01-31-2011 Council Minutes Special City Council Meeting

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U MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL ORONO CITY COUNCIL -Monday, January 31, 2011 • 8:00 o'clock a.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above - mentioned date with the following members present: Mayor Lili Tod McMillan, Council Members Cynthia Bremer, Doug Franchot, and Aaron Printup. Representing Staff were City Administrator Jessica Loftus, Finance Director Ron Olson, City Engineer Tom Kellogg and Recorder /City Clerk Lin Vee. Mayor McMillan called the meeting to order at 8:02 a.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. OLD CRYSTAL BAY ROAD RECONSTRUCTION McMillan stated the purpose of the special meeting is to get an understanding and agreement on the project so that Bonestroo can submit the design to MnDOT for their review and approval. She proposed Council consideration and discussion in three segments to include roundabout design, median treatment between curbs, and any kind of landscaping outside the curbs. Kellogg explained the background and timeline of the project to -date. Meetings have been held with members of the school district and school board since last July. The school recently hired a transportation consultant to study traffic. Based on his recommendations, traffic movements to the middle school have changed from one access to two, and relocation of the roundabout to the north where busses enter and exit. This created a longer distance to access the elementary or middle school and a smaller third • roundabout was proposed to shorten the distance and travel time between the north and south roundabouts. Franchot asked about safety access issues with the middle roundabout. Kellogg stated the Fire Chief commented that they wanted to access the parking lot on the west side which moved middle roundabout north to the intersection to allow access to the parking lot. McMillan asked if Council was comfortable with the third roundabout and proposed roundabout design. Bremer stated she had started with a preference for no roundabouts, but information has shown that it makes sense to have three. While she would have preferred two, she believes three roundabouts is a better design. McMillan stated initial discussions included a third roundabout as an option and asked if Council was satisfied to include the cost for a third roundabout. Council agreed the cost was justifiable to make the road and design most functional. McMillan moved forward with discussion of the median treatments and landscaping between the curbs. Kellogg stated that John Slack, landscape architect at Bonestroo, attended the last Council meeting and gave a presentation of what a 10' wide median with landscaping might look like as recommended at the October 25°i meeting. Following discussion at the January 20 meeting, he has also prepared a 4' • concrete median design. Page 1 of 12