City of Red Lake Falls
Public Meeting
September 9, 2015
Minutes
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a public meeting of the City of Red Lake Falls,
Red Lake County, Minnesota was duly held in the City Hall of said City on the 9th day of September, 2015.
Members Present: Kevin Harmoning, Allen Bertilrud, Cheryl Matzke, Sara Kenfield, Kevin Brevik.
Members Absent: Neil Knaack.
Others Present: Kathleen Schmitz, Carol Seeger, Alan Cassavant, Cam Fanfulik, Sean Ranum, Lon Seeger, Ed Pettit, Dick Brumwell, Jeff Lytle, Justin Carriere, Brooke Rufsvold, Harvey Riendeau, Inez Riendeau, Dano Stephens, Janet Wiskow, Beth Keller, Sandy Bertilrud, Terri Hams, Mark LaCrosse, Melanie LaCrosse, Havie Lee, Lacie Hovland.
The complimentary meal was served and the meeting began at 6:10 p.m. This is the fourth public meeting in the process of the city’s development of a Comprehensive Plan. It is being held to discuss our vision and goals for our community to be included in our comprehensive plan.
Cam Fanfulik, director of the NWRDC opened the discussion by briefly going over the major topics from the last community meeting. The topics answered the question, “What can we do to make Red Lake Falls better?” There are eight areas to cover and previously we discussed Parks/Open Spaces, Environment/Natural Resources, Recreation/Tourism, and Business/ Industry.
The next topic discussed was Housing. Our community has some homes and properties that need fixing up and some homes that are unoccupied and need to be torn down. We also have a need for more diversified housing – twin homes, rental units, affordable homes. The attendees talked about our community garden and school yard garden. Both are fairly new and get better each year. Apple trees have been planted and the school garden has a pumpkin patch.
We talked about Public Services and Facilities. We have city-owned water and sewer to generate revenue. Our infrastructure is aging and needs updating yet our tax base is not large enough to fund these infrastructure costs. The city also owns the pool, arena and airport. Our sanitation is privately owned. We have a volunteer ambulance and fire department, a community library, and a local snowmobile club that grooms trails. Some things our community would like to have are a cross-country ski trail groomer, a more toddler-friendly playground and some decent flower planters and a watering contraption to keep up the city flowers. Also, we need a better put-in place with parking on the Red Lake and Clearwater rivers for the growing kayaking and canoeing users in our city.
City of Red Lake Falls Minutes September 9, 2015
2
Transportation was discussed. Currently, there is no public transportation from Red Lake Falls to DigiKey which some people would like to see, although, our survey respondents showed little interest in using or needing public transportation. The meeting attendees saw a need to expand our trail system and tying our trails to the business sector. Our trail was originally built with a grant and the asphalt is in great need of repair and some replacement. We also have a need for better crosswalks in a few locations around town and on Highway 32 (Main Avenue).
Next, we talked about Land Use. Our city needs to maintain where our zoning areas are and re-define some of the zoning classifications. We need a good map showing the flood plains within the city.
The final topic discussed was Quality of Life and Quality of Place. Our goals are to keep our schools and churches, our essential retail and industry and preserve what we already have. We need to be aware of pollution, especially surrounding our rivers and other environment pollutants.
The meeting included talk about Citizen Involvement. Cam Fanfulik stressed the positives of our community and how important it is for each of us to project positivity in our community and all of its advantages. It is people like the ones participating at this meeting that determine the fate of our community. If people have opinions and concerns they need to show up at council meetings; we do have government transparency.
In summary, Cam Fanfulik went over the Goals and Objectives Handout for each of the eight topics we have covered. He focused on the main goals for each topic discussed and the objectives required to meet those goals. Now, he will write the comprehensive plan that will include our goals, policies and strategies needed to implement our vision.
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
__________________________________
Kevin Harmoning, Mayor
_________________________________
Kathleen Schmitz, City Administrator
