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landowner decides to take the City to court. (The latest amendment is the one that deals with <br />density and traffic issues.) <br /> <br />Commissioner Swokowski arrived. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec reported that he met with the Metropolitan Council regarding the City's <br />Comprehensive Plan which will be presented in October or November of this year, and the Met <br />Council has already informally told him that if the Comprehensive Plan is presented the way they <br />believe it is going to be, it will be turned down as it does not meet with the compliance criteria. <br />Mayor Gamec also spoke with attorneys from the League of Minnesota Cities and <br />representatives of the American Metropolitan Municipalities and they feel the City of Ramsey <br />could be facing a problem. If the Metropolitan Council does not approve our Comprehensive <br />Plan, they could actually sue the City. With regard to cost - it could be anywhere from $20,000 <br />to $30,000 for an injunction to $80,000 to $150,000. The Met Council, whether we like it or not, <br />has a strong authority. He noted when the City of Andover did not receive a $500,000 clean-up <br />grant because they did not go along with the Metropolitan Council Livable Clean-up Act. Mayor <br />Gamec talked about the poor turnouts for special elections and the fact that people appear to be <br />uninformed on what the Charter amendments are really about. He noted that in the bill Council <br />is hoping to get before the legislature, it states that prior to petitioners getting resident signatures, <br />they will bring the proposed amendment to the Charter Commission. The Charter Commission <br />could not make them change the language, however, following discussion, the petitioners and the <br />Charter Commission may mutually agree on it. The bill also would allow for information to get <br />out to the citizens and would also, hopefully, cut down on special elections because there would <br />be a 12-month period before an election would have to be held. The information that would go <br />out to the residents would have to be written legally and fairly - not one-sided. Mayor Gamec <br />pointed out that a fear of the residents has always been that City sewer and water will be forced <br />upon them. City Council is not trying to do that. The main effort is to get City utilities in the <br />commercial and industrial areas of the City and in the new developments. He explained the <br />support he needs from people in the legislature in order to get it presented as a bill for the public <br />hearings. <br /> <br />Chairperson Peterson stated that when the proposed bill was presented, it stated that a Charter <br />amendment would not have to have a special election. However, upon review, it was noted that, <br />depending upon timing, the election could be delayed for over two years. This now states it will <br />be held within one year and it also does not take away Council's authority to call a special <br />election. Mr. Terry Hendriksen, author of three Charter amendments since 1995, expressed a <br />concern about spending tax payers money to put out information on amendments. He felt that <br />would be like campaigning with tax payer's money. Chairperson Peterson pointed out that by <br />the petition writer presenting the language to the Charter Commission prior to getting signatures, <br />if a language change is agreed upon, it is possible that the amendment may not even have to be <br />put on a ballot. <br /> <br />Commissioner Anderson expressed.concern about getting anything through the legislators that <br />deals with retroactivity. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec responded that the August 1995 date was set by State Statutes. <br /> <br />Charter Commission/January 15, 1998 <br /> Page 2 of 3 <br /> <br /> <br />