Minutes - Council Work Session - 03/16/2004 - Joint with Planning Commission

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He would like the Planning Commission to understand the Council is aggressive and proactively in agreement on the goals before them. Councilmember Kurak explained the Council is planning on amending the Comprehensive Plan, which was supposed to be good until 2010. They are planning on looking at the whole northern area, and the Planning Commission has a huge part in that. It is important to get the public involved; they should not make changes as big as what they are discussing without going through the same process all over again. City Administrator Norman explained the state statute requires the process with the Comprehensive Plan begin by the year 2008. The difficulty is Ramsey, like some outer ring suburbs, is rapidly growing and ten years is too long in this growth period. He does not know how long this growth period will last, and the City may need to revisit this on a five year basis. The planning process could be 12 to 18 months or longer and the City will be getting development pressure before them. The Council is not quite in agreement on that issue, but would be willing to take comments. This started with Alpine Woods, which is just to the west of Alpine Acres, and they will be seeing a lot of those types of pressures. Commissioner Johnson stated a study makes sense to look at alternatives in terms of expanding sewer and water by whatever criteria the Council establishes, as opposed to just reacting to people that want to sell their land. Councilmember Strommen stated it is up to the City to take the leadership role and say what they want this area to look like. That needs to be on paper and then they can evaluate the proposals that come up. She noted there are also differences on how rapidly they want to implement this vision. There was discussion regarding sewer and water plans for the City in the future. Commissioner Brauer stressed the need for prioritizing the goals. He explained when Coon Rapids broke the MUSA line it was a crazy situation and there were many lawsuits. Commissioner Johnson suggested the Planning Commission work on Goal Three, and then come to the Council to see if they are on the same page. Councilmember Elvig stressed the importance that the Planning Commission understand the process that needs to be gone through, but also understands the finances of this. The financial issues affect Town Center, roads, parks, and trails, and development pays for that. Councilmember Kurak stated planning is what is missing; the pipes in the feasibility study that was presented to the Council tonight are not planned. Assistant Public Works Director Olson stated the feasibility study was a study. Staff knew a Comprehensive Plan amendment would be necessary to accomplish these tasks. The City had a Joint City Council/Planning Commission Work Session/March 16, 2004 Page 5 of 7