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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC MINUTES 06041974 Meeting Sheet IIIIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIVIIIIIII IIII 105754 Box: 35 Folder: CC MINUTES AND AGENDAS 1974 Document: CC MINUTES 06041974 a C ITY OF ST. ANTHONY SPECIAL COUNCIL MINUTES June h, 1974 The meeting was called to order by Mayor Miedtke at 8:35 P.M. The following were present at roll call: Stauffer Miedtke, Sundland Also present: Jerry Dulgar, City Manager I.C. Comstock, City Engineer Dave Ching of Comstock & Davis Absent: Councilman Haik and Sauer The Mayor explained that, since the two councilmen who were absent had indicated they would be present later in the evening, the Street Improvement Project discuss- ion would be put in last place on the agenda for the meeting. Mr. Comstock reported that the letter of agreement he had received from Mr. Irving Lampe, contractor for the Water Improvement Project, would be resubmitted by Mr. Lampe since the original did not comply with oral agreements reached earlier. He advised the Council that they had the option of suspending work for 90 days if an agreement with the contractor is not reached. Mr. Dulgar reported that all but 5 easements necessary for the project had been signed. Councilman Stauffer inquired about an alternative of placing the water system bet- ween the parking area and the street near the high school but was advised by Mr. • Comstock that any change in plans would still increase the costs of the project by approximately 18%. Motion by Councilman Sundland, seconded by Councilman Stauffer to table action on the Water Pressure Project. Motion carried. Motion by Councilman Stauffer, seconded by Councilman Sundland to table action on the final platting for the Holien property since the attorneys for the Holiens did not appear. Motion carried. Councilman Haik arrived at 8:40 P.M. Mr. Dulgar reported on the two bids; one from Harrison House and the other from Aslesen, which had been submitted that evening for the bar equipment and furniture to be included in the municipal liquor lounge remodelling project. He said, since both bids were for more than $60,000.00 and the estimated costs had only been for $40,000.001 he felt the figures should be further analyzed and bids taken from other suppliers. Further discussion was postponed until the architects had tabulated the bids. The manager reported on a letter he had received containing definite information on Ramsey County's plans for upgrading Silver Lake Road and agreement on traffic signals and the assessments for driveways and signals. r -2- Councilman Haik wanted Mr. Dulgar to explore the possibility of installation of • a 4-way stop at the intersection of Silver Lane and Silver Lake Road in the in- terim before the actual placing of a traffic signal at that point. It was also felt that the Manager should contact New Brighton regarding the project. Motion by Councilman Haik, seconded by Councilman Sundland to direct the Manager to correspond further with Ramsey County acknowledging the information they have supplied regarding their plans to widen Silver Lake Road and suggesting the installation of a 4-way stop at Silver Lane and Silver Lake Road in the interim before the traffic signal planned for the spot is put in and also to request enough further data regarding construction dates and final plans for the project to enable the Council to set a date for a public hearing. Motion carried. Mr. Fran Schuck of Constructive Design arrived at 8:48 P.M. and presented the tabulated bids for the bar equipment and furniture for the liquor lounge. He agreed with Mr. Dulgar's recommendation that more competitive bids be taken before the contracts are awarded and suggested that the bids might be taken on an individual basis for all the items possible. Motion by Councilman Stauffer, seconded by Councilman Sundland to accept the bids but to table action on awarding the contracts in order that a further evaluation can be made of each item contained in the bids for the bar equipment and furniture for the liquor lounge. Motion carried. • The meeting was recessed at 8:50 P.M. and reconvened at 9:07 for the discussion of the Street Improvement Project and the results of the public hearing on the project which had been held March 28, 1974. A large group of residents indicating an interest in the discussion were present and Mayor Miedtke explained that in order that a logical evaluation could be made of the information to be given to the Council, all discussions of the data would be limited to the Council, Manager and Engineer. He assured them that no decision on the project would be made that evening. There followed a discussion of what constituted a typical residential street in St. Anthony for the purpose of establishing assessment costs and what were the possibilities of the State accepting deviations of the standards set whereby Minnesota State Aid is granted. Mr. Comstock detailed the process to be followed to request the State to allow such deviations. He told the Council that although the state standards for state aid streets were flexible since they are set by a committee of representatives of all the municipalities, the standard width for such streets as set for years has been 44 feet. He thought a rejection of their request might be given sooner than approval since that might require a submission of the request to a Board of Review. He said the state aid funds may be used anywhere the municipality has an obligati- on and pointed out that the rules and regulations regarding traffic restrictions are also drawn up by representatives of the different municipalities of the State. • It is possible to obtain state aid for streets as narrow as 36 feet if parking is restricted on one side of the street and plans for a walkway for the other side are submitted with the request for such funds, the Engineer said, and he also explained that Minnesota State Aid is based on per capita and need (miles of streets) of a municipality. He further said State Aid for maintenance funds are not as closely restricted as for construction funds. -3- The traffic counts made each year since 1961 on 29th Avenue were the basis for y the recommendation for a 9 ton road. Mr. Comstock said, and the only east-west • street in St. Anthony which exceeded the traffic count on 29th was 37th Avenue N.E. where the traffic flow was almost double. Mr. Dulgar reported that his contacts with the State regarding the possibility of restricting truck traffic on a state aid street indicated that the municipalit- ies who put up "No Trucks" signs on such streets were "flirting with a court case". Councilman Sundland questioned whether any action was feasible before the Engineer had an opportunity to