5. HRSR 05-01-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Rivers Edge Meeting Minutes Wednesday, March 8, 2006 The meeting was called to order at 8AM. Attending were: Roger Hebeisen, Cliff Lundberg, Jeff Gongoll, Wendy Simenson, Heidi Steinmetz (Assistant Director of Economic Development), Jim Boyle, Police Chief Beahen, Bill Maertz (Park and Rec Director), Scott Clark (Community Development Director). Treasurer's Report from Jim Simpson: 2945.69. We are still waiting on the check from MetroPlains for Santa and Reindeer) Received dues from Cliff Lundberg and Antiques Downtown. Minutes from February Meeting were reviewed and Accepted. Old Business: Revitalization Plan Update from Heidi and Scott. Metro Plains has signed the amended and restated development agreement with the City of Elk River, their construction loan for the Bluff Block is being finalized (one half of the residential units have been sold, MetroPlains themselves have purchased the business space). The last step before they begin construction is to sell the Tax Increment Note which they are projecting will happen by April 15t" 2006. MetroPlains has already invested over $2,100,000 of their own money on this project. Construction on the Bluff block is forecasted to begin after the sale of the Tax Increment Note. Construction on Jackson Square is projected to begin 3 months after the start of the Bluff Block. Traffic flow changes on Jackson Ave will occur when construction commences on the Jackson Square Property. It is anticipated that The Bank of Elk River will be starting their construction in Mid Apri12006. At this time, they plan to manage their construction mostly on site, however after final pre- construction meetings, this may change. We will be communicating with Rivers Edge what the final outcome will be. There maybe several occasions where they will have to block off Main Street for the big cranes to move panels in. After construction their parking areas will be restored to their current sizes. Rivers Edge Park and Parking Issues: Rivers Edge members are concerned about the removal of the 4 parking spaces adjacent to the Rivers Edge Park downtown. The loss of four spots is significant in light of the closing of the Jackson Square Parking Lot. Currently on weekend nights the existing street parking on Main Street, along Jackson Ave and the stalls in Jackson Square Lot are almost all being used. With the loss of the Jackson Square lot there will not be many visible or close by spots for the Businesses between the Bluff Block and Jackson Ave for customer parking. Bill Maertz and Chief Beahen addressed this. Parking Statue 169.34 states that you can not have parking spots within the defined area of an intersection. It is a public safety issue to have cars backing up into the intersection and crosswalks. The spots that will be removed are in fact in the intersection area. Wendy and Cliff stressed to Bill and Chief Beahen that the parking spots on Main Street are important. Bill said that the City is trying to add 2 more spaces by the Sunshine Depot. The handicapped space that is being removed will have to be reassigned to another existing space.