good evening and welcome to this league of women voters form for the candidates in the november election for mayor and consul for the city of modern media i my name is liz nordlinger and i will be moderating this forum tonight and i do not believe in m tresor volunteer nonpartisan organization the league of women voters does not support or oppose political parties or candidates we sponsor forms to provide voters an opportunity to hear candidates views about issues of interest in the upcoming election for more information about the minnesota league please visit our website it l w v m n or the order for speaking tonight will begin in alphabetical order and will be rotated there after candidates remarks are being timed to assure equality of time and questions have been collected from the audience our candidates are for mayor bill coleman judd marshall and todd rogers and for consul chris attendance and to the many residents who have talked with me at their door i have not been there yet i will be soon going to great place for our family for more than twenty years i've been enriched by the opportunities to participate in the community bit of youth coaching master's ski club planning commission rite of spring to me advisory council and most recently as married have three priorities increasing citizen participation smarter infrastructure development and more thoughtful redevelopment i'll bring welcoming and fun community engagement processes to city government especially to the upcoming conference a planning process we need to have each of our unique neighborhoods at the center of the process from start to finish our debt and tax burdens are increasing as replace aging pipes and streets we need to prioritize and build the only infrastructure that is necessary or create safer streets and trails we need to use smart and sustainable design and manage projects to minimize damage and destruction development pressure is growing in both residential and commercial markets what is built today will be here for fifty sector fifty years that will influence the design and quality of what comes next we should know what we want and to encourage that rather than only reacting to proposals we want to make sure that every new development enhanced as our community together we can ensure that modern media reaches our full potential grew up in our st paul and the two of them settled in between and mana me die which has been a blessing for me i have seen a lot of change and i carry a lot of history of mana me die in my in my late wife and i built our own home raised six children watched sixteen grandchildren come into our world and we both volunteered in our community often to lead is a privilege and an honor i have been an active community leader all of my life as many of you know twelve years ago i promised a transparent government my personal integrity and sarah to courtesy to all and to model strong moral personal and family values i have lived up to everything i promised twelve years ago i thank you next with his opening statement  at the water's company in selfsame paul where i'd been there for about eighteen years as a production manager in addition to my full time employment i also served basically twenty nine years for the fire department sixteen of those as fire chief from hundred three to two thousand and nine also a member of the sons of the american legion i believe there are a number of issues that we as and city need to prioritize on and depending on who you talk with the issues priority levels vary in importan both candidates run for public office because of a single issue that negatively affects element of elected that issue becomes their top priority everything else becomes secondary as for myself i have always wanted to serve on the  i city council so i have no single issue those drive my kids pain however continuing to maintain our infrastructure improving communications to better understand the needs of our citizens and the businesses within modern need i are two of my higher priorities other priorities i have expanded parking in the downtown district improving lighting and also the ability to maneuver through that area whether you're on foot or on boy being a lifelong resident been an active member of the community for last twenty years i've gained a good understanding of the needs and challenges that we are faced with as a city with a thank you time is up next we will move to our council candidates with the mayor and council i am not a lifelong resident i'm a transplant and when i moved here in two thousand and two before i moved here i was a firefighter for the city even regrow heights i talked with a good friend of mine who happened to be chief at the time and saw me up here it was a decision that i made and have never regretted it i absolutely love the community that we have and i think that there are things that we can do to help continue to draw residents like me in with the well with the community i do have a couple of issues that i would like to look at in my run for council here one is fiscal responsibility by all departments from the administration all the way down throughout the city i also would like to be as a small business owner myself i own a bar and restaurant entertainment business i want to support the small businesses that we have and help continue to develop the businesses that we have on the web stand and bring that that tax base and that revenue in to help relieve the burden of the tax base of the residents themselves and then thirdly i also want to look at attracting the families that attracted me here i have a i have a great support staff here and i look forward to your vote thank you thank you next week it's opening statement is to the community where i live it has been my privilege to serve on the city council the past twelve years and prior to that as a member of the finance commission for over six years in the areas of leadership i have served as president of the league of minnesota cities chair th american red cross north central blood services region board i currently am a board member for sentry college foundation the parchin trails council of minnesota the nature conservancy conservation minnesota and past president of the riverside lions and which is in st paul and i lived in st paul my work experiences have been many and they've been included in mostly in the human resources area as an independent consultant director of human resources for the metropolitan council director of human resources for ramsey county and prior that is deputy commissioner of employee relations for the state my work experience knowledge of issues and leadership experience i believe will continue to be an asset to the council and to all of you as the city of modern media i enjoy biking birdwatching hiking cost country skiing working in morning my yard spending time with my wife and family thank you thank you next statement is timothy dean thank you for the league of men and women voters for tonight and allowing an open forum door but we have always had the zip code of five one one five so money is always been near and dear to the heart of some of the three topics said i have for reelection include the revitalization of the downtown business district which includes parking to increase pedestrian safety second would be the continuing reinvestment in our city parks and trails they are jammed to the city and all those that use them i also believe in the restoration of the infrastructure in the historic district it's an aging infrastructure that's been there some of the areas over sixty years and desperately needs to be fixed thank you thank you  school district i'm currently the manufacturing manager at malta tech systems in manji minnesota i'm also a former board member of the modern youth hockey association my election for the and transparent to its citizens i would like to echo the thank you to the well league of women voters for sponsoring this might as well as the citizens in attendance tonight and i look forward to our discussion this evening thank you they begin