Minutes - Council - 01/24/2011 - Strategic Planning 1/24 & 1/25

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with our criteria — we could scare people away — too much pressure. Councilmember Elvig stated in order to keep the ball rolling, there has to be some expectations met. He talked about all our investments. Mayor Ramsey stated he feels we are a long way ahead of where he thought we would be. Councilmember McGlone expressed agreement with the Mayor. Councilmember Wise stated he has some of the same apprehensions but when dirt is flying in a few months, he will feel better. Councilmember Jeffrey stated he does share some of the same concerns about front - loading a lot of money into this and he is not in favor of playing developer. He thinks spring will tell the tale of return on investment. He stated he realizes we will never break even on some but some of the other things Landform, marketing, etc. - these are faucets that need to dry up somewhat. Councilmember Elvig stated he is anxious and concerned but not really disappointed. Mayor Ramsey cautioned you cannot expect this to happen overnight. He is not really disappointed or concerned. Councilmember Tossey stated there are things happening — there is progress. He, too, believed spring will bring a different perspective. People will see that. He thinks it's a sit back and wait and see deal. We will be able to turn off that spicket eventually. The return will eventually come but the market is still terrible. Councilmember Elvig restated "what have we learned "? "Do we keep going down the same path"? "What do we do now "? Councilmember Wise stated this is when you do spend the money — we need to continue the momentum. Councilmember Elvig suggested maybe we should raise the bar now — take the opportunity to get out to the press. Mayor Ramsey stated he feels we are pushing the market as hard as we can. He added he is almost 100 percent happy. Councilmember McGlone stated that there has been talk about disappointments. When the room fills up with people objecting to something, this City Council cares. A lengthy discussion ensued about sidewalks and road construction. It was noted to make sure we have the intestinal fortitude to make things happen. Councilmember Backous talked about the majority of the Council and how for each issue each Councilmember has to vote with our conscience. Councilmember Wise stated he is disappointed when he hears too many times — that's the way it's always been done. Some of that is coming around but it seems slow to change. Councilmember Elvig stated that was the battle cry from several councils. That's been a battle cry for Ramsey for a long time but we continue to raise the bar. How do we balance our entrepreneurism — that's a challenge for staff. Mayor Ramsey stated he did not have too many issues with that but it's a work in progress. He did not like the whole mantra that if one City does it, Ramsey has to also. City Administrator Ulrich stated that it's good to know what others are doing — good to look at industry standards. Councilmember Elvig continued with disappointments — we did not follow through or be more aggressive with a big box development. Some of the marketing that came out showed we could support that gold star development. We need to go out and attack. Mr. Ulrich stated that we made efforts to acquire the property to which Councilmember Elvig commented that so far it's a disappointment. Councilmember McGlone stated that with regard to gold star — we reached the $40 million amount. He added he is courageous, but not ready to spend that kind of money right now. Big Box retail is still in the plan as he understands it. Therefore — he could not understand City Council/Staff Strategic Planning Session / January 24 & 25, 2011 Page4of9