2004.06.07 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council meeting of June 7, 2004 Page 9 Of particular importance is the railroad crossing issue. The preference is to not construct the crossing and abandon the tracks from County Road 8 to 145h Street, but this is dependent upon the operator (Minnesota Commercial Railroad) providing a commitment that the track is no longer necessary. The commitment has not been provided to date, due to a need to keep the track active until the Schwieters railroad spur issue is resolved. Discussions with John and Joel Schwieters, and the owner of the former Stock Lumber site, have been informative and fruitful, but the spur issue remains unresolved. At this point, the final design for the railroad crossing needs to be initiated to keep the project on schedule. The process would be with the City requesting a cost estimate from Minnesota Commercial Railroad to construct the crossing, which would take 2-3 months to complete. It is likely that there would be a cost to the City related to preparing the estimate, but the exact amount will not be known until after the City makes its request. After the estimate is prepared, the City would need to enter into an agreement to keep the design moving forward, and would begin expending additional funds. The construction would be completely separate from the CSAH 8 project, and would take approximately 12 months to complete following the execution of the agreement. Sandy Cullen outlined the steps needed to be taken in order to have the project ready to let bids in March 2005. Miron made motion, Granger seconded, to schedule a Council workshop to discuss the CSAH 8/14 realignment project and the downtown redevelopment plan for Monday, June 28, 2004, at 7:00 pm. All aye. Motion Carried. REORGANIZATION OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY At its workshop meeting on May 21, 2004, Council discussed with staff and financial advisor Paul Steinman from Springsted, Inc., the issues relative to the reorganization of the City's Economic Development Authority. Council supported the creation of a separate commission made up of both Council members and citizens -at -large. An EDA was preferred over the Economic Development Commission, but with Council maintaining authority and budget control. Staff was directed to place this issue on this agenda for formal direction to staff, which would include an enabling resolution to provide for formal reorganization of the City Council as the EDA to a Council -citizen makeup of two Council members and five citizens -at -large. City staff requested direction from Council as to its appointment of citizens -at -large and preparation of a draft of the enabling resolution, which provides for the power and responsibilities of the EDA. Puleo made motion, Granger seconded, directing staff to prepare an enabling resolution and development of the EDA Powers and duties, as prescribed in Minnesota Statute. All aye. Motion Carried. REQUEST FROM RCWD TO APPROVE PAYMENT FOR WORK COMPLETED ON JD2 REPLACEMENT PROJECT The City received a payment request from the RCWD for work completed to date on the JD2 culvert replacement project. The work consisted of the replacement of culverts on 157"' Street and 165"' Street. As Council is aware, City staff and City Attorney Dave Snyder have met several times with representatives from the RCWD, Emmons Olivier Resources, and Jay Brothers to reach agreement as to