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Mr. Reynoso stated in looking at it from a regional view, it is fantastic to `bring things home' for <br />this district but the whole goal of putting long -term plans together is to assure growth at the right <br />pace and to not make mistakes while looking at the regional picture. <br />Mayor Strommen opened the floor to comments and questions. <br />City Administrator Ulrich asked for an opinion on the opportunities presented with the new <br />Comprehensive Plan for a suburban community like Ramsey and issues that may be of concern <br />to the Metropolitan Council. <br />Mr. Reynoso stated Ramsey, as a suburban community, is doing a fantastic job in creating the <br />ratio of number of units per acre, even with the Comprehensive Plan amendments. He felt there <br />had been aggressive goals at first that may be pulled back a bit, but Ramsey is at 21 units per <br />acre, which is phenomenal. He stated the City has a vision for growing the area in the right <br />manner and he thinks there are opportunities with a different approach at Highway 10, as <br />detailed in the Access Study, to take project sections step -by -step to address raising capital. He <br />stated this will be beneficial for Ramsey and he looks forward to working with the City. <br />Planning Commissioner Bauer stated the recent community survey showed the City was average <br />on most categories but employment opportunities scored low. He noted that a large demographic <br />lives in Ramsey but does not work here so transportation is important. He asked how the <br />Metropolitan Council looks at the inner city and suburbs as far as jobs, transportation, and public <br />transportation. <br />Mr. Reynoso stated as long as there is a problem with Highway 10, it will be difficult to attract <br />big business (manufacturing) as they want good and quick highway access and will not want to <br />move to an area that is congested. With regard to net loss of jobs going to the cities, ways need <br />to be found to transport people to jobs. Mr. Reynoso stated the reality is that the way Northstar <br />is set up, it's not good even though it has improved the past several months He stated if the <br />consistency of Northstar is not resolved, it will be difficult to `sell,' but he thinks they can get to <br />that point eventually. He felt no one had foreseen that as a problem five to six years ago when it <br />first started but the Metropolitan Council is optimistic in working with BNSF to minimize <br />delays. He stated he spoke with some riders of the Blaine express bus who stopped using <br />Northstar because they need consistent and regular service. Mr. Reynoso stated providing flow <br />both ways is important and the Metropolitan Council needs to be more conscientious to find <br />ways to balance public transit with roads while looking at the big picture to plan ahead. <br />Mayor Strommen asked how the Metropolitan Council can reconcile the regional perspective <br />while recognizing within that, there are sub - regional differences (north metro versus south <br />metro). She noted staff's drafted Comprehensive Plan responses relating to traffic and water <br />resource issues will drive the Comprehensive Plan Update and how things play out. <br />Mr. Reynoso stated they struggle with those issues all the time and the reality is that each <br />community is a little different so it is difficult to create a `flat rule' that can apply to all. He <br />stated the Metropolitan Council needs to recognize those differences. <br />City Council Work Session / December 9, 2014 <br />Page 3 of 6 <br />