Council considers the future, sets goals for 2013

Talk about it

Early on a Saturday morning, the five members of the Rosemount City Council met to talk about goals. They started out the session watching a TED Talk on how bad architecture can influence a city.

The 20-minute lecture set the tone for the 2013 goal-setting session. Mayor Bill Droste showed his fellow council members the video and then asked, “How do we make a place worth caring about?”

The council meets annually in January to set goals for the upcoming year. Some of the goals will carry over from the year before, while new ones will come to the forefront.

Councilmember Mark DeBettignies said the annual session help keep the council accountable. He said over the 10 years the council has held the sessions they’ve marked a number of things off their list while also reducing residents’ tax burden.

“We do it so we know our checks and balances,” said DeBettignies.

As part of the goal setting the council discussed the overarching goals and then talked about setting specific action-oriented goals. The overarching goals focused on the basics of managing the city, living in the city and growing the city.

Some of action goals discussed for 2013 included improvements to the County Road 42 and Highway 52 interchange, adding a water feature to the community, getting fields constructed on the Flint Hills property that was donated several years ago and better communicating with residents through various media.

DeBettignies will write the formal goals document and it will be approved at an upcoming meeting. In the meanwhile, city staff is working to advance some of the goals such as the constructions of a senior center.

DeBettignies said this year’s goal setting was par for the course, although he noted in past years they have gotten more residents out to the meetings.

Council newcomer Vanessa Demuth said she enjoyed the sessions. The council met Friday night and then again Saturday morning. Demuth said it was nice having the opportunity to bounce ideas off each other in an informal setting.

“I really enjoyed it,” said Demuth.

Before the sessions, Demuth searched other cities’ websites to see if they did something similar and found that none in the area set annual goals.

“I really commend them for putting it out there,” said Demuth.

As the newcomer, Demuth offered a few things she’d like to see the city do, including starting an environmental task force. Demuth said the idea was in the city’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan but it has not been put into action yet. Additionally, Demuth said she’d like the city to take a more proactive approach to water issues, including storm water management.

Overall, city administrator Dwight Johnson said he thinks the annual goal-setting session are a good practice and help the city provide the best value to its residents.

“I think they had good discussions,” said Johnson.

To see the city’s 2012 goals visit www.ci.rosemount.mn.us. The 2013 goals will be put online after the council formally adopts them.

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