Lino Lakes Ledger
Council Initiates Independent Investigation—Of Itself
At its regular meeting of Sept. 22, the Lino Lakes City Council took steps to launch an investigation of possible violations of the Open Meeting Law alleged by a fellow council member to have been committed by three of the council’s own members earlier in the summer.
Council members voted 4-1 to request that City Attorney Scott Baumgartner call the League of Minnesota Cities and request a list of law firms that would be qualified to conduct such an investigation. The League of Minnesota Cities provides the city’s liability insurance.
Mayor John Bergeson dissented, stating that as staff members had already done that research, having the city attorney make the call was simply “an effort to prolong” the matter.
At the Sept. 8 council meeting, Reinert made allegations that three fellow council members displayed “unethical behavior” following a July 28, 2008 meeting, by discussing city business after the meeting was adjourned.
Reinert said he waited in the parking lot for 15 minutes for members to leave City Hall.
The individuals Reinert named included Bergeson and council members Kathi Gallup and Dan Stoltz.
Following those allegations, council members seemed united in calling for an independent investigation, but exactly how that should be accomplished continued to be discussed at the council’s work session prior to the Sept. 22 meeting.
“This is the first time there’s been an allegation,” Stoltz said in what appeared to be an effort to calm rising tempers at that session. “It’s all about taking the high road here, and being honest and accurate,” he added.
The Open Meeting Law prohibits members of governing bodies from meeting in a quorum where the group is capable of exercising its decision-making powers.
But the law isn’t clear-cut, Baumgartner told council members. Often, he said, whether or not a violation has actually occurred is decided by the courts on a “case-by-case basis.”
Once an independent law firm is selected, initial discussions indicated that interviews of each council member would be conducted and some sort of written report would be issued to address whether such a violation did, in fact, occur.
In other action, the council:
• Accepted a $10,052.70 donation from Friends of the Parks Foundation Board for future parks and trails projects. The Foundation was dissolved earlier this year.
• Approved a correction of a plat error (omission of lot line dimension and bearing by the surveyor).
• Approved additional election judges for the Nov. 4, 2008 General Election.
• Authorized the issuance of a 1-4 Day Temporary Liquor License to Legion Post 566 in conjunction with their annual horseshoe tournament, scheduled for Oct. 5.
• Postponed approval of the Sept. 8 Council Work Session minutes until the next workshop.
• Issued plat extensions for 7 developments at various stages of approvals: Golden Acres, Marshan Meadows 2nd Addition, Fran’s Estate, Moon Marsh, Century Farm North 5th Addition, Vaughan’s First Addition, and The Preserve. Those extensions allow extra time for the filing of stage plans, preliminary plats, or final plats, as appropriate, until April 30, 2009.
• Approved final payment to Glenn Rehbein Companies for the street and utility improvement project associated with Phase I of the Legacy at Woods Edge. The $2.56 million project included streets, lighting, city water and sewer, and storm sewer improvements and came in $54,500 below the contract amount.