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I I I~ I I I I I I Ie I I I I I I I I- I Arden Hills City Council Meeting -- March 11, 1996 Comments from Tom Mulcahy 3530 Siems Court And now for the praise -- equally well deserved, I think I refer to the Site Visit Schedule in Feb for five street improvement projects. A very good idea to reach out for comment and input -- outside the formal hearing process. I spoke to both the Pub Works Dir and the Engineer on site. I'm not sure they shared my enthusiasm on that chilly day, but I'm sure the time and expense were well spent. The written communications on street projects have improved greatly. I even received a call from the Director to be sure I had received a notice. Street improvement communication is something that needs constant attention because it's a different group of citizens every year, every time Good work, good idea. Here again, let me suggest that a principle, or at least a strong consensus, is emerging in these street renewal projects. It is this: We.iJQn't want our residential streets widened to fit some rule lJ]arte for other circumstance~, Your decision on Oak Avenue (24' to 26' width and preserve the cul-de-sac island) is a perfect example of accommodation. But, an even better course would be to adopt a policy of maintaining the present width of streets in reconstruction so that the engineer would not bring in proposals to reconstruct to "standard" These guys love their rule books; we have to make it possible for them to look up and see the situation in local terms. Then the Engineer would not say, as he did on Jan 29th: "We want to create a uniform urban-type street in Arden Hills" (See Bulletin Feb 7) No, Greg, we don't. and we shouldn't have to mobilize the neighborhood on every project There is every reason to rethink inflexible s.tr~et standards. Shoreview did it on Reiland Lane in 1995. Drive that street and see how its character was preserved. It's charming, This year Roseville reconsidered its 32' rule. (See Focus New~ Feb 22) The Roseville Pub Works Dir was quoted: "In my opinion, a 28-foot street is reasonable in most cases." See, there's hope. Thanks for your time and attention.