Achievements on Council:
When I won my seat on our City Council, I had a to do list of sixty items! Many have fallen to the wayside, but a few goods ones made it to our work session and EDA agendas for discussion. These are the items that made it to a vote or are in process of coming to a vote by the council.
I requested a Communications Position from staff. This request made it to our work session agenda,discussed, and was finally voted and approved by the City Council. We now have a communications person on our staff.
I requested that our city be a role model for our organic compost program at Murzyn Hall. We now have organic compost program set up in Murzyn Hall.
I fought to maximize our the money for Economic Development. The EDA and the City Council voted yes to maximize our money to work on Economic Development.
I fought for the Affordable Workforce Housing Project on 47th and Central. With only three votes the project was passed by the City Council. This building is in the construction phase and will soon provide housing for young professionals in our city.
I ran for City Council because I wanted to clean up Central Avenue. I brought up the idea of providing a grant program for small business to update their facades and signage to our Community Development staff. Staff worked on it and placed it on Economic Development Authority (EDA) agenda. It was discussed over several meetings. Once the program was ready to go, it was placed on the City Council agenda for approval and it passed. We now have a program that will freshen up our living room, just in time for HyVee.
Many residents in our city have concerns about our rental property. I requested last year that we examine ways to strengthen our rental inspections. Rental inspections are conducted by our fire department. This request was placed on the agenda for discussion. Recently, City council approved monies to hire a consultant to review the staffing needs of our Public Safety Departments, this includes the rental inspection staffing. We will hear the results later this fall.
Last winter, I asked Community Development staff if there was grant money available for rehabbing our organic affordable housing. Organic affordable housing are rental units that because of their age, remain affordable. We have many multi-unit apartment buildings that are 40-60 years old. They are in need of rehabilitation. Metro Council has a grant program available for these properties. If the owners of these properties choose to use this grant program, they must keep the rents affordable. Staff is currently working on this project, I am hoping to see this come up on City Council work session agenda in the near future.
Vote Connie Buesgens 