Agenda - Council - 02/26/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE # 03 CONSIDER NEW PRECINCT BOUNDARIES TO ADD THREE VOTING PRECINCTS IN THE CITY OF RAMSEY By: Jo Thieling, City Clerk Background: Staff has been working with the Anoka County Elections staff for the past several months with regard to adding three more precincts within the City of Ramsey. Dividing three of our, four Wards into three precincts versus two will help alleviate, to some extent, the longer voter lines and, to a greater extent, the crowded polling places. This will also help to make the entire elections process more manageable for the election judges. The proposed changes are simply precinct/polling place boundaries; there are NO changes proposed to Ward boundaries. Prior to drawing lines for the proposed new precinct boundaries, I met with Community Development staff to talk about projected growth in all areas across the City (e.g. Brookfield, 235 units, Sweet Bay— 165 units, etc.). Based on those projections —possible growth could be as follows: Ward. l — 157 additional units/households, Ward 2 - 442 additional units, Ward 3 — 539 additional units and Ward 4 —191 additional units. There could potentially be two more registered voters for each unit. A proposed resolution with full legal descriptions of the proposed lines and a draft precinct map are being presented this evening for Council consideration. A small colored map will be inserted in Council's packet and a larger map showing more detail will be available at the Council meeting. If the City Council approves new precinct boundaries, staff will forward the map and resolution on to the Anoka County Auditor's Office as well as the Secretary of State's Office for official action at their level. The last day to change precinct boundaries prior to a State Primary Election is Friday, May 30, 2008. Once everything becomes official, the Anoka County Elections Department sends out notification cards to Ramsey residents informing them of the change in polling places. We will also publish information in the Ramsey Resident as well as on our website. Proposed polling place information is as follows: Ward/Precinct Polliniz Place # of Rea. Voters W1P1 Pathways Community Church, 6341 -167` Avenue NW 1,153 W1P2 Cross of Hope, 5730 -179 Lane NW 1,384 W1P3 Fire Station 2/Former Municipal Center (upper level) 1,278 15153 Nowthen Boulevard NW W2P1 Fire Station 1,15050 Armstrong Boulevard NW 1,396 W2P2 Park Center, 7925 -161" Avenue 1,047 W2P3 Central Park Warming House, 7925 -161` Avenue NW 559 —131—