now with our first question and it will go first to tag rogers and the question is cars routinely speed on my to meet i avenues there are no sidewalks in a crosswalk snorted hickory street drivers  property we would have to basically get involved with the state of minnesota city i'm on to meet i and probably some residence to basically in that general area to identify the concerns obviously speed is always a factor in a lot of the accidents over the years of we've responded to on the fire department and such soul yes it is concerning to me it's an ongoing issue i know you can put police down there with radar things like that in the slows them down for the time that they're in there but there are other things that we can do with the speed limit signs that flash better access street crossings and also flashing lights for those if needed so that we can actually have safe but estrin crossroads you know one of the issues with traffic and safety is us you know we're the ones who are driving the car it's not people from out of town it's our community members so i think to be education is really important and in force meant but i also think that design of roads is critical to understanding why people drive when men data sets a speed limit they go out and you see they set the limit it were eighty percent of where people are driving a friend of mine did some measurements of speed in ma to meet i and people were clocked at forty seven miles an hour on my to meet i ave so but if we could narrow our roadways a little bit in terms of the lane well put space for the bikes and pedestrians on the side there it will take a big effort this was an issue twenty years ago when i moved to ma to meet i i thought well that's going to be fixed right away but nothing really has changed and it's not on any plan right now walgreen's were a lot of older people across the street and we we have recently been made aware of the problem which is in the vicinity of maple street and  go around i also discovered that there is a problem that is on hilton trail and all of these need to be addressed and as has been mentioned the state as the big state gun to forty four in the county has the big stake until trail so we have to continue to pressure the state and the county work with us and take some of our suggestions as to how to solve this problem thank you the question i pose to our council candidates and we will begin with timothy dean's car speeding on the avenue slowing them down be the best but increased our pedestrian crossings along maple street juniper and maybe even connecting that trail for the streetcar trail up so that pedestrians have a designated area to walk  be best benefit and i would love to slow people down but everyone does becoming in a hurry and unfortunately does fortunately speed a little bit in town thank you thank you the question now goes to chris bellflower thank you in regards to the speeding i do agree with todd rogers as far as getting our state law enforcement involved because it is a state highway  and i also agree with mr coleman as well it is community awareness as i drive up and down that road it is it is important that not only do we create a new level of enforcement on  that working with washington county working with the state patrol to maybe through a speed trap or signage or awareness up every once in a while just to get drivers aware of what they're doing and what's going on as is one thing there but the community awareness and development and education to understand that it is even though it is a state highway we do have a residential area when that speed limit is there any miles an hour so you know community awareness and then working with our law enforcement officers to to help y sorry to confuse everybody and the speed and traffic is obviously a concern for us all i mean i live close to the area near park and it's close enough proximity where i hear the tires screeching to a stop my son was involved in a serious accident at that intersection there's and i think is a redesign of that intersection would go a long way towards controlling the speed through the rest of the parts of the city and i also like to see to know that it is something that we have to get together with the state the county we're learning but something really does need to be done like mr coleman said when we moved here twenty years ago they intersection was as it is many of the roads in the crossings in the city and as our mayor has said we have been dealing with the mend we dealt with washington county and county twelve i can tell you that washington county has money in their budget which is  they're putting out are there right now that we can work with them on the intersection down by the piccadilly there's about three hundred thousand dollars that they're going to make available for us to work on that with them and i do believe that in force money and also crossing signs and that we should be working to do those and continue our efforts with mendota although as of this time we continue to do the traffic monitoring in those areas and we still don't have much by way of any results in terms of what they've been we've been asking them to do so that continues and needs to thank you i'm going to offer i can it dates we battle time and so to say my having additional comm s one thing i think could be fixed immediately is you know as you come from century into our downtown area it's going off in a county road twelve backed up by a lincoln town it says thirty miles an hour a put up signs if we have to to move that bag thank you anyone else yes case i noticed a similar topic lou as far as it's been going it's been ongoing for several years and it has and there hasn't been anything done maybe we need to look at a new liaison in order to work with our state agencies and our surrounding agencies to help create that awareness and develop that anyone else will move on to our next question and we're going i'm going to start with our consul candidates so the question will be again with that rick i hear with the disappearance of parkland dedication fees as the city becomes fully developed how would you propose raising the revenue necessary to complete implementation of the parks and trails comprehensive plan including the street car trail to a now nature area and the city portions of the lake lynx trail system challenging not only at the city level but and our own family level i would look at all sorts of different options i would put everything on the table i would look at what washington county can offer us or if there's other grants that aren't based necessarily through public entities but also private sector opportunities we have to look at it any way we can to raise revenues for those very important services such as the parks and trails and lot of media which we all love thank you the question now goes to dick brainard i for one would like to see the trails connected and whether they can be actually connected regional plan i'm not sure because of the development downtown and what we may be seeing in the future but they do need to be connected and i would like to see us look at raising money not not just going outside and looking for money from outside sources because money is there but allocating money in our budget for this purpose over the long term for dedication fees i know we've got a district center that has a lot of athletic fields down there and some day they may want to get out of that business so we should be in a position of having funds available at that time to figure out how we're going to take that over and turn it into a development area for the kids and that into the city most of the develop we have for parks is in have a huge development business development out in the west and that isn't being developed we need to look at ways to attract businesses into here that alone will help boost the the tax base for the city of modern day we can utilize those funds then to help build and build up and maintain the parks that we have so we want to we want to look at building up those businesses