1988.07.21 CC Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE CITY COUNCIL FOR JULY 21, 1988. The special meeting was called to order by Mayor Atkinson at 7:05 PM. PRESENT: Olson, Peltier, Potts, Vail, Atkinson City Administrator, Ken Huber City Attorney, Charles Johnson City Engineer, Howard Kuusisto City Clerk, Mary Ann Creager Mayor Atkinson stated that the purpose of this evening's meeting is to hold a public improvement hearing to consider road improvements identified as Phase i of the city's previously adopted capital improvements program. Mayor Atkinson stated that the city will be considering making of the improvements included in Phase 1 at this time. He stated that the City Council, as a group, had cited road improvements as one of the top priorities of the city, and the hundreds of complaints received from citizens annually supported that position. He stated that the city has limited revenue for the graveling of 50 miles of municipal roads maintained annually, and that the cost to maintain the roads was going up at a faster rate than revenue can be generated. He noted that the City Council does have the option of reducing the scope of the project, but cannot expand it. He pointed out that to proceed with this project this evening, a 4/5's vote of the City Council would be required. He also pointed out that under Chapter 429 of the Public Improvement Code, a minimum of 20% of the project must be assessed to benefiting property owners. He then stated that the estimated cost of this improvement, based on the current assessable footage and project cost, would be $3.75 to $4.00/fit. Mayor Atkinson referenced the June 14, 1988 informational meetinq at which time the city staff answered specific questions regarding various properties affected by this proposed improvement. Mayor Atkinson then called on City Engineer, Howard Kuusisto, to make his presentation regarding this proposal. The city engineer then reviewed the proposed improvements for each road proposed in Phase 1, and noted that the Homestead Avenue project, from 132nd Street to 147th Street, was an alternate that may or may not be included in the project.' He emphasized that the prioritizing of the streets in question was done by the street superintendent, Washington County road supervisor, city administrator, and city engineer. He stated that the criteria used in prioritizing the streets was: the cost to maintain the road, road conditions, traffic volumes, citizen complaints, and community -growth patterns. He then stated that all the roads in question will be treated as a single improvement with one uniform assessment rate applied to the benefiting properties. He pointed out that all roads would be designed basically the same, and would be of 7 -ton capacity with 24 foot road width and 2 foot shoulders. He noted that MNDOT was scheduling the improvement of Highway bl and Washington County was putting together a 5 -year program to upgrade county roads in the City of Hugo. He then noted that whatever efforts the city may take with regard to tonight's proposal, these efforts would be dovetailed with the efforts of the other governmental agencies who are making road improvements in the City of Hugo.