investigate the alternatives with the State. Mayor Miedtke pointed out the urgency of some repair work and said if the road had to be continuously repaired it seemed logical to him to bring the total street up to good quality at the same time. When Councilman Sundland asked what the potential life of the street would be if the trouble spots were dug out and a seal coat put on the whole street, Mr. Dulgar advised him that the last seal coat was placed on 29th in 197 . Mayor Miedtke wanted the Engineer to be directed to negotiate with the State for a 39 foot street using the argument that such a street would be less expensive and yet that width would not place a restriction on traffic. He expressed a reluctance to restrict parking on 29th because of the possibility of limiting the parking space for Silver Point Park and was concerned about where traffic would be diverted if 29th were no longer a major thoroughfare. In reply to a question from Councilman Stauffer, Mr. Dulgar said about $5,000 per mile is budgeted each year for maintenance costs which include plowing, salaries and pensions, signs, etc. He said Councilman Sauer had asked him if the state funds could be obtained for the construction if the work were done by the St. Anthony Maintenance Department and he replied because they could not work on the project exclusively, even though the state would allow the department to do the job, it might take at least six months longer to complete the job and would result in the street being torn up for a longer time. He also answered Councilman's Stauffer's question of whether a street improvement fund could be built up to cover future improvements throughout the municipality by saying that, under levy restrictions , there were only enough funds to cover work actually needed to be done and funds could not be levied in addition to cover potential improvements. Councilman Sauer arrived at 9:45 P.M. In the discussion of what the actual assessment figures per front foot would be made to residents of 29th Avenue, the Engineer told the group that, with no state aid, the recommended 9 ton, 40 foot wide road with the necessary 600 feet dug up and 1,200 feet of gutters replaced, would cost each resident $40 per front foot. If the $140,000 which St. Anthony has in its state aid conbtruction fund were applied to the $271,000 improvement it would reduce those costs to residents of 29th. The Council then pursued the possibility of assessing all residents on 29th at a • rate of $23.70 per front foot, the amount considered as typical front foot assessment for residents on an average street and then having the $17.00 per front foot which remained either picked up by assessing the residents on the adjacent streets to 29th Avenue or the community as a whole. The prospects of crediting the home owners with $8.00 for curb and gutters which did not need replacing was also discussed. -4- Council-man 4-Councilman Haik and the Engineer wanted to have soil borings taken so that the r exact condition of the road beds could be ascertained and cost estimates based • on the borings. Mr. Comstock estimated that it would cost about $1,100 to have not only the borings taken on 29th but also on other spots throughout the city where replacement of streets appeared probable and he recommended doing the complete job at this time because doing so would result in a saving to the city. Motion by Mayor Miedtke, seconded by Councilman Stauffer to direct the City Engineer to have the necessary soil borings taken on 29th Avenue to ascertain the sub surface condition of the road in order to estimate construction costs and to have soil borings taken on Coolidge Street, 36th Avenue-Penrod Lane as well as on any street in the area southwest of 29th Avenue where he thinks such information is essential to a decision to repair and/or rebuild such roads. Voting on the motion: Aye: Sauer, Haik, Miedtke, Stauffer Nay: Sundla.nd Motion carried. Following the motion, residents attending the meeting made their comments and asked questions about the improvement project. Mr. Richard Weatherman, 2613 29th Avenue N.E. said that since the facts that were brought out that evening had not been available at the public hearing May 28th, he felt another public hearing should be scheduled. • Councilman Haik assured him that the Council was not pursuing a course designed to avoid questions on the project and that St. Anthony residents had always been welcome to attend the Council meetings and express their opinions and that she felt the Council had gone out of its way to hear what the residents had to say. She and the mayor both pointed out that a decision on the improvement could not be made until the Council had heard from the State and had the results of the soil borings and therefore it was improbable that any action would be taken at the June 11th meeting. In the question and answer session which followed, it was ascertained that a 7 ton road would be adequate to support the traffic now on 29th and a 9 ton road would not be under consideration if it were not required by the State as a requisite for state aid funding. It was also established that truck use could be restricted through the road tonnage. It was also pointed out several times that just requesting the street be removed from state aid consideration and thereby restricting traffic to disallow trucks, did not necessarily mean that such a request would be granted. Many of the residents told of the hardships imposed upon them by the passing of large trucks and a number said they would prefer payment of the entire cost of bringing the street up to good repair rather than accept State Aif if truck traffic was a prerequisite of receiving those funds. Mayor Miedtke again stated that it was the duty of the Council to base its decision on the good of the community as a whole with a consideration of the effects on other streets the diversion of t2affic from 29th would have. -5- Before a discussion of the street improvements proposed for Coolidge Street and 36th-Penrod the meeting was recessed at 11:05 and reconvened at 11:20 P.M. Mr. Roger Kittleson participated in the discussion of what had to be done on 36th Avenue N.E. and Penrod Lane to bring them up to a good quality condition. It was decided that a definite decision could not be reached until it was ascertained whether either street might be used as a detour when 37th is upgraded by Ramsey County. The fact that Coolidge Street would have required replacement whether the storm sewer was installed or not and how the use of storm sewer funds would effect the cost of work to be done on the street were discussed but no decision reached. Motion by Council-man Haik, seconded by Councilman Sundland to adjourn at 12 A.M. Motion carried. .LL� A / Mayor ATTEST: Clerk Ci Mand •