07-11-16 CC WS MinCITY OF SHOREWOOD
CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
MONDAY, JULY 11, 2016
MINUTES
1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD
COUNCIL CHAMBERS
6:00 P.M.
Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 5:36 P.M.
A. Roll Call
Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Labadie, Siakel, Sundberg, and Woodruff; Administrator
Joynes; City Clerk Panchyshyn; Finance Director DeJong; Director of Public Works
Brown; and, Engineer Hornby
Absent: None
B. Review Agenda
Sundberg moved, Labadie seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 5/0.
2. CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM AND 2017 BUDGET REVIEW
Director DeJong stated last year there was discussion about focusing on the Capital Improvement
Program (CIP) earlier on in the budget process before focusing on the General Fund budget and setting
the maximum levy. The focus of discussion during the work session will be the CIP. He noted the
meeting packet contains a copy of a summary of the proposed 2017 General Fund Budget.
He displayed graphics depicting the level of expenditures and fund balance of the various funds based on
their 10 -year Financial Management Plans (FMPs) and highlighted what to take from them. The more
noteworthy comments are as follows for each of the funds.
Park Improvement Fund
• The Fund is in better shape than it was projected to be during the February 8, 2016, Council and
staff retreat primarily because the second phase of improvements to Badger Park were pushed
out to 2019. Whenever the second phase improvements are done there will need to be a cash
infusion to this Fund.
• The IMP includes $768,000 in park dedication fees that will be received from the Minnetonka
Country Club (MCC) development.
Equipment Replacement Fund
The Council decision last year to fund the replacement of one dump truck from the Sewer Fund
and another dump trunk from Water Fund dramatically changed the Fund balance projections.
The current Fund balance is good and it will remain that way until 2023 when a front -end loader
needs to be replaced for an estimate of $325,000. The Fund will enter into a deficit state in 2023.
It anticipates a $15,000 increase in the transfer into the Fund from the General Fund again in
2017. That increase has occurred each of the last few years. He thought it would have to be
increased one more year.
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July 11, 2016
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Street Maintenance Fund
• The Fund balance is in good shape for 2016 and after that it becomes problematic.
• For discussion purposes about $500,000 was moved from 2023/2024 for improvements to
roadways on Enchanted and Shady Islands to 2017. Prior to that regular maintenance was going
to be done to those roadways until it was time to do a mill and overlay. Those improvements
would be advanced in order to do them at the same time the City of Minnetrista makes
improvements to the portion of Enchanted Lane located in Minnetrista.
• The PMP reflects the Fund entering into a significant deficit state if Glen Road, Amlee Road and
Manitou Lane are reconstructed. Those improvements would require a significant amount of
stormwater management improvements at the same time.
• Roadway maintenance is funded by transfers from the General Fund.
Mayor Zerby stated the Street Reconstruction CIP reflects that the reconstruction of Strawberry Lane and
West 62nd Street was advanced to 2017 from 2019. He asked if the roadway has deteriorated to the point
that it needs to be reconstructed sooner or was it advanced in anticipation of constructing a trail along
Strawberry Lane. Director DeJong explained the reconstruction was advanced to 2017 in anticipation of
constructing the trail in 2017. If the trail were constructed on its own it would cost about $500,000 more
to construct.
Zerby then stated there had been discussion with the Minnetonka School District about using abatement
to help fund the trail construction. He asked if that abatement would be ready for 2017. Administrator
Joynes stated it has been anticipated that abatement would be used for those types of expenditures and
there are funds that could be moved around in anticipation of the abatement. During discussions with
Superintendent Dr. Peterson both parties agreed that the effort should begin this fall with the School
Board making a decision toward the end of 2016. That timeline would work with the financing timeline
for the trail. Zerby asked Joynes if he realistically thought the abatement would start coming in during
2017 or should the trail be moved out to 2018. Joynes cautioned against being concerned about when the
abatement will come in because there are other sources of funding that can be used until the abatement
starts to come in. Zerby stated he was looking in the approximate $3 million in street improvements in
2017. Joynes stated there are funding sources that will fill in to get things done.
Administrator Joynes noted that during the February 2016 Council and staff retreat there was a document
displayed that showed there were total assets of about $11 million and the total expenditures were about
$9 million. The ongoing question going forward is how to mesh them together. He stated the timing of
the abatement and when the tax dollars will come in will depend on a number of things (e.g.; when the
building starts on the MCC site, when the houses hit the tax rolls, the rate at which the houses are built).
