Agenda - Council Work Session - 02/17/2015 - Strategy Session

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Page 2, 07. 7. What are three to five greatest threats that the City needs to address in the short-term? 1 2 3 Budget, staffing needs Lack of staff, COR development, cost of consultants 1. Finging a balance in development: Mixing up zoning areas and creating animosity between those that have lived in Ramsey for years and like the rural feel and those citizens that want amenities. We must balance both and be sure we are mindful of infringement upon areas that really should remain more residential. This goes for the careful planning of multi -family housing vs. single family. Taking into account traffic, density etc. 2, lack of confidence in the City .(le Council) to do what is right- this is seen by the City Staff and the turnover that has occured as well has being very much felt by the citizens- Faith in the City needs to be restored. 3. The economy- forclosures have risen (many in my area anyway). The economy is still tenuous. We must be rnidfui of that when looking at taxes, spending, bonds and the overall way we handle the 'residents' money. 4 Traffic/roads, business growth opportunities, reputation of the city 5 Diminshing staff involvement, Over stressing new businesses and developers, ($). Publicity 6 Our dubious reputation. Financial stability. Our part of improving the economy. Looking short term instead of long term. Setting goals and following thru - telling the people what is going on and how they can help. 7 8 9 10 mistrust, low morale, economy helping to fill the COR 1.) Growth 2.) Taxes 3.) Fiscally smart and solid xx Travel distance to professional jobs, higher education. Hopefully the North Star helps. Over -building, and in particular, the re -building of streets is a waste of all sorts of resources. How many times has the road in front of Coborn's been torn - up and repaved? 1 believe !saw 3 pavement layers the last time it was dug up. Crazy ordinances. ATV and golf carts. Garage doors requiring driveways due to door size. Skateboarding, roller-skating, cycling restrictions based upon streets. Maybe the Council should spend time stripping some of the goofy ordinances from code. And along with review, maybe edit some of the onerous wording. Need to use the newsletter to provide updates to the construction in the City. Not everybody uses the internet, so don't depend on the City website. There are high levels of frustration with the streets, interchanges, lights, piles of dirt. Not sure, but I don't have a great feeling about apartments next to the Cor parking lot, with the very active train tracks right next to them. Even without the whistle, the shaking that may happen, TV signal interruption, and structural weakening (lot of wood studs I noticed) would not make me want anything to do with that location. I'm waiting for the Star Tribune article describing the apartments as belonging in Chicago by the L... Be careful deciding what businesses to entice to the area. Business climate is a good thing, but getting another Wal-Mart, when one is in Elk River and another in Anoka, would de -value the area in my opinion. Water shortage and contamination. Drought, and low water levels will increase contaminant levels in all bodies of water. Lake Ramsey, if it holds water barring any other changes being made, may become a smelly sediment pond and not a 24 of 40 Jan 26, 2013 5:57 PM Jan 26, 2013 3:00 PM Jan 23, 2013 1:37 PM Jan 22, 2013 9:02 PM Jan 22, 2013 10:33 AM Jan 20, 2013 7:45 PM Jan 18, 2013 11:01 AM Jan 18, 2013 7:04 AM Jan 18, 2013 2:40 AM Jan 17, 2013 10:39 AM • • •