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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,June 20, 2011 Page 13 ville healthy, noting the over-55 age demographic in the community evidenced not only people staying in the community perhaps because their homes were be- ing paid for and health care was close by, but also those older residents were able to remain healthy longer due to their ability to walk more, stay active, and get to- gether socially due to the park and recreation amenities, and the City's parks and trails. For those having used the amenities all of their lives in Roseville, Commis- sioner Pederson opined that they were as essential as fire, police and roads, and also served the family as a whole. Commissioner Pederson asked that this Master Plan not be shelved, but be effectively used to first maintain and upgrade existing facilities and infrastructure to keep people using it and to keep bringing families into the community. As a long-term volunteer, Commissioner Pederson opined that this community had something other communities didn't, and had a current City Council who understood that. With things having been pushed aside for some many years, Commissioner Pederson asked that trails and park systems be kept up to help take care of the community. Commissioner Ristow thanked Councilmembers for tonight's joint meeting, not- ing that this group of Commissioners was very aggressive and would pursue the initiatives identified in the Master Plan process and survey. Commissioner Ris- tow specifically addressed a local sales tax, having been a supporter for many years; and expressed his frustration that the City Council didn't take advantage of the interest expressed by the City's legislative delegation on the City's pursuit of such an initiative to tap resources from shoppers, whether Roseville residents or not; and asked that current Councilmembers make a stand on whether or not to support such an initiative once and for all, and if they were supportive, to get it accomplished. Councilmember Johnson, in response to Commissioner Ristow, advised that he seriously considered a local sales tax option until he saw the survey results, opin- ing that such an initiative would be a tough sell in the community. Council- member Johnson expressed his regret in not being more aggressive with it in the past, even though it could have been a 3/2 City Council vote; however, if the measure would have failed it would have closed that door for any future consider- ation. Commissioner David Holt, considering himself well-informed, advised that he was unaware of what a sales tax meant in reality, and that similar misperceptions are still out there and needed to be addressed for the public to eliminate unknowns and correct those misperceptions. Councilmember Johnson concurred in the need for additional education on a local sales tax option, with that education also paying off immediately if and when a bond referendum was brought into reality; however, he noted that the question was asked in the survey with no application and not in any specific context.