Council_Minutes_1978_02_27 - Laserfiche WebLink

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February 27, 1978 Page 2 Mr. Siedleicki, 2749 Sherwood Road asked why the Council was pushing the project. Acting Mayor Baumgartner replied that the Council was not pushing the project but simply trying to get all the citizen input possible. Councilmember Rowley also stated that she had received numerous phone calls at home and was presently trying to answer the questions of the citizens, as well as collect all the input possible from them. Mr. Siedleicki asked if the decision made by the Council would be based on what the majority of the citizens want. Acting Mayor Baumgartner replied that if they were to go by a majority, a vote would have to be made. He added that the Council must look at both sides of the issue and weight all the factors in deciding what would be best for the City. He pointed out an example of when Governor Anderson authorized the 3% sales tax for Minnesota, how the citizens were against it, but the benefit was now very visable. He also pointed out how the City had put in running water, sanitary sewer and blacktop streets, without the majority of the citizens backing the decision, and pointed out how those improvements were very important and necessary to the City. Mr. Siedleicki asked if the project would lower the level of the sand point wells in Mounds View. Acting Mayor Baumgartner replied that it most likely would. James Wills, 2241 Knoll Dr. asked if the names of the citizens who had water problems in 1975 were available. Acting Mayor Baumgartner replied that they were, as a petition with 70 signatures was presented to the City at that time. Mr. Wills asked if an environmental impact study had been done. Engineer Hubbard replied that a study would not be done until the project was approved, but that several comments had been received from the DNR which were favorable to the project. He added that if the study did come back negative, the City would have to conform to the study and make the necessary adjustments. Mr. Wills asked if the study could be done before the project was started. Engineer Hubbard replied that the cost of the study was such that the project should be approved before the money was spent on a study. Administrator Achen added that there is no statute or mandatory requirement that an environmental impact study be done, and that the DNR and Rice Creek Watershed District have indicated that there would be no problem. Mr. Pashiban asked how many residents there were in the City. Acting Mayor Baumgartner replied that there were approximately 13,000. Mr. Wills asked if any of the Council members had a financial interest that would be affected by the project. Acting Mayor Baumgartner and Councilmembers Rowley and Ziebarth replied that they did not and to their knowledge, Mayor Pickar and Councilmember Hodges did not either.