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<br />Summary of Focus Group Meeting - 6 - May 17,2007 <br />Elk River Highway 169 Preliminary Design and Environmental Documentation <br /> <br />ELK RIVER PUBLIC SERVICES <br /> <br />Representatives from several Elk River public service agencies, including the School District, <br />Emergency Services (Police and Fire), the Park District, and Municipal Utilities met with Jim <br />Hallgren (Mn/DOT), Scott Clark (City of Elk River), Beth Bartz (SRF Consulting Group), and <br />John Hagen (SRF Consulting Group) at the Elk River City Hall from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. The <br />purpose of this meeting was to brief key community service agencies on the alternative concepts <br />under consideration and to seek input on any anticipated issues. This discussion is summarized <br />below. <br /> <br />. The Police Department noted there is already a high number of crashes on Evans St. at <br />193rd/ I 97th Ave. <br /> <br />. From an emergency service perspective, it would be preferable to eliminate the right- <br />in/right-out on Main St. east ofTH 169. <br /> <br />. From an emergency response perspective, the Alternative BC-3 would be less desirable <br />due to the circuity oflocal street accesses. <br /> <br />. Emergency service providers were concerned that adequate capacity could be provided at <br />the Hwy 10/169 interchange in the future. <br /> <br />. An "east" fire station will be built east of TH 169 near the new school. Ambulance <br />services are provided out of the Fire Department. <br /> <br />. Both the Police and Fire Departments like the extension of 193 cd and School Street over <br />to 13. There are not adequate east-west connections through the City to adequately <br />provide emergency services. <br /> <br />. The Elk River Fire Department covers two-thirds of Otsego as well, including most of the <br />Hwy 101 corridor. There are concerns that the current Hwy 101 improvements will <br />create a bottleneck in Elk River. <br /> <br />. The school district anticipates a separate "service district" east of TH 169 in <br />approximately 15 years. A complete range of school facilities east of TH 169 will <br />separate school travel sheds on either side of TH 169 requiring few, if any, students to <br />cross TH 169. <br /> <br />. The existing pedestrian bridge gets a fair amount of traffic now. As schools are built east <br />of TH 169, it is anticipated that there will less need for a separate pedestrian crossing. <br /> <br />. "Vision" provides transportation services for the Elk River school district and could <br />provide additional information or input if needed. <br /> <br />. Baldwin Park is an area of green space that was purchased by the City to preclude <br />development of another apartment complex on the site. While it is referred to as a <br />"park", it has no facilities, and no programmed activities occur on this site. It is not <br />anticipated that this will change in the future. The park representative stated that they <br />could easily give up this land for an alternative that would better serve the public. There <br />is no park dedication of this land on the deed that the park representative was aware of. <br />City staff could provide the paperwork for the acquisition of this land if needed. <br /> <br />. Babcock Park provides an invaluable resource for the public to access the Mississippi <br />River. No capital improvements are planned for this facility. The current alternatives <br />preserve the land, but access is a key concern. The park gets moderate use, and is <br />