Discuss Council Organization

Purpose:  The purpose of this report is to determine which committees, boards, or authorities Council Members will be appointed to.  Also to be determined are the appointments for the official newspaper and the approval of the annual contract with TimeSavers Off Site Secretarial Service (TOSS), and appointment of legal services. 

Background:  Each year, Council Members are appointed to serve on different committees, authorities and boards.  Council Members are asked their preference for appointment, and a resolution with the final selections will be adopted by Council via the Consent Agenda at the regular Council meeting.  The Chair and Vice-Chair positions for each committee will be handled at that committee level. 

There are several attachments to this report.  They include:  a grid showing Council's preferences for appointments, a grid showing staff's recommendation for appointment based on Council's preference, and the last grid showing a summary of the appointments.  Also included is the resolution that is on the Consent Agenda this evening for formal adoption.  Please note:  If there are any changes to the appointments based on discussion this evening, those changes will be incorporated in the resolution that is on tonight's agenda.  It will be then adopted as amended.  Also - please note that some of the meeting times may have changed since Council was surveyed with regard to their preferences.  If that changes any preferences for appointments, that should  be determined this evening and the change will be made to the appointing resolution. 

There are a couple of items to note:  Currently there are two Council Members appointed to serve on the EDA; however, there has been a request to discuss appointing three Council Members.  The policy now states that there must be two Council Members appointed, but the language doesn't necessarily prohibit more than two from serving.  The EDA discussed the number of Council appointments at their January regular meeting and the consensus was that it would be acceptable to appoint either 2 or 3 Council Members, however, the EDA had the following concerns they wished to pass forward to the Council:

• the intent/expectations of the community for the EDA is to have an appointed citizen board, not Council Members.  The make-up of the EDA should be fundamentally different from that of the HRA , which the Council recently abolished, and which consisted of all Council members..
• All three current Council Members that have served on the EDA (LeTourneau, Riley, Williams) would bring value to the EDA by continuing as members.  An alternative, would be to make one of those three an alternate member, who could attend on an ex-officio basis, and provide a substitute as needed.
• The EDA is supportive of either alternative, however, the City should clearly address reasons for making any changes in the current make-up of the EDA.

The other item to note is that some of the appointments are for two years.  In the past, there have been discussions about making the appointments for two years in a non-election year.  If Council prefers that the appointments be made yearly, that will be amended and reflected in the resolution as well.  If Council is of the opinion that all appointments could be two year, that would be reflected as well.  The Code states that an organizational resolution will be brought forward for adoption at the first Council meeting of the year; therefore, that organizational resolution would still be brought forward each year indicating the two year appointment. 

The organizational resolution includes declaring the City's official newspaper.  This year, the City received two proposals:  Anoka County UnionHerald and Anoka County Record.  Both proposals are attached to the case as well as email correspondence from both newspapers.  In 2015, the City spent approximately $8,455 toward advertising and publishing expenses.  The Anoka County UnionHerald has historically served as the City's official newspapers and currently provides the most regular coverage of City.  The Anoka County Record has a less established circulation and reporting operation, but does offer a potential for significant  savings over the traditional Anoka County UnionHerald newspaper.  Anoka County, as well as a couple of communities in Anoka County have used the Anoka County Record as their "official newspaper" without a successful challenge as to whether they meet the "official newspaper" qualifications. 

Staff is recommending that Council approve the Addendum to the Recording Secretary Service Agreement that extends the expiration date to December 31, 2015.  The addendum shows about a two percent increase in the rates.   The addendum is attached to this report as well.  Approval of the contract with TOSS is part of the resolution.

Appointing legal services is also a part of the Organization Resolution.  The current contract with Joseph Langel of the firm of Ratwik, Rozak & Maloney for General Legal is a three year contract (to July 1, 2016) and with Bill Goodrich of Randall, Goodrich and Haag for prosecution.




 

Approximately 30 minutes

N/A

City Administrator
City Clerk

To receive clear direction from the Council with regard to the appointments to committees, boards, and authorities, designation of the official newspaper, the addendum to the Recording Secretary Service Agreement and appointment of legal services.