CC_Minutes_2023_1023 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Regular City Council Meeting Monday, October 23, 2023 Page 7 Ms. Elias explained the path will be going right in front of her house. She indicated she has a number of issues. First of all,with the existence of that path, if it were to go through, Tamarack would have to go through because they are dependent on each other and there would be no need for a path without Tamarack's path being approved. She was told that part of the need for this was because the City needed it to be handicap accessible. She noted if a person were coming from Reservoir Woods at the end of Wagner where there is a path with stairs coming down to the cul-de-sac, that would mean a handicap person would need to come from those paths, all the way down Wagner with no sidewalks, going down the middle of the street. She thought that was dangerous and also thought that liability was a big concern. Also, the width of the path is of concern and also in front of her house there are wires that a person can reach easily. She indicated they have asked many times over the years that those wires be raised,they have not heard a response. The other issue is both on Wagner and Tamarack, there are wetlands in front of the property and along the alley which will be a pretty big job just trying to deal with that. Also, the park near the Tamarack trail goes up a steep hill and is difficult to navigate if in a wheelchair. It goes across grass that leads to the jungle gyms and below the jungle gyms are a lot of wood chips to break someone's fall. A kid in a wheelchair is not able to access that anyway and there are a number of parks, such as the park on Rice Street that has wheelchair access in the neighborhood. She thought it was also concrete versus green space and wondered why there needed to be more pavement. She has been working on that property and there is a lot of native grassland and goes off to the wetlands in front of them. She wondered why there needed to be street access. She objects to this and thought this was being pushed on them. Mr. Ray Elias, 1823 Western Avenue Mr. Elias explained for the Tamarack pathway, it seems an important aspect for everyone that is involved or affected by that is access. He would encourage the access approval process to be really clear about what is an approved use for that access. Regarding the Wagner connection, people are concerned about it and residents do not think it has been well thought out. He did not know of anyone that was extremely excited about it or that it was something wanted or useful to the people in the community that have this affect their lives. Mayor Roe closed public comment due to no one else coming forward to address the Council. Council Discussion Mayor Roe addressed the concerns of the residents. In terms of the Wagner proposed connection where there are shared driveways right now, he wondered if there was an engineering solution vision that somehow provides functionality for the driveways as well as somehow defining access to what is pathway and what is not a pathway in that area.