Director DeJong clarified that what is being discussed is bonding for this trail. He explained the City will
collect the increased taxes on the MCC development over the course of many years. It is anticipated the
City would bond for the costs and the abatement bond proceeds would go into the Trail Fund. The Trail
Fund anticipates $1 million in revenues from abatement bonds to do the trails from the City and another
$852,000 from the School District. Those numbers are based off of the Springsted numbers for what
could be obtained from abatement on the MCC development.
Councilmember Woodruff asked if all of the abatement revenues would go toward trails. Director
DeJong confirmed that. Woodruff then asked if any would go toward the Galpin Lake Road trail
segment. DeJong clarified the Galpin Lake Trail segment would be paid for with Minnesota State Aid
(MSA) funding. Woodruff noted the Trails CIP reflects $852,000 in costs for the Strawberry Lane and
West 62nd Street trail segment. He asked what the other $1 million is for. DeJong noted that is for the
Smithtown Road east sidewalk extension. Woodruff stated that is then reimbursing the City for what it is
paying for in 2016 some other way.
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Woodruff stated the approximate $1.1 million in the Street Improvement Fund for Strawberry Lane and
West 62 "d Street is unfunded.
Administrator Joynes stated that Council needs to start thinking about a philosophy for funding roadway
reconstruction (e.g., bonding, assessments, higher taxes, etc.).
Director DeJong stated absent the reconstruction and mill and overlay out on the Islands there is enough
money to fund the reconstruction of Strawberry Lane and West 62" Street in 2017. If Council chooses
not to do a cooperative project with Minnetrista in 2017 then the Island projects can be moved back out
to 2023/2024.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested Council and staff have a more detailed discussion about the Street
Reconstruction Fund. He stated there is an improvement project scheduled for Riviera Lane in the 2017
CIP for an approximate cost of $371,000. Riviera Lane is a tiny street. It makes no sense to reconstruct
that roadway. During his tenure only one other small street was reconstructed and that was Star Lane; it
was done because of drainage issues. There is $444,000 slotted for the reconstruction of Mann Lane in
2018 and $629,000 slotted for the reconstruction of Seamans Drive in 2020. It does not make sense to
him to spend that amount of money on improvements to those roadways. He recommended Council and
staff have a realistic discussion about what should be done for those roadways.
Director DeJong stated the type of roadway improvements and scheduling of them is based on the
PASER (Pavement Surface Evaluation and Rating) rating. When they reach a rating of 3 or less there is
not much maintenance that can be done to them other than reconstruction or reclamation.
Councilmember Woodruff stated there have been three or four instances when a decision was made not
to reconstruct or reclaim a small roadway even though the PASER rating would have warranted doing so.
Engineer Hornby noted that Valleywood Lane, Meadowview Lane, Sunnyvale Lane, Star Lane, Star
Circle, and Wedgewood Drive were all reconstructed. Director Brown noted that Mallard Lane and Teal
Circle were also. Councilmember Woodruff noted there is a lot of traffic on Wedgewood Drive, Mallard
Lane and Teal Circle.
Councilmember Woodruff stated Riviera Lane is about 150 yards long.
Director Brown stated based on what Councilmember Woodruff has stated volume or the size of a
roadway should dictate when a roadway is reconstructed. That is different than the philosophy that has
been followed in the past which was the PASER rating dictated that. If Council wants to change the
philosophy then there should be a work session to discuss pavement management.
