030696 CC/Excelsior CC Joint WS Min
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MINUTES
EXCELSIOR CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION
JOINT MEETING WITH SHOREWOOD CITY
COUNCILMEMBERS
Wednesday, March 6, 1996
7:00 p.m.
1. CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Anderson called the Joint Council Work Session to order at 7:00 p.m.
2. ROLL CALL
Present: Excelsior City Councilmembers Bratland, Selseth, Murphy, Stark, Mayor
Anderson; Shorewood City Councilmember Benson, Mayor Bean.
Also Present: Excelsior City Manager Zieman; Staff Recorder Schmidt; Shorewood Planner
Nielsen, Paul Kachelmyer and Tom O'Keefe from the Minnesota Department of
Transportation .
3. AGENDA APPROVAL
Zieman asked to add "discussion of policy of the City regarding City Operations" under
Miscellaneous.
Stark moved, seconded by Selseth, to approve the amended Meeting Agenda. Vote on the
motion was 5/0, with all in favor.
4. OPENING REMARKS
Excelsior Mayor Anderson welcomed everyone and hoped that a favorable conclusion
would result from this joint work session. Shorewood Mayor Bean stated that the Highway
7 and Water Street intersection proposes an interesting situation, that the cities needed to act
on the proposal, and he was glad that the two cities were meeting together with MnDot to
discuss this issue and hopefully the right decision would be made for both communities.
Zieman stated that no official action would be taken tonight and that we were here to
discuss the pros and cons of the situation.
5. PRESENTATION
A presentation by Paul Kachelmyer ant Tom O'Keefe of Minnesota Department of
Transportation was given with a handout distributed showing 50 reported accidents frown
September 1990 to September 1994 in the vicinity of Water Street, Chaska Road, and
Highway 7, and the proposed roadway changes. The number of accidents currently is
extremely high with one-third involving injuries and three-fourths occurring westbound
and exiting off of Highway 7. This number is expected to be drastically reduced with their
plan. The plan proposed is to close the left hand turn lane from Highway 7 going onto
Water Street and close the left hand turn lane going from Water Street to Highway 7.
Specifically, safety was the main concern by MnDot.
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The Excelsior project was one of two that scored the highest in points. These top two
projects are the only ones tohave funding allocated, however, if the Highway 7 and Water
Street intersection portion is not included, the entire Excelsior project for the entrancing and
exiting would not be approved for funding. The Council expressed concern for closing the
intersections however without approval of this portion of the project, the entire project
would be in jeopardy of receiving approval for funding.
A preemption device on 19 and 7 would still be part of the package with MnDot paying
one-half the cost.
To the suggestion of a double left turn onto County Rd. 19 - MnDot feels that the cost for
the intersection would be making the total project financially unacceptable and the traffic
count does not warrant it at this time.
After no further questions from Council or staff, Mayor Anderson opened the forum to the
audience for citizen input. James Hamel, owner of the Hilltop Restaurant, was concerned
about traffic being able to make U-turns. Yes, traffic can travel east on 7, go down to the
light and make a U-turn. Also, present U-turns on 7 (currently one serves a Church and
one serves 3 residential homes) will remain open.
The Excelsior City Council unanimously expressed their appreciation to the City of
Shorewood for taking the time to meet and discuss Excelsior's concerns regarding the
proposed project by MnDot and encouraged Shorewood to move forward in going with
Safety Modifications.
Mayor Anderson called a fiVe minute recess.
6. MISCELLANEOUS
Added item: Discussion of City's policy regarding dogs running at large The City Council
discussed complaints of dogs running within the City and directed staff to contact our
Animal Control Officer, request additional time for patrolling within the City, and to
concentrate on specific problem areas that have had numerous complaints.
Bratland moved, seconded by Murphy, to adjourn the meeting.
Respectfully submitted
Joan Schmidt
Recorder