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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL – JANUARY 9, 2023 15 Mayor Grant requested comment from staff regarding this item. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen commented on the history of this item and reported the Council is to consider approving the Right of Way Agreement with Ramsey County related to the proposed roundabout design intersection improvements at County Rd E and Old Snelling. Approval of the agreement will commit the City to the roundabout design and the associated estimated costs for Right of Way, Design and Construction. It was noted the City’s portion of the project cost was up to $1.4 million. If the Council feels they do not have satisfactory information to make a decision tonight, they may choose to table this item to a later date. Mayor Grant asked if the Council had any questions for staff. Councilmember Holden requested further information on the new drawing that was provided to the Council. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported the new drawing was from Ramsey County and defined what costs would be covered by the City, County and property owners. He noted the yellow shaded area would be covered by the County and the areas shaded in red were improvements that would be made by Lindey’s. City Administrator Perrault noted a copy of these plans was available for the public to view at the entrance to the Council Chambers. Councilmember Fabel asked if the County received a careful legal analysis of the obligation to repave the entire parking lot at Lindey’s when from his perspective it did not seem necessary. He noted this was a $550,000 expense which was a major factor in the projected costs for this project. He indicated he was troubled by this and wanted to receive more careful analysis from the County as to why this was necessary. Councilmember Holden questioned what the dates and deadlines were for this project. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated the updated costs for the project was brought to Council the last meeting of November. He noted there was a right-of-way process that had to be followed. He indicated the longer this process was delayed the longer the project would be delayed into the fall of 2023. He reported the City would like to see this intersection open by the time school opens in the fall. He commented the Council needs to make a decision on this project in the next few weeks in order to meet this deadline. Mayor Grant reported if this were not be a roundabout, there was still a section of City water that has to be replaced at this intersection. He asked if this infrastructure could be installed in such a manner that a roundabout could be installed in the future. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported the proposed water was designed to stay out of the center circle of the roundabout. He explained he would need to know if a roundabout was going in or not, when designing the water lines.