2025 Vol 19, Issue 1 January Gem Lake News

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Gem Lake News Page 4 of 8 Gem Lake Election Results An impressive 94% of registered voters in Gem Lake cast their vote on or before Election Day this year (November 5, 2024). Of the 401 registered voters as of 7:00 a.m. on Election Day, 376 voted, including 91 absentees, mail-in and military ballots. A total of 21 registered to vote on Election Day. There were three positions open on the City Council, including Mayor and two regular city council positions. For each of these three spots, there was only one candidate. For the office of Mayor, Gretchen Artig- Swomley received 260 votes. There were 16 write-ins. For the positions of City Council Members, Ben Johnson received 230 votes and Joshua Patrick received 217 votes. There were 5 write-ins for these positions. The election results were certified at a special City Council meeting on November 14. Vacancy on the Gem Lake Planning Commission Are you interested in serving your community? If so, take note. There is at least one position open on the Gem Lake Planning Commission starting on January 1, 2025. Being a planning commissioner involves tasks such as evaluating development requests that come before the city, helping to draft new or improve existing city ordinances, and generally all matters pertaining to planning and zoning. The Planning Commission relies on expert help from a professional city planner and has staff support from the city clerk. Duties involve attending monthly meetings and reading a monthly meeting packet in advance of the meeting. To serve on the commission you must be a resident of Gem Lake. If you are interested in serving on the Planning Commission, contact Melissa Lawrence at Heritage Hall or download an application from the Gem Lake website. See page 8 of the newsletter for contact information. Get your NOAA Radio at 50% Discount! Gem Lake residents can get a high-quality NOAA weather radio for 50% off through a new program approved by the Gem Lake City Council in November. This program is the result of an initiative happening at the county level to help citizens be more prepared for emergencies. Ramsey County recently completed work on a draft of an encompassing plan to identify and prepare for various emergencies, such as flooding, severe weather, pandemics, etc. The Ramsey County Hazard Mitigation Plan assigns each city with several goals to do their share of preparation. For Gem Lake two of these goals are to consider installing a whole building power generation system (such as a Generac), and to encourage the widespread use of NOAA weather radios in Gem Lake households. NOAA stands for National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency. NOAA is a science based federal agency within the Department of Commerce that works to understand and predict changes in weather, oceans, coasts and climate. The NOAA weather radio is an automated 24- hour network of FM and VHF weather stations in the U.S. that broadcasts weather information directly from nearby National Weather Service stations. Each radio is then programmed by the owners to provide urgent weather alert that are relevant only to the owner’s living area. NOAA weather radios are invaluable for alerting residents to approaching severe weather. If you are interested in getting one of these radios, simply call Melissa Lawrence at Heritage Hall and put your name on the list by JANUARY 31. They will be ordered in bulk, and you will be alerted when they are ready to be picked up. The radios cost $40.00, of which the city will pick up $20.00 and the homeowner will pay $20.00.