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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021/10/18 - ADMIN - Minutes - City Council - Study Session Official minutes City council special study session St. Louis Park, Minnesota Oct. 18, 2021 The meeting convened at 5:45 p.m. Councilmembers present: Mayor Jake Spano, Tim Brausen, Lynette Dumalag, Rachel Harris, Larry Kraft, Nadia Mohamed, and Margaret Rog Councilmembers absent: none Staff present: City Manager (Ms. Keller), Interim Deputy City Manager/Director of Operations and Recreation (Ms. Walsh), Engineering Director (Ms. Heiser) Guests: none 1. Neighborhood and community sidewalk snow removal options Ms. Walsh presented the report. She stated the city plows about 50% of the community sidewalks, with trackless machines. Councilmember Kraft asked for more information about how snow was removed. Ms. Walsh stated a shovel blade can get down to the bottom of the sidewalk. The trackless machines have blowers that blow snow up and over, but they do not have blades that go down to the bare pavement. She added the equipment is the best that is available; A pick-up with a plow is too wide for the sidewalk space. Councilmember Kraft stated it costs the city $40 -80,000 per year to clear half the total miles of sidewalk in the city. Ms. Walsh stated that is staff time. Councilmember Kraft stated the proposal for cleaning all the sidewalks would cost an order of magnitude more for only twice the amount of sidewalks than are being cleaned today because it would require 5 new pieces and equipment and 5 new hires to do this. Ms. Walsh stated that is correct. Councilmember Kraft stated the city prioritizes pedestrians, but this feels like we are not approaching this in the right way. He would like to see the city start this next winter and take time to fully implement it, adding outliers do not have to be done, and we could relax some of the time assumptions. He asked for staff to look at how people are hired for these positions and check how to do a linear cost approach versus an exponential cost approach. Councilmember Brausen stated he asked for this to be discussed in a study session when sidewalks were added on Cedar Lake Road. His concern continues to be having sidewalks cleared for multi-family housing properties, especially NOAH properties to access transit. He stated the sidewalk on Hampshire Avenue that goes south should have been designated a community sidewalk as two NOAH multi-family housing buildings are there and connected to transit. He added at this point, he does not see a need to clear snow from all sidewalks in the city, but he does want to refine the definition community sidewalks, so that sidewalks connected to multi-family housing and transit are cleared. DocuSign Envelope ID: 32FC26F7-F4EF-4523-ACF4-69206F44BE4A Study session minutes -2- Oct. 18, 2021 Councilmember Brausen added he is interested in community listening sessions to see if there is public desire for the city to remove snow from all sidewalks, given the cost estimates. He agrees with Councilmember Kraft’s comments on economizing and adding enough staff to clear sidewalks. He noted at this time he does not want to add additional staff or equipment for the upcoming year, but again would like more data on multi-family housing needs. He stated given the city’s priorities on making it a more walkable community, council needs to conti nue to look at how all sidewalks are cleared. Councilmember Rog agreed with the comments made by Councilmembers Brausen and Kraft . She noted the question she continues to have is what we mean when we prioritize pedestrians, when being a pedestrian in the winter in St. Louis Park is quite treacherous. She stated when council prioritized walking over driving in 2018, this was a commitment to keeping sidewalks safe year-round for pedestrians, just as streets are for cars. She added if we cannot get there this year, we need to think about the most vulnerable residents, who walk, cannot afford a car, or use wheelchairs. She stated it is a complicated problem and Minnetonka Boulevard is not very safe with how snow is removed there. She does not understand the equipment piece, does not feel it is the right equipment, and is not sure what the solution is, but creative solutions should be found. She agrees on moving the timeline out and starting with what the city can do for the most vulnerable, those living in low-income or group homes. Councilmember Harris stated she lives in a neighborhood with a community sidewalk, with over 4,000 cars traveling the road per day and many multi-family housing units. She agrees with the staff report, comments related to the plows, and with the idea of listening sessions. She noted the city’s strategic priorities including mobility, connected community, and race equity, adding it is imperative to clear sidewalks in the densest neighborhoods and in areas of adjacent neighborhood commerce. She does not have a solution to the equipment challenges but noted it might still be required of