Councilmember Siakel stated the Street Reconstruction CIP includes $245,000 for maintenance —
bituminous sealcoating. She asked what that entails. Director Brown explained that is for the oil and rock
that is put down and noted the goal is to do one -fifth of the City roadways each year. Director DeJong
noted the PMP lists all of the roadways that would be done each year.
Siakel then stated the 2020 CIP has slotted $107,000 for improvements to Birch Bluff Road. She thought
that was the year that watermain was going to be extended and the roadway was to be reconstructed and
that reconstruction would cost much more than $107,000. She noted she lives along Birch Bluff Road.
Engineer Hornby stated he thought the $107,000 was for a mill and overlay. He then stated the water plan
was updated late 2012 and accepted by Council. It has not been implemented or funded. Any time a
roadway is reconstructed the extension of watermain is considered. Siakel stated since she has been on
Council she has been telling her neighbors that Birch Bluff Road would be reconstructed in 2020 and
watermain would potentially be extended. She asked that be reevaluated.
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Siakel noted that she appreciates staff giving Council an idea of what the impact would be to advance
roadway improvements on the Islands to 2017. She asked if staff has done any analysis of doing nothing
and completely reconstructing Enchanted Lane. If the focus was on replacing only the section of the
roadway that was washed out she asked what that cost would be. She stated a number of residents have
come forward about roadway issues. She expressed her hesitancy to keep pushing projects forward in the
CIP. She stated she thought it may be prudent to keep with the original schedule for improvements to
roadways on the Islands and fix just what has to be fixed.
Councilmember Woodruff stated irrespective of what happens out on the Islands he still has concern
about the costs to improve some of the roadways. He then stated that the 2019 CIP includes Eureka Road
North improvements for a cost of $260,000. That is an important roadway in the City. That budgeted
amount is not going to cover the cost of a reconstruction. The budgeted cost for Eureka Road North is
about one half of the budgeted cost for Shorewood Lane. That made no sense to him.
Councilmember Siakel suggested staff reassess the numbers because the data has changed.
Director Brown stated staff has presented to Council a number of times graphs showing the projected
balance in the Street Reconstruction Fund. During the work sessions on funding a list of questions that
needed to be made was created. Staff adjusted the priorities based on Council feedback which varied
from work session to work session. For example, Eureka Road North was first considered for a full
reconstruction. Because of the extreme cost a lower reclamation is planned for. Birch Bluff Road started
out as a MSA roadway and a full blown reconstruction. Staff determined it would be very difficult to
fund that so it was scheduled for a less costly improvement. He reiterated what Administrator Joynes
stated earlier; Council and staff need to discuss various funding options for roadways.
Councilmember Siakel clarified that she has never asked for improvements to Birch Bluff Road to be
advanced in the schedule or to be changed in anyway even though residents indicated they wanted
municipal water to be extended to there. She stated she only learned that the improvement to Birch Bluff
Road is not going to be a full construction via the Street Reconstruction CIP. She noted she hears what
staff is saying about funding. She reiterated her desire for the City to follow its 20 -Year PMP unless
there is a real need to adjust it. She also reiterated she does not agree with advancing roadway
improvements in the schedule unless a decision is made on funding them in part through assessments or
through street improvement districts.
Mayor Zerby clarified the Street Reconstruction CIP does not necessarily reflect Council's wishes. He
stated Council has discussed advancing the reconstruction of Strawberry Lane to 2017 but it never
approved doing that, for example.
Councilmember Siakel stated she does not think the schedule in the CIP has been discussed in depth.
Councilmember Woodruff reiterated that after putting improvements to the roadways on the Islands back
out to 2023/2024 there is still a challenge in funding the Street Reconstruction Fund. He sated there are
improvements scheduled for three roadways in 2017 or 2018 that in total would cost close to $1.3 million
and he does not think those three roadways warrant that kind of expense. He thought those proposed
improvements need to be discussed more.
