I want to congratulate Steve Lundeen,
Dan Collison and Adam Johnson on winning their elections. Everyone who ran
should be commended for wanting to make Isanti a better place to live, work and
play. With this election there are two new Council Members out of our existing
four Council Member positions. Our upcoming Goal Setting Session with our new
members will be very important in determining the City’s direction over the
next few years. Please contact the Council or myself with any issues or
concerns you would like to see addressed by the City.
The Community Center Levy vote
presented by the Isanti Community Center Task Force failed with only 35% of the
City voting in favor of increasing taxes to make needed improvements to the
facility. This will put the operation of the Community Center in jeopardy past
2013. The Task Force is still working diligently to find a financial solution
to this problem. The final decision will be in the hands of the new Council in
2013.
I want to thank the Sponsors for this
year’s Mayor’s Great Yard Award. Above All Rooftops to Remodeling, Inc. was our
1st place sponsor and is an amazing business located on Main St. in
Downtown Isanti. StarTac Construction has been our 2nd place sponsor
for several years and in my opinion is one of the best contractors/builders around.
KJD Signs is also a multi-year sponsor whose work has graced Isanti in numerous
ways. Thank you to all our gracious sponsors for making the program a success.
Over the 6 years, since I initiated the Award, we have had 54 winners
collecting a total of $3,150.
Legacy Park Trail, located in our City’s
northwest quadrant, was opened this fall with great success. I continue to hear
from our residents who use and love this unique community asset. I am working
with our local Scouts to further enhance this gem in our Park and Trail system.
It’s important to note that we negotiated to receive the land for free from the
Bank that owned it. The trail construction was paid for from park and
recreation dedication fees, which are paid by a developer in accordance with
State Statute. We have developed an amazing Community Asset, in an incredible
cost effective manner.
Housing and business development
activity is on the rise. With 387
foreclosed properties sold to date. we have 37% fewer occupied & unoccupied
foreclosed homes in Isanti. Our Rental Ordinance and Maintenance code continue
to ensure that rental properties are maintained to appropriate standards. This
is more important each year as more homes are being converted to rental
properties. We have seen the number of non-homesteaded properties from 2010 to
2011 nearly doubling; and this trend will continue into the future.
The Council continues to move forward
with the necessary completion of road and trail improvements along South
Passage SE and Railroad Avenue SE. This
project will improve the safety of drivers, bikers and pedestrians. We continue
to make progress in making Isanti a safer and more efficient City regarding
transportation improvements.
After years of trying to get the
sidewalk completed on CSAH 5 through traditional methods, I proposed a new
approach to the Council. I asked for support in developing a plan that could
get us past a major hurdle – the lack of City easements along CSAH 5. We are
developing a design that would not take away any business or property owners’
usable land. This took a leap of faith that we could accomplish this project. We, through the work of our City Engineering
firm Bolton-Menk, have been able to make this a reality. We then used this plan
to get support from the County who owns and controls activity on CSAH 5 and
from all the affected property owners. We have successfully received our last
needed easement and a show of strong support from all involved. We have a lot
of heavy lifting to do in the area of finding funding for the project but I am
confident that the need for this safety improvement should gain overwhelming
support from the Council, County and Community. I will keep you updated on our
progress.
