Roseville Mayor Dan Roe Touts City's Accomplishments of 2012
In his annual State of the City Address, the mayor also talked Monday about initiatives for the current year.
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In his annual State of the City address, Roseville Mayor Dan Roe said Monday that the community is in good shape but still has opportunities ahead in 2013.
"Based on the work we in Roseville have done over the last year, and the plans we have for the coming year and beyond, I believe that the state of our City is sound and strong, with opportunities for improvement," Roe said.
Here are a few highlifghts from Roe's speech:
"-In 2012, Roseville saw about a 2% drop in crime overall, with the greatest reductions occurring in robberies, assaults, shoplifting, and weapons crimes. While it is often difficult to link crime reductions to specific actions, I believe it is fair to say that our police department’s concerted efforts to focus on target areas such as shoplifting, in partnership with our local retailers, have made a difference.
-In 2012 Roseville adopted a new policy to assist homeowners if a sanitary sewer back-up occurs. To protect the health and safety of the residents, and also to assist residents with the financial burdens of clean-up efforts, the City will now provide contracted service for basic clean-up work in order to provide a clean and safe environment in the home for the homeowners to pursue further rehabilitation efforts in their homes.
-In 2012, the City saw over $60 million in new tax base from development of new commercial and industrial facilities, and over $20 million in new residential tax base. That trend looks to continue for 2013.
-In 2012, we supported local business development by revising our liquor license system to allow small breweries to operate taprooms and bottle & growler sales in our community. (The mayor is referring here to the city's assistance in the opening of Pour Decisions Brewing Co., a new micro-brewer.)
-In the last 2 years, the City implemented several measures to address significant funding shortfalls and provide for adequate funding of our capital and infrastructure for the next 20 years and beyond.
While this led to sharp increases in water and sewer fees each of the last 2 years, and it cannot be denied that those increases can have an especially notable impact on those who are struggling financially, the result will be stable and predictable funding that our residents and businesses will be able to count on for years to come.
In 2013, we hope to continue to update our City codes, such as our shoreland code, to reflect current environmental requirements, policies, and best practices."
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Daniel Grundman
1:02 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Good 'ol Dan, raising our taxes.
The Twilight Clone
1:25 pm on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Crime: good to see it fell, but 2% doesn't mean much. That could be noise. What about doing something to prevent burglaries? Oh, I forgot, the cops are too busy camping out and protecting us from somebody doing 37 in a 35.
Good job on the sewer thing.
$20m in new residential tax base continuing into 2013? How? Josephine Woods is done now.
Liquor license system: the problem with Pour Decisions was fixed, which is good, but the Council FAILED to fix the problem with the limited number of licenses.
No getting around the problem with the water price hikes. At least you acknowledged that it's out of control.
roger b hess jr
8:04 am on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
unfortunately, preventing burglaries does not increase the balance of the forfeiture funds like stopping drivers for silly reasons does. the police dept. would not have hundreds of thousands of dollars at its disposal if they increased neighborhood patrols and lowered the amount of time spent stopping drivers.
the city does not limit the number of convenience stores nor the number of restaurants that can sell liquor, but for some reason the council will not let the market dictate the number of liquor stores. having a limit of any kind on liquor stores makes no sense. just from the safety side of the argument, i would rather see people go to a liquor store and take their alcohol home to consume there, rather than have people go to a restaurant and then drive home drunk. which is why i hope the state makes sunday liquor sales at stores legal. it makes no sense to encourage people to drive drunk!
Tony Nickelsen
3:48 pm on Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Roger, adding another day to make it 6 days a week to buy liquor in MN makes no sense at all and won't even get out of committee at the capital. Liquor store owners will not profit that much more by being open on Sunday to warrant being open. Remember, we're not Wisconsin!
As far as the other decisions made in our fair city this past year by our illustrious 3 blind mice council members, well you be the judge on whether raising our taxes for an overpriced Fire Station, overpriced Park & Rec plan, overpriced water & sewer plan will really be worth the investment. Shame on the council, city planners and committees who approved these things without residence expressing their views through a referendum vote. Continue to pat yourself on the back for raising our taxes, Mayor Roe!
roger b hess jr
8:15 am on Thursday, February 28, 2013
so, tony, if a person decides on a sunday that they would like to have a few alcoholic beverages, you would rather have them go to a restaurant in roseville to consume the alcohol, and then possibly drive home under the influence, rather than purchasing the alcohol at a liquor store, and then consume it at home? if sunday sales were legal, it does not mean that a liquor store has to be open on sunday. days and hours of operation are up to the store owner.