City Council Agenda and Packet 2017 11 06

Home Browse Search

City Council Meeting Minutes October 17, 2017 Page 9 of 15 cut Capital expenses not operations and should leave the underpass in the Capital Fund. Councilmember Maloney noted the need to make some priority choices. This is probably too much in the first year. We should choose a strategy for 2018 and have the Finance Committee formulate a policy for 2019 and beyond. He doesn't want to deplete the General Fund in the long term. We need a more measured way to address this. Mayor Pro Tem Lipton stated he is uncomfortable leaving an additional $750K in the Open Space & Parks Fund without having it dedicated to something. He would rather leave it in the General Fund and let open space and parks compete with the other wants and needs. He was uncomfortable with the projected costs for the underpass and other capital and feels a need to be more realistic. He suggested putting the $750K back in the Capital Projects fund as this is a trail connection. Councilmember Keany had concerns about pushing off the Hwy 42 underpass, it is a trail connection in the open space master plan, so it should be funded partly from the Open Space & Parks Fund. He was concerned about putting off the underpass when we have represented to the public it would be built in 2018. Mayor Muckle stated the Finance Committee noted the underpass is probably going to take most of 2018 to design. Realistically it wouldn't start construction until 2019 and that would help the budget as well. The intent is to spend more on parks and open space operations. This is what our citizens' want; more money on maintenance that we have let slide; not about building a giant reserve for acquisitions. The Capital Fund goes down because we are building lots of things but this is a commitment to focus on parks and open space. Council can figure out changes next year if needed. Councilmember Leh has the same concern as Councilmember Keany about the underpass timing. He asked Director Kowar about the status of the Hwy 42 underpass. Director Kowar stated engineering is at about 30%, we know the basic information, there are challenges with adjacent property owners and how it impacts them, a high power transmission line needs to be moved, and by affecting the Goodhue Ditch, the City has to review drainage more regionally. Parallel to design work, the City is doing a drainage feasibility analysis which is the biggest delay. The City is targeting to get this out to bid late summer. Councilmember Leh stated we need to keep pressure on getting underpasses done, the public consistently states how much they want these. Councilmember Loo stated it doesn't look as though we funded the underpass enough. Director Kowar stated staff used McCaslin Boulevard as an example. This one is not as big, is less decorative, and only goes under two lanes of traffic. The consultant feels comfortable with 1.8M with 12% contingency, depending on construction costs. 25