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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014/05/12 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session IfiSt. Louis Park . OFFICIAL MINUTES M I N N E S o TA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA MAY 12,2014 The meeting convened at 6:30 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jeff Jacobs, Tim Brausen, Steve Hallfin, Gregg Lindberg, Susan Sanger, and Jake Spano. Councilmembers absent: Anne Mavity. Staff present: City Manager (Mr. Harmening), Director of Community Development (Mr. Locke), Director of Engineering (Ms. Heiser), Senior Engineering Project Manager (Mr. Sullivan), Planning/Zoning Supervisor (Ms. McMonigal), and Recording Secretary (Ms. Hughes). Guest: April Crockett(MnDOT Project Engineer). 1. Future Study Session Agenda Planning—May 27,2014 Mr. Harmening presented the proposed study session agenda for May 27t. 2. Update on Trunk Highway 100 Construction Project Mr. Sullivan presented the staff report and introduced April Crockett, MnDOT Project Engineer. He distributed maps depicting the five stages of the construction project along with public outreach information prepared by MnDOT. He advised that staff will be involved in weekly construction meetings with MnDOT and will provide ongoing updates to Council as the project progresses through the staging shifts. Ms. Crockett advised that the letting of bids is scheduled for May 16th and MnDOT hopes to award the bids eight to ten weeks after the letting with construction anticipated to begin in August. She stated that MnDOT has met with the Sorensen neighborhood and will be meeting with the Birchwood neighborhood next week; in addition, MnDOT has met with area Chambers of Commerce, local businesses and schools, and emergency services providers. She stated the MnDOT website contains construction maps to help people understand the staging of the project and MnDOT will continue to update these maps to help drivers reach local businesses and maneuver through the staging impacts, adding that visitors to the website can sign up to receive email updates on the project. She stated MnDOT will also have construction information in the local media and City newsletter and suggested providing information about the project at upcoming City events. She advised that MnDOT has had several meetings with Metro Transit to discuss bus routes during the project and callers to MnDOT are being encouraged to contact Metro Transit with questions regarding changes to bus routes. She stated that Ms. Bobbie Dahlke is the Public Affairs Coordinator for the project and Mr. Steve Barrett is the Resident Engineer overseeing construction of the project and contact information for Ms. Dahlke and Mr. Barrett is on the MnDOT website. Councilmember Spano encouraged MnDOT to work with Discover SLP on public outreach and stated that Discover SLP would be a valuable resource for assistance in providing communications to the community. Study Session Minutes -2- May 12, 2014 Councilmember Sanger stated the Children First ice cream social would provide an opportunity for public outreach and is scheduled for Sunday, May 18`t'. Councilmember Brausen stated that MnDOT could have its own booth at the Parktacular event. Councilmember Sanger requested further information about what MnDOT is doing to manage the detour traffic on local streets, Mr. Sullivan stated that, TMnDOT has been working with the City on this issue and the City will also hold internal meetings with the County and Police Department on the best way to manage detour traffic on local streets. Councilmember Sanger stated she received an inquiry from residents asking MnDOT what it will be doing to control dust and dirt from construction. Ms. Crockett stated that all projects include dust control and if water trucks need to go out to the project MnDOT can take care of that. Councilmember Sanger requested that MnDOT include mention of this in the public outreach materials. She also asked when the Holiday site would be demolished. Ms. Crockett stated that the contractor will use the Holiday site as a staging area and MnDOT is currently finishing the environmental testing on the site and demolition will occur possibly in August. She advised that the Minnetonka Boulevard bridge will be removed in April 2015 and bridge access will be closed until approximately October 2015 followed by the Highway 7 closure in late fall 2015. She pointed out that both the Minnetonka Boulevard bridge and Highway 7 bridge will not be closed at the same time. Mayor Jacobs thanked Ms. Crockett for the update. Ms. Crockett encouraged residents to contact her with any questions. 