04/22/1996 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MEETING APRIL 22, 1996 Council Member Kuether asked Mr. Weigold what school was going to be closed. Mr. Weigold said that he was talking about delaying the opening of the middle school and not closing a school. Council Member Kuether said a school cannot be closed if it has never been opened. Mr. Weigold said that is where the 10 month plan comes in and the road being turned over to the County. Mayor Landers said that Mr. McClellan is present, however, he would not call him to the podium and "put him on the witness stand". He said if he feels comfortable coming to the podium, that would be another matter. Mr. Weigold said that the Superintendent is a key player in this matter and he should come and address some of the concerns that were presented. Council Member Kuether said that this was not a court of law. Mr. Weigold said it could get to that. Mr. Weigold said that because of all the things that have changed, what was Option 1 is Option D according to the new packet given to the City Council. Option 2 is B, 3 is A and 5 is C. He said that 77% of the residents prefer Option D. Council Member Kuether asked which residents he was talking about. Mr. Weigold said all the residents he mentioned earlier. Council Member Kuether asked if they contacted the people on Sunrise Avenue. Mr. Weigold said no and none have come forward to present their opinion. Mr. Ahrens said that there was a reference to the original Option F and this is more than F2. Originally Elm Street was "t-ing" in with an access road. This was discussed with the City Council a couple of meetings ago. This Option has to do with maintaining the priority that Elm Street maintain state aid designation. The Option F2 being proposed this evening maintains the state aid designation. Mr. Ahrens explained that the pedestrian numbers given this evening were prepared by Mike Hughes. He has a computer system that has all the student numbers that are used for their state aid needs, food services and where ever they get funding from the State. Mr. Hughes had on the computer system a one mile walking area and pulled in the number of students in that area who would be going to the middle school. Mr. Ahrens said that he felt the numbers were very accurate. Mr. Weigold said that here at the 11th hour, all of sudden there is not enough time to look over and submit new changes. How come OSM, "these great professionals" have finally come up with any type of numbers that anyone can look at. This all ties into the pedestrian study that was requested by the Chief who was chewed out by the City Administrator for requesting the study. Mr. Weigold asked why now in the 11th hour is this information so easily obtained from a computer and brought forward? Mr. Ahrens said that Mr. Mitchell will talk about the pedestrian study in reference to Options A, B and C and the cul-de-sac proposal. He said managing pedestrians crossing Lake Drive is very difficult with these options and it is his opinion that Option F meets PAGE 31