City Council Workshop

Blaine City Hall City of Blaine 10801 Town Sq Dr NE Blaine, MN 55449 Anoka County, Minnesota Minutes City Council Workshop Thursday, January 4, 2018 6:30 PM Cloverleaf Farm Room A NOTICE OF WORKSHOP MEETING 1 Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryan at 6:32 p.m. 2 Roll Call Quorum Present. ALSO PRESENT: City Manager Clark Arneson; Planning and Community Development Director Bryan Schafer; Public Works Director Jon Haukaas; Police Chief/Safety Services Manager Brian Podany; Finance Director Joe Huss; Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Bob Therres; City Engineer Jean Keely; City Attorney Patrick Sweeney; Communications Technician Roark Haver; and City Clerk Catherine Sorensen. Present: 6 - Councilmember Hovland, Councilmember Clark, Councilmember King, Councilmember Jeppson, Mayor Ryan, and Councilmember Swanson Absent: 1 - Councilmember Garvais 3 New Business 3-1 I35W MNPASS PROJECT NOISE WALL LOGOS Attachments: MNDOT Email on Noise Wall Logos MNDOT Noise Wall Logo Designs I35W Noise Wall Public Services Manager/Assistant City Manager Therres stated MNDOT is currently putting together the design package for the Design-Build bid process for constructing a MnPASS lane in each direction of I35W from Roseville through Blaine. City Engineer Keely explained seven noise walls will be constructed with the MnPASS project and MNDOT has designed a logo for each City to install on the noise wall. They tried to keep the logos simple for ease of construction and future maintenance. Staff reviewed the logo designs as proposed by MNDOT and noted City of Blaine Page 1 City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2018 MNDOT was looking for a response from the City. MNDOT’s current schedule for this project is to open bid proposals by September 12, 2018. There will be some preparatory road construction from September 2018 through spring of 2019. It was noted the reconstruction project will go from March 2019 through fall of 2022. Mayor Ryan stated the two proposed trees for the sound wall looked quite bare. Councilmember King asked how the logo would be achieved on the sound wall. City Engineer Keely explained the logo would be cut out of plywood and be painted separately from the sound wall. Councilmember Hovland suggested the word Blaine be placed on the sound wall versus the trees. He anticipated this would be easier to maintain than the trees. Councilmember Swanson stated he has been working on this project for his entire career. He stated the original plan was to improve 35W all the way into Minneapolis, however, this became too costly. Councilmember Hovland asked if the 35W/I-694 cloverleaf would be addressed. Councilmember Swanson reported this would not be addressed through the MnPASS project. Council consensus was to recommend MNDOT include Blaine’s full logo or Blaine if possible on the sound walls. 3-2 TH65 CORRIDOR DISCUSSION City Manager Arneson explained staff had drafted a lobbying proposal for the Council to consider for the TH65 corridor. He stated the TH65 corridor was maxed out and has more traffic than 35W. He reported a plan needed to be put in place before the State could consider the project. For this reason, the City would like to move forward with lobbying efforts in order to get a plan drafted. Mayor Ryan stated this corridor was getting more attention from local and state representatives. Councilmember Clark questioned how the Public Safety Training Facility fit into this item. City Manager Arneson explained the SBM Fire Department previously conducted all of their training in Fridley. He noted the Fridley training facility has since closed. For this reason, the City of Blaine was pursuing a new training facility as requested by Fire Chief Charlie Smith. He indicated this project needs a plan in place along with multi-city buy in for it to move forward. Councilmember Jeppson stated she would be interested in attending the TH65 City of Blaine Page 2 City Council Workshop Minutes January 4, 2018 corridor meetings. Discussed. Other Business Councilmember Hovland asked if the Historical Society would be invited to attend an upcoming worksession meeting to review the status of their historical publication and to renew their request for financial assistance. City Manager Arneson stated they would be invited to attend a future meeting. Councilmember Swanson asked if the City was going to recognize the retirement of Paul Buchholz of Paul’s Barber Shop. Mayor Ryan reported there was a recent article in the Blaine/Spring Lake Park Life and that a retirement celebration will be held on Sunday, March 18th. Mayor Ryan and the Council reviewed the liaison appointments. The Council directed staff to schedule Board/Commission interviews including incumbents. Further discussion ensued regarding in town deer bow hunting and the Metro Bowhunters Resource Base (MNBRB). Councilmember Jeppson said she supported the Council hearing further from the MNBRB to see if the expense of deer removal could be eliminated from the City’s budget by this organization. Councilmember King said he was also interested in hearing more from this group. City Manager Arneson reported the Council Retreat was tentatively scheduled for Friday, February 23rd and Saturday, February 24th. Staff noted the Board of Review meetings are tentatively scheduled for either April 16th or April 23rd and that staff is awaiting confirmation from Anoka County. Mayor Ryan requested staff send information to the Council regarding the annual League of Minnesota Cities Conference scheduled for June of 2018. Discussed; direction provided to staff. ADJOURN The Workshop was adjourned at 7:20 p.m. Adjourned City of Blaine Page 3