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Council Meeting Minutes Page 2
<br />January 25, 1994
<br />Mavor Benke's 1994 State of the City Address.. continu
<br />The events of 1993 should mark 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 deal_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 />-- r _ 1993,-.,a record that we anticipate being broken again this year.. We hired a new - ~~
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<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. A'y '
<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 ,r- .
<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 ,V
<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 wdl . -
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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. ~ -x -; -~ - -
<br />needed to keep us challenged and moving ahead. _ s ~ _
<br />Looking ahead, several priorities emerge for action. In additionto completing
<br />-.... ,_ downtown. construction and the Family Service; Center and keeping. up efforts to ;< - . ,:_,~ ;.
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<br />' j- make all of our. activities and services effective and. affordable, the Councd and staff :r i
<br />identified eight priority, challenges for the coming months at our annual retreat . In _
<br />the coming weeks we will address the following tasks:.
<br />1) Review .and implementation of the recommendations of the Housing Quality ~ -~~•~
<br />Task Force; _ _
<br />F' 2) Development and implementation of a plan to capitalize on the emerging
<br />telecommunications technologies both internally and ,as an economic, ~ -
<br />development, focus,; _ _ :,
<br />3) Development~and implementation, of a community leadership development _
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<br />program that: will, ensure we have a continuingsource of new leaders, _ ,,.,
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<br />4) Accelerated plan of acaon to clean up the contaminated MacGillis &`Gibbs :, .
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<br />site,
<br />- ~ Increased attention to business retention, expansion, and recruitment efforts;
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