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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006/12/11 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session CITY OFFICIAL MINUTES T. LOUIOF S CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION PARK December 11, 2006 Councilmembers present: John Basil!, C. Paul Carver, Phil Finkelstein, Loran Paprocki, Susan Sanger, and Mayor Jeff Jacobs Councilmember Omodt was absent Staff present. City Manager (Mr Harmening); Community Development Director (Mr. Locke); Planning and Zoning Supervisor (Ms McMonigal); Director of Inspections (Mr. Hoffman); Public Works Director (Mr. Rardin); City Engineer(Mr Bnnk), Finance Director (Mr. DeJong); Recreation Supenntendent (Mr. Birno); and Recording Secretary(Ms Samson) Guests present: Hennepin County Commissioner Gail Dorfman, State Representative Distnct 44A Steve Simon, State Representative-Elect Distnct 44B Ryan Winkler, and Senator-Elect Distnct 44 Ron Latz. From Rider Bennett. Doug Franzen and Vic Moore. From MN/DOT• project manager Terry Johnson, area engineer Wayne Norris, and area program manager Tom O'Keefe. From SRF Consulting: Barry Warner 1. 2007 Legislative Initiatives City Manager Tom Harmening said the report, Legislative Issues and Priorities for 2007, was put together from a staff perspective Transportation funding for the TH100 full build project, Hwy. 7 and Wooddale, the Glencoe Railroad Mitigation Project Mr Harmening bnefly discussed other transportation funding needs such as Hwy 7 and Louisiana In addition, the city would oppose any effort to impose levy limits this session Mayor Jacobs said Highway 7 and Wooddale Avenue is a top priority Councilmember Basin said help is needed on Highway 7 and its crossings and 36th Street already fails, which makes development extremely difficult along that corndor. Commissioner Dorfman said encourage staff to identify all costs for the transportation projects Councilmember Basill said the railroad must pull out the tracks, and he wants to push for the full-build on Highway 100 Councilmember Sanger supports the staff report but she wants to amend state law to increase the distance between group homes to avoid concentrations of group homes Councilmember Sanger would like to work with the League of Minnesota Cities. Commissioner Dorfman supports that idea and encourage the city to work with other advocacy groups on this issue. Senator-Elect Latz also recommended working with the League of Minnesota Cites. Study Session Minutes -2- December 11; 2006 Senator-Elect Latz asked if there is a way to coordinate the Highway 7 and Wooddale and Highway 7 and Louisiana projects Senator-Elect Latz also asked how Council felt about levy limit and restoration of local government aid. Senator-Elect Latz will be serving on the Public Safety Budget, Higher Education and New Jobs committees. State Representative Simon said it will be hard to get more money for the Glencoe project, but encourage the city to pursue the full-build on Highway 100. Councilmember Sanger asked if the city needs to push for dedicated funds for LRT and there was a brief discussion on MVST. Mr. Moore said beware of rebates and one-time monies. He recommended making Highway 7 and its two crossing projects bigger and tying the projects to the SW comdor. 2. Highway 100 Reconstruction (Full Build) Project Director of Public Works Mike Rardin discussed the staff report. During February of this year MN/DOT resumed the design process for this project Their effort to date has been to revise the preliminary geometnc layout to eliminate the fatal flaws discovered last year. MN/DOT presented maps with the proposed preliminary geometnc layout of the full build project. Because of necessary access changes, options for local access to Highway 100 and a possible underpass in the W. 26TH Street area are now possible These options, identified as Options 1 — 4, were presented by Project manager Terry Johnson. Mr. Johnson would like to meet with the police and fire chiefs as well to get their input Depending on the option, the city's contnbution to the project would be between five and eight million dollars. Mr. Rardin said MN/DOT is proposing to raise the highway approximately 12 feet in the West 26th Street area in order to convey and treat stormwater runoff to the south as a part of the full build project. Councilmember Sanger asked about local street or neighborhood traffic volumes and wanted to better understand the options before bringing it back to the neighborhoods. Mayor Jacobs said a public process is needed and Councilmember Sanger agreed. Councilmember Sanger also asked how much land is needed for the options, and what if no underpass is built, would that mean more residential traffic in the neighborhoods Underpass options should be presented to the neighbors for their feedback. Councilmember Finkelstein mentioned the Duke Development and its impact. Mayor Jacobs said do it right the first time. In regard to the options for an underpass, Councilmember Basill said traffic counts are needed, along with an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages, and let residents know the costs of the options Councilmember Basil! asked what MN/DOT's recommendation is Mayor Jacobs would like to focus traffic on the highways and he would like a list of advantages/disadvantages associated with each of the options. Councilmember Sanger favors using 26th Street rather than adding additional traffic in Lake Forest. Study Session Minutes -3- December 11, 2006 MN/DOT will analyze the options to answer the council's questions on local traffic and will better develop the footpnnt of the project to show the impact on landowners along the nght-of- way. Staff will work with MN/DOT on developing a public process MN/DOT and staff will meet to talk about what can be done in terms of analysis and will return to a future study session in the spnng. 3. Duke Development Update Community Development Director Kevin Locke reported that staff shared concept plans with the Duke Realty team Barry Warner, a landscape architect with SRF Consulting presented a matnx showing a spectrum of public and private gathering spaces, which are intended to aid the discussion about what would be appropriate in this development and area of the city. Councilmember Sanger likes the idea of an indoor and outdoor park, and she envisions indoor skating for all year long. Councilmember Sanger believes a day care center would be highly beneficial Councilmember Finkelstein favors an indoor and outdoor area attached to an upscale hotel. Mr. Harmening said a very nice hotel would support a very good restaurant A splash pad would be an attraction for families with children. Councilmember Carver left at 9:15 p.m. Councilmember Sanger asked what the city could do to make Cedar Lake Road friendly for pedestnans and bikers. Councilmember Sanger thinks a park should be publicly owned She would like to have picnic tables, and build up a few stories to save green space. Staff expects a concept plan will be ready to review with the City Council in January Staff would like to ensure that the Duke Development plan is part of making gathenng places one of the key elements of the update Vision St. Louis Park. The meeting ended at 9:52 p m --77611111 giarao, City Clerk v Mayor / ;'