Ramsey Resident - 1987 - November

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RAMSEY IDENT RE VOLUME 2, NUMBER 11 CITY NEWSLETTER NOVEMBER 1987 ISSUES AND UPDATES *Gateway North Industrial Airport - On November 12,1987, a petition was filed at City offices. The petition calls for a referendum vote on the ordinance which would establish airport safety zoning. At the date of this publication, it is not known whether the petition is sufficient to call for such a referendum. However, the City Administrator must certify to City Council by November 20 the number of valid signatures and any insufficiencies or ir- regularities in the petition. At that time, the City Council must determine whether the petition is suf- ficient or not. If the petition is not sufficient, then the circulators of the petition have 30 days to obtain the sufficient number of signatures of registered voters or correct any irregularities. If the petition is deter- mined to be sufficient, the Council must establish a date for a special referendum election within 120 days of the filing of the petition. At that referendum election, the public will vote on whether or not to ap- prove the ordinance establishing airport safety zoning. At it's regular meeting on November 12,1987, the Airport Commission conducted the first of a series of public informational meetings on the environmen- tal impact assessment report for proposed im- provements to Gateway North Industrial Airport. The environmental assessment report addresses noise, land use, wildlife and vegetation, soils and geology, water resources, flood hazard, air quality, social im- pacts, socio-economic impacts, public land impacts, historical and archaeological sites, public utilities and services, light emissions and energy. Represen- tatives of the Federal/State Relocation Service were also present to explain the procedure and the pro- gress being made on the relocation plan being prepared concurrent with the environmental assess- ment report. The next public informational meeting on the environmental assessment report has been tentatively scheduled for the regular Airport Commis- sion meeting on Wednesday, January 13, 1988 at 7:30 p.m. at Ramsoy City Hall. Industrial Sewer and Water Projects: The construction on the industrial sewer and water project is progressing well. Currently there are two crews working simultaneously. One crew is construc- ting the water line from Dysprosium Street to Sun- fish lake Boulevard and the other crew is working from the City limits to Sunfish lake Boulevard with the deep sanitary sewer. It looks like both crews may make it across U.S. Highway 10 by mid-November if we continue to have good weather. The comple- tion of the project (originally slated for December of 1987) will likely be finished in the spring of 1988. The portion of the project passing through the Riverside West Plat could cause a great amount of disruption, especially if 138th Avenue were torn up throughout the winter. The Super Bowl and other businesses in that area experience their peak period in the winter months. Therefore, we are negotiating with the con- tractor to delay that construction until spring. Conditional Use Permits and Complaint Monitoring: On Monday, October 19, 1987, Mr. Steve lutmer started with the City of Ramsey on a part-time basis. Steve's job will first be to set up a complaint monitor- ing system and begin to review the status of condi- tional use permits. In the past we may have respond- ed to complaints but seldom were we able to get back to the person registering the complaint. This left the complaining party (the public) with the im- pression that City Hall wasn't doing anything about the matter. Hopefully, with the addition of Steve, we will be able to correct this problem. We will also be following up on conditional use permits that have been rejected. Ramsey Resident Ramsey Municipal Center 15153 Nowthen Blvd. NW Ramsey, MN 55303 [1 ~ YOU ARE INVITED TO HAVE BRUNCH WITH SANTA SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12 10:00 TO 12:00 ENJOY A CARAMEL ROLL AND HOT CHOCOLA TE, JUICE OR COFFEE $1.00 PLUS * A Chance to Visit with Santa * Shopping for Children * A Chance to Donate Food to the Food Shelf * lots of Fun and a Chance to Wish your Neighbors MERRY CHRISTMAS!! RAMSEY PLOWING AND PARKING POLICY It is the policy of the City of Ramsey to plow all city streets when the snow depth is two inches or more. Normal starting time is 2:00 a.m. or sooner if weather permits. It takes from six to ten hours to open all streets depending upon the snowfall amount, wind conditions and obstacles in the way such as cars and garbage cans. The City strongly requests that on pick-up days, garbage cans be plac- ed a couple of feet from roadway edge, either in the boulevard or at driveway end, so as not to hinder plowing procedures. The City is divided into five routes with each route being assigned at least one major thoroughfare which is opened almost immediately. The snowplow crew consists of four full time employees and six part time employees with seven pieces of equipment. These consist of three large trucks with plow, wing and sander, two graders with wings, one loader and one small four wheel drive truck with plow for plowing intersections and cu I-de-sacs. SNOWBIRDS Basically, this means don't park your motor vehi- cle on any city street during a snowfall, or afterwards, until it is plowed. There are a thousand excuses for leaving your vehicle parked along the roadway and causing the plows to go around it. None of them are valid. We will tag and tow! Thank-you. POSTAL CUSTOMER TRUCKS AND RAILROAD CROSSINGS Trucks have been hauling dirt out of the Northfork Development for some time. The route the trucks take is over roads that are designed to carry the weight of loaded trucks. The presence of these trucks has caused some concern over safety and possible damage to roads. To solve the problems, the City and the Northfork developers have been attempting to establish a railroad crossing near the Northfork Development close to the western edge of Ramsey. The establish- ment of railroad crossings requires the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation; and the policy of the Department of Transportation is that if the railroad owner objects to the establishment of a railroad crossing, then an administrative law judge is asked to hear both sides and submit to the Com- missioner of Transportation his findings. The Burlington Northern Railroad Company has held the position that it does not want any additional railroad crossings but would consider closing another crossing and opening a new crossing near the Northfolk development The closing of a railroad crossing follows somewhat the same procedure as opening a new crossing but the person or persons who must make the final judgment are the members of the Minnesota Transportation and Regulation Board (TRB). So, the Burlington Northern Railroad has petitioned the TRB to close the Puma Street railroad crossing and the Administrative law Judge has agreed to hear argu- ment and receive testimony on the opening of a crossing near Northfork and the closing of the Puma Street crossing. These matters will be heard by Ad- ministrative law Judge Richard Delong on December 17 and 18, 1987 at 9:30 a.m. in Ramsey City Hall, 15153 Nowthen Blvd. N.W., Ramsey, Minnesota. In addition to following the procedures to establish a new railroad crossing and possibly close an ex- isting railroad crossing, the developers of Northfork are attempting to enter into an agreement with the Railroad to establish a private crossing near the Nor- thfork Development until a permanent crossing can be established. Representatives from the Burlington Northern Railroad and Northfork believe that these agreements will be reached and the truck traffic may be routed onto Hwy. 10 near the weigh station within the next two weeks. See Page 4 -- Ramsey's Proposed 1988 Operating Budget ATTENTION RAMSEY RESIDENTS The City of Ramsey is currently seeking can- didates to fill a vacancy on it's landfill Commission. The Commission meets two evenings each month. Ramsey residents interested in serving on the Com- mission are requested to submit a letter of applica- tion to the Ramsey Municipal Center, 15153 Nowthen Blvd. N.W., Ramsey, Minnesota 55303. The letter should contain the applicant's name, ad- dress, phone number, work experience and educa- tion. In addition, applicants should include a state- ment regarding their interest in seeking appointment to the landfill Commission. This position is not salaried. CAR-RT -SRT BULK RATE U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 131 ANOKA, MN 55303