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Sandy Peine <br /> From: craig nagel [cnagel @uslink.net] <br /> ` 'ent: Thursday, February 23, 2006 2:46 PM <br /> —1'0: speine @pequotlakes-mn.gov <br /> Subject: City planner <br /> Dear Sandy, <br /> Per your request from Chris Greer that each of us on the city-planner commission put our <br /> thoughts on paper, here are mine. <br /> At this time I believe the city is best served by continuing the engage the services of <br /> Chuck Marohn. To the best of my knowledge, Chuck and his associates at Community Growth <br /> Institute have done an effective and very professional job of assisting the city in <br /> establishing a comprehensive plan and then implementing the plan with up-to-date <br /> ordinances. In addition, they've helped the city put in place a top-notch planning and <br /> zoning commission, helped it upgrade and define the duties of the zoning administrator, <br /> carried out a couple of effective special projects such as the East Twin Lake and Downtown <br /> plan, and generally raised the awareness of the city and the general public as to the <br /> critical importance of the planning process. <br /> I understand Chris's concern with keeping a handle on costs, and I share that concern. But <br /> I don't think the way to do it is to hire a full-time city planner. If anything, I suspect <br /> we'd get less value per dollar from a full-timer than we currently do by hiring Chuck on a <br /> consultant basis. As long as we insist on getting project-by-project bids ahead of time <br /> from Chuck, and then proceeding with such projects as we feel are necessary and valuable, <br /> I feel we can control costs in a most effective manner. One of the maxims of business is <br /> that "work expands to fill the time available. " If we hire a full-timer at this stage in <br /> the city's history, I think we'd find the person creating all sorts of jobs for him-or- <br /> 'i.erself to do, just to stay busy; and then when a special project came along, he or she <br /> �..,_ight request outside or extra help to do it--all of which would only serve to raise, not <br /> lower, the cost to the city. <br /> To my mind, what we've got is working well, and I see no sense in trying to "fix it" by <br /> adding another full time person to the payroll. <br /> Best regards, <br /> Craig <br /> 1 <br />