07-24-2006 CC MIN
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SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL
HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL
MONDAY, JULY 24, 2006
Members Present:
Mayor Klinzing, Councilmembers Dietz, Farber, Gumphrey, and Motin
Members Absent:
None
Staff Present:
City Administrator Lori Johnson, Police Chief Jeffrey Beahen, Fire Chief
Bruce West, Community Development Director Scott Clark, Director of
Economic Development Catherine Mehelich, Building Official Bob
Ruprecht, Street Superintendent Phil Hals, Police Captain Bob Kluntz,
Police Captain Brad Rolfe, Assistant Director of Economic Development
Heidi Steinmetz, and Recording Secretary Jessica Miller
1. Call Meeting To Order
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called
to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Klinzing.
2.
Discuss Construction Areas and Downtown Traffic
Community Development Director Scott Clark explained that since the Council approved a
temporary reroute of Main Street for a three month period with two-way traffic to resume
August 11, 2006, additional information has been obtained through contractor meetings
indicating that there will be future needs to close the street and that major traffic disruptions
may occur for extended periods of time to allow construction vehicles and equipment to
access the sites. Mr. Clark reviewed the construction schedules for the Bank of Elk River,
the Bluffs Project, and the Jackson Place project. He stated that from the information
included in the schedules, it appears that a majority of the closures and interferences that
could severely disrupt traffic flow could be completed by October 1. He discussed the
options with the Council which included resuming two-way traffic on Main Street on
August 11 as originally approved on May 1 or extending the August 11 deadline in order to
allow contractors sufficient time to complete what they view as major road disruptions and
to allow construction vehicles and equipment access to the sites.
Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich and Building Official Bob
Ruprecht presented photographs of the downtown construction sites to the Council.
Chief Beahen indicated that there are a number of issues surrounding the downtown project
that directly involve the police department. He explained that there is currently an officer
downtown controlling traffic 9 hours a day. He stated that he is still five officers short which
means that officers are filling this detail by working overtime, many with 16-hour days. He
stated that if Main Street is reopened, staffing will need to be increased from 1 officer, 9
hours a day to 3 officers, 9 hours a day to help traffic navigate through the narrowed road
past the construction sites. Chief Beahen explained that the estimated cost of having
additional officers on traffic control duty downtown is approximately $64,000. He explained
that a more inexpensive option would be to hire non-officers at a minimal wage to provide
traffic control downtown. He noted that anyone hired would have to be trained to deal with
City Council :Minutes
July 24, 2006
Page 2
the public and to properly represent the city. Chief Beahen emphasized that simply putting
additional downtown signage is not the answer as to date, the police department has
experienced almost zero-compliance on traffic signage downtown.
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Councilmember Gumphrey questioned if downtown traffic control would be necessary if
Main Street remained closed until October 1. Chief Beahen stated that it would depend on
the construction traffic patterns. He noted that the traffic patterns downtown change daily
and that he had not originally anticipated having to have an officer downtown daily for
traffic control.
Chief Beahen commended the contractors for adhering to their approved staging areas and
keeping construction traffic off of Main Street. He noted that he has witnessed some of the
construction delays put upon these projects and many of them were beyond the contractor's
control.
Councilmember Gumphrey questioned given the unforeseen delays, what the contractors
are doing to expedite the completion of their projects.
Adam Holmes of VanMan Architects and Builders for the Bank of Elk River Project; Paul
Lyver representing CSS Builders on the Bluff Block Project; and Ken Hinz of Flannery
Construction for the Jackson Block project were present and provided input on their
construction schedules.
Mayor Klinzing stated that she is not interested in extending the August 11 deadline as the
Council promised the downtown business owners that it would be reopened by that date.
She questioned why the city is providing police officers for traffic control and why the
contractors are not providing the traffic control. Chief Beahen stated that normally traffic
control provisions are included as part of a development agreement but no such provisions
were included into these development agreements.
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Marcy VanValkenburg, Elk River Travel and Keith Holme, Kemper Drug property
owner - stated that their businesses are hurting due to the Main Street closure and that they
would rather have it reopened as soon as possible even if it has to be closed periodically
throughout the day to allow construction traffic to pass.
Fred McCoy, McCoy's Pub - stated that he would like Main Street to be opened but has
concerns that people may get upset at the condition of the road and be reluctant to travel
Main Street in the future.
Karen Attia, Olde Main Eatery - indicated that it is ridiculous to assume that the
contractors will remain on schedule if the deadline is extended to October 1.
Councilmember Motin indicated that he agrees with Mr. McCoy. He would like for Main
Street to reopen as soon as possible but that he would rather err on the side of public safety
and doesn't believe reopening it is the best thing to do. He stated that he has concerns about
the road reopening in poor condition and with people traveling so closely though
construction zones. He noted that if the downtown businesses can be legally compensated
he would be interested in looking into that.
Fire Chief Bruce West explained that it will take the cooperation of all three contractors and
the public to ensure that public safety remains the number one concern downtown when
Main Street is reopened and throughout all of the downtown construction.
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City Council Minutes
July 24, 2006
Page 3
Councilmember Gumphrey stated he has to leave but that he is in favor of adhering to the
original date of August 11 for Main Street to reopen. He noted that he is not in favor of
providing compensation to the downtown business owners.
Councilmember Gumphrey left at this time (7:32 p.m.).
Councilmember Dietz questioned what the condition of Main Street would be if reopened
August 11. Mr. Clark indicated that it would be asphalt with curb and gutter. He questioned
where the additional money to pay the traffic control officers is coming from.
City Administrator Lori J ohoson explained that traffic control was not included in the
developer's agreement because traffic control was originally not an issue and it did not
become an issue until these projects came together at the same time. Ms. Johnson indicated
that the money is currently coming from the general fund but if the Council desires, the city
can request that the developers assist with the cost of the downtown traffic control. She
noted that all road closure requests should go through Director of Economic Development
Catherine Mehelich so they can be forwarded to the Council.
It was the consensus of the Council to adhere to the original deadline for Main Street to
reopen to two-way traffic on August 11; for any future road closure requests to be
coordinated through Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich with as much
lead time as possible; for Chief Beahen to explore the option of hiring non-patrol officers to
direct downtown traffic at a minimal wage; and for staff to look into requesting traffic
control payment assistance from the developers.
3.
Adjournment
There being no further business, Mayor Klinzing adjourned the meeting of the Elk River
City Council at 7:42 p.m.
Minutes prepared by Jessica Miller.
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