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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday, February 13, 2012 <br /> Page 18 <br /> Community Development Director Trudgeon noted that these items were all un- <br /> der the broad umbrella of economic development, and if core components were <br /> identified: good quality jobs, redeveloping brown fields, and bringing in experts <br /> to know what we should do, it would all serve as part of a broad discussion and <br /> implementation, similar to what was already listed in the existing work plan. Mr. <br /> Trudgeon opined that staff needed to become more adept at working on those is- <br /> sues; however, he noted that staff time and resources would be needed and reallo- <br /> cated from other areas. <br /> Mayor Roe noted discussions at the previous meeting on the amount or type of <br /> control available to the City and suggested discussions take that into considera- <br /> tion. <br /> Councilmember Willmus, in addressing Mr. Miller's comments, note that if the <br /> City purchased those problem properties, they would then have control, and it <br /> then became a different question. <br /> Councilmember McGehee opined that this addressed both the top and bottom of <br /> the spectrum, and that the whole range needed tools to solve things. <br /> Mayor Roe, in referencing the January 30th discussion points, noted that they <br /> needed to be incorporated into the existing work plan, clearly identifying short- <br /> and long-term steps on the work plan, as well as options and resource require- <br /> ments in the short- and long-term to implement them. <br /> City Manager Malinen noted that most would be beyond the current 2012 budget <br /> year, and could be incorporated into the 2013/2014 biennial budget. However, <br /> Mr. Malinen noted that the challenge, from staffs perspective, was to recognize <br /> the timeframe within a 3-5 year period to allow staff to plan and budget accord- <br /> ingly and realistically within their department budgets. <br /> As the City Council moved into the next biennial budget discussion, Mayor Roe <br /> suggested the need to take advantage of resources beyond local options. <br /> With broader goals, Mr. Malinen suggested that the timing options could then be <br /> addressed by department heads with actual cost projections. <br /> Mayor Roe opined that departments shouldn't have strategic plans that hadn't <br /> gone through City Council discussions with funding in place. <br /> Mr. Malinen suggested that this could be identified as part of the strategic plan. <br /> Councilmember Pust opined that she was not surprised to hear Mr. Trudgeon <br /> identify the economic development issues as an important goal; however, she <br /> sought comment from other departments as to whether it was a community or <br /> team priority goal from their perspectives. <br />