Mayor Zerby stated he has highlighted eight or nine roads that Council wants to have more discussion on.
There was Council consensus to schedule a work session to discuss the Street Reconstruction CIP.
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Trail Construction Fund
• It is anticipated that the City would use its abatement from the MCC development to fund the
Smithtown Road east sidewalk extension.
• It is anticipated that if the Minnetonka School District participates in the abatement the Distr4ict
would use its abatement from the MCC development to fund the Strawberry Lane and West 62 °d
Street trail segment.
• The cost of the Galpin Lake Road trail segment would be reimbursed with MSA funds that
would be received over the course of four to five years. It is scheduled to be constructed in 2018.
Water Fund
• Nothing has changed since the February 2016 retreat.
Sewer Fund
• Nothing has changed since the February 2016 retreat.
Stormwater Management Fund
• This Fund has changed for the better since the February 2016 retreat. That is based on Council's
decision to transfer $500,000 from the Sewer Fund to the Stormwater Management Fund at the
end of 2015.
• The Fund is in reasonably good shape provided the stormwater rates continue to increase.
• New stormwater management mandates could significantly impact the balance in the Fund.
General Fund Budget
Director DeJong highlighted some changes in the draft 2017 General Fund Budget when compared to the
2016 adopted Budget.
The 2016 budget included $50,000 for contractual services for succession planning, a
compensation study and other potential costs associated with planned employee transitions.
For 2017 $85,000 has been added for contractual services to update the City's Comprehensive
(Comp) Plan for the Metropolitan (Met) Council.
The fire and police operating budget increases for 2017 have not been provided yet.
Mayor Zerby asked if previous updates to the Comp Plan have been outsourced or did staff do that.
Director DeJong stated that Director Nielsen has primarily done the updates in the past but he is not sure
that should be expected of Nielsen's replacement. Zerby stated he hopes that the City will hire a
replacement that would be capable of updating the Comp Plan. Engineer Homby explained that a number
of other plans need to be updated along with the Comp Plan — the surface water plan, the traffic plan, the
sanitary sewer plan, and watermain plan. Some of the updates will have to be outsourced. He stated
Shorewood is nearly built out; therefore, the updates to those plans will not be as major as for some other
communities.
Councilmember Sundberg noted the staff memorandum for this item mentions the potential need for
building permit software because of the anticipated higher level of building permits over the next few
years. She stated she thought that would make sense. She expressed concern about things she heard about
Mattamy Homes' development in the City of Waconia. For one of the new developments Waconia is not
doing inspections. As a result there are a lot of concerns about the new houses built there. She stated if it
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takes additional tools like the permit software to make sure inspections are done for new construction in
Shorewood then that would be a worthwhile expense. Mayor Zerby concurred.
Councilmember Woodruff stated for the next iteration of the budget packet he asked that 2015 actual
numbers and 2016 year -to -date numbers be added to the budget sheets.
3. TRAFFIC COMMITTEE REPORT
Ken Huskins, 24075 Mary Lake Trail, noted that he was elected co -chair of the Traffic Committee.
Teresa Elsbernd, the other co- chair, could not be in attendance this evening. There are some other
members of the Committee in the audience this evening. He stated if time permits he asked Council to
also give them an opportunity to speak. He then stated his remarks would be brief; he would like to use
the remainder of his time to answer questions Council may have.
He read what the Committee's purpose and role were as defined by the Committee for the record.
"Made up of volunteer citizens of Shorewood, the role of the Traffic Committee is to act as an
advisory committee to the Council to identify possible solutions to the existing traffic and
anticipated increased traffic situation as it relates to the development at MCC. Out role is NOT
to explore the feasibility of, cost or even how these suggestions might be implemented IF indeed
they are acted upon by the Council. Our discussions of solution concepts should not be limited in
any way."
