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Roads, budget, library make for exciting times
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Wednesday, 05 December 2007
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Stev Stegner
Guest Columnist
We have some exciting things happening in Forest Lake. In November, our new library and North Washington County Service Center opened.
I typically do not get excited about libraries, but this is very nice! I really enjoy seeing how many people use our library. The library estimates they will loan out over 250,000 items in the next 12 months.
As I perused the shelves, I noticed many new books that have recently been released.
In my past experience, years ago mind you, the library didn’t seem to have what I was looking for. Not so with the current library and their selection.
When you stop by the new library, you will notice many comfortable chairs for reading as well as a fireplace with seating so you can curl up with your favorite book or magazine and feel the warmth of the fire.
The city of Forest Lake has been working on the 2008 budget. City staff is proposing a 9.9% increase in the budget. I believe this is too high.
I have the responsibility to the citizens of Forest Lake to spend our money wisely. It is easy to spend other people’s money.
It is much more difficult to do without the things we want. Tough decisions need to be made. In my personal budget, I often have to forgo the latest gismo to spend money on the more basic family needs.
The city budget and capital improvement plan is a combined 265 pages long. I have reviewed each and every page multiple times. There are no easy cuts.
The citizens deserve the great services they have come to expect and there are items in the budget which I fully support.
The road improvements and fire department are two items that are important to me. Our roads have not had the attention they needed for a number of years and now we have additional repairs because of the neglect.
I have a fiduciary responsibility to the citizens for our budget this year as well as next year.
It appears that the housing prices will continue to slide, and if this is so, we should all see a devaluation in our property in 2009 taxes payable.
With a decline in value, it would make sense to reduce the budget as to create little or no tax impact on our citizens. As we look to the future, it makes sense to make necessary budget cuts today and live within our means.
I do not want to tax people out of their homes, I want Forest Lake to be a strong, vibrant city.
This past summer we saw plenty of road construction throughout the city. Now that the detours are over and we are back to full lane capacity, I think it was worth it. Better traffic control has always been a priority of mine.
We had asked for by-pass lanes on TH- 97 which allows passing on the right if there is a dotted line. I had been told it was not possible many times, but I continued to ask.
The final striping included many by-pass lanes, I believe this makes it safer and allows traffic to flow better.
Many people have asked me lately about the roundabouts. As for now, they have been stopped.
It was a difficult battle and I am not so sure I can take any credit for the county’s decision to pull them from the freeway entrance ramps.
My plan continues to be to widen the bridge on West Broadway and an additional bridge on CR-83 (11th Avenue).
The city council set up a citizen task force to review the traffic in Forest Lake and work with county and city staff to come up with a traffic plan that increases safety, increases traffic flow, and will accommodate future traffic growth.
This group meets monthly and I will continue to keep you posted on their progress. Whether you want roundabouts or not, the state determined that they failed during certain traffic loads on the freeway ramps, allowing cars to stack up on the freeway.
We can all agree that backing up cars on the freeway is a serious issue and needs to be avoided.
By adding a bridge on CR-83, and freeway access would be my goal, it is estimated it would pull 30 percent of the traffic off West Broadway.
That sounds like a great start!
Now, by widening the bridge on West Broadway to accommodate multiple through lanes in both directions, we will no longer have to wait through multiple green lights to get over the bridge.
The Traffic Design Review Committee will have the final say in the ultimate solution, of those that I have spoken with, and this seems to be the favored plan.
The writer is mayor of Forest Lake.
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