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<br />Councilmember Look asked Interim City Administrator to comment on whether he has flexed <br />Council muscle. <br /> <br />Interim City Administrator Nelson replied Councilmember Look has asked staff to do things at <br />his direction, which is why she said the request would need to come.to the Council as a body. <br />The fact that it came up at the end of the Ramsey3 meeting and did not come to this body is not <br />for her to say. She clarified her understanding of the issue is that according to the policy there <br />will be no charge for the use of the room due to Councilmember Look sponsoring the meeting. <br /> <br />Consensus of the Council was to direct staff to proceed with the rental of the municipal center <br />meeting room as requested by Mr. Ramsey at no charge due to the meeting being sponsored by <br />Councilmember Look as is consistent with the rental room policy. <br /> <br />Acting Mayor Strommen stated in the future she would appreciate the professional courtesy to <br />come to this body first if there is an issue with a City process, and that it would be taken care of <br />within the course that is consistent with the Code of Conduct. <br /> <br />3) Charitable Gambling <br /> <br />Interim City Administrator Nelson stated currently, the City has three charitable gambling <br />organizations within the City. They include the Ramsey Lions, Climb Theater and Anoka Ice <br />Arena. The City of Ramsey last updated the ordinance for charitable gambling in 1994. Staff is <br />requesting consideration of revisions to the ordinance to reflect the current economic trade area <br />and business volume in Ramsey. Staff has met with representatives of the Ramsey Lions Club <br />with regard to their concerns about the broad definitions of trade area and location of the entity <br />conducting charitable gambling business in the City. Ms. Nelson advised the specific areas of <br />proposed changes include: <br />· Ramsey's ordinance does not require the physical site for the organization headquarters <br />or the registered business office to be located in the City. Given the growth in the <br />Ramsey community and organizations over the past 13 years, Council may consider <br />revising the ordinance to require the organization be from Ramsey (or a smaller defined <br />regional area). This would be consistent with the neighboring communities of Andover; <br />Anoka recently removed this requirement from their code. Council could consider <br />grandfathering in those organizations that currently hold a license but are not located in <br />Ramsey or could review those applications at such time that they are up for renewal. <br />· In the current ordinance, the trade area is defined very broadly. Given the growth in the <br />Ramsey community since the ordinance was last revised, Council may consider reducing <br />the trade area to those communities that are more reflective of today' s trade area, such as <br />Ramsey, Anoka, and Bums Twp. The current ordinance includes Ramsey, Anoka, <br />Andover, Bums Township., Elk River, and Dayton. <br />· Currently, the City collects 3% of net profits to the City's Lawful Gambling Fund. In a <br />review of percentages collected by other communities, most are in the 10% range. Staff <br />would recommend consideration of an increase to 5%. <br />· Currently the City allows for two entities to conduct charitable gambling activities in an <br />establishment. Staff would not recommend increasing this at this time. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session I April 3, 2007 <br />Page 9 or 14 <br />