CC MINUTES 12171985 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-3- hiking and biking areas. Mr. Gove indicated some of these activities had been developed to generate more revenues to offset the tax levy for the 1986 budget of 8.1 million dollars, which represented an increase of 11%. Two hundred dollars of that increase would be necessary to offset the anticipated raise in liability insurance rates, the Park Manager said, if the district is even able to get that coverage at all . Mayor Sundland told Mr. Gove the City had been faced with the prospect of paying the same type of increase in liability rates this year but the Council perceived they had avoided about $40.,000 by retaining a risk management firm to shop around for a better deal . The park representative said he would recommend the park district investigate doing the same. After he had completed the slide presentation during which he had indicated that, in addition to, developing new park areas, the Hennepin Parks would be setting up a fund for rehabilitating the existing park areas, for which there is no outside funding available at this time, Mr. Gove thanked the Mayor and Council for the opportunity to speak to them that evening . He said the district did want to be more responsive and accountable to the communities they serve. Mayor Sundland responded by saying the personalized report on where the park funds are spent was certainly appreciated, especially now that thelevying power provided a better visual picture of the effect the park district has on the homestead taxes . The Mayor added that he and the Council had the importance of their own metropolitan park system brought home to them at every national conference they attend where other elected officials from all around the country express their amazement at the amount of land set aside for recreational purposes in this area. • Mr. Childs had distributed copies of the December 13th invitation to Mayor Sundland to testify regarding the reauthorization of the Superfund program at a Congressional hearing to be held in the State Capitol Building, December 20th. The Mayor indi- cated the St. Anthony and New Brighton City Managers would be giving a joint presentation on their cities' water contamination problems and he indicated he .would expect Mr. Childs would be reporting back to the Council on the hearing during their first meeting in January. Mayor Sundland concluded his report by extending his own and his wife, Ardelle' s, "Best wishes for a happy holiday season and prosperous New Year" to the other Councilmembers, staff, their families, and all the residents of St. Anthony. Councilmember Marks thanked the Mayor for his greeting before giving his own report which included his participation in another Planning and Zoning Institute training session on the St. Paul Campus the previous Friday. The Councilmember also commented that, while the Mayor and Councilmembers Ranallo and Makowske were attending the League of Cities Conference in Seattle the previous week, he had attended another type of meeting on the opposite side of the country. Councilmember Ranallo reported he had put in two days of intense work at the Conference related to the preparation of 22 resolutions from the League Human Relations Committee on which he serves, and he indicated he had found one workshop on "Manag.ing an Aging City", especially pertinent to the City's situation where between 450 and 500 new residents over 55, are expected to be added to the City's population. From what he heard during that workshop, the Councilmember said he perceived it might be beneficial to have staff establish sometime in the middle of 1986 an advisory board similar to the Planning Commission, which could keep the • Council apprised of special needs this group might have. Mayor Sundland agreed, saying he perceived the existing senior council could be expanded to look into further sources of services like legal counseling which might be available for seniors.