getting that revenue in through that way i think and that would help offset some of the losses of the park development dedication funds thank you the question  this year for the first time that i was aware of the parks commission was able to get a grant for one hundred fifty thousand dollars to connect a section of the streetcar trail that is a wonderful way to fund these projects but unfortunately did take three years and a lot of writing and then shipped to these organizations and that came from the minnesota state legacy dollars one unique way that we could also help fund some of the parks programs is the possible delivery of sponsorships for benches picnic tables necessities for our parks through private donations through and other non profits budget for the the park commission which covers all of the items that we've been talking about here and some of you have noticed said recently a cell tower has been installed in the southwest field area and it is my understanding after discussing this with the city administrator that the revenue from that cell tower which will be approximately twenty five thousand dollars a year will be dedicated to the park fun rogers parks we have in the city we have a pretty extensive park system a lot of it generates local residents we have some that are basically coming to katherine abbott to use the building there the facility we could stablish some nonresident type fees if possible grants i'm a proponent of grants i think we could be successful in writing for grants on that the cell tower as as mayor marshall has mentioned and also some careful funding and planning through our planning commission through our parks commission and finance commissions to come up with a creative way of funding or at least getting some table income coming into that  account so that we can not only improve our parks but maintain what we have there are a number areas where we can improve on trails that are in are not connected right now that i'd like to see is get connected trails dollars and have those compete with our street funds rather than take them out of the park dollars trails are intro parts of the transportation system and there's zero streets are paid by property taxes trail should be as well i also think that we should prioritize how we spend our money in the parks we recently had a big project in wedgewood park for a year a geisha and i'm not sure you know why our parks are used by kids from all over our school district for use sports and ma to meet i tell it's the bill for all those park facilities and maybe we need to figure out a better way to work with our neighbors finance commission of which i'm also a liaison from the council and the council worked very diligently to figure a way to come up with that that twenty five thousand dollars is going into the parks fun that wasn't the case a couple years  ago also and that's going to help us get started there are grants available have already been mentioned i mentioned they serve on the parks and trails council minnesota trails is a big part of that so there is opportunity to get to get money from that i've been asked to stop so stop there thank you anyone else will move on to the next question and we will begin with american today's question goes first tad rogers another parks question what is your position regarding current plans for improvements to katherine abbott park do you support the decision to leave most of the trails on paved i believe that we should do at least one trail that would be paved maybe a main corridor or that would go from just the east side of the building down to long lake road adjacent to where the public works property is i also believe that that trail once paved would be maintain your own so that people who have disabilities people that want to go out and use basically on foot or you're seeing a lot more bicycles and stuff like that and one wants gives them ability to use it you're wrong like that i think would be a benefit to everybody it's a simple thing to maintain as far as plowing of as long as we keep it to the width of a truck's alarm amens costs are lower that way i think it would give us a little bit better use of that park y marshall the the reason why we've left the trails as they are because we don't have enough staff or enough money number one t blacktop all the trails or to plough all the trails in the winter time we will however in the near future as the park plan moves forward complete a trail to the north which will be like a half circle and that trail will be paved thank you the question i feel coleman you know i think a combination of some development with of one or more paved trails but leaving katherine abbott quite wild is would be my preference i think that katherine abbott is really under utilized jewel in our community and  park trails are concerned i like the trails i liked the wild part of than in the nature of that i think if we're going to move forward and do something with paved trails there we certainly need citizen input we have a partial commission it should be an item that's put on the part of commission agenda and then had the city have citizen input move from what would our citizens tell us to do but i like it need native the way it is and as far as moving from to something else or i would advocate a mixture of paved and unpaved trails i the the need for a paved trail for access for all is important so i and i think quite honestly almost certain agreement on the panel that there's some sort of mixed usage would be the best for catherine abbott thank you another question goes to crystal flower thank you monomania has always been proud of their park system katherine a jewel of the of the park system for mommy day however accessibility is one of the downgrades you know i would firmly believe that if we paved minimal trails to maintain the wildness of the reno the original stature of katherine abbott but gave it the accessibility that more people could enjoy it i think it would help work there it's been mentioned that you know it's been underutilized you know how do we how do we get people to get attracted to katherine abbott to make it accessible we pave one maybe two trails make it accessible and then we work with the departments to make sure that they're being diligent and efficient park has just been completed and approved and to hear now that we should have public input about the plan for the trails beams that was a missed opportunity that wasn't happening prior anyone else we had a neighborhood which filled the build the room when we were having that original discussion about being the in the park into a into a better time a better area and those people had lots of ideas and they suggested a bridge at one point and we will  time put a bridge at the south and where the two trails you are have to go out onto the street in order to get to the other side of the trail this bridge will be on the park side and join the two trails thank you anyone else and we're going to move on to the next question and we'll think in with our mirror candidates and the question goes first to kill coleman personal characteristics sets you apart from the other candidates what does it mean to you to be a leader but i think i can only speak for myself and all that i enjoy working to try and get the best out of the groups of people that's a profession on their own working with the communities all over the state and multiple states to help them figure out what is it that our community wants what can we do together that we can't do along and sort of put together a plan and to put together strategies funding manpower and so on necessary to complete those goals and to reach the community potential is my specialty thank you the question ok i believe that that my lifetime of concentration and dedication to the good of the entire city something that should challenges are that we have as a city as with every candidate for council of focus on keeping taxes to him in a moment and i try to do everything in my power to keep things in check however i also stand there we