Agenda - Council - 06/22/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

2) Park and Ride Assistant Public Works Director Olson reviewed that the City was given a verbal by MnDOT that they had funding and they could start design of the southeast corner of the Park and Ride site. MnDOT had operated the facilities and they disbursed the grants. Northstar Corridor Development Authority is now operating the rail. MnDOT is still releasing the ~ants, and a new employee has suggested the City complete a formal application for the funding they have already received. A previous consent agenda authorized the release of that application. It has not yet been submitted as the City Attorney is going over the legal .jargon to be sure the City does not jeopardize the funding they were told they could carry over. There has not been a design initiated, other than a schematic layout. He reviewed the schematic layout and explained the theater will have to be moved over, and there has been a lot of discussion regarding the centering and frontage of the theater and City Hall. There has not been anything finalized as it relates to financing for both parking structures, as they have been waiting for agreement on the finalization. Assistant Public Works Director Olson explained the desig, n process should begin very soon. An update to an environmental document that was approved with the Northwest Corridor Park and Ride lot has been done. Approval was received from MnDOT that this can be included in the package for the grant application for the station. They have also received a verbal that there could be an additional $400,000 to $500,000 of additional funding available for surface construction. Staff is assuming that surface construction is for the surface of the deck. They are about 1.5 million dollars short on funding for the complete parking structure. The thought is if and when City Hall gets approved there would be 1.3 million dollars worth of structured parking necessary for employee parking for City Hall with 130 spaces. They are close to being able to build three, if not four layers to begin with. Councilmember Cook suggested the ramp could be built at five stories instead of four stories, which would only require about ten more parking spaces per floor for an 800-stall ramp. Assistant Public Works Director Olson replied there has been a lot of discussion about the height of the parking structure. The thought process is they do not want the ramp to be so much bigger than the City Hall, which wii1 be right next to it. He noted that was also a concern of this Cotmcil. Councilmember Elvig inquired about the additional $400,000 to $500,000 in funding that was mentioned, and what other ~ants are available. Assistant Public Works Director Olson replied there is 2.2 million dollars available for the Livable Communities Grant, and it has been indicated there is a verbal a~eement for an additional $400,000 in funding. Councilmember Kurak questioned how much additional area is needed to accommodate a bigger parking ramp and how that will impact the entire development. Assistant Public Works Director Olson replied he is not overly concerned that it will be difficult to negotiate for the additional land, there will only be an additional 50 or 60 feet needed. City Council Work Session/June 1, 2004 Page 3 of 8 -15-