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2013-03-18 AgendaRichfield Charter Commission Work Agenda March 18, 2013 Richfield City Hall Bartholomew Conference Room 7:00 pm Call to order Roll call Old business- approval of minutes New business Consideration of amendment to effective date of zoning ordinances (3.09) Consideration of amendment to Chapter 5 Consideration of amendment to 8.04 Consideration of public purpose expenditures Consideration of amendment to election timeline Adjourment jichfield Charter Commission Meeting Minutes January 29. 2013 Present: Sid Rehwaldt. Bill Kilian. Kristal Stokes. Bill Bullock. Jeff Karr. Reed Bornholdt. Marty Kirsch, Donna Drummond, City Council Liason. Edwina Garcia and Corrine Heine.City Attorney Excused David Gepner, Ruth Jensen, John Easterwood, Gordon Herboldt, Gordon Hanson Absent: Amy Zabranskv. Mike Sandah' ae meetina was called to order by President Marty Kirsch at 7:00 Following the roll call, Marty Kirsch asked for a motion to approve the minutes from the January 30, 2012 meeting. Motion was made by Jeff Karr. seconded by Bill BUIIOCK IC approve the minutes as written. Motion passea. Did Business- none New Business: viarty Kirsch asked Corrine Heine. City attorney to address the group. She handed out an inrormationai memorandum (attached) and reviewed the items. #1 describes possible revisions to the elimination of the 30 day waining period on items that are not available for referendum. r2 describes possible revisions to referendum and initiative procedures. 43 describes possible revisions to the amounts listed that would require public hearings in relation to capital improvements on city- owned property=. #6 describes possible revisions to clarify City Council's authority related to public purpose expenditures. #7 describes possible revisions to conform the City Charter to recent legislative changes regarding election laws (There were no items #4 and #5.) Discussion followed about which items should be addressed by the commission. which should be addressed first and what time time line should be. Bill Kilian moved that the Charter Commission address all five items on the list. Bi Bullock seconded the motion. Motion passec °artv Kirsch suagested that Ms. Heini contact Kristal Stokes. secretary, when the necessary preparatory work is complete and the secretary will work with city staff to arrange a meeting time and place. E-mail addresses were collected and meeting night preferences were noted by the secretary. Marty Kirsch asked the nominating committee to present their slate of candidates. Bill 3ullock moved the following slate of candidates: Marty Kirsch as President, Mike Sandahl as vice president and Kristal Stokes as secretary. The motion was seconded by Cid Rehwaldt. There were no other nominations. Motion passed. There was no other new business. %/lotion to adiourn the meeting was made by Bill Kilian, seconded by Donna Drummond. The meeting was adjourned at 7:24 Kennedy Graven CHARTERED Corrine A. Heine 470 U.S. Bank Plaza 200 South Sixth Street Minneapolis MN 55402 (612) 337-9217 telephone (612) 337-9310 fax http://www.kennedy-graven.com cheinc trkennedy-gravcn.com MEMORANDUM TO: Richfield Charter Commission FROM: Corrine A. Hcine, City Attorney DATE: January 29, 2013 RE: Possible Charter Amendments 1. Amendment re affective date of zoning ordinances. Under 3.09, ordinances don't become effective until 30 days after publication. The purpose of the 30 -day waiting period is to allow time for a referendum petition. But under court decisions, referendum is not available for non -legislative acts or for zoning ordinances. Amendments to 3.09 and 5.01 would make the charter consistent with state law. 2. Amendment to Chapter 5. When the Best Buy project was proposed, some residents challenged the zoning ordinance by referendum. Ultimately, the court decided that referendum could not be used on zoning ordinances because state law preempted the charter. But during the referendum process, the city clerk and city attorney identified a number of provisions that needed clarification or strengthening. The charter commission discussed those changes several years ago but did not proceed with them. I recommend that the commission take another look. 3. Amendment to 8.04. The charter requires that capital improvements on city -owned property must be approved after public hearing and by ordinance, if the cost of the improvement exceeds $500,000 or the design and engineering costs exceed $75,000. City staff recommends that the commission consider increasing those monetary amounts. 6. Clarification of public purpose expenditures. The City's auditor recently raised an issue related to certain city expenditures. It may be advisable to make a minor change to clarify the city council's authority related to public purpose expenditures, although I have not yet determined what the specific change might be. 7. Amendment re election timeline. The Minnesota legislature has made several recent changes to state election laws. This needs further review, but if there are inconsistencies with the charter. we may want to amend the charter to conform to state law. 418149v1 CAU RC145-17 Richfield Charter Commission Work Agenda March 18, 2013 Richfield City Hall Bartholomew Conference Room 7:00 pm Call to order Roll call Old business- approval of minutes New business Consideration of amendment to effective date of zoning ordinances (3.09) Consideration of amendment to Chapter 5 Consideration of amendment to 8.04 Consideration of public purpose expenditures Consideration of amendment to election timeline Adjourment