02-24-99 Council Workshop Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 24, 1999 The Administrator suggested that tying in street reconstruction with trail reconstruction would provide a cost savings to the City. The Administrator also suggested that the ISTEA program be looked at to see if dollars are available for traii connections. The Director reported that ISTEA was looked at and ISTEA criteria could not be met for the trail improvements being discussed this evening. Smith suggested that perhaps one vendor could be identified for doing these improvements. The City Administrator again indicated that trail maintenance could be packaged with street reconstruction projects. Given that trail upgrades are being proposed at 8 feet widths, it was possible to do this. Morelan indicated with regard to the Commission's priorities, he felt there needed to be a way to do both. However, he would opt for additional trai( improvements while letting trail maintenance wait. Morelan agreed that the trails in Spooner Park need to be reconstructed, but felt that reconstruction was not a pressing issue. With regard to the Spooner/Vadnais trail link, Smith reported that she was contacted by the City of Shoreview indicated that they were interested in connecting to the Little Canada trail system. Shoreview is applyin~; for trail grant funds and asked for a letter of support from Little Canada. Smith indicated that letters of support from neighboring communities carry a strong message as part of a grant application. Fahey again indicated that a plan for trail maintenance would be beneficial. Fahey asked if the Spooner trail system was the only one with pressing needs. The Director replied that the trail around Aspen pond is also in need of repair. The Director indicated that the Commission can put together a maintenance plan, rankin~ the trails in order of their needs. The Public Works Director indicated that he could put together cost estimates for the repair work. The next matter discussed was the development of cross-country skiing trails. The Public Works Director reported that there is no State funding available for the development of these trails. He also contacted the City of St. Paul as well as Hennepin County relative to the cost of maintaining cross-country trails and found that maintenance is very expensive as is the equipment necessary to perform the maintenance work. The Director also reported that skiers seem to prefec trails which are several miles in len~th, and indicated that it would be very difficult to develop such a trail in Litde Canada.