Minutes - Council - 06/08/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Couneihnember Kurak asked if there is any way to get the funding for the Sunfish Lake Boulevard portion earlier than 2007. She noted it can take as long as 20 minutes to get over the tracks; turn lanes would alleviate that a lot sooner. Assistant Public Works Director Olson explained there are two small issues on Sunfish Lake Boulevard. One is that this is federal financing so there are additional steps to take. Secondly, there is not an environmental document that would support the additional lane and there would be environmental work necessary. It is something they can try to accomplish. Mayor Gamec indicated Mr. Berg is very aware of that and is trying to get funds to do something tmnporary. There are federal and county moneys both allocated there and the federal money should be over and above the 30 percent from the county. Councihnember Zimmerrnan commented on Highway 47 where the county only chipped in a quarter million dollars and the state only paid $300,000 plus engineering costs. The City chipped in 2.2 million dollars, but the biggest was the federal government at about 3 million dollars. There is no chance of this without the federal government. Assistant Public Works Director Olson stated regarding the joint powers agreement, all the details will be discussed as it relates to county participation. Councihnember Elvig noted staff's write-up indicates the State's design services only, but in the proposal it discusses project management. Assistant Public Works Director Olson explained the design will be the preliminary design. The project management has to determine what the design will be, such as the diagnostic meeting with BSF is on schedule for the early part of July if this is approved. They need to make sure what they are going to propose is acceptable to them and any issues are worked out ahead of time during the design process. Construction project management is not included in this proposal. Councilmember Elvig stated this looks like a good proposal that is well laid out. He understands they are proposing to use the folks because of their contacts with the county and the rail. He questioned if staff is certain they are competitive with these numbers. Assistant Public Works Director Olson replied the numbers are competitive and extremely realistic as it relates to projected dollar amounts. They are talking about next to 14 million dollars worth of projects; this is not all the improvements. Bunker Lake Boulevard is not part of these, but it will need to be done within the same time frame. Staff felt the need to follow at least the raih'oads; they can have significant delays as it relates to construction materials and permitting. They are all related to MnDOT projects as well. The timeline is of the essence. These dollar amounts were reflective of the increases they anticipate over the next two years. Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember Cook, to authorize the proposals £or Ramsey Boulevard, Armstrong Boulevard, and Sunfish Lake Boulevard in an amount not to exceed $608,200. City Council/June 8, 2004 Page 21 of 23