Minutes - Council - 03/10/2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Look stated that he has a letter sent to him by Scott and Heidi Johnson, which gave an account of an accident on December 27,2008. He stated that he supports the temporary closure because it is temporary. He stated that the problem is the Highway 47 access onto 142nd, which causes an unbelievable amount of accidents, and some have been fatal. He stated that he understands that it may hurt some businesses, but the Council is responsible for public safety, above all. He stated that because the City doesn't control Highway 47, the only option the City has is to close 142nd temporarily. Councilmember Jeffrey stated that he agrees with Councilmember Look because this has always been a public safety issue for him. He stated that he has had a number of calls in support of the closure and an e-mail asking him not to vote for its closure. He stated that he supports this temporary closure. Motion by Councilmember Jeffrey, seconded by Councilmember Elvig, ratify the recommendation of the Public Works Committee. Further Discussion: Councilmember Look stated that he wants this to be temporary, but isn't sure if the one year mark is cut in stone. He stated that when the Highway 47 issue is addressed, then it can be reopened. Councilmember Elvig stated that part of the reason for the closure, in his mind, is the speed in the area and feels 30 mph is too high for that condition. He really doesn't want to shut off Highway 47 to the businesses and thinks the City should take a look at remedying the cut through and agrees the alignment doesn't allow people to see around it. He stated that Highway 47 should be looked at to get that repaired. He stated that it would have been nice if the City could have done a study with the State and put in a median to see what would happen and look at the ripple effect. Councilmember Wise stated that originally he had no desire to close the road and got an overwhelming number of phone calls in favor of closing it. He stated that he thinks other options can be looked at in a year and agrees that something should probably be done on Highway 47 to remedy this problem. Councilmember McGlone stated that he is against closing the road and thinks this should be taken as a lesson to ourselves of what not to do in the future. He stated that there are other issues going on in this neighborhood that may really be the issue; hills, poor site lines, and trees planted where they shouldn't be. He stated that he brought up the possibility of limiting parking to one side of the street and perhaps put in a sidewalk to get people out of the roadway. He stated that he will oppose this without first looking at other options, such as signs before closing it. Mayor Ramsey stated that he will also oppose this because what really frustrates him is he has gotten e-mails that their kids can't go down the street to play at other people's houses and doesn't understand why the neighborhood isn't just asking for a sidewalk. He stated that kids should be on sidewalks, not on the streets. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Councilmembers Dehen, Elvig, Jeffrey, Look and Wise. Voting No: Mayor Ramsey and Councilmember McGlone. Public Works Director Olson stated that signs will be put out tomorrow indicating the closure will occur on March 17th, to give residents advanced notice. City Council! March 10,2009 Page 7 of 13