some property owners to clear down to the pavement. Councilmember Dumalag stated she lives on a resident-maintained sidewalk and does use transit, so she understands this issue of prioritization of pedestrians and making sidewalks safer. She agreed with the prioritization of multi-family housing areas, and those with mobility issues and ADA. She asked if there is liability to the city on ADA issues. Ms. Heiser stated the city attorney has addressed this as it relates to sidewalks, and unless the property owner or the city does something intentional, there is no liability. Councilmember Mohamed stated she agrees with the idea of shoveling sidewalks for the city’s most vulnerable but shoveling 100% of the city’s sidewalks is costly . She added shoveling so people can get to the bus, especially in high density areas, would be important to do. Mayor Spano stated that the current budget for staff doing this work is just for their time to remove snow. He added the cost in the report reflects snow removal and other tasks as well. He stated it does not feel like these two are comparable and he would like staff to look at this again, so the criteria is the same. He added if that staff would be employed year-round, what would they be doing. Mayor Spano stated he reached out to other cities that do this work and asked how it is working. He noted one city was fine with the program and two others were not happy with the DocuSign Envelope ID: 32FC26F7-F4EF-4523-ACF4-69206F44BE4A Study session minutes -3- Oct. 18, 2021 program because they were not able to get sidewalks cleared for many days, so it was not helpful. He stated residents are frustrated and sidewalks can be frozen or packed down by the time the city gets to it. He is not interested in taking this on if the city cannot meet expectations. Ms. Walsh stated every snowstorm is different and equipment can break down if there is frozen slush or it starts with rain. She added sometimes the city can do a better job, and sometimes they can go back and re-do. She noted the bus companies need to get on the streets first, as well as public safety and fire vehicles. Ms. Walsh also noted they work to create curb cuts so pedestrians can get onto the bus and pavement is cleared at certain stops. Mayor Spano stated he would like from staff a better, clearer comparable cost analysis, and a better assessment on if the city can deliver on this. Ms. Keller stated there are three areas to review including: extending the timelines, physical impact on staff, increasing funding for staff, and increasing funding for sidewalk improvements. Councilmember Kraft stated council needs the mindset that we need to do this. He agreed with the areas Ms. Keller noted and added there needs to be a plan to get there over time, including prioritization and realizes that it won’t be this snow season. Councilmember Rog agreed and noted the process can be slow and take time. She appreciated Ms. Keller’s comments, improving what we are doing already, and continue working on issues to get to solutions. Mayor Spano stated he appreciates having staff look further at this, but he is not comfortable saying the city is going to do this. Councilmember Kraft stated if the city prioritizes pedestrians, we should have the mindset to figure this out. Councilmember Brausen stated he agrees with Mayor Spano on this, adding the city does prioritize pedestrians, but clearing all sidewalks is not something he wants to pursue at this time. Councilmember Dumalag stated we are now aware of the challenges and she agrees with looking further into this but is not prepared to say the city is going to do all the shoveling at this point. She agrees with prioritizing some areas. Councilmember Harris asked if the city could create a reciprocal model like the Three Rivers agreement for cleaning the county trails. She asked if staff could analyze if there are sidewalks adjacent to businesses where they are not plowed, and if they could be added . She added another priority area would be bus stops and future infrastructure and transit areas. She stated she does not see value at this time in clearing the whole city. DocuSign Envelope ID: 32FC26F7-F4EF-4523-ACF4-69206F44BE4A Study session minutes -4- Oct. 18, 2021 Councilmember Mohamed stated she agrees with focusing on the 50% the city clears at this point, adding she is hesitant on clearing all 100%, but is interested in prioritizing clearing . She added she wants more community input and more options. Councilmember Mohamed left the meeting at 6:35 p.m. stating she would not be in attendance for the city council meeting. Ms. Keller stated staff will review this further, discuss options, and look at doing the best with what the city has with equipment and staff. She added they will also look at the cost breakdown further, including connecting the sidewalk grid. The meeting adjourned at 6:55 p.m. ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Melissa Kennedy, city clerk Jake Spano, mayor DocuSign Envelope ID: 32FC26F7-F4EF-4523-ACF4-69206F44BE4A