Council News
Public Process Matters
Background: What started as just another Shorewood City Council meeting on Apr. 22, quickly became “suspicious” for what was said, and not said. Before the Council could approve the agenda, administrator Nevinski removed items 2H and 6C. He did not explain what those items were for the audience. He only said there were “notice issues and concerns.” This may have left viewers confused as no clarification was provided. The items will be back on the May 13 agenda. The items not being discussed were ordinance amendments to: Approve Code Supplement S-19-Ordinance 605.[1] This ordinance is “housekeeping,” acknowledging the overall updates of the city code.(Note: On the Consent Agenda with no description and not for discussion.) Approve Amendments to Zoning Regulations to Create Content Neutral Regulations–relating to allowable signs within the City. Read the lengthy materials here.[2] Why the vagueness from city leaders? Perhaps it was because an attentive resident, when
6 Takeaways from the April 22 Shorewood Council meeting
View the full meeting here. (Links to video of each discussion for a deeper dive.) There were 11 items on the Consent agenda-9 passed without verbal identification by the mayor, or discussion by the Council. Matters from the Floor included presentations on Requesting support for SoHi Community Park, Buckthorn project at Freeman Park, and Failure by the city to provide statutory notice for discussion of an ordinance revision and two-vote Council approval of “blanket” herbicide spraying on soccer fields. Presentation and approval of the Park Commission’s 2024 work plan. A variance was approved for new home construction at 25955 Wild Rose Lane. Northwest Asphalt was awarded the bid for mill and overlay and drainage improvement projects in 2024. Approved a cost sharing agreement with Deephaven to resolve a gap in a previous mill and overlay on Manor Road, which was due to a boundary error on Shorewood’s part. Resignation and
STAND-OFF: Government v. Process
At the Monday, April 8th Shorewood Council meeting, the 3 attending members, (Labadie, Zerby and Callies*), without discussion, voted to approve the blanket spraying of Freeman and Manor Park soccer fields with an unspecified weedkiller. The recommendation by the contractor was for 6 applications per year, for up to 2 years. *All three are up for re-election this Fall. See it all here in the meeting video. Resident Greg Larson came to Matters from the Floor (MFTF) and asked the Council to name the herbicide. They could not. Labadie reminded him that questions are not answered at MFTF. Mr. Larson persisted. The Council refused to answer any questions or “debate” the matter. After some cringe-worthy moments, Labadie directed Larson’s question to Matt Morreim, who would not answer the question: what chemicals are being used. He asked Mr. Larson to contact him the next day for the information. Larson was dismissed
Disruption: Zoombombing A Virtual Meeting
“Zoombombing” is the unwanted, disruptive intrusion, generally by Internet trolls, into a video-conference call. In a typical Zoombombing incident, a teleconferencing session is hijacked by the insertion of material that is lewd, obscene, or racist in nature. Source: Wikipedia At the Feb. 26, 2024 Shorewood Council meeting (content has been removed starting at 11:40) Shorewood, like many other local government institutions, has fallen victim to “Zoom-bombing,” The Zoom-bomb incident occurred during Matters from the Floor. Persons could clearly be heard spewing anti-Semitic messages. The incident lasted about 45 seconds. The staff was able to shut down the perpetrators. The mayor apologized letting the audience know these were not Shorewood residents and that Shorewood has now joined an ever growing group of victim communities. In many cases with other cities, this has led to the session being shut down. Despite these incidents, it’s crucial not to use them as a reason
Take the Poll: The Effective City Council Member
Candidate filing for office in Shorewood is July 30, 2024 until August 13, 2024 at 5 pm. You will vote for three expiring terms: Labadie, Callies and Zerby. City council members represent their constituents. A council member must be honest, transparent and accountable to the public when making responsible decisions that are in alignment with codes, statutes and best practices. Know who you are voting for! Watch council meetings on Zoom. See them in action. Budgeting: Understand and actively participate in the budgeting process, including allocating funds to various departments and projects, regular clear reporting to the public; Provide ongoing monitoring and study of the city’s financial health and expenditures. Oversight: Effective council representatives Provide transparent oversight of city departments and contractual obligations to ensure that the public is being effectively served; Diligently require city staff to provide detailed, understandable information for public understanding; Expect equitable enforcement of applicable laws and governing
Artificial Intelligence (AI) Camera Will Analyze Shorewood Streets
The city roadway maintenance program ranges from total street reconstruction, to mill and overlay down, to pavement preservation, such as filling cracks and seal coating. To improve on the overall pavement management program, Shorewood’s Public Works Director, Matt Morreim, is implementing the use of Vaisala RoadAI. The Council approved the subscription to the service on June 26. The cost is approximately $8500-9500 annually. The Director’s report read, in part: “Vaisala RoadAI utilizes high-quality video and artificial intelligence (AI) to assess pavement surface and facilities quickly and accurately. It operates through a specially designed smart phone camera. Visual data can be collected at normal driving speeds. This data can be used to create reports to help strategic decisions regarding capital projects and routine maintenance on roads, signs and striping. “Benefits to utilizing the Vaisala RoadAI system are: Specific road defect categorization with geolocation Identification of potholes including severity Full analysis of
Get Smarter: The Minnesota Open Meeting Law (OML)
The Open Meeting Law (Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13D) divides government meetings into three types: regular meetings, special meetings, and emergency meetings. See a detailed presentation here. Every public body is required to provide members of the public with notice of its meetings,* regardless of the type of meeting. The same notice requirements that apply for any type of closed meeting, would apply for the same type of open meeting. The law also guides meeting notification, quorums, and serial communication. Learn more here. OML applies to state and local governmental bodies, including committees and subcommittees. In Shorewood, that is the City Council, Park and Planning Commissions. The purpose of the law is to: Assure the public’s right to be informed at Council meetings; Prohibit actions being taken at a secret meeting where it is impossible for the public to be informed about a public board’s decisions, or to detect improper influences;
Get Smarter: The “Consent Agenda”
Reviewed 12.26.23 Ever wondered about the section of the council agenda called “Consent Agenda”? The consent agenda is a tool used to streamline meeting procedures by collecting routine, perceived non-controversial items into a group whereby all are passed with a single motion and vote. This method has grown in popularity in recent years because of the time efficiencies. Items on the consent agenda are not discussed further by the council. Any council member or member of city staff may request that an item be removed from the Consent Agenda for separate consideration or discussion. Residents may not remove items from the consent agenda. Meeting agenda are posted 72 hours in advance of a meeting. Any resident with concerns should contact the City Administrator at 952.960.7900 before the agenda is published. – Source: Saginaw Valley State University
Is It Really About Pickleball?
Putting the Council and Land Use Zoning to the Test At its 10.23.23 regular meeting (watch here) the City Council came up against an extreme development challenge proposed for the property at 24650 Smithtown Road. The project has been described as a paddle ball club, lifestyle condos, and/or vehicle storage on a 103’ x 411’ lot. A high percentage of building space is devoted to vehicle accommodations. Described as an “amenity for all of Shorewood,” the gated facility was private/owner use only. Read the full description here (starting at Page 122). Images above are as submitted to the Planning Commission. Descriptions vary. Two buildings were proposed on the site. One with seven garage spaces with 14’ garage doors, and the other with four spaces. The second building included an upper level paddle ball court and lounge designated a “club house.” Variances were needed for setbacks, height, hardcover, parking, hours of
