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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1982/04/26 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call runuTEs CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MIt�!�ESOTA April 26, 1982 A study session of the City Co�ncil was called to order at 7:10 p.m. by Mayor Phyllis McQuaid. The following Council members were present when the meeting was called to order: Ronald.Backes Lyle Hanks Jerrold �4artin John Ralles Richard Strohl Phyllis McQuaid Also present were the City Manager, the Director of Public Works and the Director of Planning. 3. Cedar Lake Road Corrmittee Members of the Cedar Lake Road Committee v�ere present to discuss recommendations contained in their December comnittee report. The recomnendatians contained ?n the report were as follows: � a. Any decisions on the placement of stop signs on Cedar Lake Road and Texas Avenue should be delayed until the T.H. 12 diagonal I-394 upgrading. b. Speed limits should be reduced from 35 m.p.h. to 30 m.p.h. c. The City should continue to monitor pedestrian activities. d. The City should install a crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Lake Road and Texas Avenue. - e. f. The City should continue monitoring traffic volumes. The City should investigate assuming the jurisdiction for Cedar Lake R�� Councilman Nanks questioned the need for a crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Lake Rd. and Texas Ave. In response to his question, Councilman Ralles . said that the need for a crosswalk was due to the increase of pedestrian traffic associated with the junior high school now that the schools will be bus.ing only those students living two miles or more from the school. � Council members discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the City assum�n9 jurisdiction over Cedar Lake Road: Councilman dackes suggested that in the future jurisdictions may be thrust upon municipalities in order to reduce the financial burdens of the County. ' The Director of Public tJorks comnented that there would be some financial implications for roadway improvements in the event Cedar Lake Road was turned back to the City. He also indicated that the County could not make -114- �� � Council study session minutes April 26, 1982 improvements on Cedar Lake Road without the consent of the City Council. The City Council asked that resolutions be brought to it concerning speed limits, installation of a crosswalk at the intersection of Cedar Lake Rd. and Texas Avenue and investigation into City jurisdiction over Cedar Lake Rd. 4. Virginia Avenue Bridge Comnittee Representatives of the City's consulting engineer firm of Strgar-Roscoe vrere present to make a brief presentation on the plans for constructing a rail- road bridge at Virginia Avenue. During the presentation, Mr. Roscoe said that the basic problem with the bridge was a lack of horizontal and vertical clearance. He said that in order to correct the vertical clearance, the existing grade of Virginia Avenue would need to be lowered approximately five feet. Mr. Roscoe�also discussed the need for construction of a shoo-fly that would provide a temporary track for the Burlington Northern Railroad. The administrative assistant for Public t�lorks summarized the recorrmendations provided by the Virginia Ave. Bridge Committee. Those recommendations were as follows: � a. Construction of the bridge should maximize federal/state funding. b. The City should post Virginia Avenue to prohibit truck traffic. c. The City should replace lost trees resultinq from the construction of a temporary shoo-fly. d. The City should experiment with a cul-de-sac at Burd Plaae and Virginia Avenue in order to resolve any increases in traffic and changes in the grade of the road�►�ay. e. The City should maintain cortmunications with residents regarding this construction project. The Director of Public Works said that the cost of the Virginia Avenue bridge is estimated to be �1.2 million. He said that $650,000 would be available from the Bridge Replacement Fund and that the remaining $550,000 could come from local state aid funds. Mr. Roscoe indicated that this project could be completed at the end of the 1984 construction season if the City Counc'il were to give authorization to � proceed with this project at this time. He added,that the preliminary design work for this bridge has already been completed and received approval from the Burlington Northern Railroad and MnDOT. He said that the next step for this project is to begin the final design plans. Members of tfie committee told the City Council of their concerns regarding Burlington Northern Railroad's maintenance of the area around the bridae. Proble�is cited included poor maintenance of existing fencing and an over- growth of weeds along the tracks and bridge abutments. Frank Strgar explained tliat the Burlington Northern Railroad will own and be responsible for maintenance of the Virginia Ave. bridge after its `��-- 115 - ---.., - ._"�->--- - - ___.....-.__---.� -._._._----___. .---�.._....�. Council study session minutes April 26, 1982 construction. He suggested that the City secure an aqreement with the railroads identifying acceptable levels of maintenance. Councilman Martin asked if the estimated cost of $1.2 million reflected any inflationary increases in costs which could be expected during the term of construction. In response, Mr. Strgar said that the estimate was made in 1982 dollars but that it contained a ten to fifteen percent contingency which should absorb inflationary increases. He added that some recent construction projects had also shown a decrease in the cost of various materials and that this might also be expected in the Virginia Avenue bridge project. Councilman Hanks questioned the extent of City financing required for this project. He questioned what would happen if the bridge became unsafe. Mr. Strgar replied that the railroad would be responsible for maintenance im- provements to make the bridge safe. He said that those improvements would not affect the safety of motorists. Mr. Strgar said that in his opinion the bridge was already unsafe for motorists. The City Council discussed the availa�ility of state aid funding for various City transportation projects. It was