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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 14, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 18 of 22 (10. OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD RECONSTRUCTION UPDATE, Continued) Bremer commented that the Casco Point project was completed successfully without nearly as much discussion about these types of items and that the point of her comment is that the City Council has to relinquish some control of the process to the professionals and trust that Bonestroo will give the City the best product they can. Bremer pointed out if the City had a public works director, he would be overseeing this process. Bremer stated in her opinion the City Council has provided as much input as they can given their limited engineering backgrounds. McMillan pointed out that the Old Crystal Bay Road project is a more complicated design than Casco Point Road, with a number of roundabouts and landscaping. This project also involves new techniques and policies for Orono, which in turn requires more attention by the Council. McMillan stated having more lighting is not necessarily better since it will give the appearance of urbanizing Orono. Basically this is a rural road that will become more urbanized with this project. McMillan noted there are currently five lights on the roadway, with a possible increase to 28, which is a big jump and needs to be carefully considered. Rahn asked if the railing is being removed from the project. Kellogg indicated they have not gotten clear direction on that. Kellogg noted the Council back in October reviewed the feasibility report and specified what they wanted and that they have attempted to keep the Council informed throughout the project on what they were directed to accomplish. Printup commented that it may appear the Council is micromanaging this project, but when the City is proposing to spend $109,000 on landscaping, that is a beautification project. Kellogg noted the budget for the landscaping outlined in the feasibility study ranged from $250,000 to $800,000 and that they have reduced that amount to $109,000, which will provide some minimal landscaping and safety features. McMillan noted the third roundabout was added based on the discussions with the School District at a cost of $145,000, which does not include the extra lighting. McMillan commented there have been some major changes to the plans and required careful consideration by the Council. John Thiesse, 3845 Bayside Road, stated in his view the City Council is questioning the City Engineer on his best practices. Thiesse stated it is not a beautification project but it is a safety project, which was the number one reason for doing this project. McMillan stated there have been some changes made to the plans that have required extra consideration by the Council. Thiesse stated the goal of the medians is to keep the people from crossing at undesired locations. Thiesse commented that can be accomplished with a chain link fence but will not look good when it is finished. McMillan requested the police and fire departments be provided with the updated landscaping plan as well to get their comments on the changes in addition to the School District. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 03/28/2011 Approval of Council Minutes 03/14/2011[Page 18 of 22]