Agenda - Council - 04/24/2007 - Laserfiche WebLink

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