09/05/2007 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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METRO CITIES Association of Metropolitan Municipalities President Steve Larson Mayor New Brighton Vice - President Tom Goodwin Councilmember Apple Valley Past- President Beverly Aplikowski Mayor Arden Hills Directors Douglas Anderson Mayor Dayton Metro Cities Paul Anderson Councilmember North St. Paul Myron Bailey Councilmember Cottage Grove Mark Bernhardson City Manager Bloomington Janis Callison Mayor Minnetonka Walt Fehst City Manager Columbia Heights Annual Report May 2007 Prepared for the Annual Meeting Board of Directors 2006 -07 Marcia Glick City Manager Robbinsdale Chuck Haas Councilmember Hugo Diane Hofstede Councilmember Minneapolis Dave Kelso Councilmember Circle Pines Mark McNeill City Administrator Shakopee Mike Maguire Mayor Eagan Linda Masica Councilmember Edina Dave Osberg City Administrator Hastings Dave Pokorney City Administrator Chaska Wendy Underwood Legislative Liaison St. Paul Pierre Willette Gov't Relations Rep. Minneapolis Metro Cities Mission: "Represent the collective interests of all Metropolitan cities on both metropolitan and statewide issues with Metropolitan significance." New Brand In 2006, The Association of Metropolitan Municipalities embarked on an effort to rebrand itself Our full name is very long, our acronym was often Iost in the endless list of advocacy organization acronyms, and our logo screamed 1975. Yet our history is very important to us and to many, we will always be AMM. With an eye on both cost and continu- ity, we concluded that we should retain our "corporate" name, but create a brand that was more distinctive and descriptive. After considering many options, we went with Metro Cities. We hope you bite it. Policy Adoption Meeting For the second consecutive year, Metro Cities collaborated with the Metropolitan Area Management Association and LMC to conduct a joint MAMA/LMC Regional Meeting/ Metro Cities 2007 Policy Adoption Meeting. The result was an outstanding turnout and an outstanding event. We hope to replicate this successful recipe for our 2008 Policy Adoption Meeting. Please mark your calendars for Thursday, November 29, 2007. Metropolitan Council Over 30 years ago, the Association of Metropolitan Munici- palities was created to represent a municipal perspective at the Metropolitan Council. That original purpose is as impor- tant today as it was then. In the past year, your Metro Cities team has been intricately involved in many issues being debated at the Council. While there are some areas where we don't agree, our relationship with the Council is generally very professional and respectful. We work cooperatively where we can. Council management and staff will often seek our reaction and advice as they contemplate a prospective issue or action. We appreciate their consideration and recognition that the size and membership makeup of our association makes us a significant player in Metropolitan affairs. Density Metro Cities staff; and several City Planners and Community Development Directors have been negotiating a proposal to create additional flexibility in the Council's density require- ments. Council policy states, "The city's overall residential density for development since 2000 must be a minimum of three units per developable acre. Determination of this density will be based on constructed residential units, and the lowest allowable units on remaining residential guided land." The result of the Council's policy, in our opinion, is that cities would be forced to guide more land to medium and high density development than is practical in the current market. 1