City Council Preview: March 8, 2021

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Once again, there’s not much on the West St. Paul City Council agenda. There are some conversations happening during the Open Council Work Session, but the main agenda is very light. The Council is having their strategic planning session on Saturday, March 6, so hopefully more progress will be coming in the near future.

Survey Results

The town hall survey results are included in the consent agenda and are worth a read. The stats are interesting, but the real goldmine is the 15 pages of comments. It’s an unfiltered (literally, there’s some profanity) look at what people think. There are the usual negative comments—too much trash, more sit-down restaurants (um, FoodSmith?), thinly veiled racism, bring back the mall, can we get a Kohl’s (no)—some positive remarks—thanks for the work you do, looking forward to the tunnel, the city is making strides—and then some left field comments, including digs at council members, a conspiracy theory, a comment that’s obviously from John Zanmiller, and someone wondering why the city let Chuck E. Cheese close (um… we’re supposed to subsidize a bankrupt national chain?!). It’s a doozy.

Other Items on the Agenda:

• Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee: There will be a public hearing on removing the number of Parks and Recreation Advisory Committee members from the city code and adding it to the committee bylaws. This ultimately makes it easier to change.
• Committee appointments: During Open Council Work Session (OCWS), the Council will again look at the committee appointment process and a messy vote at the January 25 meeting. If they can come to a consensus on the process, they’ll approve it the same night at the regular Council meeting.
• Pool contract: The YMCA has been running the city pool for a decade and the contract is being renegotiated. During OCWS they’ll discuss some of the changes due to COVID-19, including increased costs.
• Crusader reconstruction: OCWS will include a presentation on the reconstruction of Crusader Ave. in 2022.

The public can watch the meeting live on Town Square TV or cable TV starting at 6:30 p.m. on Monday (5:30 p.m. for the OCWS).

If you’re unable to attend in person, you can always use our coloring pages to imagine you’re there.

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