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042307 CC WS Min CITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, APRIL 23, 2007 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 7:30 P.M. or Immediately following the Regular City Council meeting MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION Mayor Lizee called the meeting to order at 8:32 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Lizee; Councilmembers Callies, Turgeon, Wellens and Woodruff; Administrator Dawson; Planning Director Nielsen; and Director of Public Works Brown Absent: None B. Review Agenda Without objection from Council, Mayor Lizee proceeded with the Agenda for the meeting. 2. 5795 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD (CITY-OWNED HOUSE) Administrator Dawson stated that ServiceMaster had not been in the house to clean it up yet. The inside of the house had been painted. He then stated he had contacted a few rental companies, and the feedback he received was the house would rent for around $1,500 per month based on a twelve-month lease. He commented that the City purchased the 5795 Country Club Road property to allow the City flexibility when it was deciding the future of City Hall. If the house was to be rented for twelve months, nothing could be done to the house with regard to changes at City Hall until the rental period ended. Councilmember Callies stated there would have been no reason to make repairs to the house if the intent was to tear it down. Director Brown eXplained the original intent was to clean the carpeting; but based on the condition of the carpeting on the upper level Staff decided it was worthwhile to replace that carpet with Berber carpeting That new carpet should be installed the week of April 30, 2007. A replacement stove was purchased off of Craig's List. Two replacement toilets were also purchased. Staff was attempting to secure a used refrigerator for a cost of $75. Administrator Dawson stated that Ascending Praise Church (APC) had not made any payments for past due rent and utilities; it had until April 30 to do so. Director Brown stated that the renters had until April 20 to remove their personal belongings; if it was not picked up Staff would dispose of the items. Councilmember Woodruff stated it would likely take Council more than one meeting to determine the future of City Hall; therefore, he would support renting the house out for twelve months. He thought tearing the house down now that the City had put money into making the house habitable did not seem like a good choice. Also, he did not think it would be wise to leave the house empty. Councilmember Wellens stated he had not supported the decision to buy the property. He then stated he supported selling the house. He commented that the recent experience of renting out the house had not been a positive experience. If Staff needed additional room at City Hall the existing Council Chambers could be used for that purpose and Council could conduct future Council meetings at the Southshore CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 23, 2007 Page 2 of 5 Center. If future operations of the Southshore Center did not seem viable, then the City could consider purchasing the Center for use as a City Hall. Mayor Lizee stated the property was purchased at a time when discussions regarding the future of City Hall were initiated; it was decided that securing the property until a decision on City Hall was made would give the City flexibility when evaluating alternatives. The decision on the future of City Hall was postponed until the current Council was in place. Prom her perspective, it was prudent to keep the property until the future of City Hall was determined. She then stated there were rental management companies that could manage the property for the City; it was not appropriate to ask the Staff to do so. Councilmember Callies stated she would support a decision to begin building a new City Hall. Because she did not foresee Council reaching any consensus regarding what to do with City Hall in the near future, she thought the house should be rented out. Councilmember Turgeon stated that the longer a decision about City Hall was delayed the more likely it would be that additional costs would be incurred while evaluating the alternatives. She then stated the advantage to keeping the house (and property) was the house would be available for temporary relocation of Staff and/or files during remodeling or reconstruction of City Hall. She also stated she could support either selling the property or renting the house. Administrator Dawson stated that a rental management company would charge a fee of some percentage of the monthly rental fee (which could approximate $150 per month) to manage the rental of the house in addition to up-front costs to find a tenant. Councilmember Woodruff stated there should be a way to write the lease such that the City could break a twelve-month lease if need be with the understanding that the tenant would be compensated in some manner. He stated he thought it was possible for Council to reach a decision regarding the future of City Hall by the end of summer. Council gave Staff direction to ensure the house was brought into habitable condition, to find a rental management company, and to rent the house as soon as possible. Councilmember Callies questioned if any Councilmembers thought they needed to be involved in the Staffs activities, or to review the decisions Staff was making. There was consensus there was no need to "micro-manage" the effort. Director Nielsen questioned if there was any reason why the property could not be rented for a six-month time period. Mayor Lizee stated the rental management company could provide guidance on that. In response to a question from Council member Turgeon, Administrator Dawson related that Attorney Keane stated if APC did not make the past due rent and utility payments, the next course of action would be to pursue an expeditious remedy in small claims court. 