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G.R.I.T.'s Discussion Forum

HIGHLIGHTS/SUMMARY:

The meeting lasted a bit less than three hours, and every council person was in attendance.*

• Mayor Tolson introduced the interim finance director and city administrator, who will come on board officially 2/21, and will hopefully turn over the reigns to their permanent counterparts within six months.
• Tolson shared the the council and staff the same Powerpoint presentation he gave to Co. Exec. Aaron Reardon and other county officials recently (which he said he would share with us to post on the website). The purpose of this presentation is for Sultan to retain 100% of the REET taxes, rather than sharing 50% with the county. "This is critical to our success," Tolson stated. The primary "selling" point in gaining county approval for this is the expense and burden being incurred by the Sultan PD in "managing" the county's transient situation located outside the Sultan city limits. The stats were collected by the county, and they were astounded at the number of police calls and the obvious fiscal drain/effect it has had on Sultan's bottom line.
• Tolson then polled the council for the goals they have for 2006, among them: reorganization of city most important, entice and keep business; city needs to "market" itself; clean-up of visually-"distracting" (i.e., unattractive) business areas especially bordering U. S. 2; challenges presented by buffer/setbacks in industrial/commercial areas especially; make requirements for businesses consistent; create incentives for businesses to relocate, and stay here; extended discussion re how Sultan could "sell" itself better; code scrub needed; expedite permit review/approval process.
• Rick Cisar gave an abbreviated summary of Sultan's future plans to expand its UGA, and briefly described future, and current, areas where development will occur. Unfortunately, he did not detail the names of many of these locations while speaking, so the audio of his presentation is unclear; however, the development map he provided (see photos below) was quite helpful. Mr. Cisar explained that the county's recent denial of Sultan's request to expand its UGA was "misunderstood" in that they interpreted Sultan's moratorium on PUDs to be a moratorium on ALL development.
• Brief discussion re future of Sultan's water issues; Lake 16 supply, possible location of water towers and possibility of selling bottled water from Lake 16.
• Public Information/Participation: Councilman Slawson open this subject (one which is near and dear to our heart!), by stating that his trips to the city's website make the city "look bad," largely due to the lack of current information and updating. Kristina Blair and Jim Flower agreed on the need to keep the public better informed, Flower stating that this subject would/should be "a big part of the city's reorganization effort." Slawson stressed the need for the city to grow up (my words, not his) to move into the professional business arena. (NOTE: The dollar figure quoted that the city is paying its website contractor is between $200-300. We, of course, found this extremely interesting....)
• Financial Software (Springbrook): Cisar reported that the city should have its own, exclusive server in place by next week, so things are moving along.
• Budget goals briefly discussed; the need is to begin laying the groundwork for 2007 budget process now. Interim Finance Director Hey stated the need to do a five-year financial plan ASAP. He made an instant fan of me when he stated: "I used to hate planners, now I love them (as) budgets are essentially a planning document, not a budget document." He underscored the need for a (valid/effective) CFP (Capital Facilities Plan).
• WAGLEY CREEK BUFFERS (presentation by Jim Flower) - We feel that trying to summarize this complicated subject -- especially without benefit of Jim's maps -- would do everyone a disservice. We therefore urge that folks listen to the audio when it's posted.

Meeting adjourned, following final comments/statements/questions by both Council members and staff.

*(Steve Slawson had to leave halfway through the meeting to attend his son's wedding.)

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PHOTOS:

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AUDIO (in MP3, coming soon)