Brainerd City leaders review proposed charter rewrite, spar over utility authority and election timing

Brainerd City Council and the Charter Commission met in a special joint session March 26 to review a proposed revision of the city charter, focusing debate on consolidating infrastructure authority and several wording changes in the document. City Administrator Broyles told the council the packet included three documents — the current charter, a modified red-line mapping, and a clean proposed charter — and that this meeting was the council's first official opportunity to comment.

"I'm not gonna go into a tremendous amount of detail in history," Broyles said, describing staff's approach to mapping each current section to the proposed language and noting the commission and staff would take notes and answer questions. He emphasized the most significant proposed change: "combining all of the infrastructure under one director" so that the entity with operational control of utilities would be set up to propose rates while the council retained budget authority.

Not all council members supported the scope of the draft. Council member Johnson said he supported the idea of consolidating utilities "in general," but objected to deleting explicit charter language that names offices such as the city attorney and the fire department. "Eliminating the language of the city attorney and the fire department ... just seems ridiculous to me," Johnson said, warning that removing those references could create uncertainty about which responsibilities remain required by the charter.

Council member Bevins raised separate concerns about election timing and the primary for council seats, saying he preferred a shorter campaign season and had opposed a primary when the issue was previously considered. He also argued that the Public Utilities Commission had historically set certain rates and that he favored preserving that functional role in practice.

Members and commission representatives debated scope and process. A Charter Commission member said the removal of the city's name from a special-levy clause still retained the core requirement because the draft referenced "within the city limits," but several council members asked staff to restore explicit language naming Brainerd where it had been removed.

Council members weighed whether to treat the revision as an omnibus overhaul or to advance it in "bite-sized pieces." Several council members, including Johnson, urged taking the utilities-related changes first to expedite decisions on the Brainerd Public Utilities (BPU) matters while leaving secondary wording changes for later review. Broyles said staff could integrate written comments submitted by council members during a short suspense period and bring a revised packet back at the next meeting.

The group discussed the practical scope of moving "all infrastructure" to the utilities commission: staff and commission representatives asked whether the council wanted only sanitary sewer and storm infrastructure under the Public Utilities Commission or whether it intended to move streets and other public-works functions as well. Speakers proposed preserving council final authority on specially assessed street projects while making the utilities commission an active participant in the 10-year capital improvement plan.

Mayor (speaker) urged the council to prioritize the BPU section. "I wanna get the BPU stuff done," the mayor said, urging a focused and timely decision on utility governance while allowing other charter items to be revisited over a longer period.

Broyles recommended a short period for written comments so staff could fold member feedback into the next packet; the council agreed to collect comments in advance of the next meeting. No formal charter amendments or votes were taken at the session. A motion to adjourn was made and seconded; the council voted by voice and the meeting was adjourned.

The council will accept written comments from members and staff will coordinate follow-up with the Charter Commission; members suggested prioritizing the utilities language for the next meeting while leaving other proposed edits to subsequent review.