2014-03-10 Reg - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Carr stated that the meeting had dealt with some economic development issues, as well as the election issue, and as a result she then contacted the former City Attorney John Mulligan, who provided Mr. Walker with his notes from that meeting. She advised Council that his notes were marked confidential because they had been provided to City by an attorney. Ms. Carr stated that she is trying to resurrect the minutes and if Council so desires the handwritten notes could be attached to the minutes and used as a record of that meeting. Short of that, she stated that Council could have Ms. Pumm simply take the City Attorney’s notes and transcribe them. Mr. Sharpe asked Ms. Carr if Council was in Executive Session at the time Mr. Mulligan took the notes. Ms. Carr stated that it was a Study and Special Meeting agenda which was provided in the public packet. And if you read through all of the notes you can see that Council did not go into an Executive Session. Mayor Welsch stated that as one of the two members of Council who was at that meeting, her belief is that the discussion that is detailed in the notes that Council received in the confidential packet were in fact in Executive Session. Mayor Welsch stated that she is not taking the notes that were provided as the full notes of everything that was done at that meeting and although it was not noted that Council went into Executive Session, they did. Therefore she is not comfortable with releasing legal notes from an Executive Session of the Council. Ms. Carr stated that if you look at the agenda the election issue is listed under Special Meeting and not under Executive Session. She stated that also listed under the Special Meeting was the Village Green rezoning and site plan, for which notes were made. Mayor Welsch stated that is correct and although Council may have mentioned the election issue during that section of the agenda, the discussion that is detailed in Mr. Mulligan’s notes was in Executive Session. Mr. Crow stated that first of all it does not look like the meeting lasted that long and secondly if there are no minutes of a meeting then historically it did not exist. He stated that it is clear that Council met, and it is also clear by the notes of the City Attorney that the meeting occurred, so for Council’s purpose, the record of the meeting needs to exist. He stated that his concern is whether there is anything in the notes that should not be made public. Mayor Welsch stated that she would have no concerns with Ms. Pumm creating the minutes for the open session from her notes. She noted that Ms. Pumm attach the legal notes to an Executive Session document which would be protected as all minutes from Executive Sessions are, except when a vote is taken. Mr. Crow stated that the only information Council has about this being an Executive Session is the Mayor’s personal memory from seven or eight years ago. At no point in time does the City Attorney mention that his notes were taken during an Executive Session. Mr. Sharpe stated that although he was there he is not positive as whether or not they were in Executive Session. He then asked Ms. Carr whether Mr. Mulligan had provided her with any information as to whether his notes were or were not made in Executive Session. Mr. Kraft stated that while he appreciated Mr. Crow’s comment regarding the handwriting of physicians, there might be some advantage to the production of some sort of minutes using the agenda and Mr. Mulligan’s notes, rather than trying to decipher his handwriting. Mr. Crow stated that he was fine with Mr. Kraft’s suggestion, but he just did not think that Council needed to go into this with the end conclusion being that they are minutes of a closed Executive Session. Ms. Carr stated that Mr. Mulligan had indicated that his notes were from an open session. If there are any reservations she is sure that he would be happy to make a formal statement to Council.