Joint Meeting Update

The joint meeting accomplished a few items. Training was stressed for every appointed position. The Mayor had stated he had heard "rumors" of folding the EDA into the City Council. I have sent this as one of my suggestions to the EDA for consideration. The Mayor stated his opposition to this idea. Other EDA members commented that this would add more hours of work to City Council Members. Work is what we signed up for when we ran for office. I look forward to the EDA's statements on this question. The Mayor came to the defense of Brian Iverson's membership on the EDA. The Mayor once again stated he had heard rumors that people were questioned if Mr. Iverson's membership was a conflict. Again this is one of the questions I have asked the EDA to address. This is an issue that needs to be resolved.

I was happy to hear that the Planning Commission Chair was very happy with 7 members on the Planning Commission. He felt this worked very well and added greatly to the process.

Parks & Recreation was brought up next. I stated that although I have great love for parks and am happy with the continued growth in our park and trail system. The maintenance cost is also increasing. The new parks are paid for with development money. This cost the citizens of Isanti nothing. The mowing and maintenance comes out of the City Budget. This will in time account for a full time employee to simply mow and maintain the parks. There will also be replacement cost to consider as our parks age. I asked that we all think of these cost as we continue our budgeting process.

This meeting, although short, was beneficial and I hope we will continue to work directly with these appointed bodies.