Agenda - Planning Commission - 02/02/2006

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Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Pearson, Jeffrey, Cook, Elvig, and Strommen. Voting No: None. Absent: Councilmember Olson.~ Mayor Gamec directed staff to include the topic of the trail easements on a future work session agenda. Councilmember Elvig indicated he concurs with Councilmember Cook in that the City has a strong urge to connect parks without the need to go down county roads. However, the needed time has not been put in to determine the trail placement. Case gl7: Consider a Memorandum of Understanding for Transportation Cooperation City Administrator Norman reviewed that on April 13, 2004, the City of Ramsey entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the City of Anoka regarding cooperation for joint planning for transportation corridors. The agreement established a commitment on the part of Highway gl0, Highway g47, and County Road g116. Recent dialogs with the City of Anoka concerning the Federal Transportation funding of the Highway gl0 project put into motion the necessity of establishing more guidelines as to the financial understanding of the Highway gl0 cooperation. A new MOU has been drafted that will include the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), and Anoka County as participants with the new MOU for Highway gl0. The MOU between the City of Anoka and Ramsey, adopted on April 13, 2004, will be emended to remove the Highway #10 portion, since the Highway gl0 cooperation agreement is now part of the larger MOU that includes MnDOT and Anoka County. Mr. Norman advised staff recommends approval to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Anoka, MnDOT, and Anoka County for Highway #10 and recommends the approval of the amendment to the MOU with the City of Anoka for TH ~47 and CSAH gl 16. Councilmember Cook inquired where the Thurston Interchange would fit into these agreements. City Administrator Norman replied Thurston and Dysprosium would be included in the TH g47 discussions. Anoka staffwould like to meet with Ramsey staffnext week to discuss TH g47. Councilmember Elvig stated this is a good proposal. He thinks that Anoka does not see TH g47 as their problem and that they understand they are the bottleneck for Highway gl0. He stressed the need for Ramsey to be able to pull out of this agreement in the future if necessary. He stated there are federal funds available that Ramsey may need to try to obtain on their own. Anoka has had a grant for $5,000 for upwards of one year and the first activity they have taken is to finally sign a consultant. Ramsey does not want to keep prodding their neighbors to get involved. Ramsey needs to take a hard look at the Sunfish and Ramsey overpass and there should be the ability to pull out of this agreement. Mayor Gamec stated Congressman Kennedy wants to see a project proceed, and funds should be directed to projects that are ready. Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Councilmember Cook, to enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the City of Anoka, MnDOT, and Anoka County for City Council / December 13, 2005 Page 25 of 37 P77