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08-23-05 JOINT MTG. HOP&MTKA® MINUTES MINNETONKA CITY COUNCIL JOINT CITY COUNCIL MEETING, TUESDAY, AUGUST 23, 2005 1. CALL TO ORDER. Mayor Anderson called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m. 2. ROLL CALL. A. Minnetonka Council Members Jan Callison, Bob Ellingson, Terry Schneider, AI Thomas, Tony Wagner, Brad Wiersum, and Karen Anderson were present. B. Hopkins Council Members Rick Brausen, Bruce Rowan, Jay Thompson, and Mayor Gene Maxwell were present. 3. PUBLIC HEARING: A. Public hearing and resolutions regarding layout preparation for the Shady Oak Road reconstruction. Anderson welcomed the group and said the purpose of the evening's meeting was to hold a public hearing to consider the preferred concept. She said this was the fifth joint meeting of the Hopkins and Minnetonka City Councils to discuss the project, but this is the first public hearing. Anderson review what was agreed upon from the previous joint meetings. She said this project is more than a roadway project and aland-use analysis has been done to look at areas for potential renovation or re-use. Anderson said the councils also agreed that this segment of Shady Oak Road should be a 4-lane section. She said a series of public meetings have been held and the public should expect more in the future. Anderson said the councils also agreed to review several roadway alternatives, and also to work collaboratively together. She said the process is still at the beginning and the councils last met on July 25 and generally agreed the preferred concept was acceptable. Anderson thanked the public for attending and reviewed the process for the evening's meeting. Maxwell said the process started in December and has been a collaborative effort with the City of Hopkins, the City of Minnetonka, and Hennepin County. He said this is not a five or ten year plan, but rather a 50-year plan. Anderson introduced Mark Koegler of Hosington Koegler Group, the land-use consultant for the project. Koegler explained his firm's involvement in the project and said WSB is the engineering consultant for the design of the roadway. He said the initial public kick-off meeting was held in February, with six possible alignments presented then. Koegler said since that time there • has been a series of other public meetings and council meetings to review updates. He said the process was to get feedback at the community meetings and then review the comments to make necessary changes. Koegler said comments from the public have been posted on JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 2 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 • the website alon with res onses. He said ultimate) the feedback resulted in the referred 9 p Y p concept shown this evening, and also identified issues related to the concept. Koegler said one component of the land use analysis was a fiscal impact analysis using a model developed by Hennepin County. He explained that the model looked at the impacts of the roadway and land use impacts on the cities and Hopkins School District. Koegler said there were no large differences in fiscal impacts between any of the alternatives. Koegler said the intended scope of the project was to look at the positive and negatives of the alternatives; however, preferred concepts for the both north and the south halves have emerged, and have been combined for the overall preferred concept. Koegler reviewed the initial two alternatives for the south end. He said concept 1 balanced the impacts of a widened roadway, while concept 2 shifted the road to the west. He said initially a connection showed an extension of Mainstreet westward to Oak Drive Lane; however, that is not shown now after hearing from the neighborhood that they did not want that connection. Koegler also said, as part of the process, that a variety of development opportunities have been sketched as to what may happen, because of roadway impacts or other potential re-use options. Koegler said for the north half there were four alternatives drawn that gradually shifted the roadway to the east. He said the geometrics of the Highway 7 intersection were looked at, and a goal is to make the intersection at a 90 degree angle, which concept 6 does; however, it is done through right of way acquisition. Koegler highlighted other details, noting the Oak Drive Lane neighborhood connections to Shady Oak Road will stay in place, and Lake Street Extension and 2"d Street will be aligned. He said concept 6 shows a new cul-de-sac on the west side of Shady Oak Road; however, the new roadway will affect the first tier of homes on the east side of the roadway. Koegler said the overall preferred option combines concept 1 from the south and concept 6 from the north. He said a detached frontage road is shown on the north side of Highway 7; however, in order to do this it will require two homes to be removed. Koegler said this design needs further attention. Koegler reviewed the overall preferred concept in full. He said the Bradford Road intersection will be right-in/right-out. He pointed out the common left turn lane on Shady Oak Road just north of Bradford to continue to allow access to businesses; however, in the future there may be a median put in if redevelopment occurs. Koegler said the westerly extension