Agenda - Council - 06/10/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Organizations; Church/Education Community; and Organized Athletic Groups. He reviewed the suggested questions and information to be gathered from the focus groups. He stated that staff thinks this initial phase will take about 60 -90 days. City Administrator Ulrich stated that as people come through the focus groups, the City will solicit whether they would be interested and have the time to commit to serving on the task force. Management Intern Gladhill noted that this will be different than the Ramsey3 project, in that people will be invited to attend one of four sessions to give feedback, not attend all four sessions. Councilmember Look stated that his concern is that more than likely this will eventually require some sort of voter approval. He stated that he is concerned that after all the time is spent and plans are made, that the voters, given the current economic situation, will just say no way. He asked whether it would be wiser to go with some sort of voter survey to see if they are agreeable. Mayor Gamec stated that he thinks the City needs to find out what it will look like before it can be presented to people. Councilmember Dehen stated that people will want to know how much it costs. He stated that he thinks that people, in theory, are in favor of a community center, but they will need to know the costs. Management Intern Gladhill stated that the purpose of the focus groups is to get an idea of what the community wants to see included and then do a community survey for the financing portion. Councilmember Elvig noted that he sees that Burns Township residents are included on the list and questioned whether Anoka residents should also be included. Mayor Gamec stated that would be a great idea and could really benefit kids, but the problem when dealing with Anoka is that they tend to give a negative response. Councilmember Look stated that he feels the fitness center could send out a survey that would include Anoka and Burns Township residents. He suggested that perhaps the City could work with the hotel and fitness entities to put together a nice survey and share the costs. City Administrator Ulrich suggested that both Anoka and Burns Township residents not be included in the focus groups, because he doesn't think that they really bring anything unique that Ramsey residents don't already bring. There was a Consensus not to include Burns Township or Anoka residents in the focus group process and move forward with the focus groups. Councilmember Dehen stated that he would like to see this moved along as quickly as possible. City Council Work Session / June 3, 2008 Page 13 of 16