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06/11/1999 - City Council Special 00176 MINUTES OF THE SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL EAGAN, MINNESOTA June 11, 1999 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Friday, June 11, 1999, at 3:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers at the Eagan Municipal Center. Present were Mayor Awada and Councilmembers Blomquist, Carlson and Bakken. Also present were City Administrator Hedges, Police Chief Geagan, Superintendent of Streets and Equipment Erhart and Assistant City Administrator Duffy. City Administrator Hedges stated that City Councilmember Masin had a prescheduled appointment but would come to the meeting as soon as she was through. ROLL CALL AND ADOPTION OF AGENDA The agenda was adopted. VISITORS TO BE HEARD Mayor Awada acknowledged visitors to be heard. There were no visitors present interested in speaking on items not on the agenda. MVT A EXPRESS ROUTE 77C CHANGES/COVINGTON LANE City Administrator Hedges gave an overview of this item, stating that the Minnesota Valley Transit Authority (MVTA) had recently added a route on Covington Lane consisting of four bus trips each morning and four in the late afternoon. Residents had called the MVT A, the Mayor and City Councilmembers and the City Administrator and expressed concerns over the safety of their children. This item was discussed briefly at a Council retreat held on Tuesday, June 8, 1999. At that time, the Council directed the City Administrator to schedule the item on the agenda for the regular City Council meeting of June 15, 1999. The City Administrator did so and the item was published as a part of the agenda for that meeting. He explained that, yesterday (June 10, 1999), Mayor Awada had contacted the Executive Director of the MVTA and was led to understand that the route would be cancelled in a day or two, allowing time for notice to be given to the riders. The City received a memo from the MVTA, stating, "If the City feels that the safety and well-being of its residents is seriously compromised by the new route, we should respect their wishes." The City Administrator stated that he had lea,rned at noon today (June 11, 1999) that the MVTA had decided it needed more time to phase out the route and would operate the route until July 5, which was a surprise. City Administrator Hedges stated that he had been attempting to call the Director of the MVT A, Beverley Miller, or her assistant, Mike Abegg, but had been unable to contact them and his calls were not returned. However, he stated that Assistant City Administrator Duffy did speak to Mike Abegg at approximately 2:30 p.m. to let the MVTA staff know that this special City Council meeting would be held. He stated that he did not see anyone from the MVT A staff in the audience. City Administrator Hedges explained the City Council felt it wanted to hold this special City Council meeting in an effort to prevent a contentious situation between the residents and the bus driver. He stated that it was an issue of safety and welfare for the residents and well as the bus passengers and drivers. He stated that the Chief of Police had explained that he did not have the authority to stop the bus unless there was an official action taken by the City Council. 00177 EAGAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES; JUNE 11, 1999 PAGE 2 Councilmember Bakken moved, Councilmember Carlson seconded the following motion: Due to concerns about the potential for physical altercations or other disruptions, to preserve civil order, and to protect the general welfare of the public: 1. To direct the Chief of Police to have squads in the area and temporarily divert bus traffic from the Covington area; 2. To direct the Director of Public Works to place portable type 3 and type 1 barricades at the entry ways to restrict access to local traffic only; and 3. To direct City staff to determine whether bus traffic can be permanently restricted from the area, all three points pending final resolution of the issue between the City and the MVT A. Mayor Awada asked if anyone in the audience would like to speak. Laura Tramonte, a resident who lives at 1859 Covington Lane, stated that she was notified on Tuesday by a bus rider that the bus service on Covington Lane was going to start. She said that there are 19 houses on Covington Lane with 38 children younger than 11. She says this would be very dangerous for them. She said she had been told that the MVTA has told riders that they would only have to wave their hand and the bus would stop. She said school buses had to have regular stops; however, the MVTA wasn't even doing that. She said the MVTA staff told her that riders wanted the route; however, when she asked for information on why this route was chosen, they couldn't give it to her. She said she understood that people wanted the park and ride sites so they wouldn't have buses in their neighborhoods. She said that there were two sites which were very close. She said the MVTA staff had asked her that, if her children were older, wouldn't she want them to have access to a bus. She told them, if her children were older, they could walk the half- mile to the park and ride site. Ms. Tramonte said she and her neighbors would put up a blockade and not let the bus come down Covington Lane. Mayor Awada asked if anyone else in the audience wanted to speak. The members of the audience indicated that they agreed with Ms. Tramonte and that she had covered their points. Councilmember Blomquist stated that she was in on the original plilnning for the area and that the original planning was for a residential street. She said the street does not have true curbs and there are many driveway accesses. She also said that residents need to leave their car and go to the mailbox and then back to their car. Also, she said there is a sidewalk which is always filled with people walking children and dogs. She said there were many safety reasons why there should not be buses on that street and that it was not designed for buses. Councilmember Carlson asked Councilmember Bakken to repeat his motion and he did. She asked what the barricades would look like. Superintendent of Streets Erhart showed the Council a picture of the barricades. Councilmember Carlson asked if the barricades would only be there during times the buses were scheduled. Mayor Awada said yes. Mayor Awada stated she lived near the area and she had not even known that Covington Lane went through from Galaxie Avenue to Johnny Cake Ridge Road. She said it looks like a residential street. Ms. Tramonte said that, at least three times over the years, she and her neighbors had asked the City to put up a stop sign on Covington to slow traffic and had been denied because of the extra emissions from vehicles. She asked if the bus emissions wouldn't be 00178 EAGAN CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES; JUNE 11, 1999 PAGE 3 much worse. Ms. Tramonte stated that the park and ride sites work. She also said that the riders that the MVT A is targeting are already riders and those were the only people notified about the new routes. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 4 Nay: 0 OTHER BUSINESS Councilmember Blomquist moved to work with the MVTA to insure that other residential neighborhood roads are not targeted for bus routes in the future. Councilmember Bakken stated that was included in his original motion. Councilmember Blomquist said she thought the original motion only applied to the Covington Lane route. Mayor Awada stated that both Councilmembers were partially right; however, she also stated that since this was a special Council meeting called specifically to address an emergency situation that it would not be appropriate to address another issue. Councilmember Blomquist withdrew her motion with the understanding that the subject would be addressed at the regular City Council meeting on Tuesday, J~e 15, 1999. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at approximately 4:00 p.m. Councilmember Masin arrived after the meeting was adjourned. Date HND June 11, 1999 If you need these minutes in an alternative form such as large print, Braille, audio tape, etc., please contact the City of Eagan, 3830 Pilot Knob Road, Eagan MN 55122, (651) 681-4600, (rOD phone: (651) 454-8535). The City of Eagan is committed to the policy that all persons have equal access to its programs, services, activities, facilities and employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, marital status or status with regard to public assistance.