05/02/2000 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 5/2/2000 to some portion of Springvale Golf Course property with the intention of possibly ~„~, reselling that to developers when, in fact, it is green space that we own. She is also concerned that the trees on the street will be damaged during the construction of putting the utilities underground. She is looking for more information about that issue and also for a breakdown of the $600,000 figure. She has asked for that information and also for information on the issue of the development of green space, which she believes should remain part of the golf course. Also, she has asked for a history of the street--what has been done and what the residents have been promised. Mr. Spagnuolo said he was encouraged that this was not a dead issue and that it will be re-visited again. Mr. Limpert commented that this project had been approached on two levels: one, $600,000 to do the entire project; two, appropriate the funds to do just the engineering this year. As far as the other areas of the city that also need work, a motion was made before Council to increase the slab repair budget and that was not accepted. He also noted that adding the $600,000 to all the capital improvements for the year would still have been a decrease in the debt. Mr. Miller noted that Service Director Bohlmann had told Council that Canterbury could be re-skinned with a new overlay of pavement (which would last about seven years) without borrowing money. Council agreed to that for