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Councilmember Elvig questioned the amount that was billed on the last statement. <br /> <br />Finance Officer Lund explained that the statement included charges from January to May and the <br />bill was just over $23,000. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kurak noted that they are not treating Ramsey Town Center, LLC any differently <br />than they treat other developers in the City. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that she felt that the City has done their residents a disservice <br />by not involving them in the budget crisis sooner. She wants to make sure that they <br />communicate better with the residents throughout the budget process and listen to them. Ramsey <br />County sent out a newsletter explaining the decisions the County had to make and what budget <br />cuts they were. looking at which is something they could include in the Ramsey Resident to keep <br />the residents informed. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kurak stated that once people understood what the City was facing they seemed <br />to be more agreeable with the franchise fee. The other thing people don't understand is that there <br />are funds within the City that they are not able to touch. In the future a better explanation should <br />be provided to the residents of the different funds and what they can be used for. <br /> <br />Councitmember Elvig requested participation from the utility companies to help the City during <br />the financial crisis by not passing the entire fee onto their customers. <br /> <br />Amie Hendriksen, CenterPoint Energy Minnegasco, stated that that op~tion has been asked at <br />several meetings, but they are required to pass that fee onto the consumer. <br /> <br />Jim Gromberg, Connexus Energy, explained that they are a cooperative, which means that all <br />106,000 customers are members and owners and they would be saying that all of them would be <br />subsidizing the City of Ramsey, which would not happen. The franchise fee will be a cost that is <br />passed onto the customers in Ramsey. <br /> <br />Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember Pearson, to introduce Ordinance <br />#03-07- and Ordinance #03-07- establishing franchise fees on gas and electric utilities at <br />the rate of 4.5 percent of total revenues. <br /> <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, and Councilmembers Elvig, Pearson, Cook, Kurak, <br />and Strommen. Voting No: Zimmerman. <br /> <br />Case #8: <br /> <br />Introduce Ordinance to Amend City Code Chapter 9 (9.02 Definitions, 9.03 <br />Administration, 9.20.21 B-1 General Business, 9,20.22 B-2 Highway Business, <br />9.20.23 E-1 Employment, 9.20.24 E-2 Employment, 9.20.26 Mixed Use <br /> <br />City Council/July 8, 2003 <br />Page 17 of 30 <br /> <br />P77 <br /> <br /> <br />