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<br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that he does feel it would be a good idea to engage the business <br />community in some way. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson stated that staff is proposing a task force made up of 15-20 <br />people from various community organizations. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked if anyone else felt that 15-20 people were too many. <br /> <br />Counci1member E1vig agreed that this is a large number. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson stated that it is not uncommon to have that size for this kind <br />of project and then wean it to a smaller group as it moves forward. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that in considering the. possibilities of tying together with a hotel <br />and having facilities for weddings, conventions and other special events, he wondered if <br />someone from the hospitality industry could be brought into the planning process; someone that <br />would know the dumpsters need to be located here and the staging area needs to be there, for <br />example. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson stated that, at some point in the process, an architect would <br />be brought it that could help with those aspects of building design. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he thinks it would be nice to have someone with specific input <br />included on the task force. <br /> <br />Community Development Director Miller suggested that the City could consider focus group <br />sessions where input is invited from a larger group and then have a smaller task force. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated that he thinks this project should start moving forward and asked <br />who convenes the group and how long they will be in place. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson stated that the City would like to manage this at staff level <br />initially and send an introductory letter to the community groups and either pull them into a <br />focus group or complete a survey to capture their thoughts about what they think the community <br />needs. She stated that after this information is gathered, the actual meetings could begin. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated that he would like to have an actual plan in place, so the meetings <br />just don't go on forever. He suggested that a timeline be outlined with specific monthly goals. <br /> <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated that part of the next step is to come back to the Council to <br />assign the group and develop a work schedule. He stated that he likes the idea of using the focus <br />groups to gather information from a lot of people and have an actual task force of 5 or 7 people. <br />He stated that the smaller group can still pull in finance or design people on an as needed basis. <br /> <br />Councilmember Dehen suggested putting something in the Ramsey Resident that the City is <br />looking to get this task force started and will be gathering public input. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session /AprilI5, 2008 <br />Page 5 of 10 <br />