1999-01-26 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 26, 1999 Page 2 1999 State of the City Address. continued We will be heartbroken and saddened over our loss of George Gregori for a long time. However, I know that he would want us to move boldly forward to accomplish the vision for our community that he worked so hard for. I am certain that he would want us to regain the excitement we shared. Toward that end, I am delighted that, once again, we have been able to draw on the unlimited pool of talented people in New Brighton to carryon the task of building a better community. Please recognize and join me in thanking Ann Hoffman for stepping up to the challenge of helping to lead our City as our newest Council member. As we approach the "Y2K" millennium, it is important that we pause to reflect on and appreciate our good fortune and our accomplishments. It is also important that we understand the challenges and opportunities that confront us. Our good fortune includes a healthy economy that brings employment benefits to many of us. We have a strong business community, backlogs of people wanting to buy homes in New Brighton, and, quality neighborhoods where we live safely. Our City business is fulfilling your demands for efficient and effective services. We've increased our outreach to citizens, we are planning for the future, and, we understand the frustrations that many of us have about the nature and cost of maintaining our public business. I believe that we in City Hall are in touch with the needs and the wishes of our residents. I hope that you agree with me that in this regard, the State of the City is very solid. We have not had time to absorb the results of our resident survey that were just delivered. However, when we see that 96 % of our survey respondents rate our quality of life either excellent or good, we must be pleased as a Council and staff and community. We are told that the 40% rating of excellent is among the top level of suburban area communities. The early results of the survey of residents say that 38 % reported that there was nothing they disliked, again, far above the norm. We will share the full report with you very soon, but I can assure you that we will keep working to push the satisfaction numbers even higher. The survey did identify some areas for improvement. This indication of satisfaction didn't just happen. It is the product of hard work by our residents, our advisory commission volunteers, many civic group members, our faith community members, our business community, our excellent staff, and, a great Council. Our list of accomplishments for 1998 is much too long to cover tonight. The short list is over two pages long, single spaced. Our great Council won't sit still long enough for that. They are ready to move ahead. But, just to give you a taste of the full range of actions taken in 1998, let me mention these: IN OUR CITY: · Street and utility improvements · Storm water system improvements · Nature trails . Athletic facility planning with ISD 621 · 21st Annual Town Hall Meeting · Stockyard Days · 12th Annual Antique Car Run IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD: · Neighborhood Meetings/ongoing · More than 120 Crime Watch gatherings with a national award · 2 Citizen Police Academies · Roll out of our Neighborhood Oriented Policing Program IN OUR BUSINESS COMMUNITY: · Selection of Stony Lake/ Pratt for our new community business center at Co.Rd.E2 · Donatelle Plastics new facility · Rice Creek Center revitalization