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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, May 17, 2010 Page 17 Mayor Klausing closed the Public Hearing at 8:20 p.m. Mayor Klausing requested staffs response to some concerns raised during public comment. Opportunities for public information Ms. Bloom noted that each meeting notice includes a statement encouraging resi- dents to attend or to contact staff for an individual meeting, with staff making every attempt to be accessible to the public, recognizing that they couldn't always be available to attend a scheduled meeting. Ms. Bloom noted that she always made time to meet with residents individually on -site, at City Hall, at meetings, or after the formal meetings during the process for any project, a concept inherent to the Public Works Department's philosophy. Ms. Bloom concurred that the original meeting held in October of 2008 upon noti- fication of the receipt of the grant for both the Cities of Falcon Heights and Rose- ville was a boisterous meeting, but had provided some great questions and raised some valid concerns, at which time it was determined that a number of those con- cerns needed to be addressed specific to each City to facilitate funding mechan- isms for the project. Ms. Bloom noted that at this time, many of those concerns had been addressed in the preliminary designs, which were at approximately 80% finalized, and clarified that tonight's requested action was not for authorizing bids, but for the City Council to authorize staff to proceed to final plans before staff expended any more resources on the project, both staff and monetary resources. Ms. Bloom ad- vised that, if the City Council thought this was a good project, they so direct staff to finalize the plans and resolve any remaining issues, both those previously ex- pressed and those noted tonight. Pathway Width Requirements Ms. Bloom advised that, when written, the grant was for a multi purpose facility, consistent with recommendations of the Pathway Master Plan and neighbor re- quests, and that a multi purpose facility in Roseville did not prohibit bikes from using pathways or sidewalks, requiring an 8' minimum width to facility bikes in both directions, ADA accommodations for safe wheelchair /stroller passage; and in line with MN Department of Transportation guidelines, and needing to comply for funding mechanisms, with no potential for variance based on distance re- quirements and to accommodate power poles, mailboxes, with variances only available for signal poles. Boulevard Maintenance Ms. Bloom noted that boulevard maintenance would remain as it is today, with residents maintaining it (i.e., mowing) up to the edge of the road.