09-16-03 CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council member Johnston stated he heard unanimous agreement from the residents that the stop sign improved the situation, and to not remove the sign until we had a better improvement. He observed that don't have a better solution, and the worst thing we can do is play the shell game with a stop sign Council member Dunn said there are three things to be concerned with, which are, engineering, enforcement and education. Even with the stop sign, there must be an improvement, and she was in favor of leaving the stop sign, and having a policy in place for evaluating. The speed survey accurately represented what was going on. In retrospect maybe we should have done it reversely. Mr. Prokop pointed out you cannot see the speed sign because of the trees. The Council was forgetting the reason for the sign was because this is a deaf child area. The Acting Administrator advised that Staff will again look at clearing the trees or moving the speed sign so it can be more visible. Dave Austad stated Highlands Trail is used as a cut through because drivers do not want to go to 50th street where there is a controlled intersection. He asked the Council not to spend $100,000, but leave the stop sign since it has shown effectiveness, and add some speed bumps. Mr. Warner submitted a letter encouraging the Council to keep a stop sign because it has been effective slowing down the speed. He suggested establishing a public safety committee so the Council doesn't have to hear these arguments. Mayor Hunt said the night time is when their experiencing the most speeding. The City has to have a consistent policy of criteria, continue to work with our deputies, get a trailer and work with enforcement, and leave stop sign. The City has a commitment to make all of our roads safe. Dillerud noted that City has budgeted $15,000 for their own speed trailer to move around on trouble spots for education. C. Lake Elmo Library Paul Ryberg, member of the Lake Elmo Library ad hoc committee, stated it's not hard to figure out where we are going with the library.... nowhere. Ryberg said it would take 5% of those voting in the last election to put the matter to a vote on a referendum ballot. Council member Dunn pointed out that the Lake Elmo Library is the oldest library in the Washington County system. Wyn John provided the Council with a chart showing Washington County Library Funding for Lake Elmo and four other communities. John noted the Lake Elmo residents pay $205,584 per year in taxes to support the library system, while the cost of running the library is about $90,000. Council member Johnston said he would like to see the city take LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES SEPTEMBER 2, 2003