| Metro Cities News | |
| June 20, 2008 | |
GEARS Committee Packet--coming to a town near you!Staff is happy to report the Metro Cities Board of Directors signed off on the proposed elections process last night at our monthly meeting. Today, we are mailing out a packet of information to each Mayor and City Manager for all the cities in the five participating counties which are Anoka, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey and Washington. The packet includes an application for the GEARS Committee, an RSVP card and a letter from the County Transit Improvement Board among other things. Each city should be receiving their packet early next week, and we will also post the entire packet on our website for electronic viewing. Thanks to everyone who participated in putting this process together! Met Council to Adopt Comp Plan Extension GuidelinesThis week, the Met Council’s Community Development Committee adopted guidelines to address extensions of comprehensive plan updates. Met Council staff had forewarned us months ago that late comp plans were not going to be looked upon lightly by Chair Bell and the Council and were considering options to address late plan submissions. On Monday, the CDC adopted a set of extension guidelines. Metro Cities Director Louie Jambois gave public testimony, and was able to convince the Committee to revise and compromise on a couple of the more, as Louie put it to the Committee, “draconian” guidelines being proposed. Metro Cities’ general position is that state statutes already address late comprehensive plan updates, and that a heavy hammer regarding late submissions does little to foster productive working relationships between the Met Council and its constituent cities. The proposed guidelines will allow for administrative extensions for late comp plans to May 28, 2009 (the original proposal was to April 30 th; Metro Cities suggested an additional two months; the compromise was May 28 th). If a city won’t have their plan in by that date, a further extension will require action by the Met Council. The original proposal was to require cities to make a presentation to the CDC, which we see as nothing more than a public flogging, and our testimony said as much. Subsequently, an amendment was offered by Councilmember Pistilli to allow cities to furnish a letter requesting an additional extension and to subsequently meet with Met Council staff who would then report back to the CDC. The Committee accepted that amendment. The other hammer – which Metro Cities opposes but which the Committee adopted - is that for Livable Communities grants awarded after December, 2008, the Council will not execute a grant agreement with any grantee community that has not submitted a plan update that is complete for review. In our opinion, the LCA program has been unjustly constricted in recent years, and we don’t think the Council should do anything more to further hamper this important program. This particular sanction however, is one that Council members believe sends the strongest signal that the Council takes seriously the timely submission of comp plan updates. The proposed guidelines were adopted by the Community Development Committee and are headed for full Council review and consideration. If you have any questions, please contact Patricia Nauman at 651-215-4002, or email: patricia@amm145.org. Peter Bell/Council Members Take Their Show on the RoadYesterday, Met Council Chairman Peter Bell along with Council Members Georgeanne Hilker and Sherry Broecker conducted the first in a series of “District Dialogues” in Forest Lake. The purpose of the Dialogues is to create a two-way information exchange and foster greater personal contact between the Metropolitan Council and local units of government. There were 44 city, county and township representatives in attendance, along with State Representatives Carol McFarlane ( R-White Bear Lake) and Bob Dettmer ( R-Forest Lake). Also in attendance were several Met Council senior staff from all of the operating divisions. The meeting opened with welcoming statements from Council Members Hilker and Broecker. Chair Bell followed with a summary of Council activities and then invited questions from the audience. There were several very good questions from the audience and the Council Members and staff did their best to answer them. While these meetings are unlikely to break any new ground, they provide excellent access to Council members and senior staff. And even when we disagree with Chair Bell (and we sometimes do), his knowledge, commitment to the region and genuine warmth always make a good impression. Below is a listing of upcoming District Dialogues. If you haven’t been in contact with your Council Member lately, your local District Dialogues would be a very good opportunity to do so.
+ Meetings include 30 minutes of planned remarks followed by 30 minutes of Q&A. ++ Rooms are reserved 30 minutes before and after meetings for registration/refreshments/networking. * Co-hosted by an existing group. A more precise time TBD with group’s agenda.
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