Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001 01-23 CCM Planning Session with Facilitator �S COMPANY CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WOItKSHOP �anuary 23, .2001 SUMMARY OF KEY OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY PARTICIPANTS Prepared by C arl H. Neu, Jr. January 24, 2001 Neu and Company and the Center for the Future of Local GovemanceT'", 2001 CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP January 23, 2001 SUMNIARY OF KEY OBSERVATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS REACHED BY THE PARTICIPANTS Prepared by Carl H. Neu, Jr. January 24, 2001 L INTRODUCTION On January 23, 2001, the members of the City Council, City Manager, and Assistant City Manager participated in a City Council Workshop. This workshop provided an opportunity for the participants to re�view the overall performance of the Council, the goals established for the year 2001, and the processes to be used �or ttie annual goal-setting session set for August 11, 2001, and providing new Council-member orientation after the election on May 1 st to fill a vacancy on the Council., A copy of the Workshop Agenda and participant materials is attached as Appendix A. II. KEY CONCLUSION5 AND OBSERVATIONS MADE BY THE PARTICIPANTS A. General Team Building: Review of Council Performance and Relationships 1. Council Performance: effecdveness in addressing and resolving issues. Council members were asked to identify those areas where issues have been addressed and resolved effecrively and those areas where attempts to address and resol�e issues may have encountered obstacles or seem to be floundering. i 1 Items Addressed and Resolved Issues Where Obstacles or Effectivelv Frustrations were Encountered Big picture goals Brookdale established,communicated, and being achieved Citizen concerns seem to Old Police Department/ be moving away from big Community Center issue items toward smaller issues and concems indicating that citizen confidence is growing because Council is seen to be addressing big issues Citizen satisfaction seems 69th and Brooklyn to be on the increase with Boulevard fewer complaints being received and greater focus being given by the citizens to City projects Overall, the City is seen to Redefining the dog be "working well" ordinance Responding and listening to citizen input Impact on staff time resulting from "smaller issues" Long-term fmancial picture/framework Appropriate staff alignments 2 Review of Boards and Commissions in terms of making them more effective consistent with City needs and opportunities for citizen participation 2. Discussion pertaaining to issues identified above that have not been addressed or resolved completely or have encountered certain obstacles. The following observations were made to some of the issues identified above that have encountered obstacles or have not been completed fully. a. Brookdale Essentially this is seen as the City being "locked in" to an agreement in which a number of the elements affecting the future of Brookdale a're not under the City's direct control. Secondly, the City is seen not to have a long-term exit strategy relative �to the Brookdale issue. b. Old Police Department/Community Center Basically, the factors are: There is a fixed amount of,money allocated by Council to deal with the remodeling of the old Police Department and Community Center. There are a nuxnber of unknowns and what if's that will affect potential outcomes, designs, and choices. c. 69th and Brooklyn Boulevard The following factors were identified: Until conshuction is done on the 69th and Brooklyn Boulevard intersection, it is hard to address issues with high levels of confidence pertaining to land use and other factors that will occur in the area. 3 It may be appropriate "to wait" until the Boulevard canstruction is done before addressing subsequent issues affecting the area. d. Redefining the dog ordinance The primary issue here seems to be two-fold: Council's comfort levels with various options available to it Establishing a definite number of animals permitted per household Council needs to resolve this issue quickly. The other issues on the list were discussed briefly with no specific conclusions reached as to how the issue may be resolved rnore quickly. 3. Working Relationships Within Council Basically, the Council members were unanimous in their conclusion that working relationships within the Council are seen as being "good". Factors that indicate relationships are going well include: A definite lack of partisanship within the Council The Council's commitment to civility Council's focus on "big picture" items. A primary factor that could affect the working relationship in the future is the introduction of a new Council rnember who will be elected on May 1 to fill a vacancy. This item is not seen as a negative, but a realization that whenever a new member comes into the Council, there is a period of accommodation and establishing new working relationships among all five Council members. B. Review of 2001 Goals and Approaches to Implementation The City Manager reviewed briefly the 11 goals adopted by the City Council for the year 2001. It was concluded, generally, that the goals and implementation steps were appropriate. Additional comments were made relative to three goals: 4 1. Goa1 No. 1: The Council would like to have more proactive "monitoring" of developer performance relative to progress being made on Brookdale. It was recommended that this monitoring might consist of a monthly report outlining specific progress being made. 2. Goal No. 5: This goal deals with construction of the community center and city hall. Much of the discussion relative to this is outlined above in this report. 3. Goal No. 10: This goal focuses on traffic calming efforts to be carried out throughout the City. The City Manager indicated a need for more specific information from the Police Department so that measurable and reportable efforts and plans could be established by which the Council and community could evaluate improvements being achieved relative to the implementa.tion of this goal. C. Discussion of Annual Goal-Setting Session An outline of the process that was used for establishing goals for the year 2001 was reviewed. Council concluded that the same format for establishing goals should be used at the August 11, 2001, goal-setting session. D. New Council Member Orientation Council members concluded that the policies and procedures established for providing information to Council member candidates and newly-elected Council member-s should be the same as used for Council elections conducted in November, 2000. E. District 286 Elementary School and Grand View Park The City Manager presented some conceptual ideas pertaining to how the City and the School District could work together to create constructive options beneficial to both jurisdictions. Council concluded that the Manager should explore these options with the District and report back as to what opportunities have been identified warranting future consideration by the City and the School District. 5 I CITY OF BROOKLYN CENTER, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP January 23, 2001 2:00 8:00 p.m. WORKSHOP AGENDA L General Team Building a. Approaches to issues as a Council i. How are we doing? ii. What would we like to be doing? 2. Review 2001 Goals and approaches to implementation a. Council roles in achieving b. Staff roles 3. Discussion of annual goal setting session a. Format from last year b. Any changes/additions 4. New Council Member orientation a. Guidelines for providing information to Council candidates b. New Council Member orientation c. Staff information to be assembled and provided to the new Council Member 5. District 286 elementary school and Grandview Park 6. Other issues 7