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10/15/1996 - City Council Special MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL , r,,r. Eagan, Minnesota ' • October 15, 1996 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Tuesday, October 15, 1996 at 5:00 p.m. at the Eagan Municipal Center. Present were Mayor Egan and City Councilmembers Wachter, Hunter, Awada and Masin. Also present were City Administrator Tom Hedges, Director of Public Works Tom Colbert,Assistant to the City Administrator Jon Hohenstein, Superintendent of Parks Paul Olson and Senior Planner Lisa Freese. The following members of the Airport Relations Commission were also present, Chair Mike Schlax, Commission Members John White, Ted Gladhill, Joe Harrison, Ed Hannasch, Lance Staricha and Jane Vanderpoel. VISITORS TO BE HEARD There were no visitors in the audience. SIDEWALK/TRAILWAY WINTER MAINTENANCE PROGRAM & POLICY City Administrator Hedges provided a history on why the sidewalk/trailway winter maintenance program and policy is under consideration. Director of Public Works Colbert reviewed the draft sidewalk/trailway winter maintenance program and operational policies in some detail. He further reviewed a memo identifying five aspects of the program where issues may be raised by the public once the trailway/winter maintenance program is implemented. City Councilmember Hunter stated that most residents would like a major grid maintained for snow removal; however, he is confident that once the City provides an explanation as to how expensive the snow removal is per mile of trail added, people will agree to the program on an incremental basis. He further • stated that he would support a sidewalk ordinance and would suggest that the estimated 1.7 miles to be governed by the ordinance would require residents to remove the snow and the additional 3.3 miles would be maintained by the City. City Councilmember Masin stated that she would prefer that consideration be given to a City-wide ordinance that would require all property owners to remove snow on sidewalks and trailways adjacent to their property. Mayor Egan and City Councilmember Hunter both responded to City Councilmember Masin's proposal with examples such as the Dart parcel and St. John Neumann Church stating that it would be difficult for those property owners to be required to maintain their sidewalks requiring an enforcement problem for the City. City Councilmember Masin asked if there was time to implement a sidewalk/trailway winter maintenance program before the first snowfall. City Councilmember Awada stated that before the City can pass and enforce an ordinance requiring residents to plow sidewalks/trailways adjacent to their property, the City must commit to a sidewalk/trailway winter maintenance program. She further stated that having reviewed the map, it would seem appropriate to extend the trailway plowing to an intersection and not end in the middle of the roadway. Director of Public Works Colbert stated that extending the trails beyond the school walking limits could raise questions about keeping the trail maintenance to a stated purpose which is to accommodate walkers from certain neighborhoods to school buildings. City Councilmember Wachter stated that he is still concerned about the added expense to the operating budget for providing winter trail maintenance and further expressed his concerns about the potential liability of plowing the trails. He further stated that the City will plow the salt laden snow onto yards which can cause some potential damage to grass, shrubs and other landscaping material. Mayor Egan reminded the City Council that the program is a pilot program and should be evaluated after the 1996/1997 winter snow removal season. City Councilmember Hunter suggested the City proceed with the program, review it next spring and consider the adoption of an ordinance during 1997. City Councilmember Awada stated that it would be more efficient for the City to consider the ordinance at this time as part of • any action to implement the winter trail maintenance program. She stated that it would be difficult to impose an ordinance on residents requiring that they maintain their sidewalks a year after the City had provided the plowing for the same walkways. Mayor Egan thanked the staff for a thorough report which provides a number of expectations if the winter snow maintenance program is to be implemented. He further stated that this item will be placed on the regular City Council agenda, including consideration to EAGAN SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES;OCTOBER 15, 1996 PAGE 2 • adopt an ordinance requiring residents to provide the responsibility of snow removal adjacenpA property in certain areas. JOINT MEETING WITH AIRPORT RELATIONS COMMITTEE Mayor Egan welcomed members of the Airport Relations Committee who were present for the joint meeting. Commission Chair Mike Schlax overviewed the issues currently before the Commission which warrant discussion with the City Council. In addition to several updates, the discussion items were noise related land use policies, noise mitigation for an expanded airport and how these issues should be pursued through the legislature and legal channels. With respect to Airport Noise Land Use Policies, the Commission asked the Council what its expectations are in terms of land use controls around operations areas including the corridor and the north/south runway. Mayor Egan noted that the Comprehensive Plan and conditions placed on subdivisions are useful tools to prevent noise sensitive land uses in noise impact areas. City Councilmember Hunter stated that the corridor generally works, despite flaws in the operations and that few people purchasing homes in the City are surprised by planes being overhead. Mayor Egan stated that the Commission and the Council should consider the appropriate contours for land use, mitigation and stabilization tools including contours for the north/south runway. With respect to mitigation, Mayor Egan noted that the MSP Mitigation Committee did not accept all of the positions of the City, but that mitigation will be provided beyond the 65 DNL and that the City was successful in forming alliances with other communities, especially Minneapolis. The Commission noted that • the mitigation plan does not provide for an independent noise and operations monitoring system with enforcement. The Mayor responded that the City was not successful in getting support for this recommendation. City Councilmember Awada stated that it is important to keep operations in the corridor and the Commission agreed that it wants to see the corridor enforced and that the current levels of 20 to 25 percent of operations outside the corridor is unacceptable. Commissioner Harrison stated that actual excursions are higher. Mayor Egan also noted that the growth projections used in airport planning are dramatically understated. The City Council asked the Commission to monitor the ongoing progress of the mitigation program. There was discussion of the use of a legal and operations consultant to assist the City with its positions. Councilmember Awada stated that if there is something that the City can do legally to enforce operations standards, it should be explored.- Councilmember Wachter asked the Commission to recommend a legislative program based on City priorities and initiatives which were omitted from the Mitigation Committee report. In particular, the Council noted that a triggering mechanism in the law for reconsideration of land banking or other growth options would be worthwhile. OTHER BUSINESS There were no items for other business. The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. to the regular City Council meeting. TLH • t October 15, 1996 1"��� Date \ City Clerk