3. Southwest LRT Preliminary Design Plans—Continued Discussion Mr. Locke presented the staff report and reported that staff has had contmued discussions with SPO staff regarding the City's comments and concerns, adding that Mr. Alexander emphasized that while municipal consent is an important public step, it was important to remember that the municipal consent action is taking place before the 30% design phase is completed. He stated the SPO emphasized the fact that there would be a continuum of decisions being made during each design phase and it was important to recognize that the design plans the City has been given were officially approved by the Met Council as municipal consent plans and the SPO is not going to be making official changes to those plans prior to municipal consent even though the SPO is continuing to work on those plans to get to the 30% design phase level. He stated that any Locally Requested Capital Investments (LCRI) that the City would like in the project will likely be included at this point. If they are not paid for by the project, they would need to be funded by some outside source. The SPO has indicated it is comfortable including those items in the plan. He stated the grade separation of the trail at Beltline and Wooddale, and the extension of Xenwood under the corridor could be included as LCRI's, with the idea that if funds are available, they would be paid for by the project. Otherwise, they would need to be paid for from some other source. He explained that decisions about whether Locally Requested Capital Study Session Minutes -3- May 12, 2014 Investments will be funded from excess SWLRT project money would be made by a Change Control Board made up of funding partners and Met Council transit operations staff. They will evaluate change orders and make decisions about how to use excess funds. Ms. McMonigal stated that the SPO indicated the City could include language in its municipal consent resolution that states the City and SPO have agreed that the trail will be separated and included as a Locally Requested Capital Investment; however, it does not bind the SPO to provide it. Mr. Harmemng referenced the recent letter from the City Attorney advising that conditional municipal consent can be considered a denial of municipal consent. He stated that a meeting has been scheduled on May 20`h with the Met Council's General Counsel and the City Attorneys from St. Louis Park, Hopkins, Minnetonka, and Eden Prairie to discuss the municipal consent resolution and further information will be provided to Council following the meeting. Councilmember Spano asked if Minneapolis was invited to the May 20`h meeting. Mr. Harmening replied that an invitation was not extended to Minneapolis for this meeting. Councilmember Spano stated he was a little concerned that Minneapolis has its own process in place for dealing with Southwest LRT issues and felt it would be beneficial to have Minneapolis attend the same briefings as the rest of the cities. Mr. Locke stated that Met Council staff have been working to identify potential deal breakers and it would be desirable for Met Council if the communities all followed a similar approach in working out these issues. He indicated there is no question that the grade separated trail crossing and extension of Xenwood can,be included in the plans if the City says they are funded as Locally Requested Capital Investments. He stated the SPO wants to pursue the joint development at Beltline and staff needs to work with the SPO to memorialize that intent. Ms. Heiser reported that staff recently met with Hennepin County regarding CSAH 25 and the Lynn Avenue intersection and the County requested that the City take the lead on providing traffic numbers, adding that the County agreed with the pedestrian concerns raised by the City. Councilmember Sanger expressed concern that the underpass of Belt Line Boulevard under the rail/trail corridor was removed from the list of comments on the Municipal Consent plans. Mr. Locke explained that the grade separation of Beltline from the corridor and rail was further analyzed by the City's traffic consultants and the conclusion was that trains do not cause the traffic problem but rather it is the intersection with CSAH 25 and Beltline that is really the issue. He added that the way people react to the existing at-grade trail crossing of Belt Line caused problems that would be solved by grade separating the trail from Belt Line. Grade separating Belt Line Blvd from the rail/trail corridor is a$20 million item and the SPO will not pay for it so it has not been included on the current list of changes. Councilmember Sanger stated she would like to see the consultant's report, adding she did not think it made sense to grade separate the trail only and wanted to see grade separation of traffic at Beltline. Mr. Locke agreed to bring this issue back to Council for further discussion. Study Session Minutes -4- May 12, 2014 Mr. Harmening stated that staff met with Three Rivers Park District last week to discuss the trail crossings at Beltline and Wooddale and to request that Three Rivers take the lead on the trail crossings and John Gonyou is going to meet with Hennepin County Commissioners McLaughlin and Callison to talk about the importance of having these crossings installed. Councilmember Hallfin stated that the grade separation at Beltline has to be done now during the project. Councilmember Sanger stated the project needs to include the trail crossings and grade separation at Beltline and she was prepared to have the City bear a portion of that cost. Councilmember Spano suggested that the City request a meeting with Chair Haigh. Councilmember Brausen indicated he would like to be part of that meeting if possible. Mr. Locke stated that the municipal consent public hearing is scheduled for May 19`h and will be preceded by an open house with representatives from Met Council in attendance to do a presentation and answer questions prior to the City Council meeting. Communications/Meeting Check-In (Verbal) Mr. Harmening advised that staff would be contacting Council to schedule a bike ride in the near future. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m. /1 Nancy Stroth, Ci Clerk Je /lb , Mayor