At its May 9 meeting, the Corcoran City Council considered its next steps in filling a vacancy on the council.
Councilmember Alan Schultz resigned effective April 30, and the City Council voted for Mark Lanterman to be the interim member who fills the seat.
There will be a special election held along with the general election on Nov. 5, to determine who will serve the rest of the term that ends December 2026.
The City Council received three applications. Each council member reviewed the applications and filled out a ballot. City Administrator Jay Tobin tallied the ranked vote, and there was a clear majority to appoint Lanterman.
Councilmember Lanterman will begin serving at the next City Council meeting until the November election results are certified.
Because Lanterman has been serving as the Chair of the Corcoran Planning Commission, the city has to fill that vacancy. In the meantime, Lanterman will continue to help the Planning Commission.
The position will be advertised for a month, and voted on in June.
Natural Resources Partner Coalition
The City Council also heard a presentation on the Natural Resources Partner Coalition from Karen Galles, Land and Water Supervisor with Hennepin County.
The council approved Galles’ request for the Letter of Support for a grant proposal that was submitted in March. The hearing on the grant proposal will be in the end of June.
The Natural Resources Partner Coalition is still only an idea. It has developed over years of talks between Hennepin County and the Three Rivers Park District, and aims to elevate the role of natural resources in supporting the county.
“We really developed a shared vision towards turning challenges into opportunities, particularly as those relate to being able to get conservation and natural resource preservation to happen in concert with development and investment guided by market forces,” said Galles.
She placed an emphasis on conservationists being able to work with businesses and investors. In growing communities like Corcoran, she hopes the grant proposal would allow the county to work with investors to create public benefit programs before local tax revenue increases.
An interactive map would be compiled to show natural resource datasets and record how locals see market forces acting to develop key areas over the next two to four years, along with a centralized clearinghouse to share data and best practices.
“A great example of best practice that would be really valuable in such a clearing house or toolkit would be something about the open space and preservation plats that you do here in the city of Corcoran,” said Galles. “One good example is the Heather Meadows project going on now that is preserving 44.8 acres. Being able to summarize for other communities how that works, how the ordinance works, where it works best, where it doesn’t work best, and how it’s going to serve your community’s needs for the future. I think it would be a really helpful thing for other communities to learn from.”
The City Council pointed out that residential developers have to set aside a portion of the land for permanent preservation in Corcoran, and other areas could learn from that. Corcoran also has conscientious farmers that have been doing work to conserve their land for a long time.
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