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Memo to Mayor and City Council <br />May 26, 1998 <br />Page 2 <br /> <br />linear park/trail corridor. Steve has been able to meet with the developers on <br />site and walk the property which has allowed him to work towards <br />reasonable solutions for the park needs for that particular development. <br /> <br />Steve's presence at the Park & Recreation Commission meeting has been <br />received positively by the Park & Recreation Commission. The additional <br />staff time allows for an invaluable planning effort on park-related issues. As <br />we all know, the park system is an integral component of residential <br />subdivisions and efforts applied up front will pay dividends in the end. <br /> <br />Economic Development <br /> <br />This position will provide support to the Economic Development Department <br />in terms of preparing concept plans for prospective industrial businesses <br />wishing to locate in the city. This has already been done for a lot the city <br />owns in Elk River Industrial Park. Also, concepts have been done for the <br />Holt and Jackson site for prospective commercial business. These are just a <br />few examples of how the site planning/design skills can contribute towards <br />visualizing how property could be developed. This truly contributes to the <br />marketing of property and the city's vision for development patterns. <br /> <br />As the Central Business District Master Plan moves forward past the <br />visioning process, Paul Steinman and I envision a lot of design work being <br />necessary. Rather than hiring a consulting firm to perform this work, the <br />planner could easily accomplish the same tasks and save the city the <br />consulting fees. In addition, staff has discussed possible redevelopment <br />opportunities throughout the city. Having a person on staff with design skills <br />contributes by preparing concepts how areas may be redeveloped. Discussing <br />long range planning/development issues such as redevelopment, the visual <br />presentation will carry a clearer message than a verbal explanation. This <br />position will offer those opportunities. <br /> <br />Salad. <br /> <br />A specific salary has not been identified for this position at this time. The <br />personnel committee will conduct a review of this position's point ranking <br />and salary range and present that to the City Council for consideration. It is <br />expected the position would be ranked below the Planning Assistant position. <br /> <br />Conclusion <br /> <br />Over the past four months, Steve has demonstrated the abilities I expected <br />for this position. The design/landscape architecture skills will benefit the <br />city's planning efforts across many different departments. I firmly believe <br /> <br />f:\shrdoc\council\planner.doc <br /> <br /> <br />