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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012 06-13 CHCA i CHARTER COMMISSION JUNE 13, 2012 Brooklyn Center, Minnesota City Hall Council/Commission Conference Room 1 . Call to Order: 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call 3. Consideration of Minutes of the May 10, 2012, Meeting 4. Old Business a. Consideration of resolution for ballot language for Chapter 9 Charter referendum i. Report of City Attorney b. Consideration of resolution on adopting ward system for City Council seats i. Report of City Attorney 5. New Business a. Any new business? 6. Adjournment CHAPTER 9 EMINENT DOMAIN Section 9.01. POWER TO ACQUIRE PROPERTY. The city may acquire by purchase, gift, devise, or condemnation, any property, real or personal, corporeal or incorporeal, either within or without its corporate boundaries, which may be needed by the City for any public use or purpose. Easements for slopes, fill, access, drainage, sewers, building lines, poles, wires, pipes, and conduits for water, gas heat, and power may be acquired by gift, devise, purchase, or condemnation in the manner provided by law. Subdivision I Public use; public purpose. (a) "Public use" or"Public purpose" means exclusively (1) the possession, occupation, ownership and enjoyment of the land by the general public, or by public agencies, (2) the creation or functioning of a public service corporation; or (3) mitigation of a blighted area, remediation of an environmentally contaminated area,reduction of abandoned property, or removal of a public nuisance. (b) The public benefits of economic development, including an increase in tax base, tax revenues, employment, or general economic health, do not by themselves constitute a public use or a public purpose. Section 9.02. PROCEEDINGS IN ACQUIRING PROPERTY. The necessity of the taking of any property by the City shall be determined by the Council and shall be declared by a resolution which shall describe such property clearly and state the use to which it is to be devoted.. In acquiring property by exercising the power of eminent domain, the City shall proceed according to the laws of this state, except as otherwise provided in this charter. Section 9.03 PAYMENT OF AWARD. The city shall, within seventy days (70) days after the filing of the commissioner's report, or in the case of an appeal within forty-five (45) days after the final judgments or stipulations of settlement thereon, pay any award of damages allowed pursuant to this section and State law whether by the commissioners or upon appeal. If the award is not paid the court, on motion of the owner of the land, shall vacate the award and dismiss the proceedings against the land. Section 9.04 CITY MAY DISMISS PROCEEDINGS. The city may dismiss all or part of the property being acquired in a condemnation proceeding so long as the dismissal is filed with the proper court prior to the expiration of the time for an appeal or before entry of judgment if an appeal has been taken. When the proceeding is dismissed, the City shall pay all reasonable costs and expenses incurred by thee condemnee including attorney's fees. The city has a 60-90 day period from the initiation (by resolution) of the city council of eminent domain to discuss proceedings unless an extension is stipulated and agreed to by parties of interest. Section 9.05. CITY MAY TAKE ENTIRE PLANT If the city condemns a public utility which is operated at the time of the commencement of the condemnation proceedings as one property or one system, it shall not be necessary in the condemnation proceedings or any of the proceedings of the Council, to describe or treat separately the different kinds of property composing such system; but all of the property, lands articles, franchises, franchise values, and rights which comprise such system may, unless otherwise ordered by the court, be treated together as one property and an award the damages on condemnation. This does not prevent the City, when the plant and property are separable into distinct parts, from acquiring only such part or parts thereof as may be necessary in the public interest. i Chapter 2 Amendment Brooklyn Center City Charter Section 2.03a ELECTIVE OFFICERS. The Council shalee composed of a Mayor and four Council members who shall be registered�voters of.Brooklyn Center. The Mayor and who shall be elected at large ar4ee'ach other Gogncil member shall be elected from one each of four differenteoraphic city wards 4",.A person elected from a particular ward must reside in that ward. Each Council member shall serve for a term of four(4) years The Mayor shall serve for a term*, f,,four(4) years. The Council shall be canvassers,bof the election of the Mayor and the t lM Council members. t Section 2.03b WARDS:,,,The:city shall:bc divided.into four' ards generally corresponding to;the'four geographic quadrants of thetity. A ward is composed of a compact and contiguous