Off to DC

On Saturday, 3/14, the City Council (with the exception of Steve Rauenhorst who was unable to go) and City Administrator Stahmer travel to Washington DC in hopes of obtaining additional Federal Stimulus money to fully finance the 101/94 interchange. We are meeting with Oberstar's Chief of Staff and directly with Senator Klobuchar and Congressman Paulsen. Let's hope that we are successful...I'll post recaps of the meetings as soon as I can.

Last Few Meetings

At the past couple of Council meetings, there has been significant discussion on a proposed Respectful Workplace Policy. The policy is more geared toward City employees, but would also apply to elected officials, appointed positions and volunteers. One topic in particular garnered a lot of attention – guns and those individuals who have a permit to conceal/carry. There was a fine line as to when elected officials are “conducting City business”. A conversation at the grocery store about taxes could be construed as “conducting City business”. Or, a hunting trip out west where taxes come up could be construed as “conducting City business”. At least one Council member has a permit to carry and I believe another is in process of obtaining the same permit. I personally enjoy hunting and own several guns. I have no issues with anyone carrying a legally permitted weapon and believe strongly in the 2nd Amendment. Ultimately, the provision related to the elected officials was pulled, and the balance of the policy was approved.

Another item involving considerable discussion is the potential of Federal Stimulus money and the potential upgrade to the 101/94 interchange. On March 16 & 17, the Council is heading to DC to lobby our congressional delegation to get funding for this project. Using rough numbers, the project is in the $16M range. We previously received about $7M in Federal Funding. We are trying to get additional funding to fully fund the project, with no cost to the City. I am optimistic that something good can happen. This is the closest we’ve been…stay tuned. For more information on the alignment, see www.erstarnews.com. Bob Grawey is writing a two-part article on the project.