CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES April 2
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MINUTES April 2, 2018 5:30 – 6:30pm 1) Call to Order Mayor Whalen called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Present – Council: Mayor Lisa Whalen, Pam Mortenson, Mike Molitor and Shannon Bruce; Staff: City Administrator Michael Barone, Finance Director Brian Grimm, Community Development Director David Abel, Public Safety Director Paul Falls, Director of Administration Cassandra Tabor and City Clerk Kris Linquist; Consultants: City Engineer Paul Hornby, WSB Engineering Absent: None 2) City Council Candidate Interviews Mayor Whalen welcomed all candidates and thanked them for their interest in filling the vacant council seat. She overviewed the interviewing process. The three interview questions were as followed: 1) Tell us about yourself and why you would like to be appointed to the City Council. 2) The Council and Staff work together as a team. Based on your experience, please give us examples of how you have worked on teams in the past – professionally or personally (i.e. Boards, commissions, committees, etc.). 3) What would your top 2-3 priorities be as a Council member? Based on those priorities, and in your best estimation, how would you adjust the budget/City finances to address those priorities? John Tschumperlin – stated he is a 31 year resident and has been on the Planning Commission for the past 2+ years. He has concerns about building growth. He worked for Cargill for 35 years and currently is on the Westonka Library board. He believes in leading by example – Leadership is important as a group decision. His main concerns are City growth and infrastructure. He has an accounting background. He is not ultra conservative but is always watching his budget. He stated that the road issue is an important area. Bruce questioned him about a special assessment for paving a gravel road. Tschumperlin commented that it is better for the city, if the city can affordably do so, pave a gravel road. He would want the neighborhood consensus unless reports showed that it would be more beneficial to pave the road and make the neighbors understand the decision. Minnetrista Work Session Minutes – April 2, 2018
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Cathleen Reffkin – stated that she lives in Woodland Cove with her husband and two children. She would like to see the City grow. She would like to see a person from a newer neighborhood on the Council. She has previously worked on corporate insurance but currently is an at home Mom and is on the PTO Committee at Our Lady of the Lake. Bruce asked her about the time commitment that goes with being a Council member. Reffkin stated she is very good at time management. Reffkin stated she would like to see more commercial development and would adjust the budget accordingly to obtain this. She commented that more commercial business would generate more revenue for the City. Mortenson asked if she was involved in her HOA. Reffkin stated she was with the social aspect. The HOA has not been activated for Woodland Cove yet. Reffkin stated that they have friends in the area and have no intentions of moving anytime soon. They recently moved back to Minnesota from Indiana. Scot Pekarek – stated that he and his family moved to Minnetrista in November 2017, he previously lived in Minneapolis for 20 years. He grew up in a small town in central Minnesota. He stated that if you want to get anything done you need to get into local politics and need to listen to the people in the community. He said he has been working on teams most of his life especially on the farm growing up. He currently manages a real estate office of approximately 25 agents. He is constantly a team player. Mayor Whalen asked if he has served on a board. He stated that he has not. Bruce asked about involvement with the HOA. Pekarek stated that he is on one and involved in several. Bruce also asked about the time commitment. He stated that he wouldn’t have applied if he thought there would be an issue. Pekarek stated that his priorities would be a safe and vibrant community, development, clean water, good schools, Police and Fire Protection, and to find out what matters to the residents. Bruce asked him about his anchors to the community. He stated that he has friends that live in the area. He lived 11 years in his last home. He stated that having twin boys helped his family make the decision to move to Minnetrista. He commented that he didn’t come with an agenda and is open minded. He does not plan on moving anytime soon. Mayor Whalen thanked all the potential candidates for their interest and explained the process of appointment at the Council meeting later that evening.
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3) 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update Abel stated that at the June 5, 2017 Council meeting, the Council granted Preliminary approval of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The plan was sent to the appropriate reviewing bodies and the City received seven responses with comments. In February 2018, the Council received the red line version of 2040 Comprehensive Plan for their review. There was discussion about Lotus Drive and it being a parkway not a collector street. There was discussion of the seven letters received and the comments from them. There was discussion on the clarification on the commercial and industrial designated properties. There was discussion on growth of the City. There was discussion about Silverwood Park and that it use to be Kingswood Park. Consensus of the Council was to bring the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to the April 16, 2018 Council Meeting for final approval.
4) Adjourn Motion by Bruce, seconded by Molitor to adjourn the Work Session Meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Absent: None Mayor Whalen adjourned the meeting at 6:21 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Kris Linquist, MMMC, CMC City Clerk
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Cathleen Reffkin – stated that she lives in Woodland Cove with her husband and two children. She would like to see the City grow. She would like to see a person from a newer neighborhood on the Council. She has previously worked on corporate insurance but currently is an at home Mom and is on the PTO Committee at Our Lady of the Lake. Bruce asked her about the time commitment that goes with being a Council member. Reffkin stated she is very good at time management. Reffkin stated she would like to see more commercial development and would adjust the budget accordingly to obtain this. She commented that more commercial business would generate more revenue for the City. Mortenson asked if she was involved in her HOA. Reffkin stated she was with the social aspect. The HOA has not been activated for Woodland Cove yet. Reffkin stated that they have friends in the area and have no intentions of moving anytime soon. They recently moved back to Minnesota from Indiana. Scot Pekarek – stated that he and his family moved to Minnetrista in November 2017, he previously lived in Minneapolis for 20 years. He grew up in a small town in central Minnesota. He stated that if you want to get anything done you need to get into local politics and need to listen to the people in the community. He said he has been working on teams most of his life especially on the farm growing up. He currently manages a real estate office of approximately 25 agents. He is constantly a team player. Mayor Whalen asked if he has served on a board. He stated that he has not. Bruce asked about involvement with the HOA. Pekarek stated that he is on one and involved in several. Bruce also asked about the time commitment. He stated that he wouldn’t have applied if he thought there would be an issue. Pekarek stated that his priorities would be a safe and vibrant community, development, clean water, good schools, Police and Fire Protection, and to find out what matters to the residents. Bruce asked him about his anchors to the community. He stated that he has friends that live in the area. He lived 11 years in his last home. He stated that having twin boys helped his family make the decision to move to Minnetrista. He commented that he didn’t come with an agenda and is open minded. He does not plan on moving anytime soon. Mayor Whalen thanked all the potential candidates for their interest and explained the process of appointment at the Council meeting later that evening.
Minnetrista Work Session Minutes – April 2, 2018
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3) 2040 Comprehensive Plan Update Abel stated that at the June 5, 2017 Council meeting, the Council granted Preliminary approval of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan. The plan was sent to the appropriate reviewing bodies and the City received seven responses with comments. In February 2018, the Council received the red line version of 2040 Comprehensive Plan for their review. There was discussion about Lotus Drive and it being a parkway not a collector street. There was discussion of the seven letters received and the comments from them. There was discussion on the clarification on the commercial and industrial designated properties. There was discussion on growth of the City. There was discussion about Silverwood Park and that it use to be Kingswood Park. Consensus of the Council was to bring the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to the April 16, 2018 Council Meeting for final approval.
4) Adjourn Motion by Bruce, seconded by Molitor to adjourn the Work Session Meeting. Motion carried 4-0. Absent: None Mayor Whalen adjourned the meeting at 6:21 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Kris Linquist, MMMC, CMC City Clerk
Minnetrista Work Session Minutes – April 2, 2018
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