Agenda Packets - 2000/05/22 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Mounds View City Council May 8, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 18 that have been suggested and who would be responsible for those improvements. She explained that this would take into consideration the types of financing plans that are available, and the pace that the City would like to take in terms of implementing the plan. Ms. ______ stated many quality recommendations have come forward in the information that has been gathered, and through the review of the reports, she believes there are some exciting possibilities in the manner in which the corridor has been visualized, and what it could represent to the City, in terms of the community. She advised that from a cost standpoint, they would see the first phase as attainable under the initial cost estimate provided for the original work plan. She explained that in the event additional meetings become required, they would estimate they would be charged at a rate of $600 per meeting. She indicated that if they could hold this process to three meetings, this would represent a “not to exceed” cost of $5,000. Mayor Coughlin inquired if this estimate would cover the costs of Springsted’s presentation to the Council and a public review of the findings, after the third meeting. Ms. ______ stated this might constitute a fourth meeting, however, the manner in which they have laid out the proposal appears to address this consideration, and she believed it would be included. She indicated that with the second phase of the proposal, the action plan, based upon similar work they have done in the past, they believe a general estimate would be approximately $5,000 to $7,000. She stated there were many opportunities to review the proposed plan and determine if there were aspects of that process that City staff could undertake. She pointed out that they might wish to involve the City Engineer to identify the costs of certain improvements, if those costs have not already been identified in the City’s current Capital Improvement Plan. She explained that where there is existing data, and everyone is confident with that data, they would not wish to reiterate that work, however, if issues come forward, which require examination of the cost projections, this would only serve to make the action plan more accurate. Bob Thistle of Springsted & Associates indicated that as they went through the materials, they found there was a wealth of information in terms of well-written reports, including staff reports and the previous studies that have been conducted. He stated that in the sequential review, that data is available for utilization, and they believe this would be a good point from which to commence. He pointed out that the issues become somewhat subjective as they are examined, therefore, they would like to keep the proposal as flexible as possible. He indicated there were some items the Council might desire City staff to do, noting that the City has a very competent finance staff, which could assist in the preparation of these plans. He explained that they could mix and match these duties as they proceed. Mayor Coughlin stated Sprinsted comes very highly recommended by former City Administrator Chuck Whiting, because they are public finance advisors, therefore, once the City determines what they desire to do, this would be a seamless process, with the assistance of the City’s own internal staff, in terms of having a very clear estimate of the costs and options. Ms. Thistle advised that after the Council has a sense of the direction in which they would like to proceed, the three components would be related to the costs, the timing, and how aggressive they would like to be. He explained that the roadway would be present for many years, and in light of