Minutes - Council - 08/08/2023 - Laserfiche WebLink

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to eliminate the parking garage requirement which saved PSD Holdings at least $1,000,000. He added that during this time he came to the Council to discuss the obvious favoritism that was shown towards PSD Holdings. He noted that now Mr. Kuker is so concerned with overflow parking on his property, which seems to be ‘major hypocrisy’. He stated that he wants this to be public record for when Mr. Kuker goes to court. David Lechelt, 14501 Nowthen Boulevard NW, came forward and shared that he is the Senior Pastor at Lord of Life Church. He stated that he is here to speak in support of the Presbyterian Homes project. He shared that it is the 50th anniversary year for the Lord of Life Church as well as the City of Ramsey. He noted that since 1973, the church has had a huge heart for the community. Mayor Kuzma asked Mr. Lechelt to come back up when the Presbyterian Homes project is discussed later on in the meeting. Joel Swenson, 16650 Yttrium Street NW, came forward and stated that he would like to discuss the 167th Avenue project. He shared concerns and a lack of understanding pertaining to the construction of 167th Avenue, as well as other streets in the City. He noted that the 167th Avenue project seems to be dragging on with little observable progress. He stated that all that has been seen from the City have been letters, flags, sticks, and an occasional someone taking a sample from the ground. He added that in March he attended a meeting at City Hall which gave some information about the progress of the road construction. He explained that at this time he was told that bids would start being accepted as of April 1, with the hope that construction would start in May. He stated that on May 26 he received a letter from the City telling him that on June 27, the bids would be presented to the Council to award and the construction would begin in July. He added that another letter was received on June 30 which had no suggestion of a start date but stated that the project will be substantially completed by October 13. He asked what substantially completed means. He noted that this project has taken way too long to start, let alone complete. He said that they have known for years that this road needs to be replaced or reconstructed and it seems to have dropped on priorities. He stated that other roads have been completed in the meantime. He shared that he retired over a year ago where he was a reliability manager where he signed off on many multi-million dollar projects. He said it is difficult for him to stand by and watch this project seemingly linger, especially since the need has been known for the past two to three years. He stated that this road’s condition continues to get worse and has even become dangerous. He shared examples of how dangerous the road is for bikers and motorcyclists. He explained that he was riding his bike one day and rode his bike over a pile of loose gravel which caused him to fall and be taken to urgent care for potentially broken ribs. He added that he also saw a Ramsey fire truck pull off on the side of the road with what appeared to be a flat tire. He noted that he also heard from a local company that one of their delivery trucks got a flat tire and bent a rim on 167th Avenue as a result of hitting a pothole. He asked why this project has dragged on and what it will take to get some solid dates for completion of this project. He shared that he is also speaking for his neighbors who could not attend the meeting. He also discussed street sweeping. He noted that there are lots of loose gravel and potholes on many of the residential streets. He asked if there was any plan to repair and sweep these streets to make them safer. City Council / August 8, 2023 Page 3 of 16