have a limited building capacity here and the funds we have to work this are also very limited so we need to have a leader as a good listener and use information gathered to present a clear vision for the city as we move forward in addition in order to be excessed the leader you need to be a good listener and set aside your personal goals and agendas and focus on what is in the best interests of the city and for lect it all do just that thank you question now goes to a council candidates and it goes all i have to offer is why are my personal traits that set me apart from the people i'm running against in this election is my work background i'm an engineer and what engineers are trying to do is fix things or make things work so that's how i approach everything in my daily life is from that engineering perspective trying to figure out how to make things better brainard i think that my work experience the leadership opportunities that i've had over the past twenty five years burgess organizations would set me apart i also believe that as far as what it means to be a good leader has already been mentioned as to be a good listener be collaborative and look out for the for all the issues the city the major decisions that we have in this this community that involve financial decisions characteristics to to be a leader to be a member of this you know the city here for those who know me my passion my energy are those two of those characteristics i'm not afraid to let people hear what needs to be heard and i am passionate about with my service from the fire department and my passion to continue to serve the city of modern media in the residence so i am not  that's going to stop serving you guys as as residents there in order to be a leader you also have to be one willing to to get in there dig in and get your hands dirty i work in a construction site i get my hands dirty all the time so my passion my willingness to jump in there and join the arguments in the fights we have to make this community better are going to help do that and that's why i should be there thank you and now the question goes to timothy dean's i remain an open mind a candidate that is willing to vote for what's best for me to be known as a leader i'd like to constantly seek improvement and what works and identify best practices and also have capabilities as a listener as well thinking thank you say anyone have any additional comment to move on to the next question and we will start with our consul candidates in across a question goes to chris bellflower first there had been recent news reports about the decline in volunteer firefighters throughout the metro communities currently the modern meat i fire department is not up to his need at staffing levels if he lacked it how do you plan on addressing this issue this is a question that came on line this is actually a great question as well as a twelve year member of the mana mean i fire department and twenty two years in the fire service overall i've seen a decline and in the membership across it is it is tough to maintain a volunteer membership however what we need to do is attract those younger generations that are willing to come in and join the fire department but most importantly it also is mandatory that we have a retention program and a leadership staff that continues to bring the people in and entice them and and gets him involved with the fire department rather than pushing them away we've seen quite a few great candidates that have left early way too early from the city of mt to me that so it's not just a people not as a current captain medic for the fire department i feel the pinch the need to constantly recruit and retain is needs to be one of our top priorities we have a unbelievable opportunity in our back door called century college who provides many e m s opportunities and trains formal fire and the i'm assigned i think we need to continue to promote ourselves at each and every event that we are at including thank you thank you the question now goes to rick  it sounds like the two biggest issues we have our retention and recruitment so we have to focus on those i so far as retention we have to figure out why they are leaving and as a as a councilman that would probably be one of or the first things i would look into as answering the question why they are leaving once we have that we should be able to retain these veterans who are the the lifeblood of the force and hopefully with recruitment by advertising and showing the positive importance of being a member of volunteer member in the fire department that we can attract new young members into the force  brainard we have had recruitment and retention problems i think we need to actually need to say that we have and then we need to address that and we need to address that with the not only with the chief of our fire department who are in ministry positions reach out to them for their ideas of what we can do many years ago we actually went into the housing business with the city so we have to have a home up there were firefighters can stay because the cost of living was too expensive other places so we did that century colleges is our back door is already stated we can work with them on training those kinds of things but we have to set the foundation for it and i think the foundation is a current fire department those people who are actively involved in recruiting they need to be out in front they need to be advice ever ties in the vacancies that we have you see our fire chief and our fire trucks driving around with signs on them but i also think there's one other thing we need to do and that is we need to look at other jurisdictions we're not along if you check with the other fire departments in the area they're also having difficulty white bear lake and others so we need to work together to figure out what we can do in commonality thank you question now goes to our candidates for ma determine if those three fire departments would fit well together and actually there is such a difference in pay schedule that there that seemed to be the the reason we wouldn't fit well but at this point everybody that we talk to is in basically the same situation and were looking for answers just as the other cities are and we're doing what we know now while we're looking for something better thank you question advised bill coleman you know i have to admit that i don't know a lot about the fire department and so i did go in and talk to the chief in the last couple weeks and and learned about this problem and as he was able to give me a large book  go look at the line that this describes that issue you know we call the fire department but eighty percent or ninety percent of those calls are medical emergencies and as our population gets older it's harder you know we've got retired fire guys on our pal right here people get older that gets to be tough to be a fireman and so we need to look at that medical services portion and also think that we should look at returning veterans as a way to offer them opportunities to work for our community and give them meaningful work and some kind of fire chief we went through in the last five years about thirty five firefighters actually whether it be through retirement burnout as some want to say too many calls  the biggest factor that i can see right now is that we need to as a council more clear direction as to what needs to be done at that city level we don't see that representation up there as a firefighter that is a big part of it another thing is clear direction to the fire chief so that he and his staff can do what is needed to meet our goals and our expectations there are options out there are ambulances ninety five ninety percent of what we do is medical calls they always have options a lakeview we have options of joining in with other departments such as white bear whereas a similar background as us city of all dale they have ambulances but there are things question first goes to dick brainard did we help provide more low income housing in mine to meet i if so how can we