[MissoulaGov] Goals for Council

Tue Feb 9 12:53:09 MST 2010

Taking off on Marilyn's observation, there is a local government
interagency(Parks and Rec, Mayor's Office, OPG) /public (Garden City
Harvest, One Thousand New Gardens) group developing information on how the
City might use unused/underused City land and parkland for neighborhood and
community gardens.  The idea is that if land the taxpayers pay to maintain
through mowing and weed management, turf maintenance, etc. can be used by
citizens to grow local food for themselves and their families, the Food
Bank, etc. what is a cost becomes a benefit. There is a lot of planning and
thinking to be done before bringing it to the Council for its policy work,
but it seems to bring a lot of good possibilities to the table.

Geoff Badenoch

-----Original Message-----
From: missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com
[mailto:missoulagov-bounces at cmslists.com] On Behalf Of Bob Jaffe
Sent: Tuesday, February 09, 2010 12:33 PM
To: missoulagov at cmslists.com
Subject: [MissoulaGov] Goals for Council

Hi,

We are scheduled to have a discussion tomorrow afternoon regarding goals for
the council. 

Here is the referral I made back in April of '07:

Hold a structured discussion regarding the goals we have for what we want to
accomplish over the next

year. Hopefully concluding with a list of tasks and some kind of action plan
for how those things will

happen.

Ed has reluctantly agreed to take up this item in COW on Wednesday.

Marilyn posted this one:

Among other things already mentioned, I want to see the city save money and
maintenance costs by increasingly using native plants and non turf areas as
much as possible. Labor and water costs make annual flowers and expansive
lawns expensive. 

Where turf lawns are needed, I would like them maintained using integrated
management methods (composting, aeration, proper irrigation, prudent
herbicide applications). We asked parks for a turf management plan several
years ago- let's re-visit this. Proper management saves money.

Here are a few of mine:

I would like to see us do something meaningful in the realm of affordable
housing. Both in the area of regulation and financing.  Slow progress is
being made but I would like to see us step it up.

Sidewalks: We have got to come up with a better way to do sidewalks. The
street maintenance districts could play a role in this.

Urban Forest: We know the trees are dying. If we want to maintain one of the
most defining aspects of the character of Ward 3 we will need to take much
more aggressive action to maintain the urban forest. Maintenance districts
may also be a part of this.

I'm curious if folks have suggestions for what they would like to see the
City Council / City of Missoula accomplish in the short and long term.

Thanks,

Bob

Bob Jaffe

Missoula City Council, Ward Three

1225 South 2nd West

Missoula, MT 59801

(406) 880-2052

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