04/22/1996 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 22, 1996 Ms. Sullivan said that the citizens specifically asked that no buses be routed onto Elm Street. Option F very obviously routes every single bus onto Elm Street. The citizens do not want North Road to be duplicated on Elm Street. The citizens do not want the buses in the neighborhoods and do not feel it is safe to bring them in the neighborhood and put a cross walk right next to the bus turn. She said that a child can quickly forget to pay attention and walk right in front of a bus. You hear about it, you see it on television, it happens. Option F is not a safe option. Ms. Sullivan said that another concern is property values. If the access to Wenzel Farms is lost, Wenzel Farms will lose property values. The citizens knew that a school was planned for this area, but not one of the citizens were ever told that Elm Street would be closed so that Wenzel Farms should plan on losing property values. Ms. Sullivan compared the North Road area to the Wenzel Farms area and said that North Road has property values of $50,000.00 to $60,000.00. She said that area has the lowest cost housing in the area. That should not happen to Wenzel Farms. Ms. Sullivan said that she would like to address Option F. She said that the requirement for a signal light is to meet one out of 13 warrants. You cannot combine warrants or use part of one or another. One of 13 the options must be met. Option F, Option A and Option B all meet one of the 13 criteria to 19.9% once the school is open. She pointed out that the only plan that has included any pedestrian crossing information is Option F. If there is truly concern that the appropriate choice be made, every single option should be give the pedestrian access. Ms. Sullivan said that there is no doubt in her mind that Options A and B, if they are the only two options, also have appropriate pedestrian access. Ms. Sullivan said cheapest is not always best. She said that she did care if the cost of Option F is $500,000.00 and Options A and B are over $700,000.00. Ms. Sullivan said it is about time we put our money where our mouth is. If we want quality, we have to pay for it. Ms. Sullivan agreed with Mr. Wurscher that Elm Street cannot support the traffic volume. She said that there will be additional costs involved with Option F that may not be addressed at this point. If A, B and F are the only truly viable options, the only one that the City Council is going to find support for from the neighborhood is Option B. She asked that when making a decision on this matter, the Council consider every comment that is made this evening with equal weight. Ms. Sullivan said we are all partners in this community. The School District may have more money than any individual citizen, however, the citizens have spoken loud and clear and have been very involved in the process to let the City Council know what their concerns are. The citizens are leaving it to the City Council to make sure that the citizens are represented in the decision that is made on May 13, 1996. • Anita Fenno, 7172 Rice Lake Drive - Ms. Fenno explained that she has lived at the corner of Elm Street and Rice Lake Drive for 11 years. The site of the proposed middle PAGE 17