Minutes - Planning Commission - 01/25/1999 - Special Jt Workshop

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Brad Scheib, consultant with Hoisington-Koegler, stated that not only were comments received from residents during the extended time-frame of the public hearing but the City received feedback from the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Metropolitan Council (Met Council), and from several landowners with specific rezoning requests. He briefly discussed the comments received from MnDOT, the DNR, and Met Council, and copies of their correspondence was distributed (and are attached to these minutes). Councilmember Hendriksen vehemently objected to staff distributing this document to outside agencies before there is any in-house consensus on the contents. Community Development Director Sherman responded that not only is it common practice to send out for comments from other agencies prior to any finalization but the law requires that these agencies receive copies 60 days prior to adoption. Councilmember Haas Steffen affirmed that it's extremely helpful to know the position of the different agencies, and she explained that nothing is "in writing" until formal approval by City Council. Councilmember Hendriksen still asserted that he doesn't want to see anything going out of the City that is in this early of a stage. Mayor Gamec stated that this discussion will be moved to a future Council meeting. Mr. Scheib went on to say that early on in the process he met with the School District. It was understood that the School District is going to continue to grow whether Ramsey does or not, however, the School District did advise that they have no plans for any school sites in Ramsey. Mr. Scheib explained that the School District was sent a copy of the latest draft, however, no comments have been received to date. With regard to the transportation element, Councilmember Haas Steffen mentioned a study which was performed 10-15 years ago that determined that the AnokaJChamplin Mississippi 'River bridge was already two lanes short for handling the traffic. Despite this information, the State chose to reinforce rather than expand the width of the bridge, and now traffic has doubled or tripled. Mr. Scheib mentioned that the Major River Crossing Study Report, 1989, suggested that local cities, counties, MnDOT and the Met Council should study the need for an additional river crossing, determine a location and begin to preserve right-of-way for implementation by the year 2000. Councilmember Haas Steffen stressed the need to make comments in the plan indicating the City will not develop if the State doesn't study Highway #10, and it is critical that this happens now. Mr. Scheib noted that Metropolitan Council's comments suggest that the City of Ramsey needs to search for alternative ways to alleviate traffic congestion but also recognize that funding must be set aside to address the transportation issues. City Council-Planning Commission Joint Workshop/January 25, 1999 Page 2 of 6