Discuss Council Organization

Purpose:  The purpose of this report is to determine the committees, boards, authorities or other groups to which Council members will be appointed.  Also to be determined are the appointments for the official newspaper, 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, boards, authorities or other groups. Attached is a list of the committees as well as a description of what they are and when they meet.  Council members are asked their preference for appointment, and a resolution with the final selections will be adopted by Council at their meeting later this evening.  Tentative positions will be listed based upon stated interests plus staff distribution of remaining positions to balance out the obligations.  

The Chair and Vice-Chair positions for each committee will be appointed at that committee level.  With regard to EDA appointments, the Code states that the appointments shall be made by the Mayor with the approval of the City Council.  It should be noted that each board and commission have a staff liaison appointed, as well as Councilmember(s).

As a reminder, the City's Code states the following with regard to Ex-officio members.  The City Council may appoint, by majority vote, a Councilmember or city staff person as ex-officio members of any board or commission privileged to speak on any matter without a vote, and the ex-officio members shall provide a liaison between the board or commission and City Council. 

Attached is the resolution that is on the Agenda this evening for formal adoption.  Please note:  The 2020 appointments are listed as they are currently approved.  The 2021 appointments  are printed in Italics, which means they are open for discussion.  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, prior to execution.  

The organizational resolution includes declaring the City's official newspaper.  At the time of this writing, the City has received one proposal - ABC Newspapers - the Anoka County UnionHerald.   Such proposal is attached to this case.  The Anoka County UnionHerald has historically served as the City's official newspaper and currently provides the most regular coverage of City.  The proposal from ABC Newspapers states the rates for 2021  will remain unchanged.  

Also included for Council review and approval is the Addendum to the Recording Secretary Service Agreement between the City of Ramsey and TimeSaver Off Site Secretarial (TOSS) that extends the expiration date to December 31, 2021 (attached).  The addendum shows a less than  2.5 percent increase in the rates.  Approval of the contract with TOSS is part of the resolution.

Appointing legal services is another part of the Organization Resolution.  The most recent agreement with the City's Attorney, Joseph Langel of Ratwik, Roszak & Maloney, P.A. was effective through December 2020, the updated agreement is effective January 2021 through December 2022 and includes the following changes:  Regular hourly rate of $155.00, up from $150.00, litigation rate of $175.00 (not previously defined and seldom used), development rate of $185.00 (no change) and the retainer rate of $3215.00 per month in 2021 (no change)  and $3375.00 in 2022. The firm of Eckberg Lammers was contracted with in January 2018, for prosecution services through 2021.  The City's policy has been to review outside professional contracts on a three to five year basis.  

Approximately 15 minutes

N/A

City Administrator
Administrative Services Director

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