04/21/98 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Committee Input: 1) Bison Street Mayor Gamec stated that he has talked with' City Engineer Jankowski about this street and another one off of T.H. #47 for paving. Mr. Keyser (Bison Street) is having a problem with the sugar sand and would be in favor of his road being paved. Mr. Jankowski stated that in 1994, the City did a survey of streets and there are 11 dirt streets in the City. We sent out a survey and asked if the residents on these streets were in favor of getting their streets paved. The residents who responded were either strongly opposed or strongly in favor of. There were a lot of comments and some of the opposing ones included that cost was a problem, they felt the dirt street kept the speeding to a minimum, they like the rural atmosphere provided by dirt streets, and also some just did not want change. Director of Public Works Kapler stated that another factor that has to be looked at is the condition of the roads. Bison Street is in poor repair. Some others that are not paved are just north of the Gun Club, Uranimite to 164th to Sapphire, Xenolith at 68 to 64, both roads are self destructing at this point. They take a high level of maintenance each year and we should be looking at the current state of these roads. Mr. Kapler noted the dirt road at 160th and T.H. #47, stating that it is in pretty decent shape. He pointed out that it is tough to keep the dirt roads maintained to be even travelable. Councilmember Zimmerman stated that he has heard people say they have lived in Ramsey since the early 1970's, and the City has done nothing to their roads. Mayor Gamec wondered how long the City could keep the graders going from area to area and where we could find the money to pave these roads. Discussion ensued relating to the cost of paving. Mr. Jankowski stated that Ramsey used to just re-grade streets, then when the City started requiring subdivisions to have paved roads, other people wanted them also. We began the assessment process and past Councils have felt it would be unfair not to assess these people as all others were assessed when their streets were paved. He suggested we could assess an equivalent cost - capping the assessment at $2,500 to $3,500. Randy Keyser, 16967 Bison Street NW, Ramsey, stated that he has lived in his home for 18 years. When he first moved there, the road was pretty decent. In the last 8 to 10 years, it has deteriorated. There's no ditch, no-mn off for the road. Some of the residents did not like the cost figures. He added that when there was that "big ruckus" on 171st, the City should have kept the traffic problem and the paving issue separate. Mayor Gamec stated there would be an assessment as the City cannot afford to pay for it all. Mr. Keyser stated he would set up a meeting with his neighbors to discuss this. Road and Bridge Committee/April 21, 1998 Page 6 of 8