of Mainstreet will be a driveway leg only and will not connect to either Bradford Road or Oak Drive Lane. He reviewed the Oak Drive Lane connections to Shady Oak Road will be right- in/right-out, the Lake Street Extension and 2"d Street intersection will be aligned, but not signalized, and there will be a cul-de-sac on the west side of Shady Oak Road north of Lake Street Extension. Koegler said the Highway 7 intersection will be at a 90 degree angle. • JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 3 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 Gustafson highlighted there will be an eight-foot trail on the east side of the roadway and a sidewalk on the west side. He said this will allow for increased pedestrian access. Gustafson reviewed the North Service Drive issue, and said this issue came up later in the process. He said the current service drive comes in close proximity of the Highway 7 intersection and what is shown in the preferred concept is a detached frontage road that will go through two homes. Gustafson said this is the most severe option and another option may be to eliminate the North Service Drive entirely. He said this will be addressed further in detailed design and the neighborhood will be involved in the design. He said letters were received concerned about this issue and included in the agenda packets. Stadler said the plans are to address the roadway needs for the next 50 years and maximize the efficiency of the Highway 7/Shady Oak Road intersection, so that is why concept 6 is preferred. He said a petition was received from residents along West Park Road and includes a suggested new concept for the intersection, compromising between concept 5 and concept 6. Stadler said this suggested concept will require two less homes to be eliminated south of Highway 7, but the two homes north of Highway 7 will be eliminated. He said the petition also included a buffering request and had concerns about traffic at the realigned Lake Street Extension/2"d Street intersection. Stadler commented the buffering request will be looked at as part of the project and that the traffic concern at the realigned intersection will be considered and worked on to make safe. He also noted the holding ponds were of concern and will be addressed as part of the design as well. Gustafson said Minnetonka received the identical petition, and also received letters from the Wyndem Hill residents. He said the Oak Drive Lane neighborhood had concerns about the connection from their neighborhood to an extended westerly connection to Mainstreet; therefore, the connection was eliminated. Gustafson said there has been additional discussion about cul-de-sacing one of the accesses into the Oak Drive Lane neighborhood, which will be looked at further in the design process. Stadler said a petition was received from the 21St Avenue North neighborhood located south of the Duck Pond. He said the petition asked that concept 2 on the south end be considered rather than concept 1, since concept 2 moves the roadway away from the residential properties on the east. Stadler said there will be additional impacts to the commercial properties if the roadway is shifted to the west, and that improvements such as buffering will be looked at for the residential area during design. He noted 1St Street will be cul-de-saced, but the traffic impacts of this need to be studied further. Gustafson reviewed the Bradford Road connection and said it will be a right-in/right-out connection. He said in previous alternatives a connection was shown using the Crawford Road alley to connect Bradford Road to Mainstreet. He said the neighborhood did not want this and now that connection is not shown. Gustafson said the process for this roadway project is different than others with a concept plan drawn first before preliminary design. He said the concept plan will show what the JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 4 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 roadway will look like, but the preliminary design will continue to look at issues and make modifications to the roadway where needed. Gustafson reviewed the next steps. He said tonight the public is given the chance to comment on the preferred concept. If the City Councils adopt their resolutions tonight, the County will begin work on the preliminary design which will look at more detail such as elevations, sidewalks, trail, and aesthetics. He said concerns brought up previously as well as tonight will try to be incorporated into the preliminary design. Gustafson said the cities and county will continue to work with individuals, neighborhoods and businesses on the issues and design. He said the city councils will need to approve the preliminary design before final layout is drawn. Gustafson said photograph examples of what the proposed roadway and aesthetics may look like can be done for neighborhoods and individuals. He said after preliminary design is completed, a final layout will be drawn and the city councils will also need to approve this. Gustafson said there have been some concerns about right of way acquisition. He said the county will not know exactly what property they need to acquire until after preliminary design. Gustafson said the county will provide information on acquisition, and a right of way acquisition