Mayor offers a look to the future

by Mike Knaak

editor@thenewsleaders.com

Mayor Rick Schultz and city leaders shared their vision for the city as well as offered updates on a variety of plans at the Chamber of Commerce meeting on March 13.

The vision includes adding programming at the community center, pushing forward with bonding requests from the Legislature, organizational and policy changes at city hall and exploring how St. Joseph can become a digital city.

Schultz hit on a number of projects starting with the community center. He said the city is working with the St. Cloud school district as well as the YMCA to help with youth activities as well as senior activities.

The city continues to push three bonding requests at the Legislature: community center funding, a pedestrian underpass on CR 75 and East Park. Although this is not a bonding year, Schultz and City Administrator Judy Weyrens have spent what the mayor called “considerable time” at the Capitol laying the groundwork for the requests.

As a result of the controversy surrounding the resignation of Police Chief Joel Klein, the city modified the personnel policy.

“We invested in modifying our personnel policy and retooling the organization so it should in fact be much easier, more responsive and should eliminate some of the problems we had in the past,” Schultz said.

The city started a Convention and Visitors Bureau supported with hotel tax money. The CVB is tasked with marketing the city and has come up with a slogan “Small town warmth, big city cool.”

Schultz highlighted several other issues that have been discussed for a while but not acted on including upgrading technology and meeting room facilities at the fire hall and a security surveillance system around town.

Work still needs to be done on streetscape issues to make the city welcoming and walkable including sidewalk repair and installing signs at entrances to the city.

Residents are also asking for a splash pad or pool, he said.

Innovation should also be part of the city’s vision, Schultz said. He outlined possibilities for a “smart city” that uses the internet and digital technology.

“The internet will be effortlessly seamless, so most people can tap into it easily like using electricity,” he said. “That’s really what it’s eventually going to be – so easy to use you won’t know you’re using it. We have a variety of ways we could use it internally to network the city, network business, network residents about impending weather…and provide city services rather than with pencil and paper.”

Schultz highlighted some of the successes including Bad Habit Brewing moving into the old city hall, the 24 North Lofts residences and Krewe restaurant opening this spring, connecting the Lake Wobegon Trail to Waite Park and completing annexation with St. Joseph Township. On the downside, he listed business that have moved out of the city.

People attending the meeting asked about upcoming road projects. The city recently approved a plan for repairing a number of streets and Stearns County will repair and replace CR 75 from St. Joseph to Waite Park.

That project was supposed to happen last summer but the major portion, which involves alternately shutting down lanes of the four-lane, divided highway, will take place this summer starting in May.

Schultz started his presentation with things that did not go well in 2018.

“Quite honestly this was a bad year for me in the eight years, nine years I’ve been doing this,” he said. “It started with the St. (Joseph) police chief issues we had and it was his resignation that took a lot out of staff, took a lot of council time.” Schultz went on to mention several businesses that moved out of town, the time it took to get the East Industrial Park approved and ongoing litigation with the College of St. Benedict. 

“These things add up and took a lot of stress, a lot of time and I want to get beyond this year. I want to move on,” Schultz said as he quickly transitioned to tick off the list of successes.