10-14-1996 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE REGULAR ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON OCTOBER 14, 1996 (Corridor Selection for Hwy 12 Upgrade - Continued) Jane Slaughter, 4545 Wayzata Boulevard, said she lives on Hwy 12, west of the corridor. She has similar concerns regarding Hwy 12 as expressed by Council Member Kelley. Her driveway will be on Hwy 12, and she has concern for bus safety for the children. She asked that this be a consideration. Callahan said the Council will consider her concerns and noted Mn/DOT also has those concerns. Slaughter asked if the Council would work with the City of Medina as her driveway is located in both communities. Callahan informed her that specific problems are not part of the debate at this time as the road design is currently unknown. Slaughter asked that she not be left out and forgotten noting that the only access onto Hwy 12 will be hers if the improvements are made. Callahan reported that Mn/DOT will bring back the designs to the cities to review problems and hardships. John Winston said the alternative is a vast improvement and recognized the work behind the proposal. Winston said he sees a problem during the two hours of rush period in the morning and two hours in the afternoon and in only those time periods. He said, in looking at the present corridor, there is room for improvement and expansion, but did note the bottleneck that occurs in Long Lake. If Alternative 6 goes forward, Winston asked that those who live nearby be given consideration regarding the noise issue. George Hutchins, 2550 Woodhaven Drive, Orono, said his property would not be taken but would be affected as it is located adjacent to the highway. He is concerned that there • are more questions unanswered than answered and is concerned with the urgency to vote. He asked the Council not to vote at this time. He said he is also concerned for Long Lake and questioned whether State funding for the City will be affected by the direction taken for or against. Callahan informed Hutchins that the vote will not affect funding as it is set up by other departments. He noted there have been other votes on Mn/DOT actions with no recourse. Callahan also said he does not share the concern regarding the urgency issue. He would like to see it move forward. Callahan noted that until ground is broken, there will be many answers unknown. Callahan commented that choosing an alternative eliminates concern over other areas, and he is of the opinion that the vote should have taken place sooner. Doug Coleman commented that the issue is of homes being held hostage with the unknown location of the corridor. With the corridor decided, the determination can be made for who will be affected. Because of that, Coleman asked if the Council is willing to support lowering taxes for those affected. Callahan responded that if the property values go down, the property taxes will automatically go down as the value does. When asked if he supported that, Callahan said he was not sure that the values will decrease but would if that occurred. Jabbour asked to consider values going up. Coleman said these homes are unable to be sold to anyone at this time. 12