HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-18-1996 and 04-19-1996 Council Retreat COUNCIL/STAFF RETREAT
_ OF THE
CITY OF MAPLEWOOD
April 18 and 19, 1996
Riverwood Conference Center
10990 95th Street NE
Monticello, Minnesota
The City Council held a retreat at the Riverwood Conference Center to review current issues, to
identify planning issues, and to allow time for the Council and management staff to become
more familiar with each other. Dr. John Vinton, Director of Public Administration Programs at
Hamline University in Saint Paul, acted as facilitator throughout the retreat.
Council-only sessions:
Present when these sessions began at 8:45 a.m. Thursday, April 18, were:
Mayor Gary Bastian City Manager Michael McGuire
Councilmember Sheny Allenspach Assistant City Manager Craig Dawson
Councilmember Dale Carlson Dr. John Vinton, Facilitator
Councilmember Marv Koppen
Councilmember George Rossbach
The Council reviewed the mission statement developed in 1991, and commented.on the progress
that has been or still needs to be made on various components of it. Next, Councilmembers
individually identified several issues they wished to discuss; these were grouped into seven broad
topics:
* Council working relationships * Staff reorganization
* Budget priorities & goals * .Intergovernmental relations
* Infrastructure (replacement of) * Economic retention
* Communication & public involvement
Arising from discussion of these issues was a Council request that a "summit" of Maplewood and
surrounding local governments be reviewed at a Council/Manager workshop.
Later, the Council discussed the Maplewood 2020 proposal. It decided that fact-finding and
trend analysis should be performed first (probably by someone outside the organization). The
implications of the fmdings and recommendations could help to identify an effective process of
public involvement.
Council/Staff Retreat
April 18-19, 1996
Page Two
CounciUStaff sessions:
Staff arrived for the balance of the sessions that began at 3:00 p.m. Thursday, April 18. The
following staff members were present:
*Bruce Anderson, Dir. of Park & Recreation *Ken Haider, Dir. of Public Works
*Melinda Coleman, Dir. of Community Dev. *Joel Hewitt, Fire Chief
*Ken Collins, Dir. of Public Safety *Patrick Kelly, City Attorney.
*Dan Faust, Dir. of Finance *Sherrie Le, Dir. of Human Resources
As ateam-building exercise, Dr. Vinton administered the FIRO-B personality test. From this,
councilmembers and staff gained insight into each other's preferred behavior on the dimensions
of inclusion, control, and affection.
Following the exercise, the Council and staff identified and discussed the following topics during
the balance of the retreat
* Community Center.
* Community-Oriented Policing/
Community-Oriented Services
* Fire Department
* Maplewood 2020 process
* Budget goal & objective process.
* Capital Improvement Program/
1997 Budget constraints and expectations
After reviewing these matters, the Council decided that the following (in no particulaz order)
should be the major organizational goals for the neaz future:
* Fire department implementation
* Community Center financial improvements
* Community-oriented services
* Low tax increase for 1997
* Deputy registraz service improvements
* Maplewood 40th anniversary celebration/Maplewood 2020
The retreat concluded at 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 19.