He read the following informal mission statement that was agreed upon for the record.
"To identify logical, safe and efficient ways to move traffic from the residential areas to the main
thorough fares, namely eastbound Highway and southbound Highway 41."
He explained the Committee tried to be open and inclusive to every resident on the Committee. The
discussions were wide open. No concept was rejected. There is a table included in the Committee's
report that captures all of the concepts. The members scored them as high, medium or low in order to
provide Council with what a sense of what the support for the concepts were. There was a lot of
discussion about each of the concepts and what the perceived pros and cons were with regard to the
Committee's mission to quickly and safely move traffic. Due to a lack of time there are not pros and cons
listed for each of the concepts. The meetings do reflect the discussion that took place about pros and
cons.
The Committee chose not to make definitive choices about the concepts. It instead chose to provide
Council with its qualitative scoring and to let Council consider the concepts and convert them into
actions. Some concepts are standalone, others are interrelated with each other and some are mutually
exclusive. The Committee's conversations were centered on the corridor from Smithtown Road to
Country Club Road to Yellowstone Trail and to Lake Linden Drive as well as the associated
intersections. The Committee made a minor deviation from its scope when it considered potential issues
and solutions for Yellowstone Trail west of County Club Road and Yellowstone Trail east of Lake
Linden Drive.
He reviewed the Committee's key findings.
1. It is unacceptable to do nothing. The Committee understands that money is always an issue and
there are many worthy projects to be done within the City. The Committee believes solving the
issues along the corridor are very important and serious consideration should be given to
mitigating them.
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2. The existing laws and any changes or improvements that impact them must be enforced.
3. Any changes Council finds of interest should take into account education and visible reminders
because they would be changes to the roadways. Some of the changes could be addressed with
signage. Others like roundabouts, for example, would require drastically different driving
patterns.
4. The City should insist on and leverage the maximize right -of -way (ROW) possible on all of the
roads in the corridor. That is necessary for many of the concepts put forward.
5. The Committee strongly recommends maintaining the current neighborhood feel. The residents
who live along the corridor have valued being able to walk along the roadways and the more
country feel to it. The Committee believes that any of the concepts could be implemented
without changing the character and feel of the neighborhood.
Mr. Huskins offered to entertain questions.
Councilmember Siakel stated she thought the Committee's findings are completely doable. When the
Traffic Committee concept came to fruition she was very committed to following the Committee's
recommendation. She then stated some time Country Club Road will be reconstructed and when that is
done there will be an opportunity to make improvements to it. She commented she had thought the
Committee would have asked for more drastic things.
Mr. Huskins stated come of the concepts would have an impact that goes beyond the City's authority
because they would impact roads such as Country Road 19 and maybe reconfiguration of the intersection
just south of CUB Foods at Highway 7 and Highway 41. He noted the Committee did not limit its
concepts by whether or not a concept could be engineered, whether they would require the acquisition of
private or public land, or whether they would require working with other authorities. He stated that some
of the concepts would be affordable to implement and others would likely be much more costly to
implement.
Councilmember Siakel asked staff if the City has any authority to reconfigure the entrances to and from
the CUB parking lot or does the City have to work with the shopping center representatives on that.
Mr. Huskins stated there is a pinch point where vehicles are coming from two different directions to get
through the traffic light to Highway 7 or Highway 41. When that concept was discussed one member of
the Committee indicated that a difficulty in making that change would be the route taken by delivery
trucks. The trucks require some path through.
Councilmember Siakel stated that Council has struggled with there being a need for more traffic
enforcement by the South Lake Minnetonka Police Department ( SLMPD). She thought police presence
has improved especially along some of the feeder routes particularly at school times. She hopes that
would continue. Mr. Huskins stated the Committee understands the SLMPD provides policing services to
three other cities as well and people have heard that at times over weekends more policing resources are
being devoted to the City of Excelsior.