3. DISCUSSION OF MISSION, PURPOSE AND VALUES Mayor Lizee stated that she asked that this item be placed on the agenda. She reviewed the existing statement of purpose: To provide a value in municipal services, to assure compliance with community laws and standards, and to keep residents informed of those services, laws and standards. She asked the Councilmembers if they wanted to make any changes to it. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 23, 2007 Page 3 of5 Councilmember Wellens stated he had contact residents in his ward with regard to suggestions for a mission statement and he distributed the comments he had received. Mayor Lizee and Councilmember Callies stated the feedback received was more philosophical in nature, and they appreciated the feedback. Councilmember Woodruff did not think it was a priority to spend time on the mission statement. Councilmember Callies stated that she thought it would be appropriate for Councilmembers to discuss how they were working together; she did not think the Councilmembers were working very well together. She then stated that some of the questions raised during Regular Council meetings could be discussed in advance with the Staff (e.g., typos in documents) rather than take meeting time to discuss them; she clarified that she was not commenting on what the questions were, just that it could be more appropriate to address those types of issues outside of the meeting. Mayor Lizee stated maybe it was more appropriate to consider a code of conduct at this time. She distributed a code of conduct which stated: respect for one another as individuals, respect for the validity of different opinions, respect for the democratic process, and respect for the community that we serve. Councilmember Wellens stated that from his vantage point "part of the democratic process was to bring conflict out in the open" and to discuss different philosophies as long as people were polite. Councilmember Callies stated she agreed it was appropriate to discuss different points of view; but, there was an appropriate way to accomplish that. Wellens asked Callies for a concrete example. Callies stated the tone of voice used when stating a different view point made a difference in how comments were received (she cited examples of a statements made earlier in the evening by a Councilmember Turgeon when she found the tone of voice to be offensive). Councilmember Turgeon stated she did not think her tone of voice was offensive and if it was the residents would let her know; and she felt it important to keep the line of communication open. Callies stated she was not concerned with the residents' perspectives at this time, but she was concerned about Councilmembers' perspectives. Mayor Lizee stated she thought the intonation of Turgeon's voice was offensive at times earlier in the evening. Mayor Lizee stated it was her desire to have Council work together in a professional and considerate manner. She encouraged Councilmembers to talk to Staff if they had concerns or questions; and she requested that if Council had questions about the material in an upcoming meeting packet that they contact Staff in advance so that Staff had time to research the question prior to being asked the question on camera as that would be respectful. She commented that she would have appreciated it if Councilmember Turgeon would have expressed her concern about the verified claims list to Lizee prior to the meeting. Turgeon stated she had mentioned it to Administrator Dawson. Turgeon suggested that Council focus on the mission statement which was the topic at hand. Lizee stated she would like to add the code of conduct to the statement of purpose, and her objective in discussing the statement of purpose was to gather input from Council. Council member Woodruff stated he supported everything listed on the code of conduct Mayor Lizee distributed. He did not think it should be part of the statement of purpose. He stated a mission statement did not actually exist, and if what had been distributed was supposed to have been a mission statement it was inadequate. He stated he would prefer that Council discuss other issues that would benefit the City's residents. Councilmember Wellens stated it was his tendency was to "dismiss chaff' and focus on what was being said; he didn't pay attention to the intonation in someone's voice. Because of that, he may inadvertently come across as offensive at times. CITY OF SHORE WOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 23, 2007 Page 4 of5 Councilmember Callies stated she agreed that a code of conduct should not be included in a statement of purpose. She then stated that the code of conduct stressed