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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL JOINT WORK SESSION – JANUARY 19, 2016 10 Councilmember Holmes reported that she would also support a 2.75% increase. Councilmember Holden believed that the City was on the high side for seasonal employee pay. Acting Public Works Director Anderson discussed the difficulty the City has with hiring and keeping seasonal employees on a yearly basis. For this reason, staff is proposing a wage increase in order to attract the right people. G. Proposed Highway 10 Median Discussion Mayor Grant stated that during an update on projects to the City Council from MnDOT, Mark Lindeberg mentioned that as part of a MnDOT safety project, the center median on Trunk Highway 10 in front of Welsch’s Big Ten Tavern and Scherer Bros. Lumber Co. will be closed permanently. He indicated that staff has been asked to draft a letter regarding this project. He is looking for feedback regarding the content of the letter, Council concerns, and who the letter should be sent to. A draft letter was included in the agenda packet as a starting point for discussion. Councilmember Holmes explained that she traveled this highway daily and believed that the median should be closed. She believed that the intersection was extremely dangerous and noted that a Sheriff died at this location two years ago. She recommended that the Council defer to the expertise of the State on this issue. She did not believe Big Ten would suffer from the change. Councilmember Holden understood that if MnDOT deems this intersection to be unsafe, the City would have to accept their decision. She was concerned with how the City’s businesses would be adversely impacted by the proposed access change. Councilmember McClung supported a letter being drafted to MnDOT expressing the City’s concern for its local businesses and how they would be impacted by the proposed median closing. He suggested the City ask MnDOT to work with the businesses to mitigate any adverse effects of the closure. He believed that the intersection was extremely unsafe and should be closed given the high speed of traffic along Highway 10. Councilmember Holden did not believe a letter was necessary. Mayor Grant discussed how traffic would be rerouted to Big Ten if the median were closed. Further discussion ensued regarding Big Ten and Scherer Brothers and how these businesses would be impacted by the traffic change. Councilmember Holmes did not believe the City should get involved because the City was not certain as to how these businesses would be impacted, adversely or otherwise. She did not believe that the new route would be difficult for Arden Hills’ residents to figure out. Mayor Grant believed that the City had to make some sort of statement on behalf of these businesses.