Council News
What’s Your Beef?
Convincing residents to speak at a city council meeting on almost anything is a challenge, unless it directly affects their property. Explanations vary from busy schedules to general discomfort when speaking on camera.
Now there is another reason: A council member who implied he does not want to be bothered by people bringing their “beef” before the council.
Drilling Down on Municipal Water
On 11/25/2024 the Shorewood council hashed over the ongoing dilemma of the underwater municipal water fund.
It discussed incentives for residents, who have existing “stubs” to connect to the municipal water system. The council also laid out some ideas for a more “mandatory” approach.
Land Use Variance 1.0
Few people have reason to know about variances if they have not needed one.
The Shorewood City Council may want to allocate time to discuss an overall policy focusing on variances.
Just Answer the Question!
The draft minutes from the July 9 Shorewood Park Commission meeting have just been released. Two items, subtly related, stand out in the 22 pages of the document.
Confusion vs. Clarity
Arborvitae and a fence “erroneously” built in the city right-of-way (ROW) took up considerable time and energy at two Shorewood council meetings.
On May 28, because of vague language in the ordinance, the Council engaged in a confusing conversation, followed by an unusual 43 seconds of silence, when no motion was made to correct the issue of the matter.
Public Process Matters
What started as just another Shorewood City Council meeting on Apr. 22, quickly became questionable 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.”
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
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;