meeting, like what was done for the County Road 101 project, can also be held. Anderson asked if councilmembers had any questions. There were none and the public hearing was opened at 8:34 p.m. Jeff Mock, 201 West Park Road, said he was the author of one of the petitions. He attended the July council study session, but his neighborhood's concerns were not addressed then. Mock said he understands the issues of the Highway 7 intersection, but believes that it does not need to be so drastic. He said this issue cannot be worked out in the design phase and encouraged the councils not to approve the preferred concept. He asked the councils about compensation for the remaining homes along the roadway since he heard this will be done for the businesses. Anderson said one of the concerns of the councils is that if the time and money is invested in the redesign of the roadway then the Highway 7 intersection should be as close to 90 degrees as possible. Gustafson addressed Mock's question on compensation, and said there is no compensation for properties that do not have either a permanent or temporary taking. He said there have been concerns about what is leftover in the northeast corner. Gustafson commented the City of Hopkins is good at mitigating and the intent is to make what is left as good as possible. Brausen said the cities should start providing information on acquisition and compensation now. Gustafson replied that can be done and there is information already on Hennepin County's website. Pierre D'Albertis, 4028 Shady Oak Road, said a decision on the North Service Road should not be included in the decision tonight. He said it impacts more than just two homes and is concerned about the parents of children and the school bus stops adjacent to the area. JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 5 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 Schneider said the action tonight is not to necessarily approve the North Service Drive as shown in the preferred concept, but just that it cannot stay where it is at currently. Amy Schweitzer, 4144 Shady Oak Road, said she was concerned about the property value of her home if property is acquired for the cul-de-sac to be put in. She also said there are approximately 15 to 18 mature trees on her property she wants saved. Gustafson said during preliminary design existing tree locations will be identified and will try to be designed around. He said more trees may be added as well. Anderson verified that this neighborhood will have a major change and there will be a separate neighborhood meeting for them. Gustafson said it is highly likely this will happen. He said there will be additional buffer area, which can help to create a gateway effect. Jeff Mock clarified he understands the Highway 7 intersection issue and his proposed concept is a compromise between concept 5 and concept 6. He said the councils need to have time to review his revised concept before deciding tonight. David Hodnefield, 4272 Oak Drive Lane, said the preferred concept is a good compromise given all of the difficulties to address. Dianne Shimek, 11801 Lake Street Extension, was concerned about increased traffic on Lake Street Extension because it is already narrow and there is no pedestrian access. Jim Mason owns the Leahams Liquors and Nelson Meat shop building, and his mother owns the dry cleaners building. He said the buildings will be useless with only aright-in/right-out access, and there will be no parking for the Nelsons Meat shop. He does not understand how the buildings can be left as is. Maxwell said redevelopment is a long-term plan and the cities want to make sure the businesses are successful. He said the goal is not to hurt them financially. Anderson added this is why this project is starting so early. Schneider commented the Hennepin County Community Works department can help in the redevelopment. Larry Blackstad, Hennepin County Community Works, said his department becomes involved to bring in redevelopment programs for the impacted areas of roadway projects. He said there is money requested in the county's 2006 budget to work on a redevelopment plan in association to this roadway project. Amy Scherer, 209 Shady Oak Road, said with the preferred concept her house is gone. She said the Lake Street Extension/2"d Street and Shady Oak Road intersection needs to be controlled as 70 percent of the drivers do not adhere to the 30 mph speed limit, and with less access points it will create a free for all. She was concerned about the pedestrians. Anderson asked if future conditions may warrant a signal at some point in time. Gustafson said to install signal lights, warrants must be met. He said the warrants most likely will not be JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 6 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 met now but if the are met in the future then somethin could be added. Gustafson said Y g this intersection can be monitored. Gustafson clarified the right of way acquisition materials are already on the county's website. Anderson asked if the cities have direct links to the county's website. Gustafson replied both Minnetonka and Hopkins have direct links. Schneider said when Crosstown was extended a systems warrant was included. He encouraged investigation of this option. Rich Hillengass, 4063 Wyndem