Minutes - Council Work Session - 04/01/2008

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environmental review and design for the Ramsey rail station, with the hope that this money can be reimbursed with future transit sale tax funds. Case 5) Update on Ramsey Town Center and Update on LCDA Grant and Streets cape Design City Administrator Ulrich stated that included in the packet is a letter from PSD, LLC, formerly the Beard Group, regarding a possible public/private partnership surrounding the RTC. He reviewed the issues that they see as the four critical points. He stated that he expects them to submit a proposal to the City in the next few weeks outlining a development proposal. City Administrator Ulrich stated that regarding the LCDA grant, the Met Council has indicated that they would prefer the City ask for an extension rather than use the funds for a different project. He stated that the extension request will go to the Community Development Committee and not the full Met Council, so he is hopeful that the City will be allowed to have the extension so the grant can be used for its original purpose within the RTC. He stated that because of this, $360,000 has been eliminated from the streetscape design. Public Works Director Olson stated that the streetscape project will be completed using Letter of Credit monies and has been designed as a "functional" streetscape. He stated that it will be extended with lighting on both sides, but planter boxes and benches will only be included on the South side of Sunwood between the municipal center and Coboms and on the North side of Sunwood between the NAU building and Ramsey Boulevard. He stated that the original cost was around $2.6 million and with the revision will be around $1.1 million. Mayor Gamec asked if there would be sidewalk installed on the north side. Public Works Olson stated that right now it will only be lighting; the sidewalks will be installed as development happens. Councilmember Dehen stated that he was not at the March 11, 2008 work session when this project was discussed. He asked whether the sidewalks would be destroyed and have to be rebuilt as projects came in. Public Works Director Olson stated that the original plan was to wait until the buildings go in so the sidewalks would be installed, all at once, by the master developer. He stated that because the situation has changed and the market is not very strong, staff would like to go ahead and do this because traffic has increased and there are people walking along the roadways. He stated that Connexus has stated that when construction happens they are willing to come and tip down the lights so they are not damaged, at no cost to the City. He stated that by putting the sidewalks in now, it provides a finished look and, in his opinion, the most important thing, to get people off the street. Councilmember Dehen asked if the City could shop out this work because there are a lot of "hungry" businesses right now. City Council Work Session /Aprill, 2008 Page 19 of 20