Agenda - Council - 04/10/2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

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something studied today may be forced later. He stated that everyone needs to know he and Ms. Haas Steffen took a day to negotiate and he would not have been there if he was not"'se~6~s: about wanting that opportunity and to study it. But, what happened is that the paran~ptefs haye''~?: beco,,,m_e fi,x, ed in concrete and the place he believes would work for everyone has:been` taken off the table and will not be considered. He stated that may be because therd':is n$,:'0ption or because staff did something they shouldn't have. Councilmember Hendrik~'~;stated h'e(-hSinks there isa place that it could work but he will not compromise the pfih¢iP~l,s he believe,?.;ae. important and what he ran on. He asked about a statement made earlier, abo~f~:l!~eare tactics ~h~;i'?. that Ms. Haas Steffen had said whether the City has a Comprehensiv~P'lan api~:i~0~ed in the next'"'~;~ few days or not will have little impact relative to what is going ofi~i~h the-bridge. Ms. Haas Steffen stated the opportunity site was not,~ihing~'"'~" the, Metropolitan CounciI*'.?!~"? dreamed up, it was a grant program the Metropolitan c6undil announced to cities and they had to apply for it. Ramsey applied for it and their project'~'~'(6~e top throtigh:'thegrant application process. The property was between County Road 5~5 and Armstrong Boulevard of about 150 acres and included a rail station behind Burger King. The City'thennbtified her they didn't want it there. To say she has not tried to get the Metropolitan Council t'3;: Show some flexibility, is not true. She explained there is between $200,000 and $250,000 in funda ~d the rai}i'~tation may be in a different location, as it seems reaSdiiable. They would also do a ~k4t~s~dy on the 200 acres that lie south of County Ro~id_I16'-ahd 15etWeen the two County roadSi~';'The City, when it gets the preliminary plan, revieWS, it anti'hen it ~;bst°:'PUblic heafings,'ab6Ut in September. She noted there has been some flexibility but no flexibility about going into Section 29 which begins at Armstrong Boulevard, down a mile o~.Hi~ghway :.!0:~and both'north and south of Highway 10. Ms Haas Steffen stated that last night she Was ask'ed about dolia~rs currently in the "pot" for a potential bridge crossing. Those dollars foil plhrming for scoping equal $250,000, plus dollars from Anoka County and the State. Then there~Would be an EIS, buying of fight-of-way, and you still need to bhild the bridge.. She explained tha. t..wh~. competing for federal funds, you receive points as yO~t.c~)me through ~d process. With6U~'~;'approved Comprehensive Plan, it will be no different forRamsey than bther entities tha?aPi~ since it will not score high in the system. With'regard to whether theWS250,000 is at riSk;.'Ms. Haas Steffen stated she will not ask MnDOT to take' it bacl~i-.She stated ihat a~c0mm~t'~as made at a meeting that "the Comprehensive Plan would be approved in several weeks" but She did not make that comment. CounCilmember HendrikSen noted the current bridge location and stated he was ridiculed at the time he was promoting that'i°~ation five to six years ago when everyone else supported a location thi:ough Mississippi' East Park. He stated he is not unaccustomed to being in the position people are trying'fo put h/m in but that location is prevailing. He objected to saying that if something is not done tonight the "sky is failing." Councilmember Hendriksen stated it was 1998 when John Enstrom and he served on the committee at Connexus. He noted tha_t...i~n December of1999 the City presented its Comprehensive Plan to the Metropolitan Council and it ilanguishe&there until October 4, 2000 as they were trying to exact concessions from Ramsey, demanding they write the ISTS ordinance they wanted. In February, all the density transition language' was removed and at least 1,200 people in Ramsey believe the density transition language, protection against higher density development, should be protected against. Then the -108- City Council/March 13, 2001 Page 26 of 31