CC 11-30-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - NOVEMBER 30, 1998 17 . Mayor Probst indicated he was still struggling with the idea of whether or not there was a piece of/and at the intersection ofI35W and Highway 96 which the City will still own after expending all of the bond proceeds. Mr. Post indicated tllis would only occur in a full taking. He indicated it was not known what the final cost of the taking. Mayor Probst asked if the cost of the acquisition was expected to be known by the end of the year. Mr. Post indicated it should be. Mayor Probst indicated the action requested by Staff was to reschedule the public hearing. He noted that the City did choose to invest money to upgrade the last three buildings on the street in order to set the stage for higher level development on the corner. He continues to be concerned that more money was being spent to facilitate the higher level of development on the corner. Mr. Fritsinger suggested one option may be to delay the project to the future in order to see how some of the issues work out. This would mean an indefinite postponement. The City could save up the proceeds from 1999 and wait until the year 2000 tor Phase II. He pointed out, while reconstructing the roadway was necessary for further development in the area, the most critical portion of the project was the intersection. Mayor Probst asked, if the road were built only to the first assessable property, how would this affect the assessments. Mr. Post indicated this would not necessarily affect the assessment program. . Councilmember Larson indicated his concern for delaying the project is, ifthe road was instrumental in gaining the type of development the City wants for the corner, delaying the road project will also delay these development opportunities. He stated that the development of the corner should be a priority. Mr. Fritsinger stated, according to the brokers handling the vacant buildings, the intersection has been very detrimental to the marketability of the property. Additionally, the property owners along the road have expressed their desire to have the road upgraded as soon as possible. Councilmember Malone agreed that the intersection must be built now. He suggested an option to simply recycle the remaining roadway. This could be done by widening the road and re- surfacing. The current road has held up remarkably well considering the heavy traffic and it could be built up to be made stronger. Councilmember Malone suggested another alternative could be to include a less extensive design element in the middle of the roadway which visually separates the roads but was not a median. Mayor Probst asked how far the new roadway would extend to. Mr. Brown explained it will extend to the railroad tracks. Mayor Probst suggested there may be a way to do a temporary rebuilding of the road and, if the City was able to promote a higher level project at the corner, this could produce additional revenue for further road reconstruction. Mr. Fritsinger indicated he would agree with these suggestions, however, the project was competing with other projects within the community which need to be accomplished. . Mr. Brown suggested one option to reducing the cost may be to narrow the median and end it at the turn lane.