Minutes - Council - 12/13/2005 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Strommen stated when the City first started working on a sister city relationship they discussed the City coming up with a purpose and goals for this relationship. They have yet to see those goals. If this is a sister city relationship the City has to have some idea of what they want to see out of that relationship, especially if they are being asked to contribute funds. She believes very strongly in non-profits, but the Council needs an idea of why they are contributing to this foundation. She would like to see the Council determine the purpose statement and goals they previously discussed. Gary Levine, 5810 168th Avenue NW, stated the Ramsey Foundation is just beginning this process and has started the paperwork for a foundation. The Board has not been formed yet, but the foundation is still looking at forming the Board with businesses and residents of the City, as well as other interested parties. The foundation is in a very preliminary stage and is asking for seed money to get the organization going. They are looking at developing a foundation for the City of Ramsey; the sister city has brought that to the forefront, but there are other areas where there could be funding that maybe should not be from the taxpayer base. That is the purpose for forming the foundation. City Attorney Goodrich reviewed the League of Minnesota Cities guidelines for the expenditure of City funds and public purpose. He advised the Council needs to determine that this is a public purpose and it will benefit the public as a whole before making a contribution, particularly since the foundation is not yet formed formally. Councilmember Strommen stated the Council has not completed its work in determining the purpose and goals of the sister city relationship. If the City is going to contribute to this foundation there needs to be an agreement on how it will serve the public. Councilmember Elvig concurred. He commented it is not even certain that this foundation can generate its own funds, as them are not any businesses involved at this time. From the other standpoint, the City has invested dollars in the sister city relationship with things like travel, and at that time it was stated there should be a plan drafted with an objectives list of the benefits and what the City hopes to obtain by this. Councilmember Jeffrey stated he is aware of the foundation and some of things they want to do. One thing the foundation discussed is the sister city relationship, but it can be much broader than that. He thinks the foundation is ready to launch; they have provided a budget. However, he agrees with Councilmember Strommen that the Council has not identified what they want to see the foundation do. The foundation can likely do a great job of raising funds, but it would be nice to see letters of interest from businesses. He suggested the foundation attend a work session, and that the foundation and the Council work together to create the goals and move this forward. He stated he is very comfortable with the discussion that goes on around the table with the foundation. Councilmember Cook agreed there were goals that were supposed to come forward for the sister city relationship. The foundation came about to be responsible for collecting monies for a sister city program. He thinks they are heading in the fight direction, hut agrees it needs to be certain that this $5,000 would go towards the public good. A start-up budget does not show them that City Council / December 13, 2005 Page 20 of 37