05/27/2003 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MINUTES MAY 27, 2003 APPROVED 97 Mayor Bergeson stated that recreation programs continue to grow in number and in participation. • 98 Old favorites attracted more participants than ever in 2002: Family Turkey Shoot (167 teams) and 99 Breakfast with Santa (221 participants), Youth Football (315 participants) and Youth Soccer (534 100 participants). Newer programs also proved popular: the first Sweetheart Dance had 131 in attendance 101 and the second annual High Adventures Day Camp reached maximum enrollment. Recently the city 102 renewed an agreement with Centennial School District to maintain its athletic fields in exchange for 103 use of the fields and other facilities for city programs. 104 105 Mayor Bergeson advised that staff and council spent considerable time refining and adopting a Five - 106 Year Financial Plan for 2003-2007, however many of the assumptions upon which the plan is based 107 may change, depending on the state legislature. The plan will be modified as needed and extended 108 annually as part of preparing the annual budget. The city once again earned the Government Finance 109 Officers Association Award for Excellence in Financial Reporting. He stated the City Clerk's office 110 started a document imaging program that electronically stores and transmits city information and 111 records. It will take some time to scan meeting minutes and agenda packets from previous years, but 112 as the system grows, so will the ability to locate data quickly. In Human Resources, a safety 113 committee of employees from various departments researched training needs and developed a 114 program of monthly in-house training opportunities for all city staff. Although the population and 115 service needs continue to increase, our staff levels remain steady. We are fortunate to have little staff 116 turnover among our 65 employees. 117 118 Mayor Bergeson stated that the official city web site was developed and launched in 2002, although it 119 is an ongoing challenge to find time for staff to keep the information up to date. At the same time we 120 look forward and harness new technology, we don't want to lose track of the city's past. The council W21 created the Lino Lakes History Project last year and appointed Betsy Friesen as the volunteer 122 coordinator of the project. She and Jerry Berg are working on a systematic plan to capture artifacts 123 and information for the benefit of future generations. 124 125 Mayor Bergeson stated that from a Community Development perspective, it took all of 2002, but a 126 task force of board members and staff, lead by Councilmember O'Donnell, completely overhauled the 127 Zoning and Subdivision ordinances. The council also adopted a growth management ordinance. 128 Together these measures provide the means to implement the city's revised Comprehensive Plan. He 129 noted commercial development was highly visible during the year as a SuperTarget, Kohl's and 130 McDonald's were built in the Marketplace. He stated that in Environmental Services, Lino Lakes, in 131 conjunction with Centerville, adopted a no -wake ordinance for Lake Peltier. We hope that 132 minimizing disturbance on the lake will encourage Great Blue Herons to return to their nesting area 133 on Lake Peltier Island. He added that in Engineering, the cities of Hugo, Centerville and Lino Lakes 134 started a "Tri -city" coalition to address I -35E corridor concerns that affect all three. The membership 135 now includes Anoka County, Washington County, Columbus Township and MNDOT. 136 137 Mayor Bergeson stated that as expected under the limitations imposed by the Comprehensive Plan, 138 the number of permits for new single family residences fell slightly in 2002, to 218. 139 In addition, 589 permits were issued for residential improvements and 31 for commercial 140 improvements. 141 142 Mayor Bergeson saluted all of the City staff for excellent service. V1143 44 3