North Star Report #26
Council Meeting, Mail Bag, Department Budgets, Tom and Jerry
We are winding this newsletter down. My last meeting as a councilor is next Monday the 18th. And I will be officially done on the 2nd of January when new folks are sworn in.
Council Meeting 11/20
Approved several development agreements for the medical district
Approved application for a grant of up to $150k for a stormwater needs analysis for Spirit Mountain
Cleaned up split zoning issues
Council Meeting 12/11
Made three appointments to boards and commissions
Eliminated mandated parking requirements for the city (I am personally very proud of the work that went into this. I requested the Planning Commission work on this, attended several brown bags, connected experts in this realm to our Planning Commission, and believe we have a wonderful outcome for this)
Approved the sale of parking ramps to a developer in downtown
Budget Presentations
I have attached all of the budget presentations we have seen to date. Apologies for the delay these have recently been posted on our website! Reach out if you have questions
Duluth Round-Up
Section of S Ave on Park Point temporarily affected
Thanks to our firefighters for saving a dog from the canal
I wrote an op-ed about the potential value of a land value tax
Channel 5 from the Cities came up to Bentleyville also
Update on the apartment building on Superior Street
Tom & Jerrys December 16th
What has seemingly become an annual tradition- I’ll be serving up some made-from-scratch Tom and Jerry at the Jade Fountain in West Duluth to raise funds for CHUM. For those new to this- I spent a lot of time over the first December in COVID making and testing 10 different recipes of Tom and Jerry. I took what I liked about all of them and made my own recipe for it, my science teachers would be proud and surprised at the amount of effort I put into this. If you’re free stop by!
If you're unable to attend but would like to support CHUM with an end-of-year donation here is the link to do so Donate to CHUM
Otherwise, I hope to see you on Saturday! (attached is the graphic for the event)
Duluth Mail Bag
I’ve been writing a bimonthly column over at Perfect Duluth Day answering questions folks have about the City of Duluth. My most recent one was published on the 30th. Take a look if you’d like or send me a question you’d like answered for my next column!
100 More Cups of Coffee
Still working on having another 100 Cups of Coffee with constituents. If you want to have a 45-minute conversation about anything in regard to the City click on this link to schedule
Join a City Commission!
Ordinance Modernization Task Force
I started a task force to go over all of the ordinances in the city code and weed out, outdated language and ordinances. An intuitive and modern regulatory environment is important to how cities function and how citizens operate within that framework. The task force is soliciting feedback on our work to date.
Local Links
Sharing some of our city services links either calendars or relevant info that you may not be aware is on the web!
Duluth Public Library Programming Calendar
Apply for Workforce Development Services
Duluth Transit Authority website (plan your next bus ride!)
Excellent work on the Parking issues. Also on article framing the advantages of a Land Value Tax in Duluth.