that all Councilmembers should treat each other and Staff with respect. Councilmember Woodruff stated he would prefer to discuss the future of City Hall or some other priority Issue. There was Council consensus to discontinue discussion of the mission statement. Councilmember Callies asked the Councilmembers if they would like to continue discussions about their interactions at this time or at a future meeting. Councilmember Wellens stated he submitted his questions about the meeting packet to Staff prior to a Council meeting. Councilmember Turgeon stated it was important that the residents understand the questions the Councilmembers had and what the Staffs responses were. If questions were not asked during the meeting, the residents may question why not, or they may be confused about a topic. There were times when it was appropriate to ask questions at the meeting (which had been asked of Staff in advance) and for Staff to respond. Councilmember Callies stated she did not share the perspective that all questions asked of Staff in advance needed to be asked again at the meeting to ensure residents were aware that a Councilmember had specific questions. Turgeon stated if the questions were not asked at the meeting, other Councilmembers would not benefit from hearing the answers. Mayor Lizee stated the issue was not in asking Staff a question at a meeting that had been asked in advance; the issue was with how the question was asked, the tone in which is was asked, if the question was accusatory, etc. Mayor Lizee asked if Council was comfortable with how the Councilmembers worked together. Councilmember Woodruff stated that there was "healthy contention" between the Councilmembers; if that didn't exist there would not be much progress. Councilmember Callies stated that it was normal to have differences of opinion; it was how the differences were communicated that was at times a problem. She also stated she did not think questions should be asked just so viewers would be aware that a specific Councilmember asked a question. She stated if that was the direction, she questioned if there was even a need for a consent agenda and if it was more appropriate for the transcript of the meetings to be verbatim and done by a court reporter. Mayor Lizee stated the video of the meeting could be declared the official record of the meeting. Councilmember Wellens stated maybe there should not be any written record of the meeting discussion; he questioned if that would be legal. Administrator Dawson stated there were differing opinions regarding that matter. Callies stated she did not think the minutes of a meeting were intended to be verbatim; but if that is what the Councilmembers wanted then the City should hire a court reporter to take the minutes. Councilmember Woodruff questioned what the impetus was for Councilmember Callies's comments. Councilmember Wellens stated it was an outcome of Councilmember's desire to have the minutes clarified in detail. Callies stated that was done by adding things said or not said, and at times rewriting parts of the minutes. Woodruff stated it was important that the minutes accurately reflect the discussion at the meeting, but they did not need to be verbatim. If there were material differences between what actually occurred and what was reflected in the minutes, then it was Council's responsibility to ensure the minutes were corrected accordingly. Callies stated it at times seemed as if changes to the minutes were intended to change the intent of what was originally intended to have been said. CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING April 23, 2007 Page 5 of5 Director Nielsen stated he appreciated it when Council asked their questions of Staff in advance so there was an opportunity to research the correct answer. Administrator Dawson stated it was Council's prerogative to ask questions of Staff at the meeting; but if the Staff was aware of the questions in advance, then Staff would be able to answer the question more completely. Councilmember Callies stated the Councilmembers wanted to be viewed as doing their jobs adequately. Staff also wanted to be portrayed in that same manner, and being prepared to answer a question would be beneficial. . Councilmember Woodruff stated he had some concern with the process as he interpreted it, and that was there was a meeting before the meeting. Mayor Lizee stated asking questions of Staff in advance would not be classified as a meeting before the meeting. It was appropriate to ask questions of Staff in advance so they could be prepared. Councilmember Turgeon stated that to ask questions about inconsistencies (e.g. as the date was not consistent throughout a document) was not inappropriate. There was ensuing discussion with regard to what types of things were inconsistencies and if they should be addressed outside of the meeting. Councilmember Callies stated she did not think it was helpful to point out the inconsistencies in a public meeting when it could have been resolved in advance. 4. OTHER There was no other business discussed this evening. 5. ADJOURN Wellens moved, Turgeon seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session Meeting of April 23,2007, at 9:46 P.M. Motion passed 5/0. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, Christine Freeman, Recorder ~~~ Christine Lizee, Mayor