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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-09-19-SWS ARZEN HILLS Request for Special City Council Work Session A special meeting may be called by the Mayor or by any two Councilmembers. Reason for meeting: 1. Hamline Avenue Crosswalks and Retaining Walls 2. Perry Park—Dog Park Improvements 3. Shorewood Drive Drainage Improvements Requested Date: 09/09/19 Requested time: 7:00 pm Open meeting X Closed meeting Signature of person(s)making request: 09/06/19 Mayor or Council Member Date Council Member Date a -This section to be completed by City staff- Date received: 1 / P / I i Date meeting to be held: 09/09/19 Time of meeting: 7:00 pm Location: City Hall All necessary postin and notices have been completed. (�41 0 . j 7 / � / /I— SU ature of City Clerk Date City of Arden Hills•1245 West Highway 96 •Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 Phone 651.792.7800■Fax 651.634.5137 •www.cityofardenhills.org 'It -AIPEN HILLS Approved: October 28, 2019 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS,MINNESOTA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION SEPTEMBER 9,2019 7:00 P.M.-ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor David Grant called to order the Special City Council Work Session at 7:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Dave McClung, Fran Holmes, and Steve Scott Absent: Councilmember Brenda Holden(excused) Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Todd Blomstrom, City Clerk Julie Hanson, Recreation Coordinator Sara Knoll, HRGreen Representatives Chris Harrington and Jordan Horejsi 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Hamline Avenue Crosswalks and Retaining Walls Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom provided an overview of the Hamline Avenue pedestrian crossing project. He stated that one crosswalk is located at Wyncrest Court, and the second is about 1200 feet to the south at Floral Park. The retaining wall is located on both sides of Indian Oaks Trail. The existing crosswalk at Wyncrest is marked as a pedestrian crossing with a ramp on the west side but no ADA compliant facilities on the east side. The crossing at Floral Park is marked and has ramps on both sides. He noted previous discussions included installing center medians, changing the crosswalk configurations, additional signage and possible addition of a rectangular rapid flashing beacon. There was a design review meeting with Ramsey County staff and the consultant has final plans for the project. HRGreen Representative Horejsi referenced the handout and previous information that had been provided, along with the completed plans. He stated the ramp on the northwest quadrant will be replaced with full curb and the crossing will be removed. There will be a new ramp on the south side, including a pedestrian refuge, and a median refuge was added to the Floral crossing. HRGreen Representative Horejsi drew a cross section of the pedestrian refuge and described it in more detail. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — September 9, 2019 2 HRGreen Representative Horejsi noted the southeast quadrant of Wyncrest would have a new ramp and be ready for future sidewalk. There is no sidewalk on Wyncrest at the present time. Councilmember Holmes said the biggest complaint residents have are in regards to the turn lanes in the middle of Hamline Avenue. HRGreen Representative Horejsi said the pedestrian refuge is essentially a median and cars will no longer be able to drive down the center of Hamline. Councilmember McClung said Ramsey County did basically the same thing on Larpenteur Avenue, except that Arden Hills' will be raised. HRGreen Representative Horejsi indicated that when drivers see a curb on both sides of them, they will typically automatically slow down. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom mentioned that during the original discussion in January there was talk about rectangular rapid flashing beacon. He stated that Ramsey County has a standard threshold of 20 pedestrians per hour on County roadways and will not allow a flashing beacon at either of these locations. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom explained that Ramsey County has an annual solicitation asking for projects that cities would like financial help with in the coming year. This typically happens in November, but Ramsey County supports this project and are willing to open for an application from Arden Hills in October. He indicated that if this project were to be selected, Ramsey County would participate in 50% of the project costs. The total project cost estimate is around $110,000. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom discussed the retaining walls on the north and south sides of Indian Oaks Trail which are approximately four to seven feet tall and crumbling. There are areas of the wall in which nearly 50%of the block has disintegrated. To be efficient in delivering projects at a low cost, he is recommending the project be bundled with the crosswalk project. Mayor Grant asked if the Department of Corrections could install the retaining wall. Councilmember Holmes asked why the homeowner wouldn't pay for the wall. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom responded that this does not appear to be a landscaping feature installed by the homeowner, rather a feature installed by Ramsey County to allow the roadway to expand and have sidewalks installed. Councilmember Scott noted the walls were there when he moved into the area 23 years ago. Further discussion ensued regarding the wall and type of material used. City Administrator Perrault said if the Council is comfortable to put the crosswalk project off until the spring of 2020, staff will investigate ramping up other projects for economy of scale and ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—September 9, 2019 3 potentially use ICWC workers when applicable. County participation for the crosswalk would be in 2020. Councilmember Scott noted that it's not the number of pedestrians at the crosswalks, it's the amount of traffic on Hamline. Councilmember McClung stated he would like to see flashing lights at minimum at the park connection. He asked if the City can obtain a flashing light at just one location, would Council agree to place it at the park crossing on Floral versus Wyncrest? Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said Ramsey County seems to be receptive to the concerns of the Council. He indicated he would reach out to Ramsey County regarding the Council's desire for a flashing light at the southern crossing due to traffic speeds to see if they would reconsider. Councilmember Scott asked about the practicality of approaching Boston Scientific to help with the cost of the flashing lights since it would benefit their employees. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom responded that City staff will discuss this possibility with Boston Scientific staff. Mayor Grant noted agreement of the Council for the plan but requested staff reach out to Ramsey County regarding installation of one set of flashing lights, regardless of who pays for them. B. Perry Park—Dog Park Improvements Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom explained the dog park location is at Perry Park, south of County Road E2 on New Brighton Road. There are three active athletic fields there and a former baseball diamond was converted to a dog park in 2016. There have been concerns about the condition of the field and what work could be done to improve the dog park. Recreation Coordinator Knoll said due to the drainage issues and the field being unplayable,the Shoreview Youth Baseball Association decided to stop using the field. The PTRC proposed to change the field to a dog park in 2016. At the annual Bark and Rec day residents were asked what improvements they would like to see. The number one improvement requested was shade for the dogs and owners. Thirty-five residents completed the survey and about half of them requested shade. The second most requested item was to fix drainage issues. She said there are two drainage issues, one being on the infield and the other in the outfield by the fence line. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom explained the low spot in the infield could be filled and the area in right field needs some type of swale to improve the drainage to allow it to drain into the wetland. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said staff had compiled three options that could be changed, modified, expanded or merged together. Option l was a low-cost option; to remove the aggregate, topsoil and seed placement, and plant ten trees. Option 2 is similar but to remove the backstop fencing and tall fencing along the first base line and replace it ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—September 9, 2019 4 with five-foot fencing, also removing the dugout benches. Options 1 and 2 assume staff and/or ICWC doing the work. Option 3 includes a cost for site grading and higher cost for irrigation repair. Mayor Grant felt ten trees may be too many. He thought a couple of fast growing maples would suffice. He wondered if they would put any kind of shelter for shade as that would provide shade right away. Councilmember Holmes felt the items in Option 1 were the most important. Councilmember McClung asked if they could possibly phase in the work, for example do Option I with plans to move to Option 2. Mayor Grant suggested cutting the backstop fence off to the same height as the rest of the fence and reuse the same caps from the top. He felt they could go with Option 2 and look at creative ways to keep the cost down on the fencing, and a possible shelter with fewer trees. C. Shorewood Drive Drainage Improvements Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom introduced the item by saying that Shorewood Drive ends at a cul-de-sac. There is approximately 1,200 feet of roadway and 4.5 acres of land that is draining into one catch basin in the middle of the street at the low point. New bituminous curb and an overlay project was done about three years ago. Runoff is exceeding the capacity causing minor flooding and flowing over part of the driveway at 3203 Shorewood Drive. He stated that the property owner has been working for quite some time with the City to resolve the issue. Options discussed include installation of additional catch basins to the west of the driveway that tie into the box culvert, installation of curb along the frontage of the driveway, pulling the end of the driveway up and leading to replacement of the driveway, or installation of a trench drain along the driveway. He also stated that additional survey data needs to be collected, drainage calculations made, schematic designs drawn and the best solution found in conjunction with the homeowner. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said the City has an on-call contract with HRGreen and they've performed drainage work for the City in the past. After discussion staff was directed to get a proposal from HRGreen. Interim Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated he had one other item he'd like them to look at while they are surveying which is a low point in the road on Grant that is backing up onto the driveway and very close to the home. They need to determine if there is an over land route that is lower than the grade of the garage slab. Mayor Grant directed staff to include that address into the quote for survey work. Councilmember Holmes said there needs to be a catch basin at 1803 Venus as well as there used to be one at that location but it was removed for the PMP. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—September 9, 2019 5 2. COUNCIL/STAFF COMMENTS Councilmember Scott discussed the military events going on in the next month and stated that he would send an email to staff. ADJOURN Mayor G ant"umed Special City Council Work Session at 8: P.M. Ju Hanson David Grant CiV Clerk Mayor