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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Public Works/Planning - 06/04/1991 PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE JUNE 4, 1991 PRESENT: Jim White Alana Mclalwain Steve Dowell May Miller Leona Orr Mr. and Mrs. Rust Don Wickstrom Dawn McDonnell Tom Brubaker Roberta Williams Gary Gill Diane Moore Ed White Bill Doolittle Roberta Williams Requests/Concerns Leona Orr stated this has been briefly discussed at the Public Safety Committee. Initially, there was question whether 5th Avenue was a City street. It was suggested the issue be brought before the Public Works Committee since Ms. Williams is suggesting street lights and speed bumps. Ms. Williams first addressed the issue of street lights. She stated that there is one street light on 5th north of James and none on Cloudy. She requested additional lighting on 5th. Ms. Williams also requested a speed bump midway on Cloudy between 4th and 5th and two speed bumps on 5th between Cloudy and James. She indicated that vehicles use Cloudy to avoid the light at 4th and James and do not observe the speed limit. She stated this occurs mostly between 3:00 and 3 :30 p.m. Also, there is a lot of traffic occurring when the kids are dropped off at the ball field. Also, cars are parking along 5th even though it is posted No Parking. She asked if that area could be posted as a Tow-Away Zone so the neighborhood could call and have cars towed. It was determined that the parking situation should be handled by the Public Safety Committee. There was discussion about why no parking was provided at the ball field. White indicated that the property was obtained as land bank property for further civic buildings. The parks department has been allowed to utilize the property that is why no parking has been developed on site and the City has utilized the parking across the street in the Park and Ride Lot. Dowell suggested that parking be built on the property as he feels the ball fields should not have been put in without proper parking. Ms. McDonnell stated that even if that were done it would not be sufficient to accommodate all the vehicles and they would still have to use the Park and Ride Lot. Wickstrom stated that staff had looked into putting parking on the fields a few year ago and it would be quite expensive to do so. Jim White stated he didn't think we should build a parking lot on the field when the Park and Ride Lot isn't fully utilized. Ms. Williams stated that the neighborhood had submitted a petition to the Public Safety Committee for speed bumps on 5th to slow the traffic down. Ed White, responding to Dowell's question, indicated Printed on Recycled Paper Public Works Committee June 4, 1991 Page 2 that speed bumps are approximately $1, 000 each. The possibility of lowering the speed limits was discussed. Ed White commented that State law does not allow speed limits lower than 25 MPH other than in a school zone. Jim White asked that staff develop some suggestions with associated costs and bring this back before the Committee. Drainage Issue - Hilltop Wickstrom stated that several alternatives had been reviewed. French drains along the easterly property lines would require a significant expense in right of way acquisition and approximate costs are estimated at $40, 000-$50, 000. Maintenance would also be an on-going difficult situation. A suggested solution is to construct a drainage system in Hilltop Avenue that would allow individual property owners to construct their own French drain systems and connect in the drainage system on Hilltop. Wickstrom added that the drainage utility would stand the cost of installing the drainage system. Ms. Moore addressed the drainage problems created by the developments above this area and questioned why the homeowners should incur the expense to correct a problem created by these developments. It was determined that the developments are in the County. Wickstrom stated that another alternative that was considered was to divert the water at 94th. However, in order to do that the James Street system would need to be analyzed to determine if it could handle the increased flow. Leona Orr questioned why we weren't contacting the County about this problem as it is being created by developments they have allowed. She continued that the County should be mitigating these impacts. Gary Gill added that the standards being used today are different that what was being used when Wildberry was developed. The new drainage standards require extensive downstream analysis to determine impacts and developers are being required to do off-site improvements if downstream problems will occur. Jim White added that he has concerns about our asking the property owners to bear the cost of solving a problem they did not create. He questioned if there was a solution other than that. Responding to Dowell, Wickstrom stated that funds are allocated in the drainage utility to address miscellaneous drainage problems but there are more problems being generated by development than what the utility can address. Jim White stated that he felt this proposed solution was a bandaid for the problem. He asked that staff come back with recommendations to solve the problem and associated costs. Printed on Recycled Paper 0 Public Works Committee June 4, 1991 Page 3 Willis Street Mr. Doolittle addressed the Committee about the new street light on Willis at the on-ramp to SR 167. He also commented about the channelization on Willis Street and on the on-ramp onto SR 167. He also commented about the condition of the railroad crossings on Willis. It was confirmed for Mr. Doolittle that Union Pacific is in the process of making the improvements to their crossings. They are proposing to use a concrete pad. Since the City would prefer rubberized crossings, we will be inspecting the first crossing on 228th before they complete the remainder. The City does have the money budgeted to purchase the rubber for rubberized crossings; thus, if we determine the concrete will not hold up we will negotiate with them for rubberized crossings. Wickstrom added that the City has no authority over the crossing on Willis as it is a State route. With reference to the signal, Ed White stated we are experiencing about 20% increased efficiency in operation of all three of the signals. The signalization pattern is consistent with all new State signals. Whenever a State signal is going in at their ramps that has a protected permission left turn movement you will see the same phasing as the signal on Willis. Printed on Recycled Paper