City Council Meeting 9/23/2009

For those involved citizens that have been asking about the last Council session;

North Metro Cable has confirmed an error on their part regarding the re-airing of the 9/23 Council meeting. They are working on the issue and state that the Council session will resume it's regularly scheduled programming tomorrow.
The schedule is as follows;
Monday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday @ 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday @ noon.

We have also confirmed via the City website that the Council minutes for this date have not yet been posted online.

From the City website
Upcoming Meetings Here

A Blast From The Past - May 2008

An online post from our soon to be past Council member Tom Lee regarding mandatory water/sewer hook up and current Council member Linda Vickers.

Question from citizen.
"Does everybody have to hook up to city water/sewer right away or can they wait? Does the word everybody mean everybody or just the unfortunate people selected?"

Answer from Tom Lee.
Every one that has city water available will be required to hook up to city water. If you are referring to Council Member Vickers, she will not be included in this project as she lives on a COUNTY road, which is not part of this project. BUT, when the County road is done, the city SHOULD make water available to her property and since she owns…..140 plus acres, she WILL pay an incredible amount. Unfortunately, I will not be on Council to to weigh in on the matter. (though I suspect she may)
Link Here

News From Our Centerville City Website

The City Council currently has a vacant seat. Tom Lee has resigned.
The remaining term of this seat is slightly over one (1) year Council, per MN State Statute 412 will be filling this seat by accepting letters of interest from eligible citizens until October 21, 2009at 4:00 p.m.
You may submit your letter of interest to City Hall
Monday - Friday, 7:30 a.m.4:00p.m. (during regular business hours), mail or place in the City's drop-box.
Please ensure ample time for mailing or placement in the drop-box to meet the deadline. Click here for information regarding what the position entails. Click here for an application for appointment.

How about contacting Mr. Neale Rawlings? He was only 20 votes from being elected Council member last year! Speak out people, before the Council "selects" a replacement for us based on a letter of interest!
Neale Rawlings BLOG HERE

2009 Minnesota Statutes
412.02 CITY ELECTIONS; OFFICERS, TERMS, VACANCIES.
Subd. 2a. Vacancy.
Except as otherwise provided in subdivision 2b, a vacancy in an office shall be filled by council appointment until an election is held as provided in this subdivision. In case of a tie vote in the council, the mayor shall make the appointment

Don't Hold Your Breath On That Dedicated Road Fund

Council could not seem to come to a conclusion during the September 9th meeting. (which is still not posted online) and decided to vote for a compromise.

Instead of setting aside $100,000 needed for seal coating next year they chose to compromise at the suggestion of Mary Capra, dedicating approximately half of what is needed.
To her credit Linda Vickers voted against the resolution stating "you do not have a plan if that plan is not funded". Linda totally rocked!

According to Council minutes Tom Lee, Jeff Paar and Ben Fehrenbacher did not want to dedicate money to the road fund, as it would raise taxes for the citizens. Vickers wanted to set aside $100,000 but Capra the consummate politician came up with a compromise to dedicate not nearly enough to meet the City needs.

Oh but the way, the vote doesn't really count because they have "wiggle room" and can change their decision by December this year.

By Council's own admission, they have been trying to dedicate a road maintenance fund for the past five years to meet our needs and have failed and we are falling behind.

Look for the you tube video coming soon...

Where Are The Minutes Of The September 9th Council Meeting?

Almost one week later, the Council minutes are still not available online. This after our City officials argued with State Auditors regarding their transparency.
Who is responsible for updating and posting the minutes online?
Dallas Larson, City Administrator also current staff members Teresa Bender and Kim Stephen.
Thank you for disappointing us once again and disregarding the advice of the State of Minnesota, Centerville staff.

Letter From a Centerville Resident

September 3, 2009
A big thank you for all the work your group did. In spite of the results of the audit, we know the adverse treatment we receive from our elected and appointed officials. They're all in lock step with each other in looking down on the city gentry of Centerville; claiming they know all and we are ignorant.
Your group is not alone; the signers of the petition are still behind you. There's work to be done during the next election cycle.
The Mayor and Council are bemoaning the bill of $12,500 for the audit, yet no one there has identified the reported $486,000 (2006 I believe) spent on engineering costs. That equated to $130 for every man, woman and child in the City and equal to 85% of what our police protection cost us that year.
Go figure where their fiscal acumen lies.
Again, your group did their job; we're still behind you.
Please pass this on to the others in your group.
Sincerely,
Centerville Resident
(name withheld)

Statement Of Core Petitioners Not Published In The Press

The group "Centerville Citizens for Ethical Taxation and Representation" who petitioned for the State Audit believes the results were helpful and productive for the City of Centerville.
Even though the investigation was very surface with little investigative findings, it still serves the citizens of Centerville an active participation in monitoring;

- massive spending, '05, debt of 500K to '08 of 9M
- checks and balances
- administrative monitoring
- massive developing in a downed economy

However, some residents believe that once again, in true Centerville fashion, the Council never showed any interest in what the citizens were concerned about... They very well could have arranged for questions to be answered by the State Auditor's Office Officials, but they were not interested in anything the citizens were thinking or had to say. The open forum was moved to the end of the meeting and the cameras were turned off before anyone was allowed to speak.

Perhaps the city could impose a levy or a special assessment to pay the cost of the audit, Capra suggested.

Here is a recent story from the Quad. Our Mayor, Mary Capra actually suggested another special assessment
Link Here
Perhaps the City could charge only the individuals that signed the petition? She wishes?

More Press HERE by Deb Barnes of the Citizen