agreed that priorities for state aid funding need to be identified. Council members requested that work on this project be suspended until agreement was reached regarding the extent of state aid funding that would be used for acquisition of right-of-way for the Highway 100/W. 36th St. interchange project. � 5. Use of Cabl e TV Ptoni es Councilman Hanks said that he was interested in the proposal submitted by the School District for developing curricular use of cable television. He requested that this item be brought back to the City Council for forroal action at its May 3 meeting. He also commented that any use of cable tv moni,es provided to the School�District for its educational access activities would not be conditioned on any requirements for providing chemical de- pendency services. He said �hat the City should not get into chemical dependency 6ut that he hoped any assistance given to the School District from cable tv monies would help the School Qistrict in its decision re- garding its role in chemical dependency. Carolyn Charles was present to answer questions �,►hich the City Council had regarding the School District's use of cable television. She explained that funding from the City would help support the creation of video tapes to supplement and preserve various school programs. She also discussed some of the use of cable television in classrooms and covering school events• Councilman Hanks asked t4s. Charles if the cable tv monies would be subsidiz�n9 the present program. She said that without additional financial support, the program would have some reduced services because she would not be able to continue much of the extra work that she has done to sustain the development,, of cable television in the School District. She also indicated that the School District was pursuing grant funding to help finance the cable tele- vision program in such a way as to permit the development of curricular programs. � The City Council members discussed the School District's request for cable � -116- � --� T, ___ _ - ,-..-. Council Study Session minutes April 26, 1982 tv funds and questioned if this request might come to be comething that riould be expected on a regular basis by the School District. Council members rec- ognized the various constraints on distributing the cable tv franchise fees to various access activities as well as the unknown nature of regul�tory matters which could affect�the City's use of these fees. 6. Highway 100/W. 36th St. interchanqe The City Manager introduced this item by sayinq that staff had been looking at design alternatives that would reduce the cost of this construction project. He indicated thai reductions in cost might possibly affect can- struction funding as well as acquisition costs. Councilman Hanks questioned if the City wo�ld receive a guarantee for construction funding if it went ahead and acquired the necessary riqht-of-way. The City Manager said that there would not be any official guarantee. He said that in acquiring the right-�f-way, the City may be able to facilitate project funding. Councilman Martin asked if the right-of-way could be purchased on a con- tingency basis. The City Manager replied that could not be done. He said that the right-of-way acquisition would put the City in a position of being ready to bid the construction project. Councilman Martin asked how we could begin�right-of-way acquisition when we � did not yet have an approved plan. In response, the Director of Public Works said that while a construction plan has not yet been approved, the City could begin talking to large property owners like Target. The Director of Public Works and renres.entatives of the City's consulting firm presented a reduced design plan for the constructipn of this inter- change. They discussed the cost savings which could be realized if this plan were to be approved by MnDOT. Councilman Hanks said that he did not like the reduced design plan. He said that with the development projected along Park Center Blvd., the City should not want any lesser design than the original J loop design. He acknowledged that right-of-way acquisition costs will be higher by adhering to the original design for the east side of the construction project. In a general discussion, it was decided that the consultants could present the reduced design plan to MnDOT in order to demonstrate that the City has been looking at cost-saving alternatives. �• Louisiana Avenue street lights The City Council entered into a general discussion of the appropriate level of residential assessment for this project. Council members reached a con- sensus that the �4 per front foot assessment would be appropriate. a• Princeton/Ottawa Improvement The Director of Public Works said that a neighborhood meeting would be held '♦' -117- �"_---�..."'-r-t--�--- .--_.__ Council study session minutes April 26, 1982 with residents affected by this improvement project on Tuesday, April 21. He said that staff ��ould not be recommending water main replacement. He explained how various levels of maintenance activity would be assessed for this project in the event that property owners rejected the improvement project. 9. Sidewalk installation policy Council members asked that this item be deferred until the May study session. 10. Update on well drilling, Well No. 17 The Director of Public Works explained some of the difficulties which have been encountered in the drilling of Well Plo. 17. Since the drilling for this well began. there have been three cave-ins which are being attributed to an opening which has occurred in the Glenwood shale. The Director of Public Works indicated that the problem is being discussed with with the contractor, the City's engineering firm and the Minnesota Department of Health. He said that Council would be given updates on the situation. 11. Town Meeting Council members discussed setting the Ward 2 Town Meeting for June 26. Council also indicated that an hour would be set aside in advance of its May study session to discuss nuclear freeze with interested persons. 12. Adjournment 7he meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m. "�� �� -- /. _.. ..� . i ��--j7" �� � � �vr.� � . S aron K ump , Reco d ng Secretary — -118- �... ____ � .._r . . _.�.....,.-�-.,.-�....._--___.�.. .. ._. .. _.