The Parking Ordinance passed with a 5-0 vote. I was surprised that there was no public comment. I believe we have taken a strong step towards improving the current situation.
The Council moved forward with ordering an abatement hearing for nuisances on multiple properties. This is never something we want to do but it does need to be done.
The next item is the city website. We approved a redesign that will improve all aspects of the site.....this was really started as a way to improve our Citizen communication and economic development. The proposal will create the "backbone" for items such as online bill payment permit pulling......these functions may not be part of the initial roll out but we wanted to make sure the website is flexible and powerful enough to accommodate future changes. Quoting from my previous post...
"The improved website will be easier to use, allow for future bill payments, Council audio and video, strong economic development resources, citizen resources and on and on......"
The last item to follow-up on is timely reviews of city services....We voted to take 1 of the 5 major City service providers and do a full RFP for each on a revolving 5 year cycle. The first two that will be reviewed are the City Engineer and then City Attorney. It has been five years since last time City Engineering services were reviewed. I hope this rotating cycle will help ensure the City is getting the greatest benefit for the dollar. This reform will give the City a process to follow and make clear to our service providers what we expect.
About Me
- George
- I have served the City of Isanti as Mayor since 2007. We have accomplished great things together and I look forward to building on our success. United, we move forward to a better future. You may contact me at 763-442-8749 or e-mail me at george@georgewimmer.com.
9 comments:
Nice work council, I'm glad to see issues being dealt with swiftly. I too was a little surprised to hear about the lack of public comment, considering some of the comments made on this blog about the parking ordinance.
I beleive some people are giving up voicing their opinion due to the fact that it dosn't get them any where but stress. The council is going to vote for the parking ordinance because they will not be greatly affected by it. This will cause alot of anger twords this city. There are alot of people with boats in their drive ways during the summer months because they don't fit in their garage. I have alot of neigbors that do this and it don't bother me. I do it as well because of the length of my boat. You will be seeing more 4-sale signs in the yards because the city is going to push people out with the to restrictive rules. My family pays huge taxs in this city(to much for what we get in return) and now you say I can't park my nice liceneced boat in my driveway for nomore than 2 weeks. Thats just crazy.
Dan,
I am surprised by your comments. The excuse that people do not think they would be listened to does not work for me. I always listen. I may not always agree but I always listen. If you want the definition to listen to include agree then you will never be happy.
Depending on what side of the issue you are also determines what you think will cause flight from Isanti. I hear it both ways. If we are to lax then people will leave because the city looks to junky...you say to restrictive and people will flee.
I do not think we are being to restrictive. If a person wants to store their boat they may does so along their garage on an improved or impervious surfaces. Dan you yourself built just such a surface which was required in the old ordinance.
This is the other point I want to make. The previous ordinance had almost all of the same restriction but was not enforced and could have been confusing. We cleaned it up and made it clear and enforceable. Those with trailers or boats or cars on grass were always in violation of ordinance but it was not properly enforced.
I hope you do not think the current situation of junk in yards, cars in yards, trailers and boats and all types of structures all over property is a good thing. We have to continue to reform. As I said before not one person, including yourself, came to any Council meeting to disagree. A sub-committee for this issue, the Planning Commission and Council spent almost a year and dozens of meetings on this issue. The newspapers, city website and my blog combined had constant information on this issue over the last year. The sub-committee was made up of members of the public. The process was inclusive and extensive. This was not an overnight decision. A lot of work went into it and the reform that came out of it was much needed.
George Wimmer wrote, "I hope you do not think the current situation of junk in yards, cars in yards, trailers and boats and all types of structures all over property is a good thing."
You forgot SEMI's!
Thanks for a job well done! When I purchased my home I made sure I had room in the garage for all of my "toys". I don't like to look at other people's junk and don't expect them to look at mine.
