We have had another great summer of activities in Isanti .
Our soccer fields and BMX track have hosted State and National events once
again, which help to showcase our great community. Our Redbirds Baseball Team has
been doing great once again this summer.
Playing hard and providing free
entertainment to the public. Vision Wake
Park has been humming along and made a $1,400 payment to the City out of its
profits from last year. As long as the facility continues to operate the City
will be receiving 5% of its gross revenues per their agreement with the City. Our parks and trails are being heavily used,
especially Legacy Park located in the northwest quadrant of the City. The City
is interested in several other parcels of land, similar to Legacy Park. These parcels are in tax forfeiture and may go back to the DNR or to the City of Isanti to
develop other nature areas on the south side of our community.
We have brought
back the Farmers Market and Street Dances to Downtown Isanti. I want to thank
the Economic Development Authority and City Council for adopting my plan to
market Isanti. The Farmers Market grows stronger every week and I look forward
to a vibrant market for years to come. The Street Dances have been a huge
success with roughly a thousand people at our last dance. Highlighting
downtown keeps Isanti strong and tied to
the roots of our Community. We have seen more inquiries into the use of downtown
properties. The viability of businesses in this area can be further enhanced
with more events and foot traffic. We are planning 3 Street Dances next year
and for the Farmers Market to start earlier next year with even more vendors.
The Railroad Avenue
SE/South Passage SE road and trail project should be completed soon and the
completion of the sidewalk on the south side of Heritage Boulevard NE will be
finished this fall. These projects provide safer routes and easier travel
through some of Isanti’s busiest areas.
I want to thank
Duff Consulting, Startac Construction and My Geeky Guy for sponsoring this
year’s Mayor’s Great Yard Awards. I want to continue to highlight the positives
in Isanti and with the help of these great companies; we are able to do so
without any taxpayer funds.
As I had
mentioned in the summer edition of the Isantian, we are faced with new storm water
regulations amounting to an annual estimated cost of $250,000. These State
mandates have to be complied with and have led to the creation of a storm water
utility to pay for this cost. The estimates we have at this point are $6.50 a
month on average for a residential lot.
We are looking at a dedicated fee to help pay this new state mandate, as it will be fairly distributed to every
property owner including developers. Another benefit of a fee versus property
tax increase is that the fee can only be used for the mandated storm water cost
and not spent on anything else. A property tax increase could result in funds
being spent on other items. This is not what any Council member wants to do, but
we must obey mandates from the State.
We had another
great showing at the Mayor’s Employer Celebration Luncheon with over 140
employers in attendance. I started this after becoming Mayor to thank all of
our Community employers for investing in Isanti. We also have representatives
of State Government, regional economic development entities and local officials
present for the event. This allows our employers to discuss issues, help
identify funding sources, and discuss ideas they may have to improve our
business climate with all levels of government. I want to thank Senator Nienow,
Representative Johnson, Commissioner Warring, the Initiative Foundation, ECRDC,
Employers and all those who came to join us for the event.
I am happy to
announce we have completed our Residential Handbook. This will include
information for new and existing residents. Everything from approved garbage
haulers to contact information for elected officials has been included. This
will be available electronically at www.cityofisanti.us
and hard copies will be at City Hall and the Isanti Area Chamber of Commerce
Office.
If you have any questions, concerns or comments please contact me
at 763-442-8749 or email me at George@georgewimmer.com . You may also follow me and keep up to date on all things Isanti
on Twitter at twitter.com/mayorwimmer Facebook at www.facebook.com/MayorGeorgeWimmer or my blog at georgewimmer.blogspot.com
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