do this well the answer is yes we should and i think that we have put put forth a good effort in the past few years to do some of those things for example up a central avenue we've put moderate moderately priced homes in didn't exist when i came on the council if you look across the street at the work former piccadilly site we now are going on the construction of a low two to moderately cost rental units for the retirees in this community and in addition to that we need to have some additional housing development done and we may have an opportunity we've been pushing as a council to to work with developers to develop the area off of one twenty a by centric college between the school and the and the jethro and so i think there's opportunities force we need to continue to push it thank you the question goes to require yes we do need more low cost housing problem is we're challenged by the area we have i'm on a meta saw as parcels become available we have to look at them as a council and decide how to best service the low cost housing need so that's all i would approach it it's just it is very challenging to say the least with the size of modern media and going forward it will continue to be a challenge thank you the question now  i do agree with rick money is getting developed and the opportunities definitely do and knowing you have less opera less property to do currently read redeveloped  i think the correct answer is yes we need more low income housing i know the council was very supportive of the piccadilly square project in town and that's just one opportunity at this time thank you thank you now to chris bellflo r i fully believe that everyone should have an opportunity to live in wherever they want whether it's money me today or elsewhere with that being said we do have to be where be careful with how we develop our low income housing and and areas what we want to do we want to work with the planning commissions and the development of the city which is going to benefit the city the best as far as what do these residents or what do our residents what are they going to be able to do for the city of money how are they going to you know bring in the tax base and and help support the businesses in the in the development we have in the park system that we have we could go either way on adding more or less and we need just need to look at reviewing what is going to be best medium low density high density what have you will have on basically the services that we provide whether that be fire e m s and also police soul we need to look at the big picture when we make decisions on these as i said i'm not opposed to it by any means but i think we need to do careful research as a council and basically as our planning and finance commissions to make sure we look at this and see what's in the best interests of the city thank you question  you know i think is we look around the community the number of lots are places to put new lower income housing are quite limited we've seen the expense for the piccadilly square to be able to finance second of housing a public investment that takes a lot of meat i has a lot of law income housing we have many many small homes spread throughout the community and i think preservation of housing options for families with flooring comes should really be a priority we see now increasingly homes that are purchased and maybe buy for rent property and then they're depreciated and then they're torn down and larger homes put up and so i think this is a really critical issue for our community in terms of a solution i would advocate for some kind of modern meet i trust organization or a community foundation that could as homes come up for sale that  a few years ago all of our low income housing was right down modern the day ave and in learning and people discovered monna me diane will any and they've come out here and they want that low income housing and it's no longer low income housing because they've remodeled and expanded and improved it which is what every community wants and winning is finding out that a lot of their low income housing is being purchased and as bill said torn down and new houses being built i was at a woman in council meeting several years ago and women will money and money meet i came up in the same talents regarding the mana meet i will ernie i think over the years there's been some tension amongst our city and city we're learning i really think we've got to get over that point and start working closely with two thirds of our business district on their own on that dre is actually in the city a will or any and we need to work together collectively we passed up opportunities in the past with basically the highway to forty for one and still water road projects where we couldn't get resolution on how to do things and i think that really needs to change thank you sorry only one model tick anyone else but coming like that when we bring up low income housing my telephone starts to ring and people want to know are the people who move into these cells is going to support our bond issues for our schools and some of them will  some of them will so we'll will gain some on each side but that is very definitely a concern that we hear from people money you know anywhere else we'll move on to our next question will begin with our mere candidates and the question goes first to chad marshall and it's on a related topic how would you address tear downs for redevelopment well it depends on where the houses i'm of the feeling that we have areas in town where we're allowing the larger homes to be built which are completely out of character with the communities around them i think we need some kind of legislation or architectural consideration for those neighborhoods so that these gigantic houses don't show up i walk down the street the other day and it was about three o'clock in the afternoon and there was a house to the west of the house that i was going to and that house on the west blocked  sun from coming to that house so there's no way that place could it could ever have solar heating and so little bit off the beaten track here but we do have regulations for tear down and as long as the people meet the codes that we have they are allowed to rebuild thank you tag rashers if the ordinance in place or the ordinances that are in place allow for the project that the homeowners intending to do and they meet all the side setbacks we're set back as such they should be able to build a house if it's outside of the realm of the ordinance that's where we should intervene as a city but if they're building within that they should be entitled to build or or they need to build that structure i do know that there are times when tension is created because we get close to an lot lines things like that but that is where we come in with planning commission that is where we come in as a city basically a look at our ordinances if we have a deficiency in what we're doing as this as far as our guidance we need to correct that but i don't think that smaller homes are going to continue to be built i think it's going to be the larger houses like we're seeing now such as the wild with school development up in that area soul of people work hard for a living they want to build a house of their dreams and i think they're entitled to that opportunity as long as they stay within our own  no house on them i would advocate for a architectural review board design board that would have served in a similar position similar to the planning commission where they would make recommendations to council i would also advocate that the city should prepare some documents take pictures this wouldn't be expense of of houses that we think fit into model be it i and pictures that don't encourage developers to put houses in bad to meet that need i think that they many times you're seeing real by a lot's bill and then solve the lamp to a builder and then it's just a spec home and all they're interested in  square footage and maximum profit and we can do better than them thank you the question now