For years Rochester and Olmsted County have been developing a bicycle masterplan.
Many meetings and opportunities for feedback have finally resulted in a plan that the city council got to review. For this to be implemented we will need your advocacy and support at the Rochester City Council and Olmsted County Board meetings. Even after we get these plans adopted we need to make sure that they are not ignored. There is so many good recommendations here that I encourage you to take the time to read this, write down your thoughts, and make sure your elected leaders vote to adopt and follow the plan.
To make this plan a reality we will need to spend about 2.5% of our transportation funding on this system. This SHOULD be an easy sell given the fact that:
12% of all trips in Minnesota are by walking or bike (higher in places like Rochester)
biking receives about 1.5% of federal funding
results in more than 9% of all traffic fatalities in Minnesota
the industry represents has more than 1500 jobs in MN
the industry contributes $145 million annually to the MN economy
And just in case you hear this nugget:
According to County Planner Phil Wheeler’s presentation to the city council, only 1.8% of transportation funding comes from the gas tax. So don’t buy that tired talking point. Biking is far more cost effective for taxpayers than more and bigger roads.
I am happy that our city sidewalk have never been cleaner. There have been a number or questions on Rochester sidewalk snow removal policies. I have kids that may walk in a couple of years to school, seniors in my neighborhoods, and I represent at least 2 legally blind men how need sidewalks for mobility. I will protect their safety even if it is unpopular.
Here are a few questions and if you send me more I will answer them here:
Q: Why do you want to stick it to us?
I don’t want to stick it to you. I want property owners to be responsible and clear sidewalks. Zero fines is my desired outcome. Read the rest of this entry »
“I hope that my concerns prove unfounded and [Legends Bar] will be a successful well run business. I want everyone to understand that the city council just approved a liquor license to an individual related to pending felony assault charges and a history of criminal convictions including DWI, leaving the scene of an accident, and driving without insurance. The approval came despite not satisfying police requests for information. The police have raised additional questions about contradictory information submitted by the applicant. I remained concerned by this.”
You can customize how you get alerts and what you get. Now I will know when we have an earthquake in Rochester. (Nah, that’s silly we don’t do fracking yet…)
Rochester property owners have always had an obligation to promptly remove snow from sidewalks. This has never been an option. Now we have a policy that will provide better enforcement and make sure that taxpayers are not responsible for clean up of others. I am NOT willing to endanger the 40% of Minnesotans that do not drive (including my kids) because someone does not fulfill their responsibility. Most areas will only be responded to on a complaint basis. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is the proposed language for administrative fines for failure to clear sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of a snow event. These fines would be in addition to paying the full cost of a private company removing the snow. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is a list of Projects funded or partially funded with local option sales tax dollars since 1983. Every time Rochester has voted on this we have approved the sales tax by better than a 2-1 margin. I hope that this continues in 2012. Big thanks to Gary Neumann for keep track of these projects. Read the rest of this entry »
Just a friendly reminder that there will be a public hearing to discuss proposed massage licensing Monday October 17 at 7 PM in the council chambers. I do not expect that we will be passing any changes, rather just taking input. I have a few issues with the ordinance as it is written now. Here is what I see as needed components.
Licensing of businesses and individuals – this is the ONLY way we can shut down a place like China Massage and prevent future sex trafficking.
Standards for practice – I defer to people that know the industry better, but we need some standards. In my discsussion with a local practitioner I was given some good ideas. I do not support using certifications from for profit entities.