart made a motion to accept the bylaws for another year. Seconded by Commissioner
Rolstad. Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously.
Future Meeting Topics/Communications
9. Future Meeting Topics
Chapter 5
Review of Chapter 10
Interview with candidate Dave Linton
Charter Commission training.
Adjournment
Adjournment Motion by Commissioner Karnopp to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Commissioner
Rolstad. Upon a roll call vote, all voting aye, Chair Nelson declared the motion carried unanimously. The
meeting adjourned at 8:49 p.m.
Disclosure: This document was created with the help of an AI System, Claude-3 and was reviewed for accuracy by Melissa Moore
and Beth Kondrick.