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I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 1998 Page 2 City of New Brighton 1998 State of the City Address Good Evening! A few moments ago, I took the oath of office as Mayor of the City of New Brighton, the last time that this event will take place during this century, The next time you elect a Mayor, we will be experiencing the year 2000 when the oath is taken. Two years from now, you will be hearing the Year 2000 State of the City Address. I cannot guarantee that I will be the one making that presentation, so let's look ahead for a moment. First of all, I don't know if your Mayor in the year 2000 will be able to say "Thank You for your vote of confidence in the direction that we have led the City during the past 14 years." I do know that, tonight, I am very happy and appreciative of the confidence that you have placed in me through the election process, I am also very thankful that you have reelected Char Samuelson and have chosen George Gregori to work with Arly, Steve and me to lead the City for the next two years, I know that I can speak for all of us when I say "Thank You for your support." We will do everything that we can possibly do to justify your confidence, I also want to reiterate our sincere appreciation to Roger Williams for his many years of dedicated service to New Brighton as a member of the HRA, the Planning Commission and the City Council. We will miss him but we also wish him God speed in the next stage of his life. We also repeat our thanks to Dana Rebelein for stepping in to fill the remaining months of Roger's term. We appreciate her continued dedication to New Brighton! Secondly, I don't know what direction that the Congress and Legislature will take in the coming months as they address the many national and state policy issues that face our Country and our State. This reservation reflects the reality of today's existence where national political struggles for power result in inaction, This reservation reflects dismay over the stampede to spend the theoretical "surplus" in our national and state budgets. Our Council and staff know that the costs of providing City services are going up while our opportunities to raise revenues to cover the costs of these services are being coopted by Congress and the Legislature in the interests of partisan politics. Despite the constraints and frustrations of state and national political life, I believe that we can take pride in the many positive accomplishments taking place in New Brighton. Our list of achievements is too long to discuss tonight, I believe, So, we will touch only a few of many highlights, These include: 1) Completion of the Vision for the Highway Eight Corridor. It is appropriate that we note our appreciation to our new council member, George Gregori, for his leadership in this effort. We now know what we would prefer to see develop in the Northwest Quadrant and the Pole Yard area, We are already moving forward with plans for the CO.Rd,E2/ 5th Avenue area, The Economic Development Commission has recommended a developer for one corner while DonateIle Plastics will construct new facilities on the other. Early discussions on the long term plans for Bell Lumber and Pole are underway, perhaps leading to exciting new opportunities along the Old Highway Eight corridor from Co, Rd. E to 6th Street. 2) Environmental Contamination concerns were addressed directly through the MacGillis and Gibbs cleanup underway, It took 13 years, but, finally, concerted City initiatives lead to breakthrough agreements between the EPA, the MPCA and the City to get the cleanup actions moving. These actions will be celebrated next April, on Earth Day, to commemorate the commitment we share to provide a clean environment for our children and grandchildren. We will follow up this agreement with efforts to begin the clean up of the TrioSolvents site on the Midwest Asphalt property, 3) Public safety concerns were met with specific City action on several fronts, We added a Crime Prevention Specialist to accelerate proactive measures, and, at the same time we committed more "on the street" time for our sworn officers. We expanded our Neighborhood Crime Watch and Crime Free Housing programs. We added new equipment for our Volunteer Fire Department, leading to a lower risk rating from the insurance industry that will be reflected in lower insurance costs to both businesses and homeowners,