01/06/1992 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 6, 1992 Mayor Reinert noted that development has moved quite rapidly and asked to lay out some thoughts. He said his proposals are not meant to be anti - development but rather to do things in an orderly and proper way for the City and to strive for quality rather than quantity. Mayor Reinert said'he felt there is an imbalance between R -1X homes and R -1 home and economic times may have caused this. He asked for an evaluation of the lot surpluses and said the Council should make a determination regarding the rate of growth of the City. Does the City want to grow at a rate of 50 new homes per year, 200 new homes per year or what is the policy the Council wishes to set within the capacity of the boards and staff to deal with each development properly. Mayor Reinert asked to re- evaluate the Comprehensive Land Use Plan, the Zoning Ordinances and the shifting MUSA boundaries. He asked to address the problem of "leap frogging" development which leaves voids where sewer and water lines run in open spaces. A "fill -in" policy should be developed for these areas. Mayor Reinert also asked to re- evaluate the assessment collection ratio to determine if the City is collecting assessments in an orderly fashion. He asked that a data bank be developed that would tell the Council of the economic impact of 50 new lots on the Police Department, Fire Department, Public Works Department and also the school system as well as other things. A better system needs to be established and streamlined to handle items that pass through the Design Review Board and other citizens boards. Mayor Reinert felt items should be handled more thoroughly to prevent conflicts. He felt it was not fair that items pass through these boards so quickly without their getting the full information they need to make good decisions. Mayor Reinert asked for time to allow the Park Board to incorporate the new Comprehensive Park Plan. He felt this plan will have a long term impact on the City and the citizens will be impressed with the plan. The plan deals with trail systems and impacts development and needs time to be studied. Mayor Reinert asked for time to hire a full time engineer. This position is included in the 1992 budget. The position will provide "hands on" service as the City puts improvements into place. A large portion of the city engineer's time will be charged back to the developers and the final cost to the City will be about 25% of his salary. Time is needed to hire this person and build a relationship with the other staff, developers, citizens boards and consulting engineer's. Mayor Reinert explained that time is needed to establish better policies as they relate to environmental concerns of this City. We are "blessed" with high ground water problems and wetlands. They create concerns and yet are amenities for this community. PAGE 7