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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft October 7, 2011 MinutesPRIp U U 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES October 7, 2011 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6:30 p.m. Present were Mayor Myser, Council members Erickson, Keeney, Hedberg and Soukup, City Manager Boyles, , City Engineer / Inspections Director Poppler, Public Works /Natural Resources Director Gehler, Community and Economic Development Director Rogness, Assistant City Manager Kansier and Assistant City Manager Meyer. Mayor Myser advised the audience that there is no public input at tonight's meeting. He encouraged members in the audience to be respectful of differing opinions. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY SOUKUP, SECOND BY HEDBERG TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. VOTE: Ayes by Myser, Erickson, Hedberg, Keeney and Soukup. The motion carried. OLD BUSINESS Consider Approval of a Resolution Selecting an Option for County Road 21 Reconstruction through Downtown Prior Lake. City Engineer /Inspections Director Poppler reviewed the staff report and the steps that have led up to the point of a Council decision including various expert analysis, numerous Council work sessions, and public infor- mational meetings. The decision before the Council this evening is to select either the Baseline or Realignment option. Regardless of the selection, future work sessions, meetings, and additional analysis will be conducted to refine the details of whichever option the Council selects. The alternative to making a selection would be to di- rect staff to provide additional specific detail. Comments: Myser: Advised that he would like to start and that he is both saddened and disheartened be the tenor of some of the comments. Other comments were very respectful. Believed that there are some efforts the Council could have done better, such as sharing the vision for Downtown and contacting affected persons directly. Further commented that he was extremely disappointed by the distortion of facts and failure of people to seek out the appropriate information. Advised that the Council was represented at each of the public meetings. Further commented that the suggestion that a decision has already been made, or made behind closed doors is unfair. Commented that many people proclaimed that the realignment option was not supported by anyone. That is not true. Referenced the EDAC, people from the neighborhood, and other residents in the community who support the realignment. Further expressed disappointment regarding the personal attacks that have taken place against Council members. Believes in transparency, respect and ethics in government. Suggested that the road goes both ways. Believes this is one of the most important decisions we face. Thanked Council members for having the patience to do the due diligence. Our charge is to make the best choices for this community for the long term. Does not support the realignment option at this time. There were benefits, but they are not strong enough to spend the amount of money required. He will support the Baseline Option. There continued to be a lot of details to work out, and process before us. Keeney: Commented that before he had been on the Council, he was cognizant of the CSAH 21 corridor study. It has been apparent for quite some time that the Main /CSAH 21 intersection was a pressure point. Further commented that it struck him that the traffic we are talking on managing is us — not high volumes of cars passing through — us as commuters and residents. The process has been a long, involved and thoughtful process since it began in 2003. A lot of time and effort has gone into the process to find the best solution — even though there is no one perfect answer. A lot of the ideas shared with him lately were considered and eliminated for various Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com reasons early in the process. Believes there is still a mismatch in how Arcadia pushing through affects Duluth Avenue. There has to be a compromise solution. Discussed that there are benefits to the realignment option and they have been under - appreciated. The first is that splitting downtown in half has a real, long -term impact on the downtown. At the end of the day, the cost of the realignment option still doesn't get us as much benefit to downtown as we had hoped. There are some opportunities created by the realignment, but he wanted to be careful about concluding that the realignment would bring business downtown. Further discussed parking and what is the best investment for our dollars in downtown. Lastly discussed the impacts on the neighborhood and the emotion of the decision. At this time, supported the Baseline Option. Advised that the Baseline Option will be built in incremental steps as we realize the increased traffic impacts. Erickson: Agrees with the statements of both Mayor Myser and Council member Keeney. Commented that he became involved because of the CSAH 12 reconstruction. Understands how it impacts the neighborhood. Commented that this is a decision we get to make one time. We needed to look at all the options. It is that im- portant to the community as a whole. There was new information that we learned — (1) the realignment was not going to improve safety because of the curves, (2) the downtown would be more united, but with less acreage, (3) there were enormous environmental challenges. Supports the Baseline Option. Advises that this is not the end of the process, but the beginning. There are a lot more details to be refined and communicated as we move forward to implementation. Soukup: Agreed with the comments by fellow Council members. Commented that one of the Council's goals was to seek out opportunities to grow the downtown, but that is not the only area where there is opportunity. Loves to live in Prior Lake and participate in the strong sense of community. Believes in making the right deci- sion for the community as a whole — not just the neighborhood. Supports the Baseline Option. Encouraged people to participate and get the right information. Hedberg: Agrees with the statements of his Council colleagues. Commented that the process has been long because (1) we wanted all the facts and all the answers, and (2) it was critical to have public discussion and di- alogue and what it will do to our Downtown. Thanked people for being involved. Further commented that this is not only a traffic problem, and not only an economic problem. This is a growing suburb that wants to keep its small -town feel. Part of that small town feel is having a thriving, vibrant, walkable downtown that is the hub of our city. Therein lies the problem we are trying to address. CSAH 21 improvements have been major improve- ments to our community. But, the impact is that Main /21 intersection is going to fail and backup the traffic beyond the intersection. It may not happen until 2030, but it will happen. Commented that experts advised that compared to other communities, your downtown is making progress rather than receding. But Main Avenue closing to through traffic will have concerns to businesses looking to locate or relocate in our downtown. Ad- vised that we've asked developers — we don't control the land; there is no plan for moving traffic or pedestrians. This is why we need to make decisions and have a plan. Believes in the small -town feel of Prior Lake as we continue to become a metro suburb, but we need to make an effort to preserve the downtown as a really impor- tant part of it or we'll look like any other suburb. Shared his concerns with the realignment — (1) not a good enough business case when looking at cost, (2) it will take too long to complete, (3) will cause a major disruption to a community, (4) more safety concerns due to curves, (5) environmental impacts. Supports the Baseline Op- tion. Agreed that this is the beginning and not the end as we work toward implementation. MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECOND BY KEENEY TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 11.119 APPROVING THE BA- SELINE OPTION. VOTE: Ayes by Myser, Erickson, Hedberg, Keeney, and Soukup. The motion carried. ADJOURNMENT With no further comments from Council members, a motion to adjourn was made by Soukup and seconded by Erickson. With all in favor, the meeting adjourned at 7:25p.m. Frank Boyles, City Manager Kelly Meyer, Assistant City Manager DRAFT 10 7 11 City Council meeting minutes