06-01-1987 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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MAIN STREET MEETING HELD AT ELK RIVER PUBLIC LIBRARY JUNE 1. 1987 e Present: Downtown Main Stree~ Committee Members: Chairperson Cliff Lundberg. Arden Krinke. Dr. Jarmoluk. Rob VanValkenburg. Bud Houlton and Betty Kolar Councilmembers Present: Mayor Gunkel. Gene Schuldt. Staff Present: Pat Klaers. City Administrator; Terry Maurer. City Engineer; Phil Hals. Street Superintendent Mayor Gunkel called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m. Pat Klaers. City Administrator. briefly discussed the background of the Main Street project and the reasons for the delay in this project. He stated that the main reason for calling this meeting was to hear the concerns of the business people regarding the Main Street construction. e Bud Houlton was present as a representative of the downtown businesses and a member of the Downtown Main Street Committee. and stated that his main concern is in regards to the funding of the project. Pat Klaers stated that in order for the project to be funded by Minnesota State Aid (MSA) funds. the street(s) must be built to MSA Standards and this would mean losing diaganol parking. (Diagonal parking on both sides of the street cannot be approved due to the width of the streets). Terry Maurer. City Engineer, explained past City policy on the use of MSA funds to reduce street assessments to benefited property owners. MSA could also participate as much as 100% financially for the storm sewer. but there is no MSA funding for the sewer and water line replacement. MSA funds can only be used on MSA designated streets which in this project includes Main Street. Jackson Avenue and Proctor Avenue. The Committee shared their concerns of replacing and relocating the sewer line. Depending on what size line is decided to be put in and how far the line will run will determine how many people will be assessed for the project. Bud Houlton shared a real concern of losing the diagonal parking in downtown Elk River. He also questioned the time frame of the project and how the businesses are to deal with the inconvenience during the construction phase. Maurer stated that Staff is looking for input from the affected businesses so that they may be accommodated as much as possible. He suggested weekly meetings to p~ovide continual updates so that any unnecessary problems may be prevented. A suggestion by the committee was to try to get diagonal parking approved for the south side of Main Street with the other side being parallel. Main Street currently is very close in width to meeting this MSA spacing requirements. Dr. Jarmoluk suggested giving up three feet of sidewalk space in order to widen streets and possibly keep some diagonal parking. e Pat Klaers discussed the City parking lot across Highway 10 and the old Depot site. both which could possibly be used as additional parking for employees and employers of downtown businesses.