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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-03-93 CCMLAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MEETING 3` THURSDAY, JUNE 3, 1993 Mayor John called the council meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the Lake Elmo Elementary School. PRESENT: Mottaz, Conlin (arrived 8:50 p.m.), John, Johnston, Johnson, City Engineer Bohrer, City Attorney Filla and Administrator Kueffner. 1. AGENDA Johnson/Johnston - to approve the June 3, 1993 council agenda as presented. (Motion carried 4-0). Mayor John thanked the Lake Elmo Elementary School for allowing the city to use their facility to hold the public hearing. 2. PUBLIC HEARING ON IMPROVEMENTS: 1993 Bituminous Overlays Larry Bohrer reported that the City Public Works Department and the City Engineer reviewed the conditions of the city streets and reported to the Council on the streets which needed overlays. Overlays are recommended on streets which have extensive cracking and should be constructed before the streets begin breaking up. Along with the overlay, the city sometimes does minor drainage improvements such as add bituminous curb or replacing culverts. Bituminous overlays are a lower cost alternative to complete street reconstruction. The feasibility report was prepared at the direction of the City Council upon the recommendation of the City Engineer and Maintenance Foreman. Proposed Assessments: It is proposed to assess this project on a unit basis. Each buildable lot would be assessed 1 unit. Lots which have frontage on two city streets receive a 1/2 unit for each street. The City is proposing to assess 90% of the cost for each street. The remaining 10% plus the unit assessment for each city -owned lot on that street will be paid by the city from its Street Improvement Fund. Patching prior to the overlay will be done by the City or contract forces and will not be part of the assessable cost. A. Hidden Bay Area: Total Units: 112, Assessment Rate: $922 Larry Bohrer explained that these streets were believed to have been paved in the late 1960s. There is extensive ( cracking and some erosion on steep slopes. Bituminous curb will be placed on some of the slopes. LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 2 Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 7:25 p.m.. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners proposed to be assessed were notified. The City received a letter from Anton and Donna Johnson, 8405 Deer Pond Trail, indicating their street was torn up and redone about five years ago for the watershed project and they are still being assessed for this. They do not think their portion of Deer Pond Trail needs to be overlayed now. Jim Arkell, 8131 Hidden Bay Trail, asked if the resurfacing addresses the city ordinance where driveway access or aprons require a certain amount of bituminous. Will we be required to upgrade those driveways accordingly and is that part of the assessment? Bohrer: This improvement is not intended to be a method of resurfacing driveways or compelling someone to do so. Doug Bodziak, 8498 Hidden Bay Trail, questioned the benefit. He felt the condition of the road seemed to be in beautiful shape with just a few cracks. He asked if there was another method to preserving the road rather than a bituminous overlay. Eric Muehrcke, 8282 Hidden Bay Court, asked if non -buildable lots are assessed. There are 4 lots that share a common driveway and one of those lots are non -buildable. Bohrer: Generally, nonbuildable lots are not assessed. Muehrcke: We paid to have a private road put in, not at city expense. Assessing just the three lots is high and would consider 1/3 of a unit assessment fair. On the northwest corner of the intersection there is a continual runoff problem. I don't believe there is much damage done to Hidden Bay Trail and this should be relooked at. Cheryl Sarkissian, 8290 Hidden Bay Ct., purchased the roadway a year ago and paved it 5 or 6 years ago. The 10% city participation is not the city's money, it is the taxpayers money to run the city. Therefore, we are already paying our fair share through taxes. Corner lots are more valuable because you do not have a neighbor on the other side and should bear at least 1 unit assessment. Voiced concern on the heavy truck traffic that travels their road. Diana Meier, 4731 Birch Bark Trail, asked how long will this bituminous overlay last before it has to be done again. Bohrer: No limit to how many times a road can be resurfaced. The reasons the road has lasted in this area as long as they have because the underlying soil is more of a sandy soil as opposed to clay. The strength of the road is in the subgrade material. An overlay like this would last a LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 3 minimum of 10 years and could easily last as long as the original pavement that has been put on. Will Hirsch, 4689 Birch Bark Trail, asked if you didn't do this overlay this year, when would you have to do it. Bohrer: Roads do not deteriorate in a linear fashion. If it were left until next year, there would be more base preparation before an overlay could be done. It's a twofold investment: one is to repair the damage that is already there; second, is to preserve what is there that has not yet got to the point of deterioration. John Branegan, 8260 Deer Pond Trail, questioned the methodology of payment. He has lived in five different houses and never had a street assessment. He felt it was time for the city to take another look at assessing streets. The city should decide how much they need for street maintenance and then put it in the budget. Its a detriment to live on a wide street and a very busy road. Councilman Johnson pointed out that property owners should contact city hall identifying specific erosion problems. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:00 p.m. B. 37th Street (west of Jamaca) Total Units: 11, Assessment Rate: $827 Larry Bohrer explained that work was postponed on this street until the SW-1 watermain project was completed. This street is at the stage where if an overlay is not done soon, a complete reconstruction will be necessary. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:01 p.m. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessment were notified. There was no one to speak for or against the proposed assessments. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:02 p.m. C. Kraft Circle Total Units: 8, Assessment Rate: $688 Bohrer explained this street has extensive cracking. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:05 p.m. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 4 Mike Ziniel, 3265 Kraft Circle, explained that two years ago ( the City Engineer and Building Official came out to look at the water problem on Kraft Circle. Nothing had been done then to the street and the water problem is continuing and causing deterioration to the street and his driveway. The overlay would only cause a worse problem. Bohrer: He would look back into the record regarding this problem. Ronald Naatz, 3311 Kraft Circle, explained in 1958 it was graded down at 3308 Kraft Circle for the water to run to the north. The water originally went down towards the lake. He asked if the City engineer could come down to look at this problem. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:10 p.m. D. Langley Court Total Units: 4, Assessment Rate: $975 Bohrer explained this street has extensive cracking. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:15 P.M. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. ( Randy Kotasek, 3338 Langley Court N., indicated he did not see any real problems with the street and it needed an overlay. He also spoke for Joe Rogers who was unable to make the meeting. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:20 p.m. E. Legion Avenue (20th to Legion Avenue) Total Units: 10.5, Assessment Rate: $1,686 Bohrer explained this street was extensively patched in 1989, but an overlay was postponed due to construction traffic using the street for Packard Park 2nd Addition and due to objections over the high cost. This street needs an overlay soon before a complete reconstruction is necessary. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:25 p.m. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. John Herber, 2329 Legion Avenue, asked about the design. Bohrer: There is no extensive shouldering along the homes. Ann Bucheck, 2301 Legion Avenue, stated when this was discussed two years ago at a meeting the residents on Legion ( indicated they do not want gravel next to the road. There is grass along the road now and gives a "rural like LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 5 atmosphere" which they want to keep. In 1989 the contractor that did patching along the road left a lot of blacktop on their lawns. She requested that some watch be kept on the contractor to clean up after themselves. Jean Durand, 11332 20th St., asked when was the pipe put in to run water into a pond that was never there on her land. Our land is still being farmed. We don't have any lots, and I don't need the road. She likes the grass up to the road and does not want gravel. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:35 p.m. F. Laverne Avenue (TH5 to 39th) Total Units: 6, Assessment Rate: $2,367 Bohrer explained this street was originally constructed in 1979 and has extensive cracking and settlements from water services. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:35 p.m. