by Dennis Dalman
news@thenewsleaders.com
Anita Rasmssen, Sartell’s long-time city planner and developer, has been appointed by Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton to the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission.
The announcement was made Aug. 26, and Rasmussen’s term on the commission begins Aug. 31. It will end Jan. 4, 2016.
She is one of 13 people appointed to the commission by the governor. The members include two from each of the state’s six regional parks-and-trails districts and one member-at-large.
The duty of the commission is to undertake system planning and provide recommendations to the state legislature for grants funded by the state’s Parks and Trails Fund. That funding is allocated to counties and cities outside the seven-county metropolitan area for parks and trails of regional significance.
Rasmussen, who has been Sartell’s consultant and planner for 13 years, has extensive and detailed experience in helping plan parks and trails in Sartell, including parks of regional significance, such as Northside Park, Val Smith Park, Pinecone Regional Park, Pinecone Central Park and Sauk River Regional Park in south Sartell, now in the planning stages.
Rasmussen was hired by the City of Sartell as a planning consultant in 2000. Three years later she was named as the city planner and developer.
“It’s a good surprise, a fun surprise to be appointed to that commission by the governor,” Rasmussen said. “It’s quite a process to go through to get appointed, and it included a long series of questions.”
Her main task on the commission will be to provide guidance for the legislature and to help determine priorities for the legislature to consider funding.
Anita Rasmussen
