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Replied Councilmember Crowley, "If we set a debt levy of X, something will surely come up to go beyond it." Asked Mayor O'Connor, "What are the implications of various debt levels?" Said Councilmember Strigel, "What I want to avoid is considering one thing after the other beyond a debt level." "I agree," said Councilmember Crowley. Said Mayor O'Connor, "We'll formulate the seeds of a policy as Don provides the impact to the citizens. A policy is meant to be a guideline. We can't tie our hands so that we no flexibility at all." "I agree," said Councilmember Strigel. Said Mr. [Don] Uram, "I look at it this way ... What is our total debt outstanding? What type of debt is it? What is the maturity of the debt?" Referring to a new City Hall and new Public Works Building, Mayor O'Connor said, "I'd like to see us use these two buildings to implement a policy, a strategy, a debt policy." Said Councilmember Strigel, "Maybe we can't afford trails and parks or a City Hall." "We've spent months talking about a Public Works Building," said Mr. Uram. "There are costs associated with a permanent versus a metal building. The whole financial changes dramatically depending on which way we'd go." Said Mayor O'Connor, "It would be nice if we could critically analyze two specific situations, and if three people [on the council] don't like the answer, we don't forward." Obviously a 2-3 vote on any issue means that the issue fails. The mayor suggested putting a more permanent debt policy in place by 2014. 3) Community Engagement. Said Councilmember Tom Strigel, "Let's amend the list to include communications tools. The question is, what is our strategy?" Said Councilmember Crowley, "Implementation of a strategy means we're going to change something. What are we going to change? We're not changing anything, but documenting what we're doing." Added Councilmember Strigel, "My feeling is that there is always an opportunity to do a better job." Mr. Uram referred to the city's list of email addresses of the members of the several homeowners associations in Victoria. Often Holly Kreft, or another member of city staff, zaps an email that spreads throughout Victoria. "I'm not sure there's any other city that has these HOA contacts," he stated. Regarding the city's current website, also a communication tool, Councilmember Joe Pavelko said, "I don't think we're even doing the bare minimum on our website." A goal (KPI) is to increase citizen participation at city meetings, boards, committees, commissions. 4) Focused Development. Said Councilmember Pavelko, "When I think about this, people are moving to Victoria because it's a bedroom community, and I think we should be embracing that -- big homes and grass that needs mowing, kids outside playing and everybody waves. If we get too far from that, we'd be losing out." Said Mayor Tom O'Connor, "I think it's a better community if we're able to attract a more diverse population. I don't think we want all our homes to be in the $400,000 to $500,000 range. I'm not against an apartment building and $200,000 to $300,000 homes. There's got to be room in this city for a variety. It means quality homes, first and foremost, but maybe also smaller lots and smaller homes and people who need a smaller mortgage." Said Councilmember Lani Basa, "A number of employees in Victoria live outside of Victoria because they can't afford to live in Victoria. We need that to grow as a community. Where are we going to find our firefighters?" Said Mr. Uram, "Certain sites in Victoria will lend themselves to certain types of development. I also think that land prices and development costs will determine what gets built in Victoria." "I don't want to exclude anybody," said Councilmember Pavelko, "but I don't like the big boxes in Shakopee or housing units that look like big boxes." A goal (KPI) is to have the first phase of the 13.5 acres (adjacent to the west edge of downtown Victoria) under development by December 31st, 2013. 5) Operational Effectiveness. "This is a big one from the staff perspective," said Mr. Uram. "I want to put together a strategic plan for the council to look at." Asked Councilmember Pavelko, "How many city employees get overtime?"
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CHASKA SCHOOL OF DANCE Mary Pieper 952-873-6781 |
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April 2013 |
