2014-01-21 CC Minutes - Comments to be recorded (School funding/website)� -, /P% rJ4-
Robert Olson
6278 Kahler Dr. NE
Albertville, MN 55301
January 21, 2014
Albertville City Council
5959 Main Avenue NE
Albertville, MN 55301
Dear Mayor and fellow Councilors:
I apologize that I am unable to attend tonight's meeting due to a conflict with a meeting I
have to attend for work. I do have a couple of comments regarding items on the agenda
that I would like to bring to your attention and like these recorded in the minutes for the
meeting.
The first item I have a concern with is the Letter to the Editor from the STMA School
Board. While I do understand and support what they are trying to accomplish and have
changed, I do have a concern that if we sign on to this letter, what are we saying to the
residents in Albertville that do not live in the STMA boundary? While some open enroll
in STMA, they all still pay taxes to Elk River, and I don't want us to ignore that. While
we can't control what Elk River charges them in School Taxes, I don't want us signing
on in support of a change in STMA that would increase Elk River taxes. So, at this time I
would strongly recommend tabling this item until we can get the school to put together a
supplemental piece of literature that would explain to us, what schools these changes
have the most impact on and what specifically does this mean for the Elk River School
District and would they have any unintended impacts due to the changes? I would also
recommend that we as a City reach out to the Elk River School Board and ask that they
provide a letter to us with their concerns or support for STMA in their pursuit of changes
to the per pupil funding in education. So, at this time, based on what was provided in our
Council packets, I would not be in favor of signing on to this letter without further
information.
The second item I have a comment on is the informational brochures that have been
requested from the City Planner. I do support the brochures and think they would be a
huge benefit to staff and residents. I do feel that on top of the brochures, we focus on
getting these brochures online and also focus on getting all applications, brochures, and
checklists available online as well. For example, the application for Home Businesses is
not on our website, Planning and Zoning applications and checklists for development are
not online either. I recommend we focus heavily on providing these items online as soon
as possible. If we provide a full service website with information that residents,
businesses, and developers need, we will see a decrease in the amount of time staff
spends answering calls, responding to emails, and meeting with people at City Hall in
order to obtain simple documents because they are not available online.
Albertville City Council
January 21, 2014
Page 2
The final item I have is a slight concern on is the Barthel Industrial Drive NE and 54h
Street NE drainage. Have we determined that the improvements will have a significant
improvement to the issues that are currently occurring? Thinking back to previous
meetings, I thought we would see what the new study results /recommendations prior to
moving forward with the design? Also, it appears that the City was found at fault based
on a "compromised settlements" comment for the Flood Claims in the Administrator's
Report. Are we sure that these changes will relieve the City of future claims, or do we
need to reconsider the scope/budget of this project to avoid future claims?
Thank you for taking the time to listen to my concerns and I wish I could be in attendance
to express these concerns and have a good discussion. I hope this helps everyone
understand my concerns and I trust that ultimately you will make decisions that are the
best for the City.
Sincerely,
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Robert Olson
Albertville City Council Member