territory. Section O�c�REDITRICTING PRODURES The boundaries of the wards are CE established by ordinance. The`populatim6f the wards must be as equal as practical with a variance of no`06ater, or no less, than five percent of the equal number. If a federal census'showAhat a ward no longer meets this requirement, the council must:chane the;ward boundaries to achieve compliance within the time period required by state law. If a ward boundary change places a ward council member's residerice,in a different ward, the council member will continue in office until the next'general municipal election, at which time the office must be filled for the remainder of that term. Section 2.03d ANNUAL MEETINGS. Each ward council member shall hold at least two citizen meetings annually for purpose of receiving citizen input from ward residents. Section 2.02 BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. There shall be no separate administrative board of health, library board, park board, or any other administrative board or commission, except for civil service commissions and boards and for the administrations of a functionj oiritly with another political subdivision. The Council shall itself be and perform theduties and exercise the powers of such boards and commissions .`The Council ma"y;however, establish boards or commissions to advise the Council with respect to'any.municipal function or activity, to investigate any subject of interest to the City, or to perform quasi-judicial functions. Members.of such adyisory.boards or commissions shall be nominated by Council members front each ward',Vith equal representation and the Mayor may nominate one member from:city at large,. City of Brooklyn Center CHARTER COMMISSION Court Appointed The Charter Commission reviews the existing charter,considers proposed changes and makes recommendations to the City Council, and safeguards the concept of Home-Rule under the existing charter and Home Rule provisions in the state statutes. Commissioners serve a four-year term. Chairperson and fourteen members. [Minn. Stat. 13.601, Subd. 3(b) states that once an individual is appointed to a public body the following data are public: (1)the residential address;(2)and either a telephone number or electronic mail address where the appointee can be reached,or both at the request of the appointee.] Stanley Leino Robert Marvin Eric Pone Chair 2012 4711 Twin Lake Ave (29) Vice Chair 2012 7118 France Ave N (29) 763-535-5498 Public Relations Chair 2012 763-234-6137 marvin.racomcast.net 4747 Twin Lake Ave (29) fl. f�17(c�msn.com 1/19/11-1/18/15 763-971-0114 3/13/97-9/19/15 ericpone�msn.com Harold Middleton 9/19/11-9/19/15 Gary Brown 5418 Oliver Ave N (30) Secretcrny 2012 763-549-5594 Renita Whicker 7012 Willow Lane N (30) hjamlifer�comcast.net 6331 Beard Ave N#1 (29) 763-560-6338 11/30/98-9/19/15 763-560-1078 gar y-julie-brown�comcast.net renitawhicker�hotmail.com 6/25/04-4/26/16 Edward Nelson 9/19/11-9/19/15 5236 Great View Ave N (29) Ellen Davis 763-536-8963 Bee Yang 5301 Russell Ave N#206 (30) edward_c_nelsonwahoo.com 7224 Major Ave N (29) 763-560-2308 1/6/05-6/26/12 763-566-2161 (h) louisdavis2d.com 763-202-5710 (c) 9/19/11-9/19/15 Mary O'Connor 1/19/11-1/18/15 5429 Lyndale Ave N (30) Gail Ebert 763-561-8038 Mark Yelich 1613 Irving Lane N (30) 8/2/10-8/1/14 6018 Beard Ave N (29) 763-566-6803 763-486-6001 ebesfamily2cmsn.com Eileen Oslund 1/19/11-1/18/15 10/30/07-1/3/16 Audit Chair 2012 6000 Ewing Ave N (29) 1 vacancy Nathan Lackner 763-537-2858 5300 Girard Ave N (30) 10/30/01-1/25/14 Updated 4130112 763-438-0702 nathanlackner�gmail.com 1/19/11-1/18/15 (Draft) MINUTES OF May 10, 2012 BROOKLYN CENTER CHARTER COMMISSION MEETING Called to order by Chairman Stan Leino at 6:40 PM. Roll Call: Secretary Gary Brown called roll; Gary Brown, Stan Leino, Gail Ebert, Robert Marvin, Ed Nelson, Mary O'Connor, Eileen Oslund, Eric Pone, and Mark Yelich were present. Excused Absence: Harold Middleton Absent: Ellen Davis,Nathan Lackner, Renita Whicker, and Bee Yang Consideration of Minutes Motion by Marvin, seconded by Ebert to approve minutes of January 19, 2012 and February 4, 2012 (combining the two commission meetings), unanimously approved 9-0. Motion by Marvin and seconded by Pone to approve April 12, 2012, minutes as submitted, approved unanimously 9-0. Old Business: Attendance of Commissioner Lackner. Secretary Brown reported that he had sent a letter to Commissioner Nathan Lackner on April 1611i regarding missing three consecutive meetings, but he did not receive a response by mail or by phone. Motion by Yelich, seconded by Pone to direct secretary Brown to contact District Judge regarding absences of Commissioner Nathan Lackner,recommending that Commissioner Lackner be removed from the Cominission due to lack of attendance, approved unanimously 9-0. Proposed changes to Charter regarding Eminent Domain. After discussion by several commissioners, a motion by Marvin seconded by Yelich to ask