Minutes - 2006/12/11 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mounds View City Council December 11, 2006 Regular Meeting Page 10 Council Member Gunn said that this is not being rushed and it will follow the construction schedule and has been under consideration for a long time. Director Lee addressed the water issues with this project. James Miller of 7980 Fairchild Avenue asked whether there was input from the citizens on the plan to disconnect Hillview and Fairchild from County Road 10. Council indicated that there were discussions for the last year with public meetings. Mr. Miller indicated that he uses the County Road 10 access point to get to Fairchild Avenue and this change would send them past the Kindercare and that will create a visual block for the drivers coming down Hillview to Fairchild because the Kindercare employees park along the street. He then said that this will also increase the traffic on Red Oak. He further said that there are other things that bother him on the design issues but the biggest one is that the streets are 45 or 50 years old and it embarrasses him to live in a City that does not take care of its streets. Mr. Miller indicated that one of the main issues he has is this is a lot of money because his County taxes and school district taxes are going up and that is a struggle for him. Mr. Miller indicated that something needs to be done with the streets but he does not think that curb and gutter are needed. He then said that he has lived there for 26 years and nothing has been done for 26 years and now it is so far gone that it will cost $3,000 for residents to fix it. Mayor Marty explained that the Council Members are common people that pay taxes too and Councils prior to this one had reduced funding for streets down to where nothing could be done. He then explained that the City has been taking funds from the franchise fees and dedicating them to a fund for street projects so that residents did not have to pay for the entire project. Mayor Marty indicated that the City does not have to bond and incur more debt to do this project. He said that the streets are falling apart and it is time to do something about it and, unfortunately, residents will have to contribute toward the costs. He then said that the City has taken steps to limit the amount that residents have to pay by creating a fund for street improvements. He further said that the utilities need to be done at the time the street is reconstructed because the utilities are as old as the streets and it would not make sense to do the street without the utilities. Mayor Marty indicated that, with appropriate maintenance, the streets should last another 30 years. William Werner of 2765 Sherwood Road said that he wishes that each person that talks about the surveys would list how many responses and how many surveys were sent back. He then said that there were a lot of meetings where few people show up.