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City of Gem Lake Comprehensive Plan Page 4 • Review proposed public capital investments of the City of Gem Lake to determine their consistency with the Comprehensive Plan • Review proposed private capital investments within Gem Lake to assure that they are in accordance with the principles and proposals of the plan While the Planning Commission’s responsibilities are primarily advisory — the City Council has prime authority in carrying out the plan’s features — the Planning Commission nevertheless is considered to be the City’s primary body in terms of making explicit interpretations of the plan’s stated proposals. 2.3 Use of the Plan by the City Council The City Council is a five-member body directly elected by the citizens of Gem Lake. Council members are elected to four year staggered terms. The Mayor is also elected to a four-year term. As the primary policy making body of the City of Gem Lake, the Council has the following principal responsibilities in relation to the Comprehensive Plan to: • Help ensure, to the maximum extent possible, that the policies contained within the Comprehensive Plan document represent the viewpoint of the citizens of the community • Attempt to make incremental policy decisions in normal council deliberations that are consistent with the plan’s provisions • Make public capital and related expenditures consistent with the principles of the plan • Exercise the ultimate review and adoption of all original plan provisions and amendments to the plan forwarded to the Council by the Planning Commission. 2.4 Relationship of Other Municipal Bodies and Citizens to the Plan Beyond guiding the actions of the Planning Commission and the City Council, the plan is designed to be an educational device. It covers the unique assets, liabilities, and key development issues facing the City in the coming years. Citizens interested in interpretations of the provisions of the Comprehensive Plan, or revisions to it, are encouraged to meet with the Planning Commission at its regularly scheduled sessions. 2.5 Compliance with the Plan The Comprehensive Plan for the City of Gem Lake is designed to be more than a mere document spelling out general City policies. It is intended as a decision-making aid for guiding the expenditure of public capital funds and establishing the underlying rationale for developing codes and ordinances, which more specifically control private development within the City. The Comprehensive Plan is the guiding document of zoning. Minnesota State Statute 462.356 (Subdivision 2) further spells out required compliance with the plan where public capital investments are involved: “After a Comprehensive Municipal Plan or Section thereof has been recommended by the Planning Agency (the Gem Lake Planning Commission) and a copy filed with the governing body (the Gem Lake City Council), no publicly owned interest in real property within the municipality shall be acquired or disposed of, nor shall any capital improvement be authorized by the municipality or special district or agency thereof or any other political subdivision having jurisdiction within the municipality until after the Planning Agency (City Planning Commission) has reviewed the proposed acquisition, disposal, or capital