Councilmember Sundberg commended the Committee for doing excellent work. She stated she thought
the concepts chart with rankings was very helpful. She then stated that those concepts with the higher
ranking that relate to the MCC development should be the higher priorities to implement. She asked how
to go about moving forward with the findings. She cautioned against letting a lot of time elapse between
now and when an action plan is developed.
Mayor Zerby also commended the Committee. He stated when he originally suggested forming a Traffic
Committee he had two goals in mind. He thought the Committee achieved them both. One goal was to
create a framework that could be applied to other areas in the City which the Committee did with
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providing its five key findings. Those findings are excellent ways to frame discussions for other areas.
The other goal was for the Committee to give Council and staff a tool box of concepts that could be
considered. He thanked Committee members for their time and efforts.
Mr. Huskins stated the members of the Committee felt energized because they could consider anything.
They did not enter into their discussion with any constraints. The Committee understood that Council's
next steps would have to take constraints into account; engineering constraints and financial constraints.
The members did not believe there was any right or wrong approach or even a timeframe for concepts to
be considered and implemented. ITs perspective was this would be a continuous improvement effort. The
Committee thought that whatever Council determines to be the priorities along the corridor would be a
win for the community. The Committee members would be very disappointed if the issues were to be
"kicked down the road" and no action was taken. Inactivity would be unacceptable.
Councilmember Labadie also thanked the Committee for its efforts and taking the initiative seriously.
She noted the conclusion states "... the current road characteristics are even sub - standard for the
present traffic pre - Mattamy development." She thought Council and staff agree with that statement. She
expressed her pleasure that the Committee did not just focus on the impact of the development. She
agreed Council needs to act; there cannot be inaction. She stated she thought the high, medium and low
rankings are very helpful.
Mr. Huskins stated that whatever action Council and staff deem appropriate he suggested there may be
value in surveying a broader section of the community about priority concepts.
Councilmember Woodruff stated the concepts are grouped into a number of sections. He asked if the
Committee ranked the sections. Mr. Huskins responded no and stated the Committee chose to take a
broader look at the corridor. He explained the sections are just the roadways that flow in a certain order.
Mr. Huskins noted the Committee would not be disappointed with any action along the corridor.
Councilmember Siakel asked if it would be appropriate to ask staff to put concepts on a planning
calendar. She stated she thought some things could be done now and as the MCC development moves
forward more things could be done.
Mayor Zerby suggested members of Council prioritize the concepts and provide their priorities to staff.
He stated some of the concepts will be relatively easy to do and others more costly and involved.
Councilmember Siakel agreed with that.
Ed Hasek, 21345 Yellowstone Trail, stated from his perspective the discussion about the intersection of
Lake Linden Drive and Highway 41 was the most directed discussion by the Committee. He thought that
is the primary issue along the corridor besides enforcement and education. He encouraged people to pick
any Monday through Saturday evening to go in the parking lot at the shopping center and watch what
happens at that area. He explained that drivers will come out of the southern access at CUB and if there
is traffic backed up and they want to go west on Highway 7 they will drive into the oncoming lane go
through the stop sign and turn to go west. He explained that he and his wife have lived in Shorewood for
25 years. During that time he, his wife and some neighbors believe they have only seen a handful of
police on that roadway. One of them was the other evening when he had his grandson with him and they
were going south on Country Club Road. They were the second car back coming up to the stop sign.
There were three vehicles coming from the east on Yellowstone Trail. His grandson asked why the car in
front of him did come to a complete stop at the stop sign. The three vehicles going west on Yellowstone
Trail did the same thing. His seven - year -old grandson asked if the drivers did not know what the stop
sign means. The third of the three vehicles was a patrol car. He stated he does not think the problem is as
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much about the volume of traffic as it is about the drivers' attitudes. He then stated he thought various
studies about the corridor have been done but not necessarily acted up.
