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City Council Minutes Page 9 <br />March 1, 2021 <br />Council felt it would be valuable to continue with the public hearing and gain public <br />input. The terms and duration would be determined. They leaned toward a one-time <br />deviation from existing policy rather than a change in policy. <br />Councilmember Wagner added that a change in costs could negate the need for TIF <br />financing. <br />10.3 Downtown Redevelopment Next Steps <br />Mr. Portner presented the staff report. <br />Mr. Carlton presented the council with four options based on discussions from the <br />February 22, 2021 Joint EDA, HRA, and Council meeting which included public <br />input: , <br />A. Move forward with what they learned at the meeting <br />B. Take a step back to put what was learned into the Comprehensive Plan <br />C. Take the information and work with the Comprehensive Plan consultant to find <br />out how they would play this into the Comprehensive Plan <br />D. Create an addition to the Comprehensive Plan outside the scope redoing the <br />Mississippi Connections Plan as an additional chapter specific to downtown <br />including a traffic study, pedestrian bridge, and parking study. Preliminary <br />research showed this could cost $60,000 <br />Councihnember Christianson stated his perception of the joint meeting was that <br />there could be a better use of the river and amenities. Parking was an issue and <br />maintaining character is a strong message. Many people in the downtown area like it <br />the way it is because that is what they are used to. <br />Councilmember Westgaard stated the city is fixated on the "core" Qackson Ave to <br />Lowell St, Highway 10 to Main St). The downtown area is bigger than these two <br />blocks and includes the area across the tracks. He questioned if the council should <br />expand the Comprehensive Plan analysis to break it down further. He agrees limited <br />parking is a strong consideration. <br />Councilmember Wagner agreed they should consider breaking the downtown into <br />smaller pieces until pedestrian access was created across Highway 10. <br />HRA Commissioner Larry Toth agreed the area across the tracks looks more <br />delinquent but it would be hard to invest in it without knowing the plans for <br />Highway 10 development in the future. <br />Commissioner Toth added the original town was across the tracks and moved after a <br />fire. <br />Councilmember Beyer asked if Main and Gates planned to connect to make <br />downtown bigger. <br />r 0 1 E I E I B V <br />NATUREE <br />