There is a difference between my bass boat and junk. Big difference. I do believe there needs to be ordinances inforced. The boat in the driveway is the only problem I have with the the revamped ordinance. I also think that the privacy fence between neighbors should be decided between them. If my neighbor does not have a problem with looking at something parked on a asphalt surfice next to my garage, I shouldn't have to put up the fence. I don't think me alone showing up to the last council meeting would have changed anything. I can't be the only one to stand up and say something about this. I think a mailer to everyone would have been a help too. I have spoke with some of my neighbors and they had no idea about what was happening. They don't read the local papers and don't know about this blog. And theres alot of people out there that are the same. We can't blame them for being in the dark all the time. When I ran for council, this was one of my key reasons. COMMUNICATION! cLEAN UP THE CITY, JUST DON'T GO TO FAR.
Communication is key. Sending out a mailer is interesting and the City has done that for certain items. The ones I know of are truth in taxation and the last one was asking for neighborhood input into the selection of park equipment for Mattson Park...I think it was sent to 30 or 40 homes for the park. We had less than five people come to the last truth in taxation hearing, even though the letter goes to each taxpayer, and only one person came to the park equipment selection meeting.
The question is what responsibility does each individual have to follow city government. I am actually writing about city government in the next Isantian. It can be argued that local government has the greatest impact on our lives yet it receives the least attention.
I promised to make City Government more transparent and it is much more transparent. We are putting all this information out in many different ways. Citizens need only look and see.....
Now the specifics of your argument. First mailing out to everyone....what issues would deserve a mailed letter to each citizen? We have 5180 Residents at approximately 2.8 per household meaning we have 1786 housing units in the city. That is roughly $715 per mailing in just postage. If materials and staff prep time are accounted for I am guessing the cost would easily make it over $1000 for each mailing. If however we all made the attempt to look through the paper or read the City Website or dare I say read my blog, we would get the same and save the city $1000 plus...each time. We are going to start the budgeting process in the next month...we will have several work sessions and council meeting dedicated to this issue.....an issue that has long term impact on all of our wallets.....the meeting schedule will be posted by the city on the website and myself here...the papers will also carry information on the meetings......should notices on this go out....it will effect everyone...should a notice go out for each meeting and work session? We are now talking 4-6 public meetings at $4,000 to $6,000 for the mailings on this one subject.....again this is why having the information centrally located and available to everyone is important and cost effective....
The other item about what your current neighbor might like or dislike can get a bit sticky.....your current neighbor may have no issues but the next person living in that house might. We have also seen situation were everything is ok with a neighbor but then a feud starts.....and things get ugly.....
I think it is the responsibilty of each resident to know what is going on in their town.
Now having said that, It can also be confusing. I like to read your blog George because I can usually understand in laymens terms. I go to a meeting and feel half lost. That is probably due to my lack of political knowledge. However,
I have a neighbor that has "Junk" laying around most of the time. It may not be falling apart but sometimes it is. It drives me crazy that I have to look out my windows and see it. We work very hard to keep our yard nice for ourselves and our neighbors and EVERYONE should be required to do so!
At the same time I cannot say anything to my neighbor because that would only cause trouble between us. I do not want to live with the angst this would cause.
I like the fact that the city is getting proactive but I can also see how it can be taken to far.
I also feel that the builders and people who plot the new areas should make things uniform so the people that live by you have the same guidelines as you. The city says we can't build anything within 10 feet of our property line yet the people directly behind us only have to be 5 feet off the property line. This makes NO sense to me. They are making it much to confusing and frankly unfair to the residents in this town.
Thanks for your commitment George.
All property in a zoning district have the same set backs....all complaints to City Hall are confidential....We are also holding builders and developers to the same standard......there is a lot to do but we are making progress.....
I try to explain some of the issues at each meeting but there are always items that can go into a great degree of depth....The Council receives a large packet of background information and many of us serve on committees that work hese issues for weeks or months before it reaches council. Another reason I try to explain some of the issues here.....
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