With about a month remaining for people to sign up to participate in the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project, several members of the Albert Lea City Council on Monday asked for the help of the public in committing to and inviting more people to be a part of the project.

“We need to look at this as an opportunity,” Councilor Vern Rasmussen said. “We are setting the wave for the rest of the country.”

The Vitality Project, first announced in January, aims to help residents make simple changes to their lives and as a result create happier, healthier and longer lives.

It has gained national exposure through AARP The Magazine, USA Today, and most recently “Good Morning America” and “Nightline.”

“I think we’re setting an example for the whole United States,” Rasmussen said.

To participate in the project, people need to sign the Vitality Project pledge and take the Vitality Compass online. They should go to www.aarp.org/bluezonesproject, he said.

If people do not have access to a computer at home, they can access it at the Albert Lea Public Library, he noted.

Councilor Ellen Kehr pointed out that people can sign up to participate at the upcoming Freeborn County Fair, where there will be a booth.

On Friday, Aug. 7, which is Blue Zones Day at the fair, the United Health Foundation will send down about 50 volunteers to help get people signed up.

“Join us in this exciting time for Albert Lea,” Kehr said.

Albert Lea Mayor Mike Murtaugh said he echoed what his fellow councilors mentioned, and he hopes the community will come together to exceed the project organizers’ expectations for participation.

In other action, the City Council:

 Voted to form a task force to review the existing massage ordinance.

Rasmussen and Kehr will be the two council members present on the task force. It will also include representatives from local massage businesses and members of the Albert Lea Inspection Department.

At the last council meeting, a few massage therapists came to the meeting to voice that they felt the city’s massage ordinance was obsolete and needed changed, City Manager Victoria Simonsen said.

She noted there has been an ordinance on the books since 1980, but it has not been enforced since the Velvet Touch went out of business.

“They are correct that the intent of the ordinance has changed since that time,” Simonsen said.

The task force should have a recommendation back to the council by early fall, she said.

Held a public hearing regarding the reconstruction of 849 feet of Willamor Road, from Lakeview Boulevard to Crescent Drive.

Only one person participated in the public hearing, simply to ask if all of the curb and gutters would be replaced as part of the project. City Engineer Steven Jahnke said they would be replaced.

Willamor Road was first constructed in 1961 and has never been overlaid, Simonsen said.

The cost of the project is estimated at about $210,000 with 74 percent being city costs because of Lakeview Park running adjacent to the street. The remainder would be assessed to the nine adjacent property owners.

Voted to form a “complete count” committee for the 2010 census.

Authorized an agreement with Dairyland Power Cooperative and Freeborn-Mower Cooperative Services for an 80-foot right-of-way easement along 780th Avenue near the city’s wastewater treatment plant driveway.

The companies are proposing to build a transmission loop that would provide more reliable electrical service to areas through an interconnection with ITC Midwest.

Set the assessment interest rate at 4.75 percent for residents being charged with assessments.

Approved a request from the Rev. George Marin to hold a Community Cornerstone event at Morin Park on Aug. 30 at 1 p.m. All of the churches in the Albert Lea and Freeborn County area will be invited to attend.

Marin said the event will be family-friendly and alcohol-free.

Approved a resolution supporting SoyMor Biodiesel’s efforts to get rules changed by the Environmental Protection Agency regarding the renewable fuels standards legislation.