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08-27-2001 CHCMHutchinson Charter Commission Meeting Minutes Monday, August 27, 2001 Members present: Chair Chuck Carlson, Jean Peterson, Virgil Voigt, Roger Petersen, Linda Remucal, Carl Bretzke, and Ron McGraw Members absent: Walt Clay, Phil Graves, Mike Cannon, Steve Auger and Don Glas Others present: Dick Schieffer, City Attorney, Gary Plotz, City Administrator and Melissa Starke, Recorder Chair Carlson called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. Motion by J Peterson, second by Remucal, to approve the minutes from August 6, 2001 as presented with the exception of a spelling change in section 7.07. Motion carried unanimously. Dick Schieffer noted that the City Calendar did not have this meeting listed. Melissa Starke did verbally notify both the Hutchinson Leader and KARP/KDUZ about the meeting. Dick Schieffer also noted that since this meeting date was scheduled during the last public Charter Commission meeting we should be able to hold the meeting as planned. Chair Carlson also noted that Steve Cook contacted him and Mr. Cook would like to attend a future meeting to voice his concerns. A new draft of the Charter was disbursed to the group by Mr. Schieffer. There was review of Emergency Debt Certificates and City Indebtedness sections. Mr. Schieffer stated that he had referred to the statutes and included information on page 12. In regard to Emergency Debt Certificates there are two statutes that provide for these. Section 7.09 of the Charter is accurate as to what is present in the statutes. In Section 7.11 there is concern regarding City Indebtedness and how it limits the City's current borrowing. Mr. Schieffer suggested that Ken Merrill review the statutes and choose which should be included in the Charter. Review of Chapter 10 —Franchises: There was new language added for short-term uses. The group feels that the new language is very understandable and uncomplicated. 10.03 — A sentence was added (the first sentence) to clarify what kind of authority the City has. 10.04 — The statement "except where preempted by state or federal" was added in regard to the authorization of the City having the power of regulating and controlling the exercises of franchises. Motion by McGraw, second by Bretzke to approve Chapter 10. Motion carried unanimously. Chapter 11 Virgil Voigt explained that the Utilities Sub - committee had met several times in regard to the wording of Chapter 11. No changes were made to sections 11.01 — 11.04. The sub- committee held lengthy discussion in regard to section 11.05 (Transfer of Funds). The decision of the sub - committee was to replace this section with Minn. Statute 412.361 Subd.5. Mr. Voigt stated that Mayor Torgerson was in agreement with this substitution. There were no changes in Sections 11.06 — 11.10. At a second meeting of the sub - committee, Utilities Commissioner Gillman was in attendance and he felt that this substitution would meet the Utilities Commission needs as well. Chair Carlson questioned the compensation of the Utilities Commission in Section 11.02. Mr. Voigt stated that there were no recommended changes to this section. Gary Plotz explained the approximate amount of compensation for City Council members and the Mayor. There was question in regard to whether or not the Utilities Commission members should be compensated. The Utilities Commission is the only paid Commission within the city. Chair Carlson commented that if there is a requirement to be on the Utilities Commission (i.e. educational /technical knowledge regarding utilities) then compensation seems appropriate. Mr. McGraw brought up the question as to whether or not the Utilities Commission should be not be paid or should all other commissions be paid. It was decided that the wording in Section 11.02 will remain as presented with the City Council making the decision in regard to compensation of Utilities Commission members. Mr. Voigt noted that there was discussion in regard to Section 11.05 and how the City receives surplus funds from the Utilities Commission. The Mayor felt that the process has been working out okay with no major problems. Dick Schieffer stated that Paragraph 2 in Section 11.05 should stay in the Charter unless otherwise recommended by the city's bond attorney. Mr. Schieffer explained that Hutchinson Utilities is an enterprise fund and are allowed to receive money over and above operating expenses. Enterprise funds are required to turn over surplus funds to the City. Surplus money should be given to the city so that citizens can be rewarded from the work done by the enterprises. However, the enterprise (or Utilities Commission) decides how much surplus they have each year. Currently, there is not a set process as to the transfer of surplus funds from the Utilities to the City. Mr. Schieffer stated that someone with a financial background would need to provide input as to how the "books" are kept. Chair Carlson recommended that these changes be considered and discussed at a future meeting. Mr. Voigt noted that the sub - committee had reviewed other city charters and they are very simply written. For the most part, other Utilities Commissions either operate on their own, or are strictly ruled by the City Council. More discussion was held in regard to the compensation of committees. Mr. Plotz explained that Hutchinson Area Health Care does transfer surplus funds to the city in lieu of taxes. The City Council makes a request to the Board each year. Because they are special non - profit, it is about half the amount of what other hospitals would pay. The transfer of surplus funds from the hospital does have a formula to equate the figure that is transferred. Roger Petersen commended the sub - committee on their work. Chair Carlson asked the hospital sub - committee on their progress. Mr. Bretzke stated that they would prefer to give a report on their work when Phil Graves is able to attend the next Charter Commission meeting. Chapter 13 — Mr. Plotz reported that Mr. Graves had drafted this chapter and then met with himself and city attorney Dick Schieffer. Mr. Schieffer requested that the sub- committee review the chapter carefully in regards to the language used. Mr. Plotz also reviewed Section 7.07 with the Charter Commission. He explained that the city is able to transfer funds from one line item to another. He noted that the hospital is also able to have that flexibility. This is stated in Section 13.02 giving them great flexibility with their budget. Mr. Schieffer noted that the first sentence in Section 7.07 basically states "don't spend money that you don't have ". Mr. Plotz explained the process that has been used in the past for spending extra money in the budget. It was also noted that the second sentence in Section 7.07 is very restrictive in regard to allowing the City the ability to spend money on substituted items not in the original budget. It was requested to have Mr. Schieffer create language for Section 7.07 allowing the City more flexibility to transfer funds from one line item to another within the same department. The City Administrator would have the authority to authorize these transfers of funds. Section 7.07, Section 7.08, and Chapter 11 will be reviewed at a future meeting. Chapter 12 needs to be reviewed before next meeting. The next meeting was scheduled for September 10, 2001 at 4:00 p.m. A meeting was also tentatively scheduled for September 24, 2001. Chair Carlson recommended that the Charter be open for review by the public once the revisions have been made. More changes may need to be made once the public has viewed the Charter. Once final revisions have been made, the Charter will then go to the City Council. Motion by Bretzke, second by Voigt to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.