Minutes - Council - 03/23/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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would need to be a road that needed to be closed because of this project. Councilmember Wise stated businesses pay a good share of their taxes to the City and as a businessman in town, he had vowed he would represent other businesses when he got elected. He stated if the City was going to grow out Town Center on the backs of all of the Ramsey businesses, this is a mistake. He understood the planning for the road had to be done far enough in advance that if Town Center would have build-out, the traffic would be higher than it is. He believed by voting against this, it would hurt the City's chances of County funding in the future. He asked the County to be open to further ideas. He stated the road needed improving and minus the hard channelization, it was a good project. He did not see any positive coming out of this road project. Councilmember Dehen stated his concern was businesses and Unity Street. He asked if this could be postponed. City Engineer Himmer responded the County needed to start the appraisal process in order to have sufficient time to negotiate with the landowners. He stated the County was trying to get'the appraisals done. and start the acquisitions. He stated the project would start spring 2011. He expressed concern about the business park being shut off. Councilmember McGlone stated he did not like the U-turns. He noted the road did not belong to the City and it was part of a Countywide system. He stated he wanted consistency in the road systems. He stated moving more vehicles was also important as well as safety. He stated he was not in agreement with growing Town Center on the "backs of other people". Andy Whittier, Anoka County, summarized the County's process in determining road projects. He noted with large-scale warehouses, the drivers would adjust their routes. He believed a lot of larger trucks would be coming from Highway #10 with some coming from Bunker Lake Boulevard. He believed the majority of the U-turns would be made by smaller vehicles, which could handle the U-turn safely. Councilmember Dehen stated he did believe vehicles would find another route, but he wanted further information on this and he would like to postpone this until he had a study done. Mr. Whittier responded this would squeeze the County's right-of--way process and would provide no time for negotiation and it would put everything to be done immediately. He stated they wanted to give the residents a reasonable amount of time for negotiations and discussions. He stated the funding would run out on March 31, 2011, and the project needed to be ready by that date and in order to do that they needed to start the right-of--way process now. Councilmember Elvig stated the City had asked for the County's assistance with this road. He stated he would like to see some federal dollars coming into the community. He stated he did not like hard channeling; but he did want to see the federal dollars be used in the community. He stated this was not a City road and the County had jurisdiction on the road. He stated he also liked the Unity cut, but there were some businesses that were not industrial and if a consultant said it made sense, then he would agree with the consultant. He was not sure a cut across was achievable. He suggested putting a contingency on the vote. Councilmember Wise clarified the citizens owned every road in the Country and the road did not belong to the County or the City. Councilmember Jeffrey stated he knew the County compromised on distances and he believed Unity Street should be done. Motion failed. Voting Yes: Councilmembers McGlone, Jeffrey, and Elvig. Voting No: Mayor Ramsey, Councilmembers Dehen, Look, and Wise. Motion by Councilmember Dehen, seconded by Mayor Ramsey, to direct staff to prepare a study, hire a consultant, and go back to the County following the study. City Council /March 23, 2010 Page 5 of 13