01-30-08 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTTS CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 30, 2008 would be his assumption that there was not an environmental justice issue since MN DOT deleted the wall. Keis asked how long the wall would be. The Administrator estimated its length at just over 500 feet. The wall would be solely in front of the Quebec Apartments, not in front of any of the commercial businesses. Allan questioned how effective this wall would be. The City Administrator reported that Mr. Zinner has informed him that MN DOT has indicated that there would be a reduction in decibel level which would translate into an 80% reduction in noise. The Administrator noted that the Council's concern with this section of wall was from an aesthetic standpoint. Blesener agreed and noted that it was thought that given the wall was short and the area open to the freeway at both ends, noise reduction would be minimal. Keis asked what would happen to the wall if the property were redeveloped as commercial in the future. The City Administrator suggested that the buyer would be aware of the wall, and removal would likely be at the buyer's cost. Allan pointed out the previous Council discussion of the likelihood that the property would be redeveloped. The Administrator stated that given the surrounding uses, the property has the potential to redevelop. However, given the economics of redeveloping an apartment building, it may not be feasible to redevelop this property. Allan asked what the City's arguments would be for MN DOT's paying for the wall. The Administrator noted that MN DOT had indicated that the deletion of the wall was unlikely given the environmental justice issues. MN DOT did not make it clear to the City that they would delete the wall. The cost of the wall was a part of the Unweave the Weave budget, noting that two sections of wall were deleted, thus MN DOT realized a savings on the one section. Blesener noted that MN DOT would not allow the City to trade one section of wall for another, thus any deletions were cost savings to MN DOT. The Administrator thought that MN DOT would be willing to work with the City on this issue. Ted Zinner, Quebec Partners, reported that his firm has owned and managed Quebec Apartments for the past 25 years. Zinner felt that the noise wall issues to be considered are whether or not the wall would be effective, cost effective, and whether or not the State will revisit the issue with the City. Zinner reported that he has discussed the noise wall with MN DOT. He has learned that the wall would be 535 feet in length, and would be an effective noise barrier. The Environmental Assessment that was done indicated that the noise reduction would be from 72 decibels to