goes to our consul candidates and we'll begin with timothy dean i support those that wanted tear down their homes and redevelop as long as it meets ordinances in town and also takes into consideration of the neighborhood thank you thank you question now goes to chris true bellflower i'm go i'm going to agree there you know as long as design is the tear down in the redevelopment of a building or in a home doesn't go outside of the city code and doesn't affect you know the neighbors and they want to work with the neighbors on that  it's not government's place to tell them what they can and can't put into their into their yard or into their property this is you know having the american dream of building your house having your dream home and having it in modern media is the best of everything there and so i mean if somebody wants to build a a bigger house and what they've bought they're on a prime piece of land that they've purchased and that's their dream i support a few things on this number one i mentioned a few minutes ago all bought the area up on one twenty those are small houses but we do have developers that are looking at redevelopment of that area and making it a more moderate priced homes those houses could disappear over time second we do have zoning codes in place for redevelopment and i and i support those i also support the fact that we are a small town city we're a city of neighbors neighborhoods and we need to pay attention to the fact that we do have a specific ordinance for the storage district or special room special rules and regulations for that historic district a report in place a few years ago a few years back and and we need to pay attention to those as we move forward thank you rick i it appears to me that the best way to address this problem going forward be a review of the city's current ordinances and then strict in form in strict and then in strict enforcement of those ordinances a parallel angle to the city normals basically the lots themselves we needed a variance for that sold i think that is an essential tool for us to have the the city itself is unique in the lots are unique and i think we need to have that in place so thank you continue to siegel's thank you anyone else yes will call me just agree with todd that our community is unique it was developed at a time where i think people said i think i'll just go put a house over here is that small is my grandma's property and i'm going to put a house by grandma's and that's where i went and they said well we think a lot lions over there so i think special consideration and judgment is really important and that's why i think some kind of architectural review board it would be a powerful thing that would bring professional we have people in the community that have that professional design architecture judgment they could bring to bear thank you anyone else has control of nearly all of it it is the essential link to provide good safe and beautiful movement through the city for pedestrians will you vote to commit the city to begin seeking easements rights of way or right of first dangerous experience of my life there's a place where the telephone pole i think that rolls is actually on the white line people are out there getting their mail on the trail is a critical piece for our heritage i think for our community that would bind our community together in a way that i don't think people realize the power of that trail being completed bring to our community thank you the question  marshall the the trail will be continued and next spring starting at at maple street and going around the the west side of hamlin lake and joining with the old railroad track trail and that part of the trail will be blacktop however the old railroad track trip will remain a woodchip we do have a bottle neck in one area and we have talked about buying a house in order to get what we need and we missed our first opportunity and i hope we're smart enough not to miss our next one because that will be after that it could be twenty years before we get another shot at that and that bottleneck would complete the trail and that would allow us to join into the trail ends of piccadilly as well so we have a very nice long trail system you that is one of my basically one of my priorities and that was linking of the existing trail segments and specific areas of the city knowing that we don't have all of the property we need to do this i mean you would be proactive as a city council and actually meet with the homeowner and try to set up some sort of a long term plan or contingency where we could make an offer one set resident is ready to sell a lot of times a mommy i the home owner wants to sell to one of their siblings ory son or daughter and that's fine but if we can get in there and actually make it so it doesn't look like we're taking advantage of the individual set up some sort of a plan so that we can strategically take that parcel of property and complete the trail segment this has been going on for a number of years we need to start being proactive at some of this the same holds true downtown for parking we need to be proactive with some of those properties that are adjacent on the model meat ice side and work closely with well our need to see what can be acquired on the will of the site to families that are going to come in and want to do those those walking into those activities like that i was actually unaware that there was a there was property in there so when we do run up into situations like this it is important we are working with our planning commission or finance committees  to be proactive in in obtaining the necessary land and property to to continue this but i would i would support that as well thank you  we support the connection and i and i think district car is up right away is an absolute must for our city to make that connection but as was said in that question we know we have opportunity for nearly all of the property that connect knowledge except for a few parcels and i think the question for me is is how do we go about that and that's already been mentioned we talk to the owners but i think we need to look at easements easements might be a better way for us and to try to purchase a home or take to take the whole property because my experience and going for is months is somewhat easier and sometimes it's less expensive for the city and i would encourage us to pursue the easement route so that we can get our foot in the door as been already said and when somebody is going to do something about selling the holocaust that we have the first right of refusal and then we have the opportunity to get an easement on that property for the for the right away thank you r are i absolutely would vote yes to completing that line this is an example of the kind of project that takes really strong is a good project for the city to be involved in and need strong city leadership and to complete that line the city and the council have to see it through thank you timothy deans yes i believe in supporting the street car trailing but it is one of my top three priorities i think it gives citizens opportunity to pay your neighbor's dog meet on a common ground discuss city events and i support thank you thank you does anyone have any additional comments yes dick has to offer that a lot of what we've been able to do in the city with the streaker trails has come through great money and we need to continue to to look for grants to help us support that financially anyone else yes i also believe that correct manner of connecting this corridor north self court or of the streetcar trail will definitely benefit those pedestrians that are trying to get north to sell or vice versa through the use of ave right no soul though it's only a couple block and a half over in some areas and less than that now others i think that's a viable option for us and i think that something needs to be done anyone else  of these big community goals obviously the city has limited financial resources but you know if we could harness the power and create something