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City Council Minutes <br />May 6, 2019 <br />Page 15 <br />Councilmember Ovall encouraged staff to consider if there are ways to invest in <br />future efficiency improvements. He felt visiting the budget annually allows the city to <br />be more nimble. <br />Mr. Portner stated technology additions have been requested, such as building plan <br />inspection software. He followed that expenditures, despite council review and the <br />practice of following five-year averages, are typically about one percent below <br />budgets, which are built 18 months in advance. Staff makes 8,000 independent <br />spending decisions each year and are most frequently criticized for denying rather <br />than bringing unplanned expenditure requests to the council to review and approve. <br />10.8 Trunk Highway (TH) 10 Corridor Study and Coalition Concept <br />Mr. Femrite presented the staff report. <br />MnDOT is willing to fund two-thirds of the TH 10 Corridor Study and he is talking <br />to the county about help with funding the final third of the cost. <br />Councilmember Westgaard stated this seems like the final piece. MnDOT made <br />improvements in Anoka and then moved on to Ramsey. <br />Councilmember Ovall asked if the city has communicated to MnDOT the city's <br />focus on turning that area into industrial. Development could take off faster than <br />what MnDOT was planning. <br />Mayor Dietz asked if the city's share could come out of state aid money. <br />Mr. Femrite said the project was state aid eligible. <br />Councilmember Ovall mentioned the activity in the area that has occurred just in the <br />last year with new construction and requests for building projects. The city needs to <br />focus on what it wants for this area. <br />Mr. Femrite said there were estimates for different options for studies ranging in cost <br />and offering a varying scope. If you have MnDOT at the table, it might be best to <br />capitalize on that and go with a more detailed concept. <br />Councilmember Westgaard asked if the City of Ramsey study was concluded. There <br />was some debate on whether the access point should be on Alpine Drive or Jarvis <br />Street. <br />Mr. Femrite said the study kept the access point issue open and needs to be looked <br />at further. <br />Councilmember Westgaard added the access point decision makes a difference to <br />Elk River. <br />0111EI Ir <br />0 â– ATUR% <br />