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<br />CASE # 2 <br /> <br />CITIZEN GROUP SUMMARY REPORT <br />ON OPEN SPACE REFERENDUM RESEARCH <br />By: Chris Anderson, Environmental Coordinator <br /> <br />Background: <br /> <br />As you know, the Environmental Policy Board's (EPB) 2008 work plan included researching the <br />feasibility of an open space protection referendum. The Board's recommendation to City <br />Council was to request funding from Embrace Open Space (EOS) to complete a feasibility study <br />and public opinion survey on this topic. Ultimately, the City Council declined to pursue this <br />opportunity. Subsequently, a citizen's group approached EOS and requested that the group <br />proceed with funding for both the feasibility study and survey. The study was ,?ompleted in June, <br />2008 and the public opinion survey was completed in August, 2008. The survey results indicated <br />that, while there is support for' open space protection, due to the current economic concerns, the <br />timing is not right for a referendum. Below is asurnmary statement from the citizen's group: <br /> <br />In recent years many residents have expressed an interest in park and open space protection, but <br />funding these areas has been a continuing challenge. The City Council-approved 2008 <br />Environmental Policy Board Workplan included a task to investigate funding sources for open <br />space protection. In the course of this work, the EPB r~commended to the City Council that it <br />seek a grant from the Embrace Open Space collaborative to fund a feasibility study to look at <br />water quality, natural area, and park funding options. The City Council voted not to proceed <br />with the grant or the study. <br /> <br />Following that decision, a citiz~l1 group approached Embrace Open Space about working with <br />them to move forward with the study. The feasibility study was completed in June 2008 and <br />cone hided that that city's most viable funding mechanism to address the need to protect water <br />quality, natural areas, and parks is to issue general obligation bonds, back by the property tax. <br />The study also recommended that a current public opinion survey on this Issue be conducted to <br />evaluate public priorities and voter willingness to commit additional local funds for natural areas <br />and parks. Given the favorable results of the feasibility study; Embrace Open Space agreed to <br />fund and conduct the public opinion survey. <br /> <br />The survey was conducted in August, 2008 by Decision Resources. Based on this third-partY <br />admiriistered survey, it was concluded that due to the economic concerns currently expressed by <br />the citizens of Ramsey there currently is not a favorable. environment for a referendum question <br />in the 2008 election. However, there is underlying support for parks and open space, so a <br />referendum question could be considered in future years when the economic situation improves. <br /> <br />EPB Action <br /> <br />No action is necessary as this is for informational purposes only. <br /> <br />EPB: 12/1/08 <br />