like me for community improvements i think that we could go a long way to raising the matching money for grants the other piece i'd say is that they have a thank you anyone else will move on to the next question and we'll begin with our consul candidates and a question first  what can you do to refurbish and continue to keep madam eat ice skating rink at the district center up and running what can you do to refurbish and continue to keep madam eat ice skating rink at the district center up and  running as a relation to the skating rink i think that we have multiple park multiple issues related to funding with that and so we are always asked to participate in the funding of that from a city standpoint and i think it's it's it's like a lot of the other athletic events that we have in the city the city sponsors laws we pay for the maintenance and the upkeep a lot of it but we also have the hockey associations which are involved in the in the in the in that to a big extent and i think we've have done some of that in the past where we've actually put new surfaces in those hockey rinks where we've made some improvements with the hockey association so i in the challenge with the skating rink is that there's really three stakeholders there's the city the school district and the hockey association so it takes all three of those entities working in working together to get anything accomplished so what it really takes is good communication between the school district the city and the hockey association to drive changes and to keep this district skating rink not only up and running but make improvements as required  the deans and this is an interesting collaboration amongst a nonprofit a school district in a city as rick and dick both said this is the three entities the city the school district the hockey association partner and create a wonderful opportunity for the citizens and all the hockey members from mites to those i just want to ski learn to sk top of the state as far as i know or as long as i've known not to continue to hash it out but working you know we have the three entities the hockey association the city the school district in them to work together working with our financial and our finance committees if we need to find funds here having fiscal responsibility or nan accountability within departments we we may be able to find funds or could be used elsewhere to help to build those but it's important that we do maintain those those hockey rinks to to attract be a youth with lennox of this of the community and city thank you near candidates in this town with jack marshall well a few years ago when stalled permanent the surfaces on the grown in order to keep the ice otherwise we were pouring a lot of water water on the ground and it was b s soaking in and that there was great expense for that and so we now have the concrete which was basically contributed by a community member and then the problem we have now is that the the boards aren't high enough and when the sun is high to keep the sun from the sol from shining across to the north side and melting the ice ax to the boards and that's been a  they've tried to paint the boards they've hired a full time guy to maintain the ring and they're they're doing a great job there are just some things that you can't do unless you have a rough and of course if you have a rough keep the sun off pretty soon you're going to need a wall to keep the wind off and that thing leads to something else and there's really no room for parking down th warm house facility up their soul i mean there's a lot of money invested in that and we need to continue putting some investment in however i think there are some other funding mechanisms you can use it whether it be through grants or sponsorships  you see some arenas or rinks around were there ludden businesses by some forty basically on the inside of the rink so on the board side or the skating side of the rink so it's not an eyesore outside of the the rink  some options like that or getting into some other partnerships with some other basically businesses that are in that type of feel where that it's skating you know promotions things like that but it's a tough one because you don't see a lot of other sports come into the city and actually asking for funds sold this one is kind of unique and i think we need to work with it thank you bill coleman i walk on that briarwood trail almost every day and in love watching the hockey players kids of all ages out on those rinks saw that as a well used community asset i guess i would see a three legged stool i don't know why there's not five or six legs on that stool  cars you know i see cars come down from grant or from del would pull up in the lot and their kids pile out of it the hockey association as a zamboni they've got john deere tractor i think that they should do a better job than trying to get the other communities to pitch in and then if there's other things that they need they can do their fundraisers and find and find the money to do that i would have to on my list of things to do either i think we've got some other main trail things things like that that we need to address ahead of time i still think that it's something that's why worthy of talking with them about both the hockey association and school district you know whether it's user fees or other things associated with that i think it would be beneficial but we've got a we've got other bigger things in the fryer right now that we need to work o rick i just want to clarify that it's a small percentage of the city investment in that area and that is providing for a great opportunity for a lot of people out of course it's my hockey fan in me that's talking like this now but i think like bill mentioned when you walk by that being a all winter day and see the number of people utilizing it this is a very small investment that whereas that the this is that the lights that light the hockey rink must be from one nine hundred sixty and they've sent more light into the air of blocking the stars and everything else that i think they do down to the ice and so excel energy or magic or somebody maybe could work to help them find some better lighting maybe some l e d lighting that shines down and is more efficient the bill on those lights must be big you know i think citizen participation citizen engagement in our community we've seen what happens when a out crating gauge moment in our hockey associations and in the legion and in our school district and i think our city misses out on that opportunity to engage people and i think there we have incredible talented people more and more gray hairs like myself that are empty nesters retired people they want to be a part of the community too and i think the city government could really help make that happen thank you tag rashers example biggest one that we need to focus on right away if i were elected is actually this communication amongst the citizens the businesses and also the departments within our city so we have public works we have our commissions which are basically planning environmental we have one or the other ones we have parks and we also have the  finance commission but to improve communication that way and i think also responding to citizens citizens in a timely manner is essential i've heard several times since i started my campaign i have you knocked on a door yet about time delays and in our professional services replying back to him these are people that we have contracts with our own staff have been delays in response i think we really need to recognize that and be more proactive in the way we communicate get our message out listen to the impact or import from our residents and businesses and then try to drive or direct the city in a direction that is the best interest of all of them  before we do a project we go out in whole neighborhood meetings or bring the people into the city hall for neighborhood meetings on a new project and so i think the communication is there for the people who want to take part in it are we also have our