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Council Meeting. Minutes Page 2 -
<br />January 25, 1994
<br />Mavor Benke's 1994 State of the Citv Address. continued
<br />The events of 1993 should mazk the end of the grieving process! Reconstruction for
<br />our future neighborhood has begun and we will soon see new townhomes,.a Family
<br />Service Center, and a new commercial/retail center to complement our City Hall,
<br />the Fire Station, Golden Pond and the Ralph Reeder Center as a community activity
<br />center.... No, we_won't-have a traditional, old..style. downtown. But, we will have a.
<br />place to be proud of. A place where services are provided and people live and
<br />enjoy themselves and our heritage. Above all, we are putting, an end to the
<br />uncertainty about what to do with downtown! We can now shift our attention to
<br />other issues.
<br />Before we make the shift, however, we need to acknowledge and celebrate our 1993
<br />successes. I cannot recall a yeaz during my service on the Council when we've had
<br />to deai,with so many tough issues. We resolved questions not only with the
<br />downtown azea and. the construction of the Family Service Center. We also
<br />resolved key issues and moved forward on important projects like the Silver Lake. `.
<br />Road reconstruction, the Church Upon the Rock/Rice Creek Center, the refinancing " .
<br />of Brightondale, and the Four-City Senior Center.
<br />We processed over $45 million in permits for new construction and remodeling in'
<br />1993,_ a record that we anticipate being broken again this yeaz. We hired a new _ _ __.
<br />City Manager and several police officers. We adopted a balanced budget, updated
<br />our 5-Year Financial Plan;. and initiated another phase of our groundwater cleanup ;,~,_
<br />system. We rebuilt. several: neighborhood street systems and increased programs_ ti ., .
<br />for recreation and training.
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<br />All in all,` 1993 was a busy, dramatic, and successful yeaz in New Brighton.;- I fully .. -
<br />expect 1994 to be more of the same -- exciting opportunities to revitalize parts of
<br />- our City that need work and to build on our rich store of assets.. We have two key ____
<br />- new assets to be celebrated. First, we welcome Char Samuelson to the Council
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<br />team ,While we thank and will miss Dana Rebelein, I am confident that Chaz will .. ~ -
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<br />be a major source of energy, ideas, and wisdom. We will also enjoy the talent
<br />-. ;.,being added by_ Matt Fulton who. brings new experiences, perspectives,:=and ideas: - _ -
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<br />needed to keep us challenged and moving ahead.
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<br />Looking ahead, several priorities emerge for action. In addition to completing
<br />::_ downtown construction and the Family Service: Center ,and keeping up efforts to . -
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<br />make all of our activities and services effective and affordable, the Counc~ and staff
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<br />identified eight priority challenges,'for the coming months at our annual retreat.. In - -
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<br />the coming weeks we will address the following tasks; ~ :.-.
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<br />1) Review and implementation of the recommendations of the Housing Quality
<br />Task Force; -. _ . ~ ., _.._ ~ ._
<br />2) Development and implementation of a~plan to, capitalize on the emerging
<br />telecommunications....technologies-both mtemally and as~an econoauc .
<br />development focus,.` .... ~ ~ ~_ ~ , _.- _ ,fi ~ - ..
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<br />3) Development and implementation~of a community leadership~development -
<br />program that: will_ensure we have a continuingMsource of new leaders, :.~ _ ~_ _
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<br />4) Accelerated plan of action to clean up the contaminated MacGdlis &`Gibbs
<br />site; ~_. ..
<br />S) Increased attention to business retention, expansion, and recruitment efforts;.
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