Minutes - Council - 03/12/1996 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmembers Beahen and Beyer agreed to meet. Case #17: Proposed Charter Amendment City Administrator Schroeder stated that Council was presented with a petition for a change in the Charter and staff has verified the number of registered voters who signed the petition. City Attorney Goodrich stated that this certification of the number of voters signing the petition accomplishes what State Statutes requires the City Clerk to do. Ben Deemer, 15401 Sunfish Lake Boulevard NW, Ramsey, stated that way back when the City was adopting the Charter, he was not in favor of it. Now we should not abuse it. He stated that he contacted the City Attorney's office and suggested that the three subdivisions in State Statutes Chapter 410 are not separable. The Clerk should not even be looking at the petition because they have not been submitted in the proper order. It says to present the petitions to the Charter Commission and they present it back to the City Council and that's when the signatures get verified. Mr. Goodrich argued that under the State Statutes, we followed the correct procedure; however, he stated he could solicit a name from Ben Deemer of whom he spoke with from the Attorney General's office. He added that the City is not setting a date at this time se we will have the opportunity to check the validity of Mr. Deemer's statement. Mr. Schroeder inquired how this relates to the certifying of the signatures to which Mr. Goodrich responded it should not affect it at all. Councilmember Peterson inquired about this petition going to the Charter Commission. Mr. Goodrich stated that it is Mr. Deemer's opinion that it has to go to the Charter Commission. A summary would have to, but in his opinion, this is not necessary. Mr. Deemer read from a State Statute and declared that the petition should be provided to the Charter Commission. He felt that staff is getting ahead of the process by verifying the signatures. Mr. Goodrich stated that with regard to Subdivision 1, the Charter Commission is not to interpret or make change on the amendments because they have been brought in by petition. But if it was a summary of the amendment, they have to get involved. This is the entire amendment. He added that he would talk to the Attorney General's office on this subject. Terry Hendriksen, 15631 Ramsey Boulevard NW, Ramsey, expressed agreement with Attorney Goodrich. He stated that he has had two attorneys render opinions on this. This is the entire Charter amendment and this is the same procedure we followed in the past. No further action was necessary by the Council. Case #18: Development of Residential Waste Management of Minnesota, Inc. Parcel City Administrator Schroeder stated that about two to three years ago, the City gained control of about 100 acres north of the landfill due to a lawsuit settlement. About 80 acres is slated to park development and 21.7 acres is not. We have effective control right this minute and we suspect the cloud of property will be removed. Two years ago, November 1993, City Council directed we contact residential developers who have worked in Ramsey regarding development of this parcel. He included the Request for Proposals (RFP's) for purchase and development of this property. City Council/March 12, 1996 Page 16 of 21