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I I I Council Meeting Minutes August 8, 1995 Page 3 Special Order of Business. continued The next step was to ensure broad access of the discussion findings and request input from all Ramsey County residents. To do this, property owners, rental units, businesses, nonprofit groups, government agencies and organizations were contacted. Ray noted that the response has been overwhelming. Most vision statements involve a five-year time frame to accomplish their identified goals. The committees are now soliciting input and suggestions as to how to accomplish these identified goals. Ray noted that the Ramsey County Commissioners have approved the plan and committed staff people and resources for this project. Benke feels the strategic planning process is proceeding very appropriately, and asked if the future of County governments within the 7 County Metro Area will be revisited. Ray said the County's responsibility is to fulfill what is in the Charter structure, and acknowledged that there are questions as to how many counties are needed in the metropolitan area, what is an ideal size for a county, and what services are needed to be provided by a county. It is clear in the vision statements that some services provided by the County are not county-wide and there appears to be a need for regional or collaboration efforts. Such areas as law enforcement and the park system have been studied in regards to collaboration efforts. Gunderman noted recent legislation which brought together government agencies which deal with the needs of children, and asked if this issue was discussed. Ray said the groups discussed the role young people should play in public policy decisions, but the specifics of service agencies were not addressed. Samuelson applauds the County's efforts to evaluate public and private partnerships, and asked how would these partnerships be integrated. Ray said interest in integration has been positive and the County Commissioners are committed in identifying suggestions. City Manager Matt Fulton noted that many City staff members participated in the Phase One discussions. He feels the question will be what is the appropriate level of service and which level of government would provided that service. The realities of changing the level of service delivery would be based upon the visioning process. Ray feels the question now is how to make this a meaningful experience and what level of detail is needed to meet the identified needs. The purpose is to provide useful information which will give clear direction to those involved. She feels the question of merger is not so much as whether it is the rational decision, but to acknowledge what people wish from their government. Benke noted a recent study which showed that about half of the services and activities provided by New Brighton do involve some formal collaboration with other cities. He feels there is a need to be cautious as to how we group services for collaboration. He thanked Ray for her presentation. Motion by Samuelson, seconded by Larson, to WAIVE THE READING AND ADOPT THE RESOLUTION TO ACKNOWLEDGE AND THANK THE NEW BRIGHTON EAGLES AUXILIARY FOR A DONATION OF $130 TO PURCHASE "MCGRUFF HOUSE" PLACARDS. 5 Ayes - 0 Nayes, Motion Carried. Special Order of Business Ramsey County Strategic Planning Process Eagles Donation McGruff House Report 95-139 Resolution 95-062