Hill Drive, asked why the 90 degree intersection concept pushed Shady Oak Road to the east versus the west. Gustafson said a range of options to meet the 90 degree intersection were investigated. He showed that pushing Shady Oak Road to the west to get the 90 degree intersection would require the roadway to go through wetlands and it made the most sense to go to the east. Susan Haub, 4020 Shady Oak Road, supported Mr. D'Albertis' comments on the North Service Drive and appreciates that other alternatives will be looked at. Maryanne Remington, 4234 Oak Drive Lane, said a turn signal at the Lake Street Extension/2"d Street and Shady Oak Road intersection is needed to get out of the neighborhood. She said James Road is narrow and has many hills, which make it difficult to get through on. Gustafson said these issues will be looked at with the neighborhoods, but adding lanes on Shady Oak Road will help relieve some of the back-ups that currently happen at the Highway 7 and Mainstreet intersections and provide larger gaps to get out of the neighborhoods. Amy Sherer, 209 Shady Oak Road, said the visibility on the hill at Lake Street Extension is bad. Jerry Anderson, 3724 Hilltop Road, asked about what is planned for Shady Oak Road between Highway 7 and Minnetonka Boulevard. Mayor Anderson said the county will plan for this segment later and she was not aware of anything being discussed now. Jerry Anderson said over 20 years ago there were plans to expand this segment to four lanes, but the neighborhood fought it. He is also concerned about the number of right-in/right-out accesses and envisions people making u-turns at uncontrolled intersections. Mayor Anderson said she is concerned about the u-turns as well. Gustafson said Shady Oak Road improvements north of Highway 7 are not in the county's CIP and they have no plans for this segment in the next 10 years. He said the city also has higher priorities besides this segment. JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 7 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 Schneider asked how neighbors will get updates about what is going on. Gustafson said newsletters can be produced, similar to what has been done for other projects, and these newsletters can be posted on the website as well. He also said people can contact city staff. Stadler added the City of Hopkins will stay in contact with Hopkins residents and the website has acity/county staff contact list. Maxwell moved, Thompson seconded a motion to close the public hearing_ All voted "yes." Motion carried. Anderson declared the public hearing closed at 9:15 p.m. Anderson said the resolutions for each city are not identical. She read part of the resolution and said it leaves out comments on specific parts of the concept plan, but these should be taken into consideration in the design phase. Anderson said the city councils will look at these issues again during preliminary design review. Rowan asked if a possible 2"d Street connection would be done as a separate city project or as part of the county project. Stadler replied it most likely would be a separate city project, and additional work needs to be done on this. Rowan asked how to guarantee that it is part of the solution. Stadler said it is an idea throughout the process and has merit to consider. Rowan thought it may be possible to get it done before the county project. Schneider said his only reservation is that the North Service Drive warrants major study and the resolution should reflect this. Gustafson said it is in the minutes that this area will continue to be studied, but it can be included in the resolution if the council wants it to be. Callison said with one exception, the comments centered around tweaking the preferred concept. She said the exception is the neighborhood proposal of an alignment between concept 5 and concept 6. Callison said she believes concept 6 is the right alternative for the north end. Maxwell clarified the 85 degree intersection, and said landscaping will be important for this area. Callison said to fundamentally get as close to 90 degrees is the way to go. Ellingson was out of the room from 9:15 p.m. to 9:25 p.m. Callison moved, Thomas seconded a motion to adopt Minnetonka Resolution No. 2005-109 regarding layout preparation for the Shady Oak Road reconstruction. Anderson said she wanted to speak in favor of the motion, and she believes the 90 degree intersection is best. She wants to see that the buffers are adequate. Wagner applauded the joint framework of the project and thinks it has worked well. Callison, Schneider, Thomas, Wagner, Wiersum and Anderson voted "yes." Ellingson was absent. Motion passed. JOINT CITY COUNCIL MINUTES PAGE 8 MEETING OF AUGUST 23, 2005 Brausen said there were good comments from the public, and he has confidence the buffering will be done. Maxwell said the process has been good, and they are trying to make it without negative impacts. Rowan moved, Brausen seconded a motion to adopt Hopkins Resolution 2005-077 regarding layout preparation for the Shady Oak Road reconstruction. All voted "yes." Motion passed. 4. ADJOURNMENT. Thomas moved, Wiersum seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:25 p.m. All voted "yes." Motion carried. Respectfully submitted, Kathleen Magrew City Clerk COUNCIL MEMBERS ATTEST: Eugen . M ell, Mayor