priorities already established as far as infrastructure replacement and four more areas and want to meet up between monomania avenue and the lake shore and that needs to continue to go forward thank you now go to our consul candidates and we'll start with timothy danes in my opinion i think pedestrian safety is a top priority in town i think keeping our citizens safe continuing to tend to build up the business development of the city we're talking up here many of mentioned community discussion i've had community discussion with the business owners we say we claim we're  business friendly we're not really so business friendly we need to attract those businesses in here become business friendly those businesses attract amenities attracting families in here once the families see that the supplies and that and the amenities that they have that's going to get them here into the city that is also going to help generate the tax funds that we can help build up our parks and and trail division so we don't have to worry so much on  and i can support the top issues that have already been stated but i would add that for my top priority issue right now is completing the work in this story history if we don't complete that work like twenty twenty we're going to be spending a lot of money on infrastructure where we've got big problems that are going to be on the surface where our water solve our sewer some of our issues related to runoff from rice creek watershed district is is going to be all over our case in the next five to six years about what we're doing was run off into the lake so we completed phase one we've got phase two scheduled for next year on out to phase two and twenty twenty and top priority for me is to make sure that we complete that and we complete our historic district and put it back the way it should be thank you rick i bet everybody here thinks i mean to say hockey arena hockey great you know you know my top priority is again to assure that the city is responsive and transparent to its citizens  my from my background in my training everyone has a customer in the customer of the city is its citizens so i want to bring a that kind of atmosphere to the city council and mayor is i think it's imperative that we improve communications our neighboring cities our civic organizations so legion five will seven the lions club garden club some of the other organizations within our city also our volunteer commissions so basically we have environmental finance parks and apply commissions to make sure that we maintain good communication with them in addition school district and knowing that we have basically a boundary that is unique to the city model meet i which is basically our main drag of town our downtown business district it's essential that we restore that relationship with the city a will ernie and also with the city of granta we provide services to birchwood springs and dell with it all border us i think it's essential that we work together with all those different cities and an unease to make sure that our vision is shared in a manner that is not only  otherwise i would like to say they brought to this office and ice keep with this office a lifetime of integrity sergey and courtesy to all whom i have met and i attend all the school board meetings so that i know what's going on and that's something that never happened before i was mayor in not bring to this office excellence as our school district and other community organizations believe excellence is an attitude and a habit and is not necessarily related to cost spec for our citizens will be a hallmark of city hall if i am  elected mayor upcoming conference a plan is a terrific opportunity for our citizens to create the plan not just react to it or worse be unaware of it need to stop waiting to see what happens and start deciding what should happen and come together get to work and make it happen plan should be uniquely ma to meet i but embrace partnerships with our community with surrounding communities in washington county made a successful career helping communities work better together to such goals and achieve great things out of me dies a great place to live and i love it here but there is more to do to reach our full potential ask for your vote thank you thank you now with closing statements from our consul candidates will begin with rick i'm going to reiterate the three goals i stated at the beginning i want to maintain monna me to a small town am is for while using the best modern practices and strategies confirm city of money to services are providing the most economical and efficient manner and assure that city operations are response of and transparent to its citizens and i also like to thank all my foreign participants for the great discussions we've had tonight and again the league of women voters for sponsoring this event thank you thank you timothy deans i just wanted to thank the women league of women voters for tonight's form the school district all of the attendees for asking some green tough questions tonight my fellow members i'm an open minded candidate that only wants the best for the citizens of mana my top three priorities are going to be helping finally it downtown district with parking and pedestrian safety he parks in trails system and as well as the completing of the historic district thank you thank you like to thank the league of women voters in the school district but i also like to thank those of you are here night and those who are watching it on television you've heard from us and our candidates for city council and i believe i have the commitment to serve the work experience leadership experience my current city council experience includes serving as president of the council and as thought of our mayor has indicated i am the liaison to the washington county sheriff's department and i worked with representative some warning and elwood to try to bring that coalition proposal contract to fruition for the city and it saved us a lot of money i also serve as a liaison to the finance commission and this commission advises the council on all budget issues including capital improvements we all benefit from a financially strong community balancing residential areas and responsible revelant i will work to make sure we use our tax dollars wisely supports a citizen involvement and input into major council decisions i will work to maintain safe and secure parks for kids and a safe everyone i will work to preserve the unique character of amount of meat i and our neighborhoods which is important to our small town and its future q history about flower i would like to thank the league of women voters for having this  thank you citizens and residents for attending the shows that you are committed and you're interested in what is going on with the city push eight the viewers on the television today without you you know we wouldn't be able to understand what's going on out there so we want to make sure that we listen to that and as i reiterated earlier if i'm elected my three goals are going to be business development that alone will help take care of a lot of the financial issues that were there were seemingly running up against i also want to make sure that we are keeping accountability with our departments within the city fire parks public works and administration here make sure that fiscal responsibility is is intact there and then what those two items will help attract families into year which we'll continue to develop are our community and maintaining that small town feel  you thank you the league thanks the candidates for their participation the ramsey washington suburban cable commission production services department for covering this event the my mean a school district for the use of their facilities our league volunteers and you the audience for your attendance and interest the playback schedule for tonight's form will be every wednesday friday and saturday night at eight pm and channel sixteen starting tomorrow let your voice be heard by voting on november third thank you and good night