Agenda - Council Work Session - 11/22/2005

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consultant Harrison Owen in 1985, OST has been applied to meetings of federal and state agencies coping with planning issues. OST has been used all over the world with groups from to >700. Organizations which have used OST include the US F6rest Service, South African townships, the Venezuelan cellular phone system, and the NEA. In one OST conference of 225 tribal leaders, federal officials, and state and local governmental representatives they organized 53 issue workshop conference in less than half an hour, self-managed it over a two-day period, and walked out with 150 pages of proceedings in their hands 48 hours after they started. Ramsey proposes to use OST a/kef the completion of the forums.. During the forums we will collect email addresses and other information from community members to add to our already extensive data base. This will be used along with the city's wet5 page to keep citizens informed throughout the process. The web site and emails will be used with traditional methods to invite community members to participate in a visioning process for the city that will build on in.tbrmation received during the ~brums. The key to a successful application of OST is to have a very carefully defined issue for participants to deal with. In this case we propose to ask, "What do you want Ramsey to look like in 2020?" A trained OST facilitator would guide the process. Following this, City. staff and City Council will work to fbrmulate specific zoning and development regulations that will meet that vision. The forums will play a role in this, for besides serving as intbrmation sessions, the forums will allow Ramsey to identify specific consultants who can assist in the ciW, 's planning process. While we recognize that our plans -are ambitious, we also realize that we need to think outside the box to effectively confront the serious issues facing us. Ramsey3 will require the same dedication, hard work, leadership and innovative problem solving that the Rarnsey community, brought to the Ramsey Town Center. We feel we are better positioned to make this leap than other Tw/n Cities communities because of this experience. A Feat deal of innovative capacity building has already occurred in om' city. Now we ask your help to take us to the next level, one that promises to enhance not only 1Kamsey but also serve as a lighthouse for other communities. As a community we believe we have not only an obligation to our own citizens but to the entire region, for only when ail of us we [inked together can we create the synergy that has produced exemplary, communities in other parts of the country. Please feel free to give me a call if you have any questions regarding our request. Thank you for your consideration. Respect~dly, Patrick TruCg~on, AiCP Commu~p Development Director