The city council unanimously vote for the bus transit...the following article was from Star Tribune:

The Lakeville City Council unanimously approved a Metropolitan Council deal Monday night that will bring buses to the city by 2009 in exchange for an extra transit tax.

Improvements will include two new bus stations in Lakeville, as well as an extension of a high-occupancy vehicle lane on Interstate 35W in Burnsville that will help relieve a bottleneck where 35W and 35E split.

The Lakeville bus stops will be among a host of major Twin Cities transit projects planned with a $133 million federal grant to reduce congestion, including improvements on I-35 and Cedar Avenue in the south metro.

The city, which got the offer from the Met Council about two weeks ago, had a tight deadline to make a decision because the Legislature must issue approvals related to the federal grant by May 12.

The tax would run the average Lakeville homeowner about $36 a year.

SARAH LEMAGIE

I for one am okay with the choice of Mayor bellows not wanting to spend the $1+ million on the new senior center. While I agree with the need, I don't agree with the timing or funding provided for the center. Especially in a city where just 12 months prior voters turned downed money for the school district which had very serious consequences.

There was no clear plan for the project, other than three of council members wanted it done and fast (maybe for votes, who knows) and lots of unclear funding. Now we are stuck funding much more of the project from cities pockets (tax payer dollards), an unsold old senior center which will most likely sit empty, plus a roof on the new senior center that will need to be replaced sooner than later (correct me if I am wrong).

The real problem is the old police station should have had a buyer or use before we ever built the new one. This was Council Member (now Mayor) Bellows stance for years. We let a huge asset sit empty and cost us a lot of money in the mean time. Now we will have another valuable asset sitting empty for some time while we wait for a buyer or another use.

I am confidant if this had been put to vote in November, the plan would have been rejected by the citizens and building sold.

I was at the council meeting. Bellow finally caved in and also voted for it, - as It became apparent that a decade of our tax contribution and the funding matches would go down the drain thereby making all his objections and holdout ridicules.

About the Heritage center. -I don’t understand where you and the $1+ million comes from? Or the citizen not supporting it? Have you not noticed all the volunteers and the successful fund raising effort? The project is almost done.
Is not a mayor supposed to work with the citizens not against them?
My biggest fear is that Bellow’s second-guessing insults the competence of our professional staff and burdens them. All of them have proven to be jewels and it would be sad to loose them.
And about the school district. – Do you expect the voter to give support to a district that spend over $1 million on a football field asrtoturf, overbuilds schools, skips on teaching aids and provides golden parachutes for the brass.

I agree with Reallyguy. Everyone appreciates the senior population and wants them to have a warm, enjoyable place to congragate, but many of us felt the timing was off and the plan wasn't well thought out. Just because a property is owned by the city, doesn't make it "free"..
And, to comment that Mayor/Pastor Bellows may not know what "good" is or, that he is is interested in political gain is down right laughable.
Please, stay away from insinuations that Mr Bellows is, in any way, unethical. That throws any credibility you may think you have.. right out the door.

I assume that you did not know that the tax payers are subsidizing any bus ticket with about $5.00 - so that makes it $10.00 per day - or $2,000.00 per year - for each commuter. We - as tax payers - would be better of to just had each bus rider $5.00 per day and use the balance to reduce our property tax. You may look at this differently in light of these facts. I think Bellows was right to fight spending the tax payers money for the benefits of a small group - less then 500 or "the 1%" as some may call them.
The same is true for the senior center. The senior center has a noble purpose - to provide a place to gather and have fellow ship for the older generation. This could have been resolved with the involvement of churches and other privat initiative without spending a single dime of public money. The membership of the center is about 700. So, a little more than 1% of the population. Mark Bellows solutions would have created more community for all and we all - including the seniors - would be better of for it, and not only financially.
Throwing tax payer money at small group issues make us feel good - because we helped - but that feeling is not sustainable and it is not just.

Klaus Schneegans

My biggest issue with Little is wondering how he can understand the issues facing those who pay the taxes he so readily spends in the community. As far as I know, with all due respect, Mr. Little lives in his mothers basement and has not ever spent a dime on things like property taxes.

Each day I am reminded of this when I drive down the "Little Corridor" (most of you know this road as Flagstaff Ave). If you drive down this street you'll see the speed signs are electronic, reminding people of their speed and the limit as 30 mph. These signs "protect" a very short stretch of Flagstaff and are a waste of our money if you ask me. We have plenty of police presence and some of the finest officers already watching out for us here on Flagstaff to catch up with those who may choose to speed. And to be fair, I am a resident of Flagstaff where each day I see the wasteful signs and the eyesore of all the Little campaign signs littered along the public right of way. Matt Little clearly has plenty of friends on Flagstaff. If he deemed it important enough to spend our money on the speed signs for our safely, he should ask those friends of his to return the favor by placing their signs out of the public right of way in the name of our safety as well.

A quote from the November 5, 2010 ThisWeek Newspaper which was published shortly after Matt Little was elected to the City Council: I now must work for the 6500 people who voted for me.

Here is where I have issue. As an elected official you need to work for the 50000 citizens living in Lakeville, not just the 6 - 7000 that voted for you.

I'm still trying to figure out why we built a state of the art police station in Lakeville with top notch crime labs(beside it being near the center of the city) Are we even utilizing the station to its full potential or did we see it as an opportunity for some to build their resumes by create a piece of art at the expense of tax payers

Billy, I certainly understand your position on the transit and there is no doubt that sanity is on your side on 35 W! Here is the issue, would you take the bus if you had to pay the actual cost - so $16.00 rather than $6.00 per day? And should the taxpayers pay the difference between your ticket and the actual cost? For now, enjoy your sanity! :-) Regarding the 700 cars of the freeway, I am not sure what the actual impact is; the hourly capacity of a 3 lane freeway - I believe - is over 6,000 vehicles.

Patrick, I don't understand how the separation of state and church come into play when churches would make senior gathering spaces available? Could you elaborate on that?

Reallyguy,

I totally agree that they could/should have sold the police station before they built the new one. Just like when people buy and build houses. However, I would hold the Mayor and the Council during that time period as the ones responsible for the vacant Police Station. If my memory serves me correct Mark Bellows was on the Council.