HomeMy WebLinkAbout5912 - ADMIN Resolution - City Council - 1977/12/12RESOLUTION NO. 5912
EMERGENCY RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE PRESENT
SCHEDULE FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF LOUISIANA
AVENUE FROM OXFORD STREET TO WALKER STREET
IN ST. LOUIS PARK, MINNESOTA
WHEREAS, the State Health Department has requested the Minnesota
Environmental Quality Board to require an environmental impact statement
be prepared on the Louisiana Avenue construction project with construction
halted until the Environmental Impact Statement is accepted by the
MEQB, and
WHEREAS, in the City of St. Louis Park, Louisiana Avenue is the
•only north -south thoroughfare on the City's Comprehensive Plan, and
WHEREAS, design preparations have been concluded after more than
10 years of study on the segment of Louisiana Avenue between Walker Street
and Oxford Street destined to carry an estimated 20,000 vehicles per day,
and
WHEREAS, a negative environmental declaration statement was completed
in 1975 on the proposed construction project with a copy submitted to
the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on May 21, 1975 for appropriate
comments, and
WHEREAS, the City and the Minnesota Department of Transportation
opened bids from contractors on November 2, 1977 for the road improvement
project with an approved low bid designated at a cost of $4.4 million, and
WHEREAS, the proposed Louisiana Avenue roadway is not located on the
former Republic Creosote but to the south and east as shown on Attachment
I, and
WHEREAS, the City of St. Louis Park has demonstrated its concern for
all aspects of the environment and concurs with the recommendations of the.
Barr Engineering Report, and
WHEREAS, the Barr Engineering Report describes the contaminated ground
water movement vertically through the upper drift into the middle drift,
thence laterally through the middle drift in a southeasterly direction, and
WHEREAS, the Louisiana construction project as shown in a profile
view on Attachment II will only affect the upper crust of the geological
section with no excavation occurring below the first 10 feet of the existing
natural terrain, and
WHEREAS, the State Health Department mailed to the City of St. Louis
Park a list of eight items of health related concerns, and
WHEREAS, the City feels the concerns identified by the Health
Department can be adequately controlled within the scope of the
Louisiana Avenue contract, and
WHEREAS, the Health Department concerns are listed and briefly
addressed by City officials in Attachment III, and
WHEREAS, the environmental impact statement is not an appropriate
vehicle to study the items of concerns considering the commeasurate
delay and escalating cost factors the EIS will cause with mitigation of
the problems beyond present technology highly unlikely,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City of St. Louis Park
hereby reaffirms its approval of the scheduling and construction of
Louisiana Avenue from Walker Street to Oxford Street, and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City request the Environmental
Quality Board not to delay the resolution of the pollution abatement
measures of the Republic Creosote problem and increase road construction
costs by requiring an E.I.S. on the Louisiana Avenue project.
Adopted by the City Council ecember 12, 1977.
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Approved as to form and legality: