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03/26/2012 - 31311CITY COUNCIL MEETING CITY OF FRIDLEY MARCH 26, 2012 The City Council meeting for the City of Fridley was called to order by Mayor Lund at 730 p.m. ROLL CALL: MEMBERS PRESENT: Mayor Lund Councilmember-at-Large Barnette Councilmember Saefke Councilmember Varichak Councilmember Bolkcom OTHERS PRESENT: William Burns, City Manager Darcy Erickson, City Attorney Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director Scott Hickok, Community Development Director Paul Slesar, 44 Lock Lake Road Larry and Cathleen Korzenowski, 529 Janesville St NE Pam Reynolds, 1241 Norton Avenue PRESENTATION: 2011 City Engineers Association of Minnesota (CEAM), Project of the Year Award for the North Innsbruck, Water Main Rehabilitation Project Layne Otteson, Assistant Public Works Director, said this was a Cooperative Project to install Class IV Structural CIPP Water Main between Fridley, Golden Valley and Hutchinson. The design was by SEH and the contractor was Fer-Pal from Taylor, Michigan. The City Engineer's Association of Minnesota Professional Association promoted the interchange of helpful ideas and information (technical, environmental, legal, and ethical). Everyone worked constructively toward the advancement and improvement of the engineering profession to seek ways and means by which we may be more useful and efficient to those whom we serve. Mr. Otteson said the problem in Golden Valley were five breaks each in 10 years for two streets. Fridley had five breaks in 15 years on one street. Hutchinson had seven breaks in seven years and four in 2009. All showed significant failure in certain locations. Fridley and Hutchinson had concrete roadways (increased restoration cost for open cut) and there were congested private utility corridors in all cities. The fiber optic corridor, which houses data between two General Mills facilities, makes excavation very tough. There was high traffic on all streets, and it was important to maintain safe travel through these areas. Mr. Otteson said the cities researched other trenchless methods (cement lining, pipe bursting, etc.) and ultimately chose to implement a product that uses a standalone Class IV structural CIPP FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 2 liner. We felt it was the least intrusive and provided the best long-term solution to our infrastructure needs. Mr. Otteson said once they knew which product to use, they had to look at qualified contractors. This type of rehabilitation required highly skilled contractors for its installation. Currently, only a handful of contractors throughout the world are able to install this type of product. Because of this, high project mobilization costs were imminent. All three cities were working under tightened budget constraints and there was a real push to do more with less. The cities decided to complete the proj ect under a cooperative proj ect agreement and bid all proj ects under one bid tab. All cities had experience with CPAs in the past and all felt comfortable working with each other due to networking opportunities with CEAM, APWA, and AWWA. Using the CPA tool helped to increase the total quantity of lining to be performed in the area, bringing down the respective mobilization costs for each City. The CPA tool also gave the contractor an insight that there may be a future market for new business in this area. This forced them to keep their prices low in hopes of opening up a new hub for future water main rehabilitation work in central Minnesota. Mr. Otteson said the cities worked on writing the bid documents to establish projects that fit for each city. They had to have a consensus on design, construction practices, and testing methods. They also had to meet each individual city's requirements for traffic control, turf establishment, general restoration, and temporary water services. Each city wanted the ability to opt out of the project for any reason before the contract was issued. An upfront payment from each city to the Contracting Authority for 95% of the engineer's estimated construction amount needed to be received before construction started. There were no issues presented by any cities. Mr. Otteson said it was a challenge getting each city's management, council, and attorneys to agree on one CPA document. It was also a challenge getting approvals from each city in a timely manner prior to the "Contracting Authority" taking the overall project to Council for bid. The cities had to work together to remain organized and plan well to avoid project delays. To accomplish this SHE, provided project-related material for City Council packets for all three Cities and were ready for each city. SEH tried to use the same bid-unit pay items across all of the cities to balance the cost among the three cities. For example; 12-inch CIPP water main lining was one line item that combined the pipe length for all three Cities. However, mobilization costs were difficult to standardize because the project locations were miles apart. Items like mobilization, traffic control, and temporary water required contractors to bid on separate lump sum pay items for each City involved. Mr. Otteson said there is a line item breakdown for work that occurred in each City. The work on Boone Avenue was completed in 2010. All other portions dropped out for the Spring 2011 bid. Prices were higher because the project was pushed in late season with high LD's if not completed on time. Brunswick Avenue had a change order driven work. We had three breaks over this section while Fer-Pal was in town. The change order allowed us to rehabilitate pipe under a country road that kept breaking, as well as install valves that maintained service to a local Dialysis Clinic that kept being shut off. The total approximate savings was 10% less than the cost of rehabilitation using the open-cut method of pipe rehabilitation. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 3 Mr. Otteson reviewed the water main work that was done: • Install a temporary water to disrupted homes • Dig pits • Video and clean the pipe • Install the liner inside the existing host pipe • Expand the liner and cure with hot water • Flush the new liner and test • Perform all reconnections and backfill pits • Remove temporary water and perform restoration Mr. Otteson said CIPP technology offers significant sustainable environmental benefits compared to the open-cut rehabilitation method. CIPP reduces greenhouse gas emissions needed to rehabilitate trunk water main pipe using open-cut method by 84%. An 84% reduction amounts to 378 tons of carbon dioxide for each mile of trunk water main pipe rehabilitated using CIPP. In other words, this is a reduction of carbon dioxide equal to that produced by 24,600 gallons of gasoline or 196,570 pounds of coal for each mile of trunk water main pipe. Mr. Otteson said these savings will be realized in the reduced boulevard impacts as there will be no curb stop repairs or service pipe replacement required (reduces boulevard restoration). There will be less pavement damage, as all of the Cities had to consider the political fallout (namely property-owner complaints) from damaging good pavement. There will also be less water service disturbances, and this particular CIPP application used robotically controlled cutting devices to restore flow to water service laterals. The project had minimal material waste by creating small excavation footprints and experienced reduced trucking costs as less materials were necessary for construction and it was easy to transport without many trucks. Mr. Otteson said on Boone Avenue, in a commercial business area where companies relied both on daily access and water usage to conduct their business, the city did not receive any complaints during construction. Safety was maintained working on two-way traffic along TH15/Nlain Street in Hutchinson and secured excavations with flashers prevented accidental fall in. The restoration left very little evidence that there was ever work being done in the area. Mr. Otteson said they learned they should bid early to get better bid prices. Also if you manage a cooperative project, use LD's to ensure that work is finished in one City prior to commencing in another. This helps to reduce construction durations and promote clean/efficient proj ects. It is also important to plan ahead to make sure there is ample time to complete the work in all cities involved. The contractor will want to limit risk of LD's so give them plenty of time in the construction season to get this work done. APPROVAL OF PROPOSED CONSENT AGENDA: APPROVAL OF MINUTES: City Council Meeting of March 12, 2012. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 4 Councilmember Bolkcom asked for the following corrections: Page 8, third paragraph Kevin Bohl's address should be "7399" Page 8, fourth paragraph Darcy Erickson stated you may prorate in the year of closing paying those special assessments and anything going forward may sometimes be picked up by the purchaser. It is an item for negotiation between buyer and seller. Page 8, last paragraph Mr. Kosluchar replied, basically there are discharges that violate the City ordinance (which only permits discharge outside of the City right-of-way). If someone wished not to connect, they basically would have to cut their discharge pipe at least 10 feet back from the back of the curb. The pipe would be in their yard hopefully infiltrating. In addition, the City does have a nuisance ordinance. If there is some discharge creating icing conditions on the roadway, it is considered a nuisance and the property owner has to deal with it. These are the requirements the property owners would have to deal with. Page 9, last paragraph APPROVED AS AMENDED. OLD BUSINESS: Wendy Hanson said she has an irrigation system and was wondering what would happen . . .. 1. Second Reading of an Ordinance Amending the Fridley City Code, Chapter 1, Legislative Body, Pertaining to ward and Precinct Boundaries. William Burns, City Manager, said that since the population changes for Fridley's three wards did not change substantially, the ward boundaries remain the same. The changes in state legislative district boundaries; however, dictate that we consolidate precincts four and five in Ward 2. Staff recommends Council's approval of the second and final reading of this ordinance. WAIVED THE READING OF THE ORDINANCE AND ADOPTED ORDINANCE NO. 1294 ON SECOND READING AND ORDERED PUBLICATION. NEW BUSINESS: 2. Resolution Entering into an Agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for Preliminary Engineering for Safe Routes to School Project No. ST2011-21 and MnDOT Agency Agreement No. 00516. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 5 William Burns, City Manager, said this resolution is in support of an agreement with MnDOT regarding our Safe Routes to School Grant. Last year, the City and School District #14 applied for and received $108,840 in federal funding for pedestrian safety improvements in the vicinity of Hayes and Stevenson Elementary Schools and the Fridley Middle School. This resolution allows the City to conduct the preliminary engineering for this work under a"Delegated Contract Process" as required for projects receiving federal aid. Under this process, Fridley will work directly with MnDOT rather than the Federal Highway Administration. The agreement also provides that the City will be reimbursed for up to $14,800 in preliminary engineering costs. Staff recommends Council's approval. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 3. Resolution Authorizing application for DNR Local Trail Connection grant Funds for Unity Hospital Health Walk to rice Creek Regional Trail. William Burns, City Manager, said that last year, through the use of SHII' grant money for grant writing, we applied for two DNR local trail grants. Although we scored well, we were not funded. The grants, along with local matching money, would have been used to build bike/walkways in the vicinity of Fridley High School and between Unity Hospital's wellness walkway and the Rice Creek Regional Trail. Dr. Burns said that due to other potential commitments for local matches on Main Street, we are recommending that this year's DNR grant application be targeted at bikeway/walkway improvements between Unity Hospital and the Rice Creek Regional Trail. The $101,128 proj ect would enable someone to walk or bike from Unity Hospital's "Wellness Walk" south on Ballet Boulevard to Madsen Park From there they would, with the aid of a push-button pedestrian cross walk, cross 73rd Avenue to an existing City trail on the Target Distribution site. They would journey from there to the Rice Creek Regional Trail in Locke Park Staff has hired the consultant we used last year to tweak the grant applications. The local match on the Unity-Rice Creek Trail application is estimated at $25,000. Staff would use MSAS money to fund the City share. Staff recommends Council's approval of the resolution. THIS ITEM WAS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA AND PLACED ON THE REGULAR AGENDA. 4. Approve Master Services Agreement between the City of Fridley and Network Medics, Inc. William Burns, City Manager, said the Police Department has had a service agreement with Network Medics of Minneapolis for repair and maintenance of its sixteen laptop computers since 2008. The sixteen computers serve as mobile data terminals in squads and are used primarily by police patrol. They are, however, also used by detectives, administrators, community service officers and reserve officers for a wide variety of law enforcement purposes. These computers are used 24 hours per day, 7 days per week The annual fee for this 24/7 service has been and will continue to be $21,875 per year. Staff recommends Council's approval. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 6 APPROVED. 5. Approve 2012 Reappointments to City Commissions. William Burns, City Manager, said that the following people have asked to be reappointed to commission terms that expire on April 1, 2012: Dave Kondrick Chair of Planning Commission Brad Sielaff Appeals Commission Richard Svanda EQEC Dave Kondrick Parks and Recreation Commission Marcy Sibell Parks and Recreation Commission William Holm HRA (Term Expires: June 9, 2017) Dr. Burns said that all terms are three year terms with the exception of the HRA term, which is for five years. Staff recommends Council's approval. APPROVED. 5a. Appointment — Appraiser. Dr. Burns said following an evaluation of fourteen candidates for the appraiser position vacated by Shawn Halligan in January, staff recommends the appointment of Patrick Maghrak Patrick has a BS Degree from the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. He also holds licenses as a Certified Minnesota Assessor, Real Property Appraiser and Residential Real Estate Sales. He has been employed by the City of Coon Rapids since 2004 where he served as Appraiser II. He also works as a staff appraiser for Equity Appraisal Services and has been working for the City of Fridley as an independent contractor for the past two months. Staff has been very pleased with his work and recommends Council's approval of his appointment. APPROVED. 6. Claims (154389 —154526) APPROVED. 7. Licenses APPROVED THE LICENSES AS SUBMITTED AND AS ON FILE. APPROVAL OF CONSENT AGENDA: Councilmember Bolkcom asked for Item Nos. 2 and 3 to be removed from the Consent Agenda. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 7 MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to approve the Consent Agenda with the removal of Item Nos. 2 and 3. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adopt the Agenda with the addition of Item Nos. 2 and 3. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OPEN FORUM VISITORS: Pam Reynolds, 1241 Norton Avenue, discussed recent happenings with Springbrook Nature Center. Her information was found from documents archived on the City's website. In November, 1972, a resolution was passed to purchase the Springbrook Nature Center. The City went to the voters to decide what the use of the land should be; a golf course or nature center. There was a 78% voter participation and a nature center was born. A group was formed known as the Springbrook Nature Center Foundation. In 1975 the Foundation entered into a lease agreement for the nature center and also developed plans to include walkways and tours. They ensured that the Springbrook Nature Center would not be a burden on taxpayers. This lease was for five years. Ms. Reynolds said in 1975, Council was asked to approve a sign for the area but they did not decide on what name should be on the sign. After this was referred to Parks and Recreation, Council decided on Springbrook Nature Center at North Park Only the facility was being named and this was not an effort to change the name of the park In 1978, sewer and water came in from the City of Coon Rapids and the Foundation paid for those services. In 1979, a resolution was passed to build a visitors center. It was brought to the City to use the land as golf course again and was put back on the ballot to ask voters what to use land for. The Foundation said tax payers would not foot the bill but many additional requests have been granted throughout the years. Ms. Reynolds said recent developments for the Nature Center include building a theater and a bookstore. The last attempt to build a recreation center was denied by 94% of voters. A 2010 Council meeting asked the question of when Council would take official action to require all money upfront rather than a phased plan. A MOU was discussed but never produced. Council proceeded with the issue without the official action necessary. The Foundation has control of the nature center but Council says the Foundation should run decisions through the Council. Ms. Reynolds said in 1974 and 2004, Fridley chose to have North Park remain a green space. She could not find where the name was ever changed to Springbrook Nature Center. This is not the desire of the majority of Fridley residents. There are many questions as to why Fridley is FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 8 responsible to provide special use for surrounding communities. Springbrook Nature Center should be maintained in the same fashion as other parks owned by the City, for the use of residents and protected from the development that is being proposed. Ms. Reynolds said the Nature Center is open for biking, walking, running, and other activities. The use of the Nature Center needs to be accomplished through a ballot with two questions; do residents wish to see North Park continue under the special tax levy and if they wish the facility to be used as it was deemed when it was built. If a petition is needed to put these questions on the ballot, she will take on that task Time is of the essence to secure a spot on the 2012 ballot. She also asked for an answer to her question as to what the official name of the park is. Mayor Lund said he had a lot of things to say about her comments and noted that it would have been more appropriate to submit her comments by email. He felt that she was using Open Forum as a campaign for the petition she plans to take to voters. This has been done in the past when the Foundation asked for a time period where they could bring questions to the voters, like in 2004. There has never been a complete census from voters for or against a golf course. Voters clearly spoke in 1974 and 2004. Mayor Lund noted Foundation members are volunteers trying to do something good. They raise a significant amount of money every year for those less fortunate and give quite a few grants themselves to schools to benefit the programs at Springbrook Nature Center. It is unfortunate this issue comes up. He will look up the official designated name change and get back to Ms. Reynolds. Bert Martinez, 7786 Beach Street NE, said he has had a situation over the last 20 years and thought the solution was fixed but it keeps coming back. He wants to stop his shop from floating in water. There is damage to equipment, carpet, furniture just to name a few. This year he barely got done putting things back from water damage only to have another flood. There is no rhyme or reason to this water problem and he has talked to Jim Kosluchar to try to learn what is wrong. Mayor Lund agreed Mr. Martinez has a valid concern. Mr. Kosluchar will look at the issue and see if something can be engineered differently. The problem can be solved today but it is not a failsafe solution; there is no guarantee our system can handle all weather situations. The current system was overwhelmed but the rain. All storm sewers end up in rivers and creeks and they get overwhelmed until the water level goes down. Mayor Lund responded to the letter Mr. Martinez submitted. It stated in the letter that this issue was brought to the Mayor and he never heard anything back Mayor noted that staff has responded to his concerns. A gate was lowered and worked effectively for three years. He thought the issue was taken care of. When the City had flooding issues last year he did not hear from Mr. Martinez so he thought it was resolved. Staff will look at the problem to see if they can help. Staff will mitigate and check with engineering to figure out what is wrong. Councilmember Bolkcom said this area is not part of the new water shed district but part of Coon Creek so this may be a new project opportunity. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 9 Jim Kosluchar said a survey has been done and he would get back to Mr. Martinez in about six weeks. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record a letter from Mr. Martinez. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Don Anderson asked what the rules were for mopeds on city streets. Councilmember Saefke thought it was okay to operate the moped under a regular license if the moped was under 49 cc's. He knew the moped could not be operated on a bike lane and that he should drive in the regular traffic lane on city streets, where speed limit is 30 miles per hour. Mayor Lund said he should check with the Police Department for the proper rules for operating mopeds on city streets. NEW BUSINESS: 8. Resolution Approving Adoption of the East River Road Corridor Study as Prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associated, Inc. Jim Kordiak, Anoka County Commissioner, introduced the East River Corridor Study and the representatives from Kimley-Horn. Councilmember Bolkcom asked what the next step would be if the resolution was approved. She asked if Council did not approve of everything or had concerns, who should be contacted. She also asked who the people should respond to if they had questions or concerns. Commissioner Kordiak said he has not had a chance to read the resolution. Any changes and desires of the Council and the residents of Fridley are important. Councilmember Bolkcom noted that many people do not think about moving traffic like the County does which is a concern. We have to plan ahead, but she thinks the County Engineers want to move traffic quicker than Fridley. It is clear in the studies that have taken place that people are concerned about some of those things. She is not sure she agrees with everything in the resolution. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said both agencies have interests related to East River Road and how it comes together. There will be discussion to make both interests match to create a plan to guide the future of East River Road. Dan Coylel, Kimley-Horn Traffic Engineer, said there were goals developed with the key idea of not widening East River Road. They found out in the study that they could avoid having to widen the road to six lanes. He reviewed the following Implementation Costs: FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 10 Implementation Costs th A 57 Bridge (does not include ROW cost) $ 10,390,000 B 694 to Rice Creek Way $ 9,300,000 C Rice Creek Way to Osborne Road NE $ 7,800,000 D Osborne Road NE to Mississippi Blvd NW $ 8,580,000 E Mississippi Blvd NW to TH 610 $ 9,290,000 Total $ 45,360,000 Kate Garwood, Anoka County Highway Department Multi Modal Transportation Planner, said the next steps will be for the cities to approve the resolution, as well as the County Public Works Committee and the County Board. Future steps include to monitor changes in corridor conditions, capitalize on opportunities as they arise, apply for funding as it is available and work on short-term goals in support of long-term recommendations. Ms. Garwood said the main message that was taken away from the meetings was Fridley did not want East River Road widened. That message was received and it comes with some compromises. The easiest route in this project is to widen the road, but we plan to keep the road like a residential-type neighborhood. The freight traffic on this road is significant. Trucks are loud and it was reported by some residents that the trucks shake their homes. Truck freight also takes up space and causes congestion. They plan to try to establish a freight corridor on University Avenue, Highway 252 or Highway 65. They are trying to figure out how to move truck freight traffic in a different way. Funding is not something that comes very quickly; it takes time to get funding. From the time we have a plan to the time we have a shovel in the ground takes a minimum of seven years. Things will be completed as they make sense. Smaller projects may be completed to take advantage of funds as they become available. We need to agree on a plan and a concept but not all the details. Coon Rapids adopted a plan as of Tuesday last week The County will take this to Public Works on April 2 and it would go to the County Board on April 10 to adopt the resolution. Matthew Parent, Anoka County Highway Department Planner, said they reviewed the map and specifications that were distributed to Council. Councilmember Barnette asked about the Safe Route to School project regarding Stevenson Elementary School and how this proj ect would work with that effort. Mr. Hickok said there has been discussion early on about a path around Stevenson Elementary. Through these discussions, staff learned a lot and did not know students at Stevenson could not cross East River Road. If they lived across this road they are bused to school. Safe Routes to School are to enter school through the neighborhood to the north. They looked at a connection to the south as well so there would be a more direct route. Councilmember Bolkcom asked who would do the monitoring. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 11 Ms. Garwood said those issues were spoken to and County roads would be the County's responsibility. Currently this is done on an annual basis and reported back to the cities. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the area of East River Road and Mississippi Street at the traffic light has been looked at. There could be a cleanup of signs in that area as she counted 20 signs in a three-block area. Also on February 26, she asked if any of this area would be included in the new watershed area. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, answered no; that would be the Coon Creek Watershed Area. Councilmember Bolkcom said where it talks about the turning phases under 85th Avenue, she did not understand it. At some point, she would like an explanation. Ms. Garwood said that they could create a diagram so it is easier to understand. Councilmember Bolkcom was concerned about making u-turns and realizes that after a while people will get used to it. She noted this project is different than Coon Rapids because this is a residential corridor. This is drastic change. On section 6.4 regarding the right of way and the easement, she noted it talked about noise wall costs. She had not heard of a noise wall being installed. Ms. Garwood said she would look at that section. A noise wall is needed if federal funds are used and if the capacity of the road is expanded. She will research and get back to the Council. Councilmember Bolkcom questioned why the traffic numbers were higher on East River Road than University. Ms. Garwood answered that the growth communities in Anoka County are to the north and west and Fridley is south. A driver will take the quickest path away from Highway 10 and the quickest path into Minneapolis is East River Road. Councilmember Bolkcom noted most of the studies and census are information from 2000 and this information will need to be updated as time goes on. Ms. Garwood answered yes; each time a new segment is started that information will need to be reviewed. Mayor Lund asked about a freight study and if there was funding available or a time line established for a freight study. Ms. Garwood said that the budget for this year has something in it regarding freight bottlenecks and to find funding for a freight corridor study. Conversations have been held with MnDOT. Mayor Lund asked what type of green space or decorative feature would be in the median strips. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 12 Ms. Garwood said to eliminate number of signs, there would be a longer median allowing a better opportunity for landscaping. Options include decorative shrubs or pavement; something attractive. Mayor Lund noted that the elimination of crossings would increase the speed and move traffic along faster. Ms. Garwood said they hope to not increase the speed. They are recommending leaving the speed limit as it is today. MnDOT controls the speed limit on all roads in the state. Mayor Lund was also concerned with u-turns; it will be an education process and could be a safety issue. The site line is not the best so the engineers need to look at this closely. Ms. Garwood said the engineers are efficient with site lines and aware of busses' and trucks' turning radius. All of these things will be looked at very closely. Councilmember Bolkcom asked on item 2.5 if a breakdown of land uses could be provided; also to divide Coon Rapids from Fridley. She also asked how they came up with how long it takes someone to get to work. Ms. Garwood said the traffic people were not here tonight but they take averages; they watch traffic and estimate how long it takes to get from one point to another. Councilmember Bolkcom noted that this is based on the 2000 census. Ms. Garwood said a new traffic questionnaire is happening right now. The analysis also looks at where you live and where you work. Larry Korzenowski, 529 Janesville St NE, said this cul-de-sac business is unnecessary. If he has to come down another street and come up a hill it will be a problem. This is an unnecessary expense and just creates more revenue for the city or county. Cathleen Korzenowski, 529 Janesville St NE, said that this neighborhood is difficult to drive through because of the steep hills. This will create a hardship on people in the area with no access to East River Road. Right now she is unable to get up the hill on slippery days and she will not be able to get to her home. She should not be denied access to roads she has spent her life paying for. Putting in islands and u-turns does not service the people at all, it only further inconveniences people. The current road flows well the way it is and will continue to do so. Mayor Lund asked how they feel the county or city would make money on this project. Money will be spent on this project, not made. Mr. Korzenowski said that the funding is not a necessary expenditure. Mayor Lund asked if the Korzinowskis attended any of the meetings. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 13 Ms. Korzenowski answered yes they did. After taking to all the neighbors at the meetings, they felt like no one was listening to them. Mayor Lund said doing nothing is not a good option. This project is forward thinking; some parts could happen in a few years . The entire proj ect will not happen at once. Councilmember Bolkcom said she is not totally against this project. Just because we approve this resolution tonight there will still be future discussion. She would be against a cul-de-sac in their area and would like to make sure they can get around in inclement weather. Mr. Hickok said this street pattern goes back to the turn of the century. The road worked well then but not now when you look at traffic numbers that exist today. It is difficult to come up with anything short of a system that would separate the connections to East River Road. Separating the housing from the heavy traffic by creating cul-de-sacs has purpose to create a visual separation and take away traffic. A lot of time has been spent determining that there are certain streets that make sense to be blocked off. Councilmember Saefke said the County is moving forward and had a choice of widening East River Road to handle future traffic or make these modifications and close off some side streets. If the road were made wider, sound walls would have to be installed. Residents objected to widening East River Road and this is the alternative. It will not be easy, but we need to compromise. This is a county road and not a city road. The county is trying not to have to take out homes and widen the road. Mayor Lund agreed the maj ority of the people did not want to widen the road. People in the area do not want more traffic, but in the future, there will be more traffic. This is a better compromise than widening the road. Mr. Korzenowski asked how closing off streets would improve it that much. Mr. Hickok said it is hard to visualize what conditions will be because right now the flow appears just fine. The predictability factor about it is that cars are slowing down to turn; there are short blocks that are not consistent and median breaks. Double the traffic in this area and see how that works; problems start to arise. The traffic is eventually going to come and this street cannot continue to operate as we are today. Ms. Korzenowski asked if they did an accident analysis as she does not notice any accidents; she does not see it as problem. Paul Slesar, 44 Lock Lake Road, said everyone is upset with what is going to be happening in their corner of the world. This is a county project and we are all residents of the county and the city. Bypassing traffic seems logical but people are not cheering that this is a good idea. He asked Council to vote no to this project. Mayor Lund asked what Mr. Sleezer did not like about the proj ect. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 14 Mr. Slesar said this is a residential neighborhood. He likes cops sitting in the median in his area and pulling over speeders. He is not looking forward to more traffic. He also does not want to see an increase in the speed limit but he sees this happening in the future. He likes to bike to work and has concerns about all the traffic and making it dangerous to bike on East River Road. Councilmember Bolkcom said this project looks at improvements to get bike traffic off East River Road so bikers are not at the mercy of cars. Some improvements make sense. We will have to change how we do things. Mayor Lund noted he is aware people are resigned to this project but others realize doing nothing is not the greatest alternative either. The County listened to the people and agreed not to widen the road. The County has tried its best to listen to the City and ask for staff and Council involvement. This proj ect will never be what everyone wants it to be. Dr. Burns noted that the county has made changes in response to the meetings. Mr. Hickok said the traffic will be here with or without the change. This project presents difficult problems with not a lot of solutions to pick from. The end product looks different today had we not involved the public. This project will end up with the best solution considering all the elements that had to be considered. Ms. Garwood said there will be no additional taxing done by the County for this road and they are not asking the city to do that either. The county does not add tax or assess anything for this proj ect. Councilmember Bolkcom asked about maintenance and who would maintain and plow the roadway, bikeways and walkways. Ms. Garwood said it is a county road so the county would maintain the road. Commissioner Kordiak said this road will look great when it is finished. He appreciated the consideration for this project. There has been serious discussion on this project, and he asked Council to support this resolution. Every point of location will have vast modifications in the future. This is a work in progress. The County does not bring traffic to Fridley, the traffic finds Fridley and will continue as populations grow. A cul-de-sac is great for kids, bike, strollers etc. and provides a safe environment. All comments are important to consider and we will find satisfaction together. