Agenda - Council - 04/10/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

agreeing with what he is saying. Ms. Pieper stated she has not heard Councilrnemb~ Zimmerman saying much or if he disagrees with Councilmember Hendriksen. She stated that different than what she supported and had thought of Councilmember Zimmerman,~a':.~being an independent thinker and decision maker but that is not happening. She urged Ci3uncilmember Zimmerman to go back to his roots, think it through, and make independentdecisi0~ns,. Ms. Pieper stated Councilmember Zimmerman has strong and sincere intere!ti?n;Ramsey'anct, she believes that deep down he agrees the City needs to be progressiwe.,'_ She stated::~Oiat Councilmember Zimmerman believes in Ramsey and knows tb~;~city':~it!: benefit progressive action and a community center. Ms. Pieper urged C0mi~iimemb~i,','Zimmerman to' , ,, · ./:7. ~ step up to the plate and support the residents of Ramsey. /~.-,---; A1 Pearson, 14821 Bowers Drive, Ramsey, stated he is"~;~4~rner Councilmember and in the 1980s the Council was seriously looking at a bridge cr6s~ing, farther e~_t.,.t, han the current site. He noted that the River Center site is open land so n~thiiig.:'naeds to be,di~p%ed of. Mr. Pearson noted that the new proposed bridge crossing farther t~'-the w'e~f:Would'be~ a g0¢d thing to get the free study done on the land. He urged the Council to go along'~i{tti~ fls.e Comprehensive Plan and get the study done. ,.x . - Mayor Oamec asked Mr. Pearson if ha-~PPorts that a~ea for the bridge~r'{h~nks"~it is a detriment to his property. //"- ?_:":': .... ~ Mr. Pearson stated his prope~ i; closet°the proposed~'b~dg~e~'10o~ti;~ and he is not interested in selling or developing his land. He explained that:iii~'{S a farmer~,nd wants it to stay a farm forever but if his property is close to the b~dge,-.~i~'!~in have'.,~O;,~'; with that. ~e stated the City has the chance to. get a free study and the P!~: has been worked on for quite a few years with a lot of citizen input'and now is the time to act'ZV: Mayor aambc stated they ?iaCe had meetings~i-~'Metropolitan Council Representative Haas Steffen'.and~the Metropolitan;Council staff. 'H~?commented that no plan can be completely satisfactory-t~all about everYthing.and there are still some areas that everyone does not agree with. Mayor aa~ec: stated~ h0wer~,;~i~,t~e~e is some point where it must be moved fo~ard. He thanked the-audience for providin~2heir comments about the Comprehensive Plan and ---¥_b~ge.- He complemented Metropolitan Council Representative Natalie Haas Steffen for getting F,.~,.. '''; -- money' for the City of,Ramse~;,,for this study. Mayor Gamec stated he serves on several committee"with area mayors and believes Ramsey has a great opportunity to move forward and get this study:'.di~ne. He ex,:ended his appreciation and thanks to Natalie Haas Steffen. ~-:.. Councilmemb~Zimmerman stated it looked like the gathering is here to put pressure on him. --:--_-'He stated he ra~:i~or office on a couple issues. One was to not run sewer and water down existing ':' ;" streets and hebeiieves the Plan does this. He stated he also ran to protect neighborhoods and we -',. are not totally ~hrough with that. He stated he does not think he can vote for this Comprehensive Plato C6uhcilmember Zimmerman stated he has supported business in the community but can't vote Ibr-the Comprehensive Plan the way it is. -106- City Council/March 13, 2001 Page 24 of 31