04-14-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council of Vadnais Heights Meeting Minutes Excerpts Dec. 16, 2003 mentioned conditions, and during the spring thaw the condition gets worse. He indicated it is not unusual for the water to go onto the street, creating a serious traffic hazard. He believes his water problems will increase when they raise the Edgerton Street Bridge two or three feet. He indicated even though they propose to put in curbs and storm drains on Vadnais Road, the increased elevation to the roadbed will send down more water into his yard creating larger ponds unless it is carried away in storm drains. He stated they could not capture all the water during heavy rains, and he will get more water and worse ponding unless they remove the water with storm drains from the lowest area, which are on his property and the road right -of -way. Mr. Burger reiterated the best fix would be to extend the road project to the west end of his property, installing the necessary storm drains to correct his water problems, and install water mains for residential use and fire protection. He stated this should be done for immediate use or future use from Edgerton Street to his west lot line at 537 Vadnais Road. He suggested alternative solutions, noting that when this project is completed the traffic on Edgerton will still be well below acceptable levels and the every day traffic flow will increase with future development in Vadnais Heights. He stated to reduce the traffic hazard of getting onto Edgerton Street from Vadnais Road, the city could put in a turnaround at Edgerton Street, including storm drains and water for residential and fire protection. He indicated using Centerville Road for access to Vadnais Road in this situation would eliminate this traffic hazard. He stated the City would then need to improve the intersection at Centerville and Edgerton Streets with signals and turn lanes to accommodate the increased traffic because of this closure. He stated he has a diagram of the triangle neighborhood, and demonstrated his suggestion on the diagram. Mr. Burger finished by noting he and his wife are retired, and in their mid 70's, and will not benefit long term from this project. He stated they also are not in any position to incur any increase in taxes or special assessments for any of this proposed work. He would think that a project this size to ` Unweave the Weave' and special `aesthetic' enhancements to the Edgerton Street Bridge at the cost of $130,000, that there would be monies available to make the necessary improvements to long time resident's homes without special assessments. He indicated they are going to experience considerable inconvenience during this road construction phase and he thinks it only prudent to make any road and utility improvements at this time so as not to have to go through this again in the future at additional expense and more inconvenience. Mayor Banovetz thanked him for his comments, and stated the Council would address them in a moment. Hearing no further public input, Mayor Banovetz closed the public hearing at 7:47 p.m. Johannsen indicated that to address Mr. Burger's issues, he read the letter from Mr. Burger and believes it to be perfectly reasonable. He agrees they should fix as many things as possible during this construction, and he does not see this as an assessable situation. He thinks the costs related to solving these drainage issues should be part of the project. He indicated as far as the project itself, he thinks Unweave the Weave is a necessary project which will benefit the entire area. He stated 694/35E is unnecessarily clogged, and when it is improved it will get people to and from work and home faster and safer. He noted it was ranked one of the top 5 most important road projects in the State. He indicated the Vadnais Heights community will be most -8