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record the final draft of the East River Road Project. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt Resolution 2012-25. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 15 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY 2. Resolution Entering into an Agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation for Preliminary Engineering for Safe Routes to School Project No. ST2011-21 and MnDOT Agency Agreement No. 00516 Councilmember Bolkcom asked on page 11 where it talks about the duties of the City, what the risk was for Fridley. The estimated cost is $14,800; she asked if the City paid any part of the cost or expense of the work. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, said under that cost, the City would be using staff time and would be reimbursed for staff time. Councilmember Bolkcom asked on page 12 where it talks about staffing, if someone else would be employed. Mr. Kosluchar said we would employ our own staff. Councilmember Bolkcom asked on page 13, number 2 where it talks about MnDOT and paying them, she asked if we had to wait to be reimbursed. Mr. Kosluchar answered the document relates to more contract payments and to testing, and they are reasonable as far as costs. This is a standard clause. The soil analysis or testing would be something we would pay and then get reimbursed. Councilmember Bolkcom asked on page 14, letter F, regarding the costs paid with federal funds if there were any concerns federal funds will not be available. Mr. Kosluchar answered that the federal funds would be allocated ahead of time. Councilmember Bolkcom noted that pages 16/17 repeat themselves. Mr. Kosluchar confirmed that is correct; page six of the resolution is missing from Council's packet. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to move into record page 6 of the contract. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt Resolution No. 2012-23. Seconded by Councilmember Saefke. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 16 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. Resolution Authorizing application for DNR Local Trail Connection Grant Funds for Unity Hospital Health Walk to Rice Creek Regional Trail. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if this is being done because it is cheaper and what funds were for Moore Lake. William Burns, City Manager, said there is a local match over $100,000. Councilmember Bolkcom said that the project is $101,000 Dr. Burns confirmed it is a large local match. Councilmember Bolkcom wanted to confirm the project cost. She was concerned the bids would come in higher because of the oil prices. She asked if staff was comfortable the project could be done for the estimated price. Jim Kosluchar, Public Works Director, said the price was adjusted from last year because of the price of oil. Councilmember Bolkcom asked if the City was committed to do this project no matter what the cost was. Mr. Kosluchar answered no, the funds could be returned. Councilmember Varichak asked who would maintain the connections. Mr. Kosluchar answered Public Works would maintain this area. MOTION by Councilmember Bolkcom to adopt Resolution No. 2012-24. Seconded by Councilmember Barnette. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 9. Informal Status Report. Scott Hickok, Community Development Director, said April 21 is the first recycling drop-off date for 2012. The same articles will be accepted as before and no scrap metal or tires can be dropped of£ Check the website or call 763-572-3599 to see what is okay to bring and not to bring. FRIDLEY CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF MARCH 26, 2012 PAGE 17 Mayor Lund said the SACA Empty Bowls will be held on Thursday from 4:30 p.m.-730 p.m. at Murzyn Hall in Columbia Heights. A free-will donation for soup and salad will be accepted at the door. Councilmember Saefke added any contributions during the month of March qualify for matched funds by corporations in Minnesota. Councilmember Bolkcom said the trailway by Locke Park on Locke Lake is being repaired in the near future. She anticipates it happening in the next few months. ADJOURN: MOTION by Councilmember Barnette to adjourn. Seconded by Councilmember Varichak. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, MAYOR LUND DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 10:36 P.M. Respectfully Submitted, Krista Monsrud Scott Lund Recording Secretary Mayor