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03/08/2021 CITY COUNCIL MEETING March 08, 2021 7:00 PM Fridley Civic Campus, 7071 University Avenue N.E. MINUTES CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. PRESENT Mayor Lund Councilmember Bolkcom Councilmember Eggert Councilmember Ostwald Councilmember Tillberry Walter Wysopal, City Manager Brandon Brodhag, Civil Engineer PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE PROCLAMATIONS/PRESENTATIONS 1. GreenStep Cities - Presentation of Step 3 Award. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA Motion made by Councilmember Bolkcom. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 2. Approve the Minutes from the City Council Meeting of February 22, 2021 NEW BUSINESS 3. Resolution No. 2021-15, Decertifying Tax Increment Financing District (TIF) District No. 19 4. Resolution No. 2021-16, Approving City of Fridley Data Practices Policy 5. Resolution No. 2021-18, Approving a Comprehensive Sign Plan Amendment for 7201 University Avenue N.E. – University Avenue Business Center (Ward 1) City Council Meeting 3/8/2021 Minutes Page 2 CLAIMS 6. Claims: 192008 - 192188 ADOPTION OF REGULAR AGENDA Motion made by Councilmember Eggert, Seconded by Councilmember Ostwald. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM, VISITORS: Consideration of Items not on Agenda – 15 minutes. No one from the audience spoke. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS NEW BUSINESS 7. Resolution No. 2021-17, Approve Change Order No. 1 (Final) for Trunk Highway 47 Fencing and Landscaping Project Brandon Brodhag, Civil Engineer, stated that in 2019, public engagement meetings were held in a planning effort to envision and identify improvements along Trunk Highway 47. A summary report with final recommendations was presented to the City Council on June 24, 2019. The recommendations suggested improvements to enhance safety and improve corridor aesthetics. Mr. Brodhag noted that in order to effect safety improvements, City staff worked with MnDOT for replacements and removal of the existing fence. MnDOT developed construction plans for fencing removal/replacement and landscaping plans in Fridley and Columbia Heights. Plans followed City's request for corridor aesthetic improvements, and in some locations, providing alternative buffering. MnDOT funding was available for the project to replace the entire fence length, and staff worked with MnDOT to allow for aesthetic improvements as well. Mr. Brodhag said to maximize the aesthetic improvement, City staff bid, administered, and inspected the project. City staff provided in-kind work for fence removal to provide additional construction funding for landscaping. Per amended cooperative agreement between MnDOT and the City of Fridley, MnDOT will provide a maximum of $702,448.91 in funding. Per the amended agreement, $650,415.66 is for construction and $52,033.25 is for construction engineering. Mr. Brodhag said at the July 13, 2020 City Council Meeting, Council awarded the project to Hoffman & McNamara of Hastings, MN, the low bidder, in the amount of $510,523.30. This amount was 20.8% below the engineer's estimate of $644,910.82. Due to the affordable bids, staff worked with MnDOT to enable supplemental landscaping, with landscaping elements added back to fulfill the preliminary concept. This additional work was anticipated at time of award but needed to be verified, as feasible and consistent with project funding. Improvements were also made in Columbia Heights that were declined initially, then requested. City Council Meeting 3/8/2021 Minutes Page 3 Mr. Brodhag stated that Change Order 1 in the amount of $139,386.36 increases the original contract by 27.3% and is fully reimbursable by MnDOT. The project is substantially complete. Items C1.01 and C1.02 address the fence height and modified the fence height to match existing fence height of 5 feet in Columbia Heights. The cost of this item is an addition of $39,671.64. Items C2.01 through C2.04 is for the elimination of fencing R & R on the west side form 40th to 44th Avenue to avoid intense clearing, and the addition of fence removal was included on the east side in Columbia Heights from 38th to 40th Avenues. The cost of this item is a reduction of $51,527.28. Items C2.05 through C2.13 are for expanded landscaping--doubling the median plantings and adding buffer plantings. The bid prices were lower, due to City staff performing watering during the warranty period. The cost of this item is an additional $139,748.00. Items C3.01 through C3.02 are for additional demolition and soil removal between I-694 and 57th Avenue for an additional cost of $11,494.00. Mr. Brodhag said City staff will be completing fencing removals in Fridley this season. Fridley and Columbia Heights will continue to water plantings in their respective jurisdictions. The contractor will continue to monitor and replace warranties on plantings for two seasons. A one-way conversion project coming late 2021 will provide additional buffering and trail connections along University corridor. MnDOT and the City continue to work toward construction of safety improvement being recommended as part of their PEL study, starting in 2024-2025. Redevelopment is ongoing along the corridor. Mr. Brodhag thanked MnDOT for their cooperation and support with the project in facilitating the City's goals and visions for Trunk Highway 47. Staff would also like to thank the contractor and our partner the City of Columbia Heights for their coordination. Staff requests that City Council move to approve Resolution No. 2021-17 as presented. If approved, Change Order No. 1 in the amount of $139,386.36 will be processed and the contract amount for the project shall be increased from $510,523.30 to $649,909.66. Councilmember Bolkcom asked who the abandoned light bases belong to. Mr. Brodhag replied they are MnDOT’s from the past that never got taken out. They were not found until excavation started. Councilmember Bolkcom said she thought MnDOT should be responsible for the charges to remove them. Mr. Brodhag replied that the $11,494 change for having our contractor remove the abandon bases will be reimbursed from MnDOT. Motion made by Councilmember Eggert. Seconded by Councilmember Tillberry. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. INFORMAL STATUS REPORTS Walter Wysopal stated that the telephone citizen survey was initiated today. The last two weeks was a testing phase and now the telephone calling process will begin we will begin for the next few weeks. City Council Meeting 3/8/2021 Minutes Page 4 Mr. Wysopal announced an upcoming town hall meeting on June 5. This year the focus is on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan and feedback from the citizen survey. There will also be an open forum for citizens to express their concerns. Mr. Wysopal said that on the City's website you can visit “Finding your Fun in Fridley” story board to view pictures of how parks exist now and what types of enhancements are being recommended based on the last two years of collecting informaiton. This is an oppotunity to give feedback on the overall proposal. Councilmember Eggert said the bonding committee is back at the state capital to resubmit the funding request of $3.0m for the 57th Avenue bridge. These funds would be for the design and prework for the project. Mr. Wysopal added that 15 years ago, Anoka County did a study of the East River Road corridor and this bridge was the suggestion to ease traffic congestion and enhance pedestrian crossings. The City has been taking the initiative through the HRA to drive the funding and design. Several thousand jobs have been added to this intersection with the Taylor Project and Northern Stacks development. This will also help residents who live in apartments on East River Road and in the neighborhood with the train station to get to stores and jobs. This is a candidate for state bonding and is a regional asset. $3m will fund the design of the bridge. Construction could be another $20m. This will give us time to look for additional funding through federal and state grants. ADJOURN Motion made by Commissioner Ostwald to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Eggert. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 7:30 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Krista Peterson Scott J. Lund Recording Secretary Mayor