HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWkspAgen_06Feb01Falcon Heights City Council Workshop February 1, 2006 City Hall 2077 W. Larpenteur Avenue Council Chambers 6:00 p.m. Agenda 1. Active Living, Ramsey County Resource Discussion 2. St.
Anthony Police Department Contract Update 3. City Website Re-design and added functionality ??????s???
Item 1 Subject: Active Living Ramsey County Discussion Presented by: Sue Gehrz, Mayor Background: Active Living Ramsey County is collaboration between Ramsey County, Blue Cross, school
districts, city governments, employers, health advocacy organizations, and citizens. Our goal is to address public health issues by making changes in the environment. Walking or bicycling
for transportation or pleasure or playing in a park helps people meet the Surgeon General’s recommendation of 30 minutes of moderately intense physical activity at least five times a
week. Yet in many of our neighborhoods, it is difficult to walk or bike to schools, local markets, or other important destinations. By working together we hope to create and promote
environments that make it safer and more convenient for people of all ages to include more physical activity in their daily routines. We began organizing informally last spring and have
now completed gathering information to help us develop specific plans. With the funding from Blue Cross/Blue Shield, we were able to contract with a local research company called Decision
Resources to do a telephone survey of 1200 Ramsey County residents. 600 of these people live in St Paul and 600 live in the Ramsey County suburbs. These randomly selected residents were
asked questions about their current physical activities and their opinions about what changes in their neighborhood would help them add more activity to their daily routine. Some interesting
findings: 1. The percentage of respondents reporting engagement in physical activities varies with the amount of effort and the needed requirements – equipment, location, or purpose
– to undertake the activity. Most respondents report undertaking activities inside their home, lasting at least ten minutes and taking moderate effort; far fewer, though, briskly bicycle
to go from place to place for an errand. 2. Significant majorities of both groups report there are walking trails within walking distance from home, walking or bicycle trails within
bicycling distance, parks and playgrounds within walking distance of home. 3. The perceived safety of an area is a key constraint on outdoor recreational activities. 34% percent of city
residents and 25% of suburbanites think it is unsafe for children to walk to school in their neighborhood.
37% percent of suburban residents and 20% of city residents do not think their neighborhood streets are well-lit at night. 26% percent of city residents think the high crime rate in
their neighborhood makes it unsafe to go on walks; but only 5% of suburban residents, though, feel the same way. 4. The availability and condition of sidewalks is a suburban issue. While
a majority of suburban residents note the absence of sidewalks in their immediate neighborhood, almost 40% also report that their sidewalks are not well-maintained. In contrast, 89%
of St Paul residents report having sidewalks and 84% say their sidewalks are in good condition. 5. Traffic flow is an impediment to outdoor recreational activities. 21% percent of suburbanites
and 34% of city residents report there is so much traffic that it makes it difficult or unpleasant to walk in their neighborhoods. Majorities of the two groups also report an increase
in speeding traffic during the past two years on their residential streets. 6. The removal of obstacles to, and the provision of, opportunities for physical activity are important policies
to most residents. Almost 75% of both groups regard obstacles to being physically active as key health issues in Ramsey County. Over 95% also think opportunities for physical activities
contribute to the general quality of life in Ramsey County. But, less than 60% think opportunities for such activity have increased in the past five years. 7. There is a core of residents
in both areas who would work to improve their neighborhood for the promotion of physical activities. Ten percent of city residents and nine percent of suburbanites are “very willing”
to work with others in their neighborhood for this purpose. This is much higher than the typical 2 to 3% of people interviewed on phone surveys when asked about their interest in volunteering
to work on other issues in their communities. To make walking safe or more convenient in their local area, residents suggest: • more sidewalks (particularly in the suburbs) • better
street lighting • better traffic speed control • and increased police patrolling. For bicycling, residents suggest: • more bicycle lanes on streets • additional bicycle trails. • better
traffic speed control • increased police patrolling
Active Living Ramsey County! Comprehensive Plan Committee 11/2/05 Present: Sue Gehrz, Ken Haider, Jessie Rosenfeld, Jan Parker WHAT: Incorporate Active Living concepts into Comprehensive
Plan Discussions. WHY: Improve the health of the community by shaping public policy. HOW: 1) Educate public officials and policy makers about the connection between public health issues
and the built environment, 2) Prepare and distribute ALRC! tool kits to elected officials and appointed public officials, 3) Inform Active Living advocates about how to participate in
the comprehensive plan process in their community, 4) Prepare a list of questions for Active Living advocates to use during the comprehensive planning process. WHEN: 2006 Jan. – June
planning, July – Dec. tool kit development, 2007 technical assistance for interested local units of government. WHERE: All local units of government in Ramsey County. WHO: Expand membership
of this committee to include at least one suburban city planner, one city traffic engineer and possibly Metropolitan Council personnel. RESOURCES NEEDED: • Ideas and Examples -Search
for existing “active living tool kits” to get ideas (Jan will make some calls to see if there are some existing samples), • Information about the Comprehensive Planning process in all
Ramsey County local governments (need to call all cities), • Technical assistance for tool kit development (Sue will call Barbara Lukerman to see about student availability spring semester
‘06 in capstone class at Humphrey Institute), • Graphics and Printing for tool kits (need to request funds for professional assistance to do a really nice job!) PROCESS EVALUATION: •
How many cities were given information • How many cities participated • How many advocates participated in the processes • Number of newspaper articles about the active living components
of comprehensive plans Outcome Evaluation: New or revised policies that support active living enacted (by ’08)
Item 2 Subject: SAPD Contract Update Presented by: Sue Gehrz, Mayor Heather Worthington, City Administrator Background: The current SAPD police services contract ends this year. We will
be renegotiating this contract in the next couple of months. St. Anthony is asking us to consider going to a three-year contract, versus a two-year contract. They are proposing a 5.5%
increase each year of the contract to cover medical/dental insurance, fuel, maintenance, and other costs. Additionally, the Mayor and City Administrator will update the Council on the
proposed changes to the SAPD uniform, and squad car design. Attachments: A letter from Mike Mornson, City Manager, St. Anthony Village, and cost allocation, plus a copy of the proposed
contract, follows this staff report.
Item 3 Subject: City Website Re-design and added functionality Presented by: Heather Worthington, City Administrator Stacey Kreuser, Deputy Clerk Background: The City Council has a stated
goal of increasing e-commerce and online governmental functionality. Staff has been working on this issue since early 2005, but until now, was not able to buy a product “off the shelf”
that could meet those needs—and was not cost prohibitive. Happily, we are now able to purchase a website through GovOffice that will meet those needs identified by the Council, but also
be easy to update, have online commerce functionality, and search functionality. We are proposing to move forward with a re-design of the website which will include these functions.
This roll-out would be timed to coincide with the start of the recreation registration season in March. Attachments: Information on this service, its cost, and other details of their
product follows this staff report.