Confusion, Disconnect and a Moment of Silence

Summary of May 28 Shorewood Council Meeting

See the Council meeting materials here.

• The meeting started with a candid conversation at Matters from the Floor by resident Barry Brown. Brown is leading a citizen movement to clear the invasive buckthorn and make Freeman Park wooded sections a treasure! In his three minutes, he focused on three points :

(1) Bring the council up to date on the progress  so far on Freeman Park buckthorn eradication, re-seeding and tree plantings;

(2) Holding the City accountable for its “no chemical” policies, by giving examples of the City of Minneapolis community policies; and

(3) His current and future publication of related articles on the website ShorewoodCitizenAdvocates.com to replace the now bi-monthly ShoreReport as a method to inform and educate Shorewood residents. Mr. Brown has chosen SCA because the mayor and city staff have denied him the privilege to make his presentations at public meetings.

• Also, on the consent agenda was a permit for Minnetonka Baseball to have amplified music at its baseball games and practices on fields 1, 2 and 3. By placing it on the consent agenda, City staff assumed there would be council approval of this permit, without Council, Park Commission or resident input. However, several council members moved it to the regular agenda to discuss. Residents from Shorewood Oaks and Ponds , directly affected by the sound, spoke in opposition to the music. Council members Zerby and Sanschagrin were concerned that the Park Commission had not weighed in on the process for the permit and that there was no plan for enforcement. Even so, Maddy moved to allow the teams to “make noise” for a day of the upcoming tournament. Callies seconded the motion. The motion failed 3-2. There will be no music.

• Another item on the Consent Agenda was “Approve Data Practices Policy Annual Update.” This Policy, though guided by state law, has been the subject of controversy among residents due to how it has been implemented in Shorewood. Quoting one resident, putting things on the consent agenda can be  “a sneaky way of not taking responsibility for their actions and thereby eliminating public input.”
• Technical failures marred the annual Financial Audit report from Abdo & Abdo. PowerPoint slides were mostly unreadable. The meeting was paused while attempting to resolve the issue. In the end, Labadie told residents the slides could be viewed via a “link on the website.” Sanschagrin asked the auditor if there were areas of concern in the audit, particularly in the enterprise funds, but the Abdo representative said he “will not comment.”
• Those interested in the Vacation of Maple Avenue and Preliminary and Final Plat for Ray Helgesen Addition at Strawberry Lane, can view the linked conversation. The information provided seemed to leave the Council confused. The map presented was an engineering map that was difficult to discern. One resident had been left with unanswered questions about the vacation of his street and loss of city snow plowing services. Sanschagrin proposed a solution where the Helgesons, as the benefactors of the project, would be responsible for the resident’s driveway plowing going forward.
• In response to a complaint about a fence and trees installed in the right-of-way (ROW) along Howard’s Point Road, staff had drafted an Encroachment Agreement for Landscaping and Fence. This was done without the direction of the Council. The result was many questions from council members dealing with confusion over the meaning of roadway “easement” vs. “right-of-way.” The Council had concerns about safety, sight lines, and if a precedent was being set that would give other residents permission to intrude into the ROW. The council discussed the trimming of the arborvitae to 36” in height (Fact: ROW allows only vegetation of 30″ height, not trees and shrubs.) Not one staff member clarified the distinction between arborvitae (trees) and vegetation. Nevertheless, Maddy came out strongly opposed to any encroachment, with Sanschagrin supporting him. When Labadie called for a motion to approve the encroachment agreement, there were 41 seconds of silence before she acknowledged failure for any Council action. As a result, the owner has until August to resolve the violations