City attorney prepare language to place on the ballot(if city council rejects proposed changes. Chairman Leino opened the floor to discussion and after all commissioners had an opportunity to speak a motion to call the question by Brown, seconded by Marvin, passed unanimously 9-0. The original motion was then voted on and approved unanimously 9-0. Presentation by Michael Parks, 3218 6411i Ave.N., Brooklyn Center. Mr. Parks spoke about the diverse community but lack of diversity on the City Council. He indicated that he felt that as a result of the entire City Council and Mayor being elected at-large that it was difficult to know who to talk about a problem. He stated that it required talking to all council members. He felt that the citizens needed better access to the council. He pointed out that council members seem to reside in the same area of the city. He expressed concern of the legality of at-large representation versus ward representation. He also spoke of the difficulty to run for council since you have to canvass the entire city not just one portion that you would represent. He felt it was expensive to run city wide and that people get discouraged. He felt an amendment to the charter calling for ward representation would make Brooklyn Center a better place to live. New Business: Council decision on Chapter 9 No action was taken after discussion. Subcommittee on At-large vs. Ward Representation The subcommittee consisting of Yelich, Pone, Ebert,and Marvin, gave their report with recommendations to divide the city into 4 wards,maintaining the same number of council members, and with the Mayor still being elected at-large. They further presented language that included having the council members having more influence on the appointments to various boards and commissions.Motion by Nelson, seconded by Yelich to accept the report, approved unanimously 9-0. The commission then worked on minor language changes to the proposed amendment to the Charter Section 2; Section 202 Boards and Commissions, 2.03a Elective Officers,203b Wards, 203c Redistricting Procedures,and Section 203d Annual Meetings (see attached). Future Meeting Dates: The next meeting will held on June 13 at 6:30 PM, with the Chairman given discretion to reschedule due to timing of possible charter question on the ballot. Adjournment: Motion by Brown, seconded by Yelich to adjourn at 8:55, approved unanimously 9-0. Submitted for consideration, Gary E. Brown, Secretary Amendments to Chapter 2 of Brooklyn Center City Charter Section 202. BOARDS AND COMMISSIONS. There shall be no separate administrative board of health, library board, park board, or any other administrative board or commission, except for civil service commissions and boards and for the administrations of a function jointly with another political subdivision. The Council shall itself be and perform the duties and exercise the power of such boards and commissions. The Council may, however, establish boards or commissions to advise the Council with respect to any municipal function or activity, to investigate any subject of interest to the City or to perform quasi-judicial functions. At least one member of each advisory board or commission shall be nominated by Council members from each ward and the Mayor may nominate the remaining members from the city at large. Section 2.03a. ELECTIVE OFFICERS. The council shall be composed of a Mayor and four Council members who shall be registered voters of Brooklyn Center, and v•x"^ shall be elected at IaFg^. The Mayor shall be elected at large and each other Council member shall be elected from each of four different geographic citv wards. A person elected from a particular ward must reside in that ward. Each Council member shall serve for a term of four (4) years. The Mayor shall serve for a term of four (4) years. The Council shall be canvassers of the election of the Mayor and the Council members. Section 2.03b WARDS. The city shall be divided into four wards generally corresponding to the four geographic quadrants of the city. A ward is composed of a compact and contiguous territory. Section 2.03c. REDISTRICTING PROCEDURES. The boundaries of the wards are established by ordinance. The population of the wards must be as equal as practical, with a variance of no greater, or no less, than five percent of the equal number. If a federal census shows that a ward no longer meets this requirement,the City Council must change the ward boundaries to achieve compliance within the time period required by state law. If_a ward boundary change places a ward Council member's residence in a different ward, the Council member will continue in office until the next general election, at which time the office must be filled for the remainder of that term. Section 2.03d. ANNUAL MEETINGS. Each ward Council member shall hold at least two citizen meetings for their respective ward annually for the purpose of receiving citizen input from ward residents.