01/12/2004 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MINUTES JANUARY 12, 2004 APPROVED 1 Councilmember Stoltz stated he thinks the Council is complicating the issue and the idea of the 2 coalition and collaborative efforts. He noted that Staff says the City needs to be part of this. He 3 stated it is implied the JPA would come to the Council for a vote so the Council has not lost control. 4 Councilmember Stoltz stated the condition placed in the motion by Councilmember Reinert will 5 cover that concern. He stated this just talks about appointing a representative and trusting them to 6 represent Lino Lakes in that capacity. 7 8 Councilmember Carlson stated she can vote for this because as Councilmember Stoltz said, it 9 appoints representatives of the City to the Work Group and she has no issue on that. She stated 10 Councilmember Reinert's motion makes her feel more secure since it addresses how the governance 11 will not give up local determination and the governance will be addressed in the JPA as well as the 12 scope of what they are doing. She stated she will take a close look at that as it comes forward. 13 14 Councilmember Carlson asked about the cost since, at the beginning, there was no cost with the three 15 entities. She stated with the expanded scope there is a possibility the cost will increase and noted that 16 recently the I -35W Coalition lost two members (Shoreview and Arden Hills). She stated it is good to 17 have the additional entities beyond Lino Lakes as part of this Work Group, but she questions whether 18 they should be making the decisions. 19 20 Councilmember Carlson stated it has been mentioned in discussion about having the City cover the 21 cost of the interchange and then trying to recoup the costs afterwards. She referred to an article about 22 another city paying for $56 million of highway improvements and then using street reconstruction 23 bonds for funding. She stated her concern on cost is not just for the professional engineer (Van 24 Wormer) but also the cost the City could be looking at based on the recommendations of the Work `25 Group. She stated it is not the City's responsibility to fund freeway intersections. 26 27 Mayor Bergeson stated he viewed that same article and received a note from a resident asking why 28 the City is not getting those interchanges done. He noted there are differences of opinion on that 29 issue. 30 31 Councilmember Carlson stated in the Comprehensive Plan we do not have a bridge over I -35E at 32 Birch Street. She noted there was a petition of over 450 people, three being Councilmembers, 33 opposing the expansion of Birch Street including a bridge over I -35E. She stated she wants people to 34 know she has not changed her mind on that issue. 35 36 Mayor Bergeson stated that issue was part of a brainstorming exercise where 60-70 ideas were raised 37 and that was one of them. Then those ideas will be discussed and it will be determined if they should 38 be a priority. He stated that some items were on the list that Hugo and Centerville probably would 39 not support. But that list will be sorted down and the big issues brought forward such as the Main 40 Street crossing and connecting roadways. 41 42 Councilmember Reinert stated that the Birch Street extension across I -35E is one of the 60 -plus items 43 on the list and all were placed on the list just to investigate which are reasonable. He stated that he is 44 anxious for it to be investigated because he believes it will be found to be a ridiculous idea. 45 Councilmember Reinert stated he also signed the petition against it and will not vote to support it. He 46 stated if the Birch Street extension is found to be a ridiculous idea then it will come off the list and he 47 does not think it would have a chance of passing. • 48 12