Minutes - Public Works Committee - 09/17/2024

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as he would not want to wait additional years to be in the same situation where the City needs to fund and construct the trail. Chairperson Musgrove asked if MnDOT would be willing to contribute funds if the City were to move forward with constructing the trail earlier. City Engineer/Public Works Director Westby stated that staff can have those discussions to determine whether they would contribute to the funding for the trail, or include the trail in their project. He did not think it would be likely that MnDOT would contribute to a local City project outside of the scope of their larger project in 2028. Chairperson Musgrove asked that staff also gather information on potential funding the City could use, in the case that the City moves forward with the trail on its own. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood commented that if there is not funding from MnDOT, the City would propose to use the park trust fund. He stated that if MnDOT were willing to fund the project in 2028, that would allow the park trust fund to be used for another project. Chairperson Musgrove commented that she would prefer to keep moving forward towards 2025 construction and not wait until 2028. Councilmember Howell agreed. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood commented that he would anticipate that they would have an answer from MnDOT by the November meeting, which would still leave sufficient time for the City to go out for bids for 2025 construction. th David Strobush, 5409 149 Lane NW, commented that when he moved to Ramsey in 2008, he noticed that section of trail was missing, and it is still missing. He stated that he plans to use the new auto repair business and would like to be able to walk from his home to the auto repair business. He noted that the connection would also provide a direct path for residents to reach the retail node. He stated people do not know the trail ends on the Holiday property and end up walking along Highway 47, which is unsafe. The Committee members thanked Mr. Strobush for his input. 5.01: Trail Maintenance Policy Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood presented the staff report and stated that staff requests direction on the next steps pertaining to the Trail Maintenance Policy. Chairperson Musgrove commented that this is an improvement from the last review. She recommended removing all pictures with the exception of the cover photo. She stated that staff are already familiar with the parks and removing the photos would reduce the page count and printing costs, should it need to be printed. Next, in Section 1, Introduction, she recommends striking all text starting with “trails” and proceeding through “therefore”, and moving the last Public Works Committee / September 17, 2024 Page 3 of 12