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. There was no one to speak for or against the proposed assessments. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 8:36 p.m. G. Highlands Trail Total Units: 24, Assessment Rate: $1,488 Bohrer explained this street was constructed in 1979. The City has been doing a lot of spot overlays and patching on this street. Because of extensive cracking and potholes, an overlay is necessary. Bituminous curb would be placed on the hill west of 59th Street. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 8:40 p.m. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. Richard Miller, 5790 Highlands Trail, questioned the 10/90 split. How does that compare to our adjoining neighbors? He had lived in Woodbury and never had to pay for an overlay. The City should look into another means of assessing. With the increase in traffic, he felt Highlands Trail functions as a collector street and should be designated as such. Bohrer: He will look into if Highlands Trail can meet the criteria to be designated as a MSA street. LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 6 Charles Anastasi, 5850 Highlands Trail, disagreed with the 10/90 split because Highlands Trail carries all the traffic. He suggested money be placed into the budget to cover street maintenance rather than assessing. D. Herum, 5960 Highlands Trail, asked why are we being charged. Her taxes went up 30%. She doesn't see any problem with the road. There is only one bad spot which is across from the park. H. Highlands Court Total Units: 8, Assessment Rate: $1,238 Bohrer explained this street was constructed in 1979 and has extensive cracking. R. Wissink, 5777 Highlands Trail Court, represents three units of the eight to be assessed. There are three buildable lots, but all three are homestead and belong to him so he doesn't see any benefit from the road. He has looked at the street and doesn't see any alligator cracks. There is no need for a overlay. Gary Peltzer, 5747 Highlands Trail Court, indicated this court has low volume traffic because there is only five houses on this street. It is generally in fairly good shape and only needs spot repair. Alice Johnson, 5750 Highlands Trail Court, felt the whole cul-de-sac is full of alligator cracks. The decision to overlay should be made by the professional engineer and not just us, as non -engineers, looking at the street. When you look at the intersections on Hwy 36, we are in Mahtomedi school district and travel that road twice a day. E.Gores, 5737 Highlands Trail Court, lives at the end of cul-de-sac and felt the road is in good shape. Patching would be more than sufficient. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 9:15 p.m. I. 20th Street Court Total Units: 3, Assessment Rate: $1,233 Bohrer explained this street has extensive cracking. Mayor John opened up the public hearing at 9:25 P.M. The public hearing notice was published in the May 25 and June 1, 1993 Stillwater Gazette. All property owners affected by the proposed assessments were notified. LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES JUNE 3, 1993 7 Jerry Junker, 11130 20th St.Court N., spoke for himself as well as Chris & Karen Cook 11120 20th St. Court, and Jim & Beth Burns, 11140 20th St. Court. This street was paved in August, 1975 and has been sealcoated twice. There are no spot repairs on this street nor does it need any. There are only four residents on that street, and I am speaking for three of those four residents. There is limited traffic on that street because it is not a through street. He disputes the need for the street to be resurfaced at this time. The money could be spent somewhere else where it is needed. Mayor John closed the public hearing at 9:35 p.m. The City Engineer will look into MSA designation for Highlands Trail and review the drainage problem on Kraft Circle. The City Engineer and Council will firm up a date, possibly on June 12, to do an on -site inspection of the streets. M/S/C Mottaz/Johnson - that action be postponed until the June 15, 1993 council meeting. (Motion carried 5-0). M/S/C Mottaz/Johnson - to adjourn the council meeting at 9:35 p.m. (Motion carried 5-0). June To: Cit.v of Lake 311r.o JUN From: Anton and. Donna Jo')nson PIN 375'17-23'.0 You propose overlaying our street at an :stimuted C":�.00 asses.=_,ent n_ er lot. 4 Our street, beginning %with 8401 Deer Pond. Trail and. -o.st 8415 Deer Pond Trail, ;as torn up and redone about Five zre�.rs ago For -the waters -lied. project. Iffe are still being assessed. for that. We do not t?ii�k cur portion of Deer Pond Trail needs to be overlayed num. Sincerely, ' -k� A ton hnson ' f1� M, 0` Donna. Y. Johnson 8405 Deer Pond Trail Telephone: (612) 777-6803