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Gem Lake News Page 3 of 8 <br /> <br /> Gem Lake’s Senator Receives <br />Award and Visits City <br /> <br />The Minnesota Senator who represents Gem Lake was <br />recently recognized for her leadership skills. Senator <br />Heather Gustafson was named as a 2023 Legislator of <br />Distinction by the League of Minnesota Cities. <br /> <br /> <br />The League named many accomplishments by <br />Gustafson that lead to the award. For instance, she <br />authored the Public Safety Aid Bill in 2023, which <br />provided $210 Million in assistance to cities and then <br />assured that the final bill aided all 855 cities. She was <br />recognized as being critical to achieving local zoning <br />authority for Minnesota cities as part of the legalization <br />of adult-use cannabis, authoring an amendment to <br />provide for local license limiting authority and zoning. <br />The League of Minnesota Cities specifically stated their <br />appreciation of Gustafson’s awareness of city needs. <br /> <br />Senator Gustafson was a guest speaker at the October <br />21 Gem Lake City Council meeting, during which she <br />was able to discuss the Public Safety Aid Bill in more <br />detail. She also touched briefly on other legislative <br />accomplishments and plans for the year ahead. <br /> <br />Thank you Senator Gustafson! <br /> <br /> Ramsey County Commissioner <br />Gives Annual Report <br /> <br />The Ramsey County Commissioner who represents <br />Gem Lake was a guest speaker at the August 15 Gem <br />Lake City Council Meeting. Commissioner Nicole <br />Frethem took the opportunity to bring Council members <br />and guests up to date on county initiatives that affect <br />Gem Lake. <br /> <br /> <br />These include programs such as: <br /> <br />• Appropriate Response Initiatives <br />• Food Scraps Pick Up <br />• Affordable Housing <br />• Non-public Safety Traffic Stops <br /> <br />For instance, there is a pilot project now underway in <br />Ramsey County to decide at the point of a 911 call, <br />whether the response should include police officers, <br />social workers or a combination of the two. It is currently <br />in a test phase, with full roll out expected in the coming <br />year. <br /> <br />There is also an exciting new initiative in which <br />households can dispose of food scraps in their trash pick- <br />up, by using a special food scraps disposal bag. This bag <br />will be sorted out of the rest of the trash at the trash <br />processing site and composted properly, thus keeping it <br />out of the landfill. This program is also in a pilot testing <br />phase and is expected to be rolled out in the next few <br />years in both Ramsey and Washington Counties. To <br />participate, a household would order special disposal <br />bags online for weekly use in the regular trash pick-up. <br />For more information, go to <br />https://foodscrapspickup.com/. <br /> <br />Frethem also detailed the Housing and Redevelopment <br />Authority (HDA) levy on property tax bills that will go <br />towards Affordable Housing Initiatives within the county. <br />The levy was instituted to insure an increasing supply of <br />affordable housing and creating deeper affordability <br />levels through down payment assistance. Ramsey <br />County has also worked on creating what they call <br />“critical corridors” for affordable housing opportunities. <br /> <br />Frethem touched on changes that are being initiated in <br />non-public safety traffic stops. Ramsey County Attorney <br />John Choi has elected to decline filing charges stemming <br />from searches related to pretextual traffic stops. Various <br />area jurisdictions have stopped enforcing violations that <br />are related to nonpublic safety traffic stops, such as <br />expired license tabs. <br />