Mr. Huskins stated Mr. Hasek's comments should give Council an indication that the Committee
members were not monolithic in their views. There were minority and majority opinions. Mr. Hasek had
been very strong with his opinion about what should and should not be done; that was not necessarily in
concordance with the majority.
David Cooley, 24725 Smithtown Road, noted that he and Mr. Hasek did not always agree on everything
but he did agree with most of what he just said. He agreed that the intersection of Lake Linden Drive and
Highway 41 should be the number one priority and the area around Country Club Road, Smithtown Road
and Country Road 19 number two. He stated that some of the concepts would be simple to implement
and others would be more involved and costly. He expressed disappointment that the Traffic Committee
was not formed months earlier when Mattamy Homes decided it wanted to buy the MCC site and before
the construction of the Smithtown Road east sidewalk extension was started. A few of the concepts if
implemented would require some rework of the infrastructure that was just put in.
Mr. Cooley stated he was not able to attend the Traffic Committee meeting when the ratings were
developed.
Mr. Cooley then stated closing off the entrance to the shopping center closest to Caribou Coffee and the
hardware store would go a long way towards solving the issues at the intersection of Lake Linden Drive
and Highway 7. He agreed with Mr. Hasek that the attitudes of some drivers exacerbate problems.
Mr. Cooley went on to state one concept is about having a paved, off -road bike path along Yellowstone
Trail adjacent to the roadway. He disagrees with Mr. Hasek on that that. He explained that years ago
there was a lot of controversy about some people wanting there to be a lot of greenspace next to a
sidewalk. He clarified that he understands there is a safety issue but there is also the issue of practically.
He stated if he had been at the last Traffic Committee meeting he would have fought to keep that concept
of a separate bike path out of the report. He could support having a sidewalk next to the roadway.
Councilmember Woodruff asked why the last three concepts in the chart are not ranked. Chuck Rickart, a
traffic engineer with WSB & Associates and the facilitator for the meetings, responded those concepts
came in after the ratings were done.
Mr. Huskins stated the number of rankings for each of the concepts is not the same because the rankings
were done over a few meetings and attendance varied.
Councilmember Woodruff suggested staff come back to Council in a work session and present to Council
how many of the concepts could be implemented over the next six months with the current person power
and financial limitations. He asked Mayor Zerby to bring up the enforcement issue to the SLMPD
Coordinating Committee which he represents the City on.
Mayor Zerby reiterated that he thought Council needs to give staff some direction. There may be some
concepts that all members of Council might not agree on. He stated that while sitting in the meeting the
idea of enforcement cameras came to his mind. He explained everyone knows that enforcement is
difficult along the corridor because there is no shoulder for a patrol officer to park on. When a driver sees
a patrol car the driver changes his driving behavior. He noted that he continues to push on the SLMPD
Chief to make enforcement and patrolling a larger part of the SLMPD's mission. The Chief is striving for
that, but there are limitations with patrol officer availability to do so. He stated Shorewood can pay for
additional enforcement services.
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July 11, 2016
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Councilmember Woodruff suggested adding a line item to the budget for a half -time, for example, traffic
enforcement officer for Shorewood. He stated for a number of years he does not think the City has been
able to get any traction on this issue.
Mayor Zerby noted he conveyed to the Chief that there are about 52 miles of roadway in Shorewood and
he thought that could be driven in 2 — 3 hours a day. The Chief related that is not a practical way to
provide enforcement because patrol offices get bored doing that and offices rarely find people rolling
through a stop sign. He stated the presence of patrol officers helps residents believe Shorewood is getting
commensurate services for what it pays for.
Councilmember Woodruff stated the situation at the intersection of Lake Linden Drive and Highway 41
should be targeted. He thought the presence of a traffic enforcement officer at that intersection at various
times of the day would result in a change in behavior of drivers.
Mr. Huskins stated when CUB was constructed the exit onto Lake Linden Drive on the west had a no
right turn sign. He anecdotally heard some drivers were ticketed for making an illegal right turn and the
City heard complaints about that from residents living near that area. The no right turn sign was removed.
He thought some degree of enforcement would be valuable. It would have to be well thought out and
agreed to. It would not work if as soon as a few complaints were received then the enforcement was
stopped.
Councilmember Siakel stated she does not think it would be a problem to add a stop sign or replace a
light or improve sightlines quickly. But, building a bike path for example could take some time. She does
not think there would we any problem with starting a discussion about traffic around CUB even though a
lot of it would be outside of the City's control. She reiterated she thought the Committee's findings were
reasonable and there are some concepts that could be implemented in the short term.
Councilmember Sundberg stated she likes the idea of identifying those concepts that can be implemented
in the next six months. She commented that Council could have established the Traffic Committee
sooner. Councilmember Siakel stated she thought Council acted quite quickly on establishing the
Committee.
Sundberg then stated the Council needs to make the concepts impacting Smithtown Road and the
Mattamy development a priority. She noted she has been concerned that there may need to be some
changes made after the Smithtown Road east sidewalk constructed as the MCC development moves
forward.
Mr. Huskins stated some of the Committee's concepts are synergistic. For example, traffic enforcement
is a good thing. If there is a way to reduce the tendency to speed in the area it would be a good thing. It
would help improve safety for example. He noted that he does not think it is always an either /or thing.
But, enforcement has to be at the root of everything.
Mayor Zerby stated he has concerns about 500 — 800 vehicles a day coming out the MCC development
on to Smithtown Road and trying to navigate through the intersection at Country Club Road and on to
County Road 19. It is a problem that needs to be addressed. The Highway 41 / Lake Linden Drive
/Highway 7 intersection is challenging in part because there is no place for vehicles to collect while
waiting for the light to change. That is when he sees very dangerous behaviors trying to cross three lanes
at a time or going between cars to get to the hardware store, for example. That warrants having
conversations with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). He anticipates the
intersection at Yellowstone Trail and Country Club Road will also become more of a problem when
houses on the MCC site start to be occupied.
CITY OF SHOREWOOD WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES
July 11, 2016
Page 11 of 11
Mr. Huskins noted the concerns Mayor Zerby expressed are similar to what most members of the Traffic
Committee had expressed. All of the concerns expressed by the Committee and Council are priorities and
it will come down to Council making some tough choices about what can or should be worked on first.
Mayor Zerby noted the SLMPD purchased a new recording device and it somewhat covertly records
speeds that can later be analyzed. The SLMPD has been able to spot trends. He will ask the SLMPD to
put that out again.
Mr. Huskins asked if the speed display signs along Country Club Road capture data. Mayor Zerby
responded yes and suggested staff provide Council with a more recent analysis of that data.
Director Brown recognized the hard work WSB Engineer Mr. Chuck Rickart and City Engineer Homby
put into working with the Traffic Committee. The Traffic Committee members were very passionate
about the issues. Engineers tend to want to fix things and offer solutions but they instead allowed all of
the ideas to come forward and portray them the way the Committee wanted them portrayed.
Bob Gagne, 24850 Amlee Road, noted he has lived in Shorewood since 1961. The corridor route has
been a disaster all of that time. The members of the Traffic Committee had a wide range of opinions. He
thought what the Committee represented to Council was good and now the Committee has turned the
hard decision making effort over to Council.
Sandy Finke, 6660 Seamans Drive, asked Council to implement the highest impact concepts and not
focus on the number of concepts. She stated if it means saving money for a couple of years to make a
more significant improvement, such as a roundabout or fixing the intersection at Lake Linden Drive /
Highway 7 / Highway 41, she recommended saving up the money and then making those fixes.
4. ADJOURN
Sundberg moved, Woodruff seconded, Adjourning the City Council Work Session of July 11, 2016,
at 6:52 P.M. Motion passed 510.
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
Christine Freeman, Recorder
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