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Mounds View Planning Commission April 15, 1998 Special Meeting Page 10 The agreement that is proposed by the developer names the City of Mounds View under the "Hold Harmless Clause" of the agreement. I personally am concerned that my City Council,as my elected representatives, have not been given the opportunity to review an agreement in which they are named prior to signatures being obtained from residents. City government, in my opinion, is a difficult job already, as you all can attest to. In carrying out the best interests of the City,I think, it's more difficult if they do not have all of the information available to them for consideration. Additionally,I'd like the Planning Commission to know that this agreement was presented to us, personally, less than two days ago. We were first contacted over Easter weekend on Good Friday when we were out of town, and we did not see a copy of the agreement until Monday night. We have been, in my opinion, pressured to sign an agreement that strips away all of our rights, as a citizen in Mounds View connected to this project, and we have been pressured to respond prior to this meeting. Only in discussions last night, when we indicated we felt pressure, were we given some additional time to consider. For an agreement of this importance, less than two days time to secure legal counsel and advise and negotiate an extremely broad and open-ended agreement, is not an example of good- faith negotiations with the residents of Mounds View. • Lastly,I want the Commission to know that while a few residents may have agreed to be compensated financially,the issues of traffic, safety, potential drop in property values, potential water problems, and the issue of the right type of commercial development for Mounds View, would, by that I mean, services which would truly benefit the residents in more than just tax base, still remain. In fact, some new information we received last night would indicate that the developer is no longer willing to work with the City and the residents on traffic issues on Greenwood connected to this project. It was indicated to us last night,that the developer views traffic and safety issues as the City's problem and not theirs. I know I personally have not heard any acceptable solutions to address these concerns, or the concerns over the in-out access on Highway 10. And I respectfully ask the Commission to pass a motion recommending denial of this project to the City Council in the best interests of the residents of Mounds View. Thank you for listening to me." Mr.Pinkerton agreed with the statements that Ms. Arel made and added, "If I was the developer I would have removed the access on Highway 10 at this point and he has not done that. That's a very major safety issue, we have our deceleration right in the middle of his right-out acceleration lane, as our property is right next door." MnDOT has indicated that they hope the project does not go forward because it is a dangerous situation. There are also stacking issues from County Road I that need to be addressed. John Weins, 7760 Greenwood Drive, spoke in opposition to the Walgreen development. • Chairperson Peterson asked the developer if, as stated by Ms. Arel, their stance on traffic