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V <br />PLANNING COMMISSION SPECIAL MEETING HELD FEBRUARY 20, 1991 <br />very sure of where that might happen. MNDOT does have the <br />to unilaterally object to Highway 55 no matter what stand the <br />City of Orono may take." <br />Dodd Cosgrove, 1895 Fox Ridge Road, stated that one of the <br />problems is that the City is considering the City of Long Lake to <br />be an adversary. He said, "The City of Long L?ke is potentially <br />our Greatest ally. How can we possibly ally ourselves witn Long <br />Lake if w- take a position to locate the corridor through the <br />middle of their city? It seems to me that the strongest stance <br />we have is to say 'no build' and send it someplace else. That <br />also supports our Comprehensive Plan." <br />John Massopust said, "I’m not sure that we would get a 'no <br />build' consensus from the City of Long Lake, because they want <br />something changed to move traffic through there better. <br />Bruce Carlson said, "It seems to me that we have i..rlated <br />the negative impact in our own minds of what could be a c. eative <br />solution on the existing alignment to the point where we t link it <br />is going to wipe out Long Lake. Tnat causes us to thi;.k that <br />there is no way to compromise and that the only solution is to <br />get everyone to support Highway 55. \Je should consider this as a <br />negotiating process with MNDOT. 'We look at what is best for <br />Orono and what is best for Long Lake to see if there is way we <br />can come together on the issue. We can start out by saying that <br />Highway 55 is the preferred solution. If it later becomes <br />apparent that it will be more sensible to upgrade existing <br />Highvjay 12 and other existing roads, that will evolve out of the <br />process, but it will be something that may be acceptable as a <br />reasonable solution. <br />Another point is that it seems to me that there has been <br />some reference made about the north and south groups. Our <br />feeling in the northern group is that we want to cooperate with <br />the City ot? Orono to help develop a consensus and a negotiating <br />strategy that makes sense for Orono as a whole. We are also <br />dedicated to getting the line off of the map that goes through <br />our particular property. The gentleman representing our group is <br />quite convinced that the Highway 5 5 issue is not dead. <br />Discussions have taken place with the Metropolitan Council about <br />the differentiation between through traffic to western Minnesota <br />onto major thoroughfares that are logical for that kind of <br />traffic, such an Highway 55. The Highway 12 corridor currently <br />exists in a form that best serves local traffic. I do not <br />believe we have given up on Highway 55 at all in our group. Our <br />advisor indicates that is a very rational approach." <br />Sherokee Use asked the Planning Commission members to <br />express their own opinions relative to the Comprehensive Plan and <br />what they believe they could agree on at this point. She further <br />asked, "Can the citizens walk away from here this evening feeling <br />- 14 -