Minutes - Public Works Committee - 05/17/2005

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City Engineer Jankowski explained as a result of concerns expressed by Mr. Greg Bolier, one of three property owners along the St. Francis Boulevard frontage road, the public hearing on this project which was opened at the May 10 City Council meeting was not adjourned. Included in the Committee's packet is a copy of a letter from Mr. Bolier outlining his concerns. All three of the property owners have been invited to attend tonight's Public Works Committee meeting to discuss their concerns with the project. This is intended to be an opportunity to consider suggestions as to how this project might be modified to address resident concerns. Any suggested modifications to the project will be considered when the public hearing is continued at the June 28, 2005 City Council meeting. Mr. Bolier stated this road is hardly a road at all. He has only lived there five years and has been talking to the neighbors about improving it. Basically the neighborhood is just looking for getting the road paved, but they do not feel it is necessary to spend money on paving all the way to the end of the cul-de-sac. If it is paved it will have the potential of becoming a skateboarding area and a place for kids to hang out. If it is left unimproved emergency vehicles and mail trucks would still be able to turn around. There are not any plans for the road to be connected to anything at this point, and paving the cul-de-sac adds a lot of expense to this project. If the cul- de-sac is not paved it would likely reduce the project by about 20 percent. The gentleman on the end of the street just wants to get to his house without driving in the sand. Mr. Bolier stated as far as the width, they are adding another three feet to the width of the road that is now at 21 feet. With only three houses on the road they do not see the need for the extra three feet of width, which is roughly 10 percent of the project cost. As far as the bike trail goes, they are on a dead end street. He encountered nine vehicles riding his bike down 157th Avenue, but the most vehicles anyone would encounter on their street are one of the three neighbors. It is much safer on their street without a bike path than going down 157th Avenue to get to a bike trail. He stated an eight-foot wide trail is a bit excessive. He has trees about 20 feet from the road and his neighbors have bushes that they have growing for years to offset the highway. If the road is moved over 11 feet the snow will be pushed over into the base of their trees, which will do quite a bit of damage to them in a short period of time. He explained after being informed by the City Engineer that the road may be moved over five feet he discussed it with his neighbors and they determined that five feet is not a bad deal. But now the plans are showing the road being moved 11 feet, which will be a problem with the snow being pushed up into the trees. He stated in the breakdown of how the prices are spread out, the bike trail basically pays for the bike trail unimproved section of the road, and the residents are paying for the portion into their yards. If they did not pave the cul-de-sac and took out the bike trail portion of the road, the residents would be paying about $7,000 without the City's help. Now with the City's help they lose 11 feet to the road and still pay the same amount of money. This bike trail was supposed to in some manner subsidize the cost of the project, but it is actually costing the residents more and they are losing some of their frontage. He stated he would feel just as safe riding his bicycle down his road paved without a bike trail as anywhere else with a bike trail. Chairperson Elvig explained the City has a trail system parallel to Highway 47 that has been invested in, but they may be able to discuss the width of the road. He noted valid concerns have been raised about kids being in the cul-de-sac. Public Works Committee/May 17,2005 Page 2 of 12