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Home My Public Portal About2016.09.23 Special MinutesMINUTES McCall City Council Commerce Street Special Public Meeting Legion Hall September 23, 2016 Call to Order Presentation Public Comment Summary Adjournment CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Mayor Aymon called the special meeting of the McCall City Council to order at 9:10 a.m. Mayor Aymon, Council Member Giles, Council Member Scott, Council Member Swanson, and Council Member Witte were present. City staff members present were Nate Coyle, City Manager; Bill Nichols, City Attorney, Erin Greaves, Communication Manager, Nathan Stewart, City Engineer, Michelle Groenevelt, Community Development Director, Carol Coyle, Grants Coordinator, Cris Malvich, Street Superintendent, and Shay Tyler, Deputy City Clerk. Also in attendance Bryan Foote, Principal Engineer, Consulting Lead, Horrocks Engineering PRESENTATION Commerce Street Reconstruction Technical Presentation and Discussion with Staff City Engineer Nathan Stewart gave a recap on the history and goals of Commerce Street Reconstruction. The City has met with 73% of the property owners at this time. Efforts are still being made to contact the remaining owners. The top points gleaned from these individual meetings are: The property owners are cognizant that they will have to adjust to some changes; widened paved shoulders are preferred over sidewalks; no one wants ditches; and they are open to seeing additional design options. The overall consensus of the community survey is that some form of pedestrian way needs to be implemented. Bryan Foote, Principal Engineer and Consulting Lead from Horrocks Engineering discussed the identified problems to be addressed within this project. The four main issues are adequate access for businesses, a snow storage area, storm water drainage, and facilities for pedestrians. Mr. Foote presented four proposed street section alternatives. Alternative 1 & 2 had a wide ditch drainage system, one with a sidewalk and one without. Alternative 3 & 4 had an underground drainage system, again one with a sidewalk and one without. McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 1 of 4 September 23, 2016 The presentation included truck turning movements, necessary approaches, and who needed them. There was further discussion of right-of-way, parking, future development on the properties, and what needs to be included in the planning. A projected schedule was presented. Once a decision is made on which style of drainage system and with or without sidewalks, engineering can then meet with each owner for better definition of their property's specific needs. Staff asks the Council to give some direction so movement forward can be made so construction can begin by next June. PUBLIC COMMENT Scott Bowes of 195 Commerce Street handed out a drawing of his idea of how Commerce Street should look like. He sees culverts moving water drainage and all the snow removal going into pond areas at the North and South ends. Since the ponds are private property, the property owner and the City would enter into an agreement. He wants full access to his property, and does not see how a plan for the future can be made because of changing businesses. Mr. Bowes also shared comments from two business owners who could not attend the public comment. For Brian Nelson of Nelson Plumbing, he thought the money could be better used somewhere else, and for Tyler Bork of Precision Detailing, they would like the start date be later into the season such as August so it would not have as much of an impact on their business. Patrick Philips of 135 Commerce Street prefers Alternative Design #3 and painted areas for pedestrians, Mr. Philips made the suggestion to maybe redirect pedestrian traffic through the neighborhood, add signage to say caution heavy truck traffic, and delete the ditches. His current snow removal process is to push it to the back end of the property. There does not seem to be a lot of on street parking along Commerce. He inquired as to the cost of the project and who would be responsible. Currently, the City is not asking any property owners to contribute funds but that decision is up to the Council as reported by City Engineer Stewart. Steve Lacey, tenant, of 155 Commerce Street stated that the owners want unlimited access. He does not feel there should ever be limited access and it should be left up to the property owner's discretion. He suggested putting a pedestrian area on one side of the street, and is against more pavement. He would like to see it kept simple. Steve Millemann of Millemann, Pittenger, McMahan & Pemberton of 706 N. First Street does not foresee any additional future development in the surrounding area. He brought up points that he saw in the survey feedback. He asks that all of the property owners be provided with the alternatives and a plan view of how the approaches to their properties are being proposed. He requested that the Council not make a decision until this has transpired. He also pointed out that the survey results first put out are different that the ones presented. City Grant Coordinator Carol Coyle wanted to remind the Council that there is a 100K grant from Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) approved for this project. LHTAC would like to see this project be completed by September 30, 2017 but in some cases they may grant an extension. If not, those funds will be lost. McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 2 of 4 September 23, 2016 Jim Campbell of 165 Commerce Street expressed concern about this project being first on the list. He understands all the issues with the exception of snow removal and drainage. He is not opposed but does not understand the drainage issue. Mr. Campbell is opposed to water drainage going onto private property due to environmental impact responsibility. He thought maybe there needs to be some public notices addressing the reasons behind why this project is first so the community understands the bigger picture. City Engineer Stewart addressed the drainage question. The City is required by regulation that no runoff goes onto private property. This is not about a drainage issue but rather a standard expectation of street design. Mayor Aymon addressed the comment of why Commerce Street is first on the list. In order to present the Local Option Tax for voter's approval, there had to be a set plan in place. Commerce Street was singled out because it was a fairly small project with a good underground structure in comparison to the other six on the list and therefore could be done quickly without a substantial cost. Also, the Ordinance dictates which projects are to be completed and since Commerce Street is on that list it cannot be removed. It may be possible to change the order but it still has to be completed within the plan timeframe. Any changes to the Ordinance would have to go before the voters. City Engineer Stewart pointed out that fixing Commerce Street allows a project to be completed without depleting the LOT fund the first year but instead let the LOT fund continue to build for a larger more expensive and complex project. Commerce Street is not the City's first priority, rather the community as a whole is. There have been many land use applications looking for industrial areas and the Streets Department has advised that it was a poor investment of City funds to continue to crack seal this area further so the goal is to fix the road, get a good drainage system in, and to offset some of the investment that property owners have had to incur. Communication Manager Erin Greaves addressed the issue of two different survey results brought up by Mr. Millman. There were additional phone calls and surveys that had come in and it was requested by the Council that the latest data be presented today. Closed for comment 10:52 a.m. SUMMARY Council Discussion and Direction Council Member Giles would like the proposed alternative given by Scott Bowes be given serious consideration and mapped out by the engineers. He would like the alternatives be discussed with each property owner and get feedback before Council makes a decision. Council Member Scott would like to see the feedback from the property owners once they see the access points for their property. McCall City Council Special Meeting September 23, 2016 Page 3 of 4 BessieJo W Council Member Witte concurs with the comments of Council Member Giles. She would like a larger copy of the map, if possible, and an inexpensive model created of the drainage system shown. Mayor Aymon wants all the property owners to get a copy of the alternatives and collect comments. Council Member Swanson would like to see the property owners debriefed but a decision needs to be made in the next couple of weeks so the project can move forward and stay within schedule Council consensus was to have one more meeting before giving direction to be determined once the property owner feedback is collected. City Engineer Stewart clarified two questions that needed to be answered: What is the property owners' opinion about the access proposed for them regardless of the alternatives, and which alternative does the property owner prefer. ADJOURNMENT Without further business, Mayor Aymon adjourned the meeting at 11:03 a.m. ATTEST: 04, ,�♦2oo„MccAt •••. •• ... �s a' s= `! / i %/ �/-`'.1• 0 er, City,/ stomata```• McCall City Council Special Meeting Page 4 of 4 September 23, 2016