Memo - Met Council Lift Station UpdatePublic WAs Depallment
Memorandum
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
CC: Mike Morrison, City Manager
From: John R. Bradford, City Engineer
Date: 2/10/2012
Re: Met Council Lift Station Update
As we have discussed in the past, Met Council is desirous of relocating their lift
station on the corner of Blake Road and Lake Street to the northwest corner of
Oakes Park. The Park Board looked at several siting options and selected this corner
of Oakes Park for the lift station.
In exchange for this land, Met Council was to purchase the two duplexes (431 and
435 Blake Road) that block access to Cottageville Park from Blake Road, and deed
them to the City.
To that end, Met Council has made offers on both properties, with the 435 Blake
Road (northern parcel) owner accepting. The owner of 431 has rejected the Met
Council offer.
As part of their larger force main project that accompanies the lift station, Lake
Street from Blake Road to Texas Avenue will be torn up. Met Council suggested
that some enhanced restoration of this roadway could be an additional consideration
for the Oakes Park property considering their failure to acquire 431 Blake Road.
This segment of Lakes Street is not in the 2012-2016, but is slated to be part of the
2013 - 2017 CIP along with Oxford, Cambridge, Murphy and Texas. The force
main work is most likely to occur in 2013 or 2014 and the street would be
reconstructed at that time.
The City could conceivably use the savings from not having to reconstruct this
stretch of Lake Street to fund a possible purchase of 431 Blake Road.
February 10, 2012
Staff is currently negotiating the terms of an agreement with Met Council to this
end. We are hoping to have a final agreement with Met Council for the March 20'h
Council Meeting.
Additionally, the relocation of the lift station to Oakes Park will necessitate the
involvement of nearby residents. We anticipate an initial public meeting at the end
of February or Early March with the neighborhood to discuss the project, site plan,
and to allay fears of an industrial looking building that would negatively impact the
neighborhood and park. As design on the station progressed, we would engage the
neighborhood again to get input on the actual design.
Finally, staff is preparing a Request for Proposals for the storm water and park
planning required in our agreement with Minnehaha Creek Watershed District to
purchase the apartments and commercial property adjacent to Cottageville Park.
There will be significant public input with this effort. We anticipate selecting a
consultant in late March or early April.
We look forward to discussing these issues with you on Tuesday.