09-26-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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y' • MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, September 26, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. (10. OLD CRYSTAL BAYROAD UPDATED COSTESTIMATES AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION, Continued) after the Metropolitan Council pays its share, which would leave $235,000 that could be used to pay for the mill and overlay. The third option would be to use the community investment fund, which has slightly less than $2 million. This fund has primarily been used for the Navarre Fire Station and the Big Island bonds. The idea of that fund was to fund projects that benefitted the community. McMillan stated at a minimum she would like to resurface the road in the next 12 months and that the mill and overlay is a good alternative since it avoids the need to work with the underlying utilities and improves the road surface. It also gives the City some time to figure out what they want to do long -term with that road. McMillan stated after Orono Orchard Road is completed, that perhaps they could look at identifying the other MSA roads, such as Watertown Road or Willow Road, and determine how much money they should apply to each road. McMillan commented that it appears likely the City will be able to complete two MSA roads out of the funds that were originally allocated for one road. Bremer stated in her view this project will not be approved for state aid funds and that she is not • supportive of a mill and overlay project because the Council has been told that Old Crystal Bay Road is the worst road within Orono and that in her opinion the state aid funds should be used on that road. Bremer noted the Council has been told on several occasions that Old Crystal Bay Road is the worst road in the City and that at some point the sub base will be in such poor condition that it will not be feasible to do a mill and overlay. Rahn stated the Council discussed the soil samples at the last council meeting and that out of the five soil samples, the worst soil sample met 70 percent of a 7 -ton road. Amundsen stated there are different standards depending on what work is being done to the road. With a mill and overlay project, there would be a 7 -ton minimum standard and a road reconstruction project would require a 10 -ton road. Amundsen reiterated that it is not very likely this project would be able to be completed with state aid dollars. Rahn stated tonight is the first time he has heard there is a possibility that the road could be funded using state aid dollars. McMillan noted the prior engineering costs have been covered by MSA. Franchot stated he is in agreement with Council Member Bremer that the money is being spent in the wrong place and that he is not sure why the City should wait two years to decide where the state aid dollars should be used. McMillan commented that the RFP is out for engineering services and that she would like to have that process completed. In order for these projects to go out for bid, the City has to start almost a year ahead of time. Page 5 of 10