07-24-2006 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE ELK RIVER CITY HALL MONDAY, JULY 24, 2006 Members Present: Mayor Klinzing, Councilmembers Dietz, Farber, Gumphrey, and Motin Members Absent: None Staff Present: City Administrator Lori Johnson, Police Chief Jeffrey Beahen, Fire Chief Bruce West, Community Development Director Scott Clark, Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich, Building Official Bob Ruprecht, Street Superintendent Phil Hals, Police Captain Bob Kluntz, Police Captain Brad Rolfe, Assistant Director of Economic Development Heidi Steinmetz, and Recording Secretary Jessica Miller 1. Call Meeting To Order Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, the meeting of the Elk River City Council was called to order at 6:30 p.m. by Mayor Klinzing. 2. Discuss Construction Areas and Downtown Traffic Community Development Director Scott Clark explained that since the Council approved a temporary reroute of Main Street for a three month period with two-way traffic to resume August 11, 2006, additional information has been obtained through contractor meetings indicating that there will be future needs to close the street and that major traffic disruptions may occur for extended periods of time to allow construction vehicles and equipment to access the sites. Mr. Clark reviewed the construction schedules for the Bank of Elk River, the Bluffs Project, and the Jackson Place project. He stated that from the information included in the schedules, it appears that a majority of the closures and interferences that could severely disrupt traffic flow could be completed by October 1. He discussed the options with the Council which included resuming two-way traffic on Main Street on August 11 as originally approved on May 1 or extending the August 11 deadline in order to allow contractors sufficient time to complete what they view as major road disruptions and to allow construction vehicles and equipment access to the sites. Director of Economic Development Catherine Mehelich and Building Official Bob Ruprecht presented photographs of the downtown construction sites to the Council. Chief Beahen indicated that there are a number of issues surrounding the downtown project that directly involve the police department. He explained that there is currently an officer downtown controlling traffic 9 hours a day. He stated that he is still five officers short which means that officers are filling this detail by working overtime, many with 16-hour days. He stated that if Main Street is reopened, staffing will need to be increased from 1 officer, 9 hours a day to 3 officers, 9 hours a day to help traffic navigate through the narrowed road past the construction sites. Chief Beahen explained that the estimated cost of having additional officers on traffic control duty downtown is approximately $64,000. He explained that a more inexpensive option would be to hire non-officers at a minimal wage to provide traffic control downtown. He noted that anyone hired would have to be trained to deal with