02-11-2015 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL FEBRUARY 11., 2015 LCRA is utilized to help fund a number of youth recreation activities in the City. RAMSEY County Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire appeared before the Council COUNTY to present a report on Ramsey County initiatives and its 2015 legislative UPDATE agenda. She began with an overview of her 2015 committee assignments and a brief recap of the purpose and goals of each of these committee. McGuire then reported on the cooperative efforts between the County and Little Canada to get Centerville Road upgraded. She noted that Ramsey County Public Works is working with Little Canada's City Engineer on the preliminary design for this project. McGuire indicated that based on the current status of the design work it looks like the project is more realistic for completion in 2016. The City Administrator pointed out that the improvement of Centerville Road had been on the County's project listing back in 1994. Due to lack of funding, this project has fallen from the County's capital improvement plan. The Administrator indicated that given the overwhelming need to get this road reconstructed, the City has offered to front project costs contingent on the County repaying Little Canada for its share of the costs. The Administrator reported that Little Canada has not given up on getting the project completed in 2015. The key to that is getting County State Highway approval for this project. McGuire agreed that if the project can move forward during 2015, it should. She pointed out that the County is trying to get these types of projects completed sooner rather than later. McGuire then updated the Council on the Rice Street/694 Interchange Bridge project pointing out that it is a priority project for the County, but additional funding is needed. There are currently bills in the House and Senate that would fund the final project design an update the Environmental Assessment. If a new Corridors of Commerce program is funded during this legislative session, this project would be a very good candidate. The Administrator noted that this area has been the recipient of funding from the Corridors of Commerce program which results in a third lane being added between Rice Street and Edgerton Street. The Administrator pointed out that the only portion of the improvement left undone is the improvement of the Rice/694 bridge. He noted that MN DOT has some concerns with the need to buy back sone property from Shoreview in order to move forward with the bridge project. The Administrator noted that he knows the County is working diligently to get the Rice Street/694 Bridge project funded and underway. McGuire then reviewed the County's 2015 legislative agenda which includes both areas of support and areas of concern relative to Governor 2