Agenda - Council - 04/23/2024 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Howell said Councilmembers can reach out to other Councilmembers from other cities while City Administrator Hagen reaches out to other City Administrators. City Administrator Hagen added that he is a part of a City Administrator list with several hundred Administrators. He said he can send an email to everyone on the list to reach many cities at once to see who would be interested in signing on to this coalition. He noted that he can also focus his attention on other cities in the County and surrounding area. He would suggest putting a few week timeline on this to give other cities time to discuss joining a coalition. He said he and City Attorney Knaak can put together the initial opposition letter to send to the legislature. Councilmember Howell said if they feel like they can get a big enough coalition together then she would like to get all of the cities' Mayors together to have a meeting and report to any news outlet that will listen to put pressure on the legislature. Councilmember Olson asked if there is any idea what the critical timing is for these bills. Senator Bahr suggested having the initial draft letter done by the end of the week so they can send this out early next week and see if other cities would like to sign on. He said a 10 to 12 day window would be best to get this letter submitted before the bills go to the Conference Committee. Councilmember Musgrove asked if there is a specific date that the Conference Committees begin. Senator Bahr said the final deadline for Finance Committee bills is April 19. He noted there is not a fixed date when Conference Committees meet. Councilmember Musgrove asked if they should physically hand in their letters or send them by email. Senator Bahr said he can bring copies of the letters to distribute to every Senator on the floor. Motion by Councilmember Howell, seconded by Councilmember Musgrove,to direct staff to send a written statement to legislators opposing state legislation that restricts local zoning authority and draft a letter to circulate among any cities that would be in support of this. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Councilmembers Howell, Musgrove, Olson, Riley, Specht, and Woestehoff. Voting No: None. City Administrator Hagen said they can also send out social media posts that will share the City's stance on the matter. Councilmember Musgrove suggested sharing the final letter from the City on social media. City Administrator Hagen said they can post the letter on their website and link it to Facebook as well as provide links to the League of Minnesota Cities webpage. City Council Special Session/April 2, 2024 Page 6 of 7