Thursday, April 16, 2009

UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS

April 22 - The Park and Rec Committee will meet at 5 PM in City Hall
April 27 - The City Council will meet at 7 PM. At this time, the Silver Creek Development and City Website Committees will be appointed. The Council will also discuss, and potentially approve, the city's Smart Growth/Comprehensive Plan, which can be found on the city website. This plan will be a vision for the next 20-30 years for the City of Ripon. You can submit written comments, as well as appear that evening to discuss your views on the plan, which has been done in partnership with the Town of Ripon.
May 11 - The Council will meet with the Ripon Area School District. At this time, it appears the meeting will be held at Ripon College, but that has not been finalized at this point. We will be discussing a number of topics, including the options available for the road system that could be needed if a new school is built north of Murray Park Elementary. The school district has acreage north of the current elementary school, which it acquired in a referendum several years ago. I am not sure exactly when the new school is targeted for construction, but my best guess would be in the 2015-2019 time frame. The Plan Commission held some discussions last month on the master street plan in that area, but decided to hold off on finalizing those plans until after this meeting. We may also discuss the crossing guard situation, as well as the police liaison program. In the past, when we met, we also discussed combining the city and district's maintenance staffs (for example, joint lawnmowing), but there did not seem to be much of a costs savings there, so I am not sure we will discuss that at this meeting. After the joint meeting, the Council will hold its regular monthly meeting.
May 20 - The Plan Commission will meet, and will continue its discussion of the city's future road system
May 25 - This is a tentative date for the City Council's second meeting, but nothing has been set in stone yet due to the Memorial Day. The council also needs to set a time to meet with the Plan Commission to review a consultant's report on the future of the West End of the city. The city hired the firm late last year to develop a long-term development and redevelopment plan for the area.