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Home My Public Portal About04/13/95 Joint Mtg CCM57 MEDINA CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES - APRIL 13, 1995 The City Council and Planning Commission of Medina, Minnesota met in a special work session meeting relating to the proposed Hennepin County public works facility on April 13, 1995 in the City Hall Council Chambers with Mayor Anne Theis presiding. City Council Members Present: Philip Zietlow, Ann Thies and Mayor Theis. City Council Members Absent: Planning Commission Present: Planning Commission Absent: Also Present: James Johnson and John Ferris Carolyn Smith, Christopher Crosby, Anne Heideman, Susie Mackay and Frank Mignone. Penny Elsenpeter, Decker Velie, Bob Bradley and Bruce Workman Public Works Director Jim Dillman, City Engineer Shawn Gustafson, City Attorney Ron Batty, Zoning Administrator Loren Kohnen, Mike Rouillard Medina Police Department, David Licht Northwest Associated Consultants and Planning & Zoning Assistant, Sandie Larson. Mayor Anne Theis asked David Licht to start with his report. David Licht, Northwest Associated Consultants, gave a very brief statement that they had been very inactive and were waiting for the PUD material from the county to start their review of that. The material had just been received on Wednesday of this week and the review would begin. Shawn Gustafson, city engineer, said that they had been reviewing the various documents from the county. He understood that the discharge permit for the septic system was at the MPCA for their review and that seemed to no longer be an issue. He said that no information had been received on the control of the water run-off that would be created with the 28 acres of hardcover. Mayor Theis said that Wally Doerr had expressed concern on the increased run-off in the ditch under Highway 55 and that the county has said that there would be a holding pond on the site to control it. S. Gustafson said he had not seen any details on that yet. Loren Kohnen said that Wally's concerns were the size of the culvert and the amount of water running into Lake Medina. S. Gustafson said the main topics tonight were traffic related. He 58 put up an overhead of the county road system and stated that gravel roads will not hold up with additional traffic and that the city does not have the funds to pave them at this time. He said that staff had talked about asking the county to take over some roads. Mayor Theis said that historically Hamel Road had been a county road for many years and for some reason had given it up. She asked how much of Hamel Road was currently county road. She was told about 1 1/2 miles. Phil Zietlow said that people will go around 55 if it is congested and he thought that Pioneer to Hamel Road sounded like a problem fixer. Carolyn Smith asked about gravel roads and traffic. Jim Dillman said that about 150 cars a day go in front of Carolyn's house on Hamel Road and there were about 300 at the intersection of Hamel Road and Willow Drive. He said that when the roads are graded the traffic increases. S. Smith asked about Pioneer Trail. J. Dillman said about 200 per day but now much of that was construction traffic because of the Burke house. There was discussion about how much traffic there would be during construction of the proposed county facility. Mayor Theis said that traffic is one of our biggest concerns and how it will impact our gravel roads. Richard Goelz, 2325 Hamel Road, said that 90% of the county traffic will be east of where he is. P. Zietlow asked how much traffic would go to Hamel Road and Arrowhead with a stoplight at Arrowhead and 55 and a train backup. S. Gustafson said that the traffic count now on Highway 55 is 15,000 west of 116 and 20,000 east of 116. Sheldon Johnson, traffic engineer from Bonestroo, said that people will look for alternate routes during congestion, whether the alternate is paved or not. There would be a little more traffic if paved. He felt we did need to look at the extension of county roads with the county paving and maintaining them. He said that we should make sure that the county stands the cost of future signal if needed at Arrowhead and the access road to the county facility. He said he had a problem with the county not looking at right turn lanes on Highway 55. Mayor Theis asked if there were any further figures on the train crossing. 59 S. Johnson said that there are approximately 14 trains per day at an average of 40 mph. He also stated that the EAW talks of upgrading the railroad crossing with possible gates in the future. He said that gates should be put in immediately. Another item for Arrowhead and 55, he said there should be 5 lanes on Arrowhead. Going north there would be 1 left turn lane, 1 straight ahead lane, 1 right turn. The county plan only shows 2 lanes going north. Sheldon said he felt the 3 north lanes should be done immediately. Also to be considered should be staggered work hours to eliminate some of the traffic congestion at the intersection. Mike Rouillard said to remember, if the county takes over Pioneer, there is a railroad crossing there also that is not in real good shape Mayor Theis said that the city has approached the county with the staggered work hours idea and Loram is also considering this. L.Kohnen said he felt that if construction is begun without the intersection work being done, there will be too much traffic on Hamel Road. There was continued discussion on the timing of the intersection work. Dan Strand, 1985 Hamel Road, asked if the county has considered what will happen in the next 5-10 years when development occurs to the west and to the north. He said how about a frontage road south of 55 behind the complex and back to 55. He said the county is fooling themselves that Hamel Road and Pioneer will not be beat to death. He also wanted to know what the council's stand was on this proposal and could the city stop it. L.Kohnen said the railroad would not allow 2 more crossings for a frontage road. Mayor Theis asked Ron Batty if it could be stopped. Ron Batty said he could not answer that now. Mayor Theis said that the city had told the county no way for this proposal on the Elwell property and a past council told them to look for property in our commercial/industrial zones. S. Gustafson said that a lot of development will not occur until sewer is available to the area and that will be some time. R. Batty said to remember that it has been said that the county could push MnDot to do 55 from 116 west to the site. There was discussion of MnDot and the Metropolitan council. There was also discussion of Hennepin County not yet having funding approval for this project and that was not for us to discuss, that funding is there problem. There was also discussion of the EAW, the timing etc. Shawn said he would get copies of the summary to 60 the council and planning commission. There was continued discussion of the take over of roads, and if the county did, having them be like County Road 201 versus County Road 24. P. Zietlow said that a `service' type road was a #1 priority. He also said that it would be a solution having the county paving and taking over roads with the city losing tax dollars and having added traffic. Mayor Theis said that a long term benefit to the city is having about 6 miles of road out of our hair. Gravel and grading never ends. The consensus was that we should be looking at the paving of the roads, maintained by the county, but not a `superhighway'. Phil Zietlow left the meeting at 8:31 p.m. L.Kohnen said we should arrive at a consensus of the items so the county will know what the city wants. It was decided that the items in jim Dillman's memo were fine. Susie Mackay said maybe we could also ask for bike/hike trails if the roads are going to be paved/upgraded. Jim Dillman went over his memo, radios, roads, etc. Mayor Theis said the items to include for consideration: 1. Insist on right turn lanes on Highway 55 2. 5 lanes on Arrowhead Drive 3. Intersection done before construction begins 4. Roads to be included - see Jim's memo 5. Bike/hike trail - separated by shoulder 6. Roads - phased - completed in sections C. Smith asked about the increase of traffic on Medina Rd. J. Dillman said there are no traffic counts yet. The next step should be a staff meeting. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m. Planning & Zoning Assistant Date 61 (THIS PAGE LEFT BLANK INTENTIONALLY)