2011-05-04_PC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Commission Regular Board Meeting City Council Chambers, 2660 Civic Center Drive Draft Minutes - Wednesday, May 04, 2011 1. Call to Order 1 Chair Dan Boerigter called to order the Planning Commission meeting at approximately 6:30 p.m. 2 and reviewed the role and purpose of the Planning Commission. 3 2. Roll Call & Introductions 4 City Planner Thomas Paschke called the Roll. 5 Members Present: Chair Daniel Boerigter; and Commissioners Joe Wozniak; John Gisselquist; 6 Glenn Cook; Jeff Lester; Michael Boguszewski; and Peter Strohmeier. 7 Staff present: City Planner Thomas Paschke; Associate Planner Bryan Lloyd 8 3. Review of Minutes 9 Review of the April 6, 2011 meeting minutes was referred to a future meeting. 10 4. Communications and Recognitions: 11 a. From the Public (Public Comment on items not on the agenda) 12 Gary Grefenberg, 91 Mid Oaks Lane; Member of City’s Human Rights Commission 13 and Chair of the Civic Engagement Task Force 14 Mr. Grefenberg advised that the City Council charge to the Human Rights Commission 15 (HRC) was to more effectively involve citizens in government decision-making and to 16 form a sense of community; and to form or maintain a sense of community. In 17 consideration of that charge from the City Council, in conjunction with the original 18 community visioning goals of the Imagine Roseville 2025, Mr. Grefenberg advised that 19 the HRA had created a Civic Engagement Task Force and hired a consultant; and were 20 beginning to focus on how to achieve that goal. Mr. Grefenberg opined that it was 21 important that all of the City Council’s standing advisory commissions have one or more 22 representatives on the Task Force; further opining that it was especially relevant for the 23 Planning Commission to be represented, since one of the items of focus for the task force 24 would be looking at the general issue of public notice to make citizens aware of what is 25 happening in the community, where and why; and since many of those items come from 26 this body and are related to land use issues and recommendations from this body to the 27 City Council. 28 Mr. Grefenberg estimated that the duration of the task force would be approximately 5-6 29 months, with monthly meetings anticipated; and sought volunteers from the Planning 30 Commission to provide their advice based on their experience on the front line with 31 citizens. 32 Mr. Grefenberg provided a draft work plan for the Task Force and its proposed focus, 33 attached hereto and made a part hereof, for the purpose of providing opportunities to 34 collaboratively come up with a better solution to achieve that civic engagement. Mr. 35 Grefenberg referenced page 2, Task #2 of the document to “assess current practices for 36 notices and community involvement; how various commissions handle public comment; if 37 and how commissioner e-mail addresses were available to the public; and how individual 38 commissioners would address neighborhood involvement. Mr. Grefenberg noted that 39 some communities may be more proactive, and the desire to involve their citizenry more 40 effectively before a crisis occurred; with the intent to learn from past experiences; and to 41 make the job of commissioners easier and democracy more meaningful to all at the local 42 level. Mr. Grefenberg opined that this was a challenging opportunity to assess current 43 methods of civic engagement and make recommendations to the City Council on how to 44 improve that engagement. Mr. Grefenberg suggested that senior members of the 45 Planning Commission sign on to work with the task force, given their longer tenures. 46 Member Gisselquist volunteered; opining that this was a worthy endeavor in reviewing 47 different avenues for more and timelier public involvement. 48