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Mayor Gamec thanked Centerpoint Energy for their donation. He stated that the City of Ramsey <br />has had a very good working relationship with the gas company and really appreciated the <br />service they provide. <br /> <br />CITIZEN INPUT <br /> <br />Alena Hunter, 14628 Helium Street NW, Ramsey, stated that as the Chairperson of the Town <br />Center Task Force, she has a very strong feeling about the creation of the Town Center Review <br />Board. She noted that she had sent a letter to all of the Councilmembers expressing her <br />concerns, which she wanted to review briefly. Her first concern had to do with the fact that she <br />thought the City Council was "putting the cart before the horse" in creating the Review Board <br />because a mission statement for the review has not been created nor has any criteria been put <br />together for the Board. She noted that that was also a concern of the Town Center Task Force. <br />Secondly she thought it should be determined exactly what the responsibilities of the Review <br />Board would be, Initially when the Town Center Task Force was created there was some <br />discussion that the Task Force would be turned into a more formal Board that would include a <br />different set of responsibilities. The Task Force does feel that their job is complete as far as their <br />initial responsibilities. In terms of what the Review Board needs to do, the Task Force had a <br />long discussion about the issue and they all felt that the Review Board should not be parallel with <br />the Planning Commission, but they would do the "grunt work" Primarily the Task Force is very <br />willing to take the time to create the mission statement and a bullet point list of exactly what the <br />Town Center Review Board tasks would be. It was the consensus of the Task Force that the <br />Review Board should be looking at the finer details of a site plan and determine if it fits within <br />the Town Center concept. Ms. Hunter explained that the reason she wanted to address the City <br />Council is because she was aware that the issue was going to be discussed in the very near future. <br />Her last concern had to do with the make-up of the Review Board. It was the consensus of the <br />Town Center Task Force that a Councilmember should not be appointed to the Review Board. <br />Ms. Hunter requested that the Task Force be given the task of creating a mission statement and <br />drafting a list of tasks for the Town Center Review Board. <br /> <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that it was her understanding that the Council had directed <br />staff to put together the appropriate ordinance for creating the Town Center Review Board and to <br />develop a mission statement for the Board as well. <br /> <br />City Administrator Norman replied that Ms. Strommen was correct, but staff was also directed to <br />work with the Planning Commission and the Town Center Task Force prior to developing a <br />mission statement. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that the overall concern seems to be is the Town Center Review <br />Board a Commission or a Task Force. If it is set up as a Commission are they setting it up to be <br />parallel with the Planning Commission. <br /> <br />Councihnember Cook replied that they have always talked about the Town Center Review Board <br />being a subcommittee of the Planning Commission. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec noted that the Council would be discussing the issue at length at an upcoming <br />work session. <br /> <br />City Council/November 25, 2003 <br /> Page 4 of 28 <br /> <br /> <br />