1998-01-27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 27, 1998 Page 3 State of the City Address. continuep. 4) We continued to emphasize the need to seek more efficient and effective ways to deliver City services, Collaboration and cost saving cooperation with neighboring cities continues to be our preferred management strategy. Along the way, we've continued improvements in our parks and recreation programs, our Family Service Center operations, our Golf Course and Driving Range, our Public Works and Finance and Community Development Departments and in our Administration. At this point, I would like to note the many contributions of Barb Jeanetta as Assistant to the City Manager. She has moved along on her professional career path, but, she left behind many positive changes in the way we serve our residents, She was especially effective in upgrading our computer systems and our cable television services, We thank her and wish her well in her new position, Our satisfaction with achievements in 1997 doesn't mean we don't have challenges in 1998. Our future has as many problems as we have successes from the past. Again, we stand prepared to meet these opportunities to improve our City, We expect to meet challenges at the national, state and regional level in 1998 and beyond, Included on our agenda are: 1) Updating of our Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Code. While required by state law, we also face practical needs to review our land use options to enhance our tax base and to ensure that our housing stock continues to meet our current and future needs for choice and quality. We must consider the implications of the Metropolitan Council's growth management strategy. That strategy will work in our favor but we must consider the impacts of higher density suggestions and limits on street and highway construction. Those impacts will be explicit in our consideration of the Alzheimer's unit proposal at Brightondale, the mixed uses proposed for CO.Rd. E2 and the Northwest Quadrant, and, consideration of other "infill" developments in the future, Our joint venture with the I35W North Corridor Coalition cities will provide the context for our decisions within our metropolitan community of communities, 2) National Politics. Currently, transit and highway funding is held hostage in Congress. Debates continue over allocation of radio spectrum for public safety uses, rights of communities to manage public rights of way, public versus private property rights, and so on. The list of issues suggesting congressional interest in micro managing daily decision making at the neighborhood level is frightening, The stampede to spend the anticipated "budget surplus" is, frankly, sickening to those of us who must balance our budgets without the offsetting loans from the social security and transportation trust funds that hide the true spending deficit. Even at the state level, where state budget surpluses are real due to the extraordinary performance of the economy, we face constraints on local choices and mandates without funding. New Brighton's choices are not being crippled due to past decisions that give us a strong financial base. However, continued partisan efforts to buy votes with simplistic "solutions" in response to political rhetoric will ultimately strangle our ability to maintain quality city services. We need a greater level of appreciation, in the Legislature, for our ability as local citizens to manage our own affairs. In this regard, I wish that all Legislators were as supportive of local governance as are Senator Novak, and, Representatives Evans and Chaudhary. 3) Supporting our Youth. Last September we hosted the First Annual Community Summit Conference to focus effort on the need to build assets and reduce risks to our youth, We've joined forces through the Healthy Youth Coalition to emphasize asset building with the Asset of the Month venture, We need to keep up the pressure. We need more volunteers, I promised the Council that I would keep this year's address short. But, I must extend the time because of my experiences these past few days as I was preparing for this presentation, As I was completing the draft text last night, I was interrupted with a phone call, The message was from our son, Bruce. He was ten when I first joined the City Council. Now he is thirty, He called to tell us that he had sent us photos of our first granddaughter via the Internet.What a cutie! What amazing technology. What lies ahead for our children and grandchildren?