Minutes - Council Work Session - 04/12/2016

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Councilmember Riley stated that he would like to see something happen, specifically in regard to the "low hanging fruit" rather than just have discussions. Mayor Strommen asked the thought process of having the Council weigh in on these strategies prior to the public engagement meetings. She stated that she would not want to narrow this before the public input is gained. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that these five items have financial implications and therefore staff wanted to gain the input of the Council before putting these ideas out to the stakeholders in the corridor. He stated that there is some "low hanging fruit" but noted that some of those items are within the current policy and some are not. Mayor Strommen stated that she did not see this issue as code enforcement and believed that the City would struggle to achieve these goals if this is done as code enforcement. She stated that she would see this as public engagement. Councilmember Johns agreed with the comments of Mayor Strommen. She addressed the Highway 47 corridor and stated that Anoka is getting ready to do a gateway project on Highway 47 and then you would go into Ramsey that does not have improvement in the corridor. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that staff will then reach out to the stakeholders for Highway 10 and Highway 47 and confirmed the consensus of the Council for staff to meet with those stakeholders to gain input. Mayor Strommen stated that the "low hanging fruit" should be identified from the point of the City and the point of the stakeholders. She stated that perhaps number one should not be included from the first discussion. Councilmember Williams asked the goal of the City as that should be identified prior to reaching out to the stakeholders, whether that is to improve the aesthetics or raise property values. She stated that a goal should be defined and then discussions can occur between staff and the businesses to gain their input. Councilmember Johns stated that she would like to see the aesthetics improved. Mayor Strommen stated that perhaps a statement of goal for the gateways and corridors should be identified and then the question should be posed as to how the City and stakeholders can work together to reach that goal. She confirmed that the goal should come from the Council. Councilmember LeTourneau stated strategic tactic 28 referenced the development of a goal and believed that staff would have the capacity to develop that goal with the stakeholders. He noted that if the Council develops the goal the item would no longer be the responsibility of the public engagement process. Community Development Director Gladhill reviewed the process that could be followed to complete a draft and then bounce the conversation between the stakeholders and Council. City Council Work Session / April 12, 2016 Page 4 of 6