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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.15.06 Council Minutes COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES AUGUST 15, 2006 1. CALL TO ORDER Mayor Soderberg called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present: Also Present: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Brian Lindquist, Interim Police Chief; Lee Mann, City Engineer/Public Works Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Mike Cox, Chris Zemmer, John McNamara, Wold Architects Nancy Daubenberger, Ken Johnson, MnDOT Audience: Bart Winkler 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITY HALL Wold architects presented the schematic design for the new City Hall to be located at the corner of Spruce and 3rd Street. There will be parking in back and at the 2nd Street parking lot. Overflow parking would be available at the library. A roundabout is proposed for the intersection of Spruce and 3rd Street. The main entrance would be off of 3rd Street. The main level would consist of Parks and Recreation, Community Development, Engineering, Council Chambers, conference rooms and storage areas. In the Council Chambers, Councilmembers would like room for staff along both sides ofthe room near the Council table. The upper floor will consist of Administration, Finance, Human Resources, conference rooms and storage. City Administrator Herlofsky proposed to begin scanning files to minimize the storage requirements for paperwork. Councilmember McKnight noted the information gave projected staff for 2020 and 2030. He requested the numbers of current staffby department. Councilmember Fogarty recommended leasing the future expansion space. This could be used by a non-profit agency, Dakota County, etc. The outside of the building will consist of cornices and large windows that will fit in with the downtown architecture. The color of the brick will be similar to other downtown buildings. The building will be a vision ofthe future of the downtown yet connect with the historic features. Councilmember Pritzlaff suggested coordinating some design Council Workshop Minutes August 15, 2006 Page 2 elements with the Spruce Street bridge. Councilmember Wilson would like to have a public open house to receive comments from residents. The construction cost would be $7,000,000, project cost $2,143,000, for a total cost of $9,143,000. These costs are mid-2007. Mayor Soderberg liked the design with lots of space and room for expansion. The area around the outside will be consistent with the current downtown streetscape. The timeline is as follows: Council approval August 21, 2006 Design development October 30, 2006 Call for bids April 2, 2007 Award the contract May 7,2007 Project completion May/June 2008 4. TH3 ROUNDABOUTS/FUNDING There is a potential funding opportunity for roundabouts on TH3. Roundabouts are a tool used to control crossing traffic. Circulating traffic has the right-of-way, entering traffic has to yield. All traffic goes in the same direction. A slower speed is required and there is no parking allowed. Advantages include: - Reduced delay as it takes less time to get through an intersection. - A roundabout is always better than all-way signal control. - A roundabout is usually better than two-way signal control. - A roundabout is usually better than a signal. - Increased safety for vehicles and pedestrians. - Reduced environmental impacts. Goals include: - Traffic calming. - Crash reduction. A railroad crossing could back traffic up into a roundabout. The grade ofthe road should be 5% or less. At 195th Street and TH3 the grade coming down does meet this requirement. MnDOT avoids placing a roundabout on any grade 3% or greater because of ice conditions. When determining if a roundabout is appropriate, pedestrian capacity is taken into account. On TH3 MnDOT recommended spacing roundabouts 12 mile or more apart. There is the potential to look at roundabouts on TH3 at Elm and Spruce when Spruce Street opens up. There are three roundabouts shown on the plan along the Newland property. According to MnDOT in a new installation a roundabout is cheaper than a signal. Councilmember McKnight asked when Council will have a presentation from MnDOT on signals and reduced speed on TH3 and what that would do for traffic safety. MnDOT noted within the last month they did a speed study on TH3 through Empire Township. The average speed is 55 mph in a 55 posted area. Reducing the speed to 45 mph causes Council Workshop Minutes August 15,2006 Page 3 more potential for accidents because drivers are comfortable with 55 mph. MnDOT did not recommend lowering the speed. Regarding signals at 195th Street, these would be required in order to access TH3 and the developer would have to build turn lanes. Signals would be needed soon after development. Up to $550,000 in funding would be available for roundabouts. The City and Empire Township would need to pass a resolution to receive the funding. Mayor Soderberg directed staff to have this on the August 21 agenda for consideration. The Selection Committee would include people outside of MnDOT such as City and County staff. If Empire does not pass a resolution, the biggest decision would be money. Staffwill contact Empire Township. It will be on the August 21 Council agenda to decide whether to pursue the funding or not. If it is determined to move forward, the resolution would be brought to Council on September 5, 2006. The application is due October 15,2006. 5. SOUTHEAST AREA STUDIES Staff is looking for direction on finalizing the system plans and direction on allocating the sewer capacity. This is concerning the area in the southeast corner ofthe City. To serve the area the City would have to add one well and 500,000 gallons of storage which can be done. Regarding sewer, the southerly edge of the plan follows the flood plain. Staff has had discussions with the owner of the Braun property and he is interested in annexing. Staff will need to check on the capacity needed to serve this property. There is enough capacity for 665-765 units. The City would build a pipe along Biscayne ahead of the interceptor. The study assumed the City would put in a separate line. It is assumed there would be an elementary school on the Angus property. Council reached a consensus that the boundary is set. If there are a couple properties that are currently in the City, that is where the current availability should go. If a property will be annexed, that is the amount of capacity that should be requested. Council agreed to serve City properties first. Availability would be allocated to whoever develops first and then build a sewer line for what is needed for other City properties. All properties could be developed if it does not exceed capacity. Mr. Bart Winkler proposes 200 units consisting of 100 single-family and 100 multi- family units. He is not working with the Devney's unless the City wants him to. He wanted to know if the City is prepared to officially allocate sewer so he can bring in plans. He does not want to spend the money ifhe cannot get the capacity. Council agreed the City can serve properties 13.1 and 12.1 now. Councilmember McKnight noted if a property cannot be developed because they do not have the capacity, he does not want to annex the property. Council directed staff to look at properties 13.1 and 12.1 and give the remaining units to Mr. Garvey when annexed. There would be 2-3 years to look at additional lines. Council agreed they need to decide what we want the area to look like. Mayor Soderberg asked if the acreage charge will change from 13.1 to 12.1. Staffwill have to research this and also whether it will change citywide. Council Workshop Minutes August 15, 2006 Page 4 6. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 9:43 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /.1 -+7:7, ;n'7~ /'~~ t~thia Muller Executive Assistant