2008-05-06 P & Z - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council 2008-04-02, 7:30 p.m. Minutes of Work Session Present were Mayor Mary Capra, Council Members Michelle Lakso, Jeff Paar, Linda Broussard-Vickers and Tom Lee. Also present were City Attorney Kurt Glaser, Engineer Mark Statz and Administrator Dallas Larson. Present from the Planning and Zoning Commission were Brian Hanson, Darin Mosher, Ben Fehrenbacher, Mark Pangel, D. Love, and Tom Wood. Present from the Parks and Recreation Committee were Suzanne Seely, Savannah Lee, Mark Haiden, Pat Branch, Kevin Amundson, and Kevin Selandar. Absent were Lori Harris of Parks and Rec., and Roland Parrucci ofP&Z. Mark Statz of Bonestroo reviewed a park and trail map and discussed the possible priorities for construction of trails using grant funds recently approved by Met Council. The grant envisions a project of about $1.1 million with a local match of about $350,000. Work under the grant could start this summer, if the City can determine which trails to construct. Council Member Paar asked how the local share could be financed. It appears likely that the City may need to borrow through municipal bonds or that an internal loan may be necessary to provide financing. Parks and Rec. Members expressed support for building more trail connections. The consensus of everyone present was that the trail map as presented should be included in the Comprehensive Plan, even though all of the trails may not be built. City Attorney Glaser discussed ethics issues, conflicts of interest, Open Meeting Law and Government Data Practices issues. He expressed concern that emails are a potential source for violation of the Open Meeting Law and suggested that the council and Members of the commissions and committees never use "Reply to All." This can be an inadvertent violation of the open meeting requirements by sharing opinions outside of a public meeting. He also indicated that emails relating to City business are public records under the Data Practices Act. The Council Goals for 2008 were reviewed. Possible community signs and a new City Hall message board were discussed as was the Comprehensive Plan. The Comp Plan is ready for distribution to neighboring jurisdictions. They have six months to review the plan, after which the plan can be finalized and submitted to Met Council. The Administrator provided information on a new community development website that is available through Anoka County funding. The site called MetroMSP is a site designed for business and industry site selection professionals. The site has capabilities to generate business and demographic data related to industrial or commercial sites that are listed. The City has the ability to list City owned property as well as redevelopment districts. The Community Survey was discussed. Not everyone has seen it, so the Administrator will send copies. The Survey gave generally high marks for city services, but the City scored rather low in value for the taxes paid. The Council will discuss the survey at a future work session to determine if anything should be done to respond to areas of low satisfaction.