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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, February 24, 2014 Page 11 Sen. Scalze addressed that issue, coming before her committee later this week, noting that it was receiving a huge pushback from the AARP as well as local newspapers publishing locally and their specific concerns that many people did not have internet access and/or computers; as well as the number of disclaimers for any notice issues that were found on City websites. Sen. Scalze opined that such an effort was going to have difficulty getting enough votes. Mayor Roe thanked legislators for their efforts in changing legislation regarding determining public/private e-mails and what was available to advertisers to use. Mayor Roe thanked the legislative representatives for their attendance, presenta- tions, and discussion; and wished them well as the legislative session began to- morrow morning. b. Suburban Transit Presentation A bench handout was provided to Councilmembers, attached hereto and made a part hereof Mayor Roe welcomed representatives of this group, consisting of City of Shoreview Councilmember Ady Wickstrom; White Bear Lake Mayor Ms. Jo Emerson; and St. Paul Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jonathan Weinhagen. Ms. Wickstrom Ms. Wickstrom provided an overview of this GEARS Committee(an acronym for Grant Evaluation and Ranking), of which she had been involved for three years to address major gaps in funding and recognition of the western and eastern areas of the metropolitan community. Ms. Wickstrom referenced several maps and mate- rials included in the bench handout; and priority projects needing attention. Ms. Wickstrom invited the City of Roseville to work with this regional group in de- termining where transit should be located and the type of transit to best serve this northeast metropolitan area. As an example, Ms. Wickstrom noted how long the NE Diagonal Study had been in place and how difficult it was to keep it in every- one's attention, creating ongoing disappointments in that lack of recognition. Ms. Wickstrom noted that, with new development occurring in White Bear Lake and Roseville, there remained a large gap in addressing transit needs for these large employment and population bases. Ms. Wickstrom advised that as the first process in a local preferred alternative, a cooperative effort of those located in the east metropolitan area was needed to get projects cued up sooner, so when funding became available in upcoming legisla- tive sessions, things were ready to start work on those projects. Jonathan Weinhagen Mr. Weinhagen referenced the "Return on Investment" scenario in the bench handout, and addressed ways to remain competitive by retaining businesses through investment in regional transit efforts. Given the previously referenced