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City Council Study Session Monday, March 19, 2007 Page 6 would seem to be a more appropriate expenditure of reserves than day-to- day operations. Councilmember Roe concurred with Mayor Klausing's observations; both from a cost and product outcome standpoint; noting that the environmental, housing and storm water drainage portions should be adequate; and noted the longevity of the Comprehensive Plan, along with incorporation of the community visioning process and ability to amortize the costs over a number of years. Councilmember Roe opined his support for staff returning to the City Council with a recommendation on how to proceed with options for technical updates and rewriting obsolete portions of the plan. Councilmember Kough spoke in support of the Comprehensive Plan and pe- riodic upgrades. Councilmember Ihlan opined that all decisions, including what's obsolete and needs to be updated are policy questions needing to be decided by a su- per majority City Council vote, including policy questions as to what should be spent and where such funding would come from. Councilmember Ihlan opined that the first priority should be to meet the Metropolitan Council deadlines and how best to accomplish that, and that an expenditure in the line of $35,000 was a major consideration, but would be a more appropriate commitment at this time. Councilmember Ihlan noted that the City Council hadn't even had a chance to review and react to the visioning process and that expenditure, and was now looking at another major expenditure for out- side consultants. Councilmember Ihlan favored Option 1; opining that some sections were too focused on Master Plans, and required a serious policy discussion, in light of recent Twin Lakes development issues; and tlexibilities in the Master Plans. Councilmember Ihlan further opined that the focus should be on technical things that fill up the notebook for the Metropolitan Council; then have the City Council launch a longer-term plan going through the visioning docu- ment and give guidance to the Planning Commission on how to incorporate those items into the Comprehensive Plan. Councilmember Ihlan further opined that the City Council should discuss the use of consultant fees, through open and honest dialogue, and include in the annual budget and tax for such needs.