Minutes - Council - 09/08/2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

instead so people could utilize the trail. He stated the benefit was not greater than the cost because many trees, shrubs, fences, landscaping, irrigation systems, and seven junction boxes will need to be removed. He indicated runners and bikers would not use the sidewalk and cars parked on the road would allow kids to go between the cars creating blind spots. He stated the citizens of Northfork had spoken three times about not wanting sidewalks and noted it was obvious the Council had already made its decision. Greg Fritz, 16280 Andrie Street NW, thanked Council for taking the public's comments. He noted there was a lot of passion about this project. He asked what the sidewalk was adding to this community. He stated he was concerned that this was supposed to be a green community but this sidewalk would impact 120 trees, which would be lost forever and create an environmental impact. He indicated he was not looking for this type of a community when he bought his house. He stated he lived across the street from a wildlife area and that would also be impacted. He understood the street was going to be three feet wider than proposed and asked why this had been changed. He stated the form of government was a Republic and it was not practical to get a vote on every issue, but asked each of the Councilmembers to listen to the citizens that they were elected to represent. In this case, they were asking for an exception for good, valid reasons. City Engineer I:Iimmer stated at the time the road was done, the road was surveyed to be between 28 to 32 feet, so they estimated it to be 29 feet. Now the street would be 32 feet, which was required for parking. Councilmember Dehen asked if this was a non-MSA road, could they assess the road to the property owners without the sidewalk. He asked what was the cost savings to the Andrie Street residents. Public Works Director Olson responded they would look at the total cost estimate and divide it by the number of assessable lots. He stated generally the assessment policy has been 50 percent. He noted the raw traffic counts on 164th Lane was 485, in the middle or Andrie Street it was 383, and on the south end north of Alpine Drive it was 1,327, which was more than a residential street. Councilmember Elvig stated he had heard 50 to 250 trees would be taken down and asked for clarification. City Engineer Himmer clarified that 53 trees were slated for removal under the base bid and an additional 19 trees with the alternate. He stated it was not their intention to take down trees just for the sake of taking down trees and they would work around trees if possible. Mayor Ramsey stated he drove down the streets and a lot of trees they were counting did not appear to be giant oaks, but rather smaller pines. Todd Embury, 9041 159th Lane NW, asked for clarification ifMSA required a sidewalk. City Council / September 8, 2009 , Page 10 of23