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King Avenue Parking Lot Task Force Minutes <br />May 5, 2005 <br />Page 2 <br />various parking zones and specific time limits should occur, and that the City would not <br />want to have a variety of different parking zones and different time limitations, which would <br />make it confusing for both parkers and for enforcement of parking zones in the downtown <br />Elk River area. Mr. Houlton agreed with Ms. Raduenz and said that it was his opinion that <br />most short term parking should be made available to parkers and shoppers near downtown <br />businesses and that longer-term parking (i.e., for employees of downtown businesses) should <br />be made available in the King Avenue parking lot or on the outskirts of the downtown area <br />(i.e., behind the Funeral Home). <br />Mr. Houlton also suggested that disabled parking spaces be made available on the street near <br />Dr. Rafferty's office and that he could probably issue permits to needy clients if they had <br />trouble walking. Mr. Holme asked the group how it would be able to justify 15-minute <br />parking spots in busy downtown areas. Ms. Steinmetz asked the group about what it <br />thought about a downtown shuttle service. Mr. Sunderman responded that the River Rider, <br />a demand-responsive transit system, already provides service in the downtown area. He <br />added that employees `simply needed to park further out and free up spaces for customers <br />near businesses downtown'. Mr. Holme asked when construction of the King Ave. Parking <br />Lot would begin. Ms. Steinmetz responded that it would begin the end of May. Mr. Holme <br />then asked when Nadeau's was closing and whether parking could be provided on that site. <br />Ms. Steinmetz said that the answer was `no' and that there were environmental issues on the <br />site that would require remediation. <br />Mr. McCoy said that he thought that the developer had put some notes on car windshields <br />near the former Jungle building because they now own the land. He suggested that if <br />Nadeau's closes at the end of May that some parking spots would be available before <br />redevelopment started and that people should be allowed to park in those areas. <br />3. Examples of Signage from Other Communities and Discussion of Draft Task Force <br />Recommendations <br />Ms. Raduenz distributed athree-page set of draft recommendations to the group. She <br />explained that she had spent some time reviewing minutes from each of the group's <br />previous meetings since January to determine what recommendations and ideas had <br />been brought up by group members regarding the King Avenue parking lot reconstruction <br />process but also other related transportation and parking concerns for both the short <br />and long-term in downtown Elk River. <br />After going through the recommendations in each category, Ms. Raduenz asked group <br />members if they had additional recommendations, comments or changes to the draft set she <br />had composed. Group members did not add any other recommendations or comments and <br />felt that the list provided by Ms. Raduenz had adequately provided a complete set of <br />recommendations with which the group was comfortable in presenting to the City's Housing <br />and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and/or the City Council. <br />Ms. Raduenz asked Ms. Steinmetz to again inform Task Force members about how <br />communication was going to be handled during the reconstruction of the King Avenue <br />parking lot. Ms. Steinmetz said that Mr. Maurer, the City Engineer, was in charge of <br />communicating where parking would be available in the lot during the approximate month <br />of lot reconstruction (the lot should be reopened by July 4) and would be providing <br />information to businesses located immediately adjacent to the lot. She said that a large sign <br />that would be visible from Main Street would also be installed at the southwest corner of the <br />