03-28-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, March 28, 2011 • 7:00 o'clock p.m. (7. OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD RECONSTRUCTION, Continued) Kellogg stated if the Council elects to do the landscaping at a later time, it would need to be done after the road contractor is finished. Kellogg indicated they can either use the existing plans or create a new set of plans. Franchot requested the motion be put to a vote. Franchot noted some of the Council has consistently had problems with the landscaping and that the issue here is more about trying to cancel the landscaping or dramatically reduce it rather than clarifying what will be included as part of the landscaping. Franchot stated in his opinion the time has come for the Council to take a final vote on what the project is going to look like. This project has been discussed thoroughly since last year with the School District and they have gone round and round on the landscaping and nothing new has been raised in that time. Franchot stated he completely disagrees with the characterization that this is a beautification project but rather it is the City doing the project correctly from the start. Franchot noted the landscaping plan has been worked over multiple times and reduced dramatically from what was originally proposed. Franchot recommended the Council vote down Printup's motion and to make a new motion directing staff and the engineers to bring to the City Council the request for bids as the Council has discussed and agreed time and time again. McMillan noted Rahn and Printup were not involved in this project since 2010. • Franchot commented the previous council has made decisions regarding this project, and in the absence of any major issues, the Council should continue to move forward with the project. McMillan stated a major decision was made in January to add the third roundabout to the base bid at a cost of approximately $145,000 and that some of the Council is attempting to make up that difference by cutting other portions of the project. Franchot noted the discussion has been had a number of times and that the Council now needs to make a decision. Rahn stated in his view, similar to the roundabout and the lighting, when the Council decided to add the third roundabout, the lighting also came with it. Rahn stated when the Council made the decision to go from a 4 -foot wide median to a 10 -foot median, the minutes talked about a landscaped median. The question for the Council now is whether it needs to be landscaped now or landscaped later with volunteers perhaps but not have it part of the bidding process except for what is required for the roundabouts. Printup noted his motion was only for the shrubs located in the roundabouts. Printup agreed that the Council has gone over this a number of times but that he is more than happy to discuss it again. Printup pointed out the road goes in front of the school and that when the landscaping would be blooming, school will not be in session. Printup stated in his view for the most part this is a beautification project and that for a large part of the time that school is in session it would be covered with snow and ice. Printup indicated there are a number of issues that he has problems with and that he has been upfront about them. Ralph Kempf commented that he was here on the floor listening to these conversations when Council Member Rahn was not present. Kempf pointed out that one thing that was discussed was that the • landscaping is functional and would help direct the pedestrians to the crosswalks. One of the things the Council looked at previously was that if they do not have a vegetative screening to accomplish that, then there was going to be a fence. The fence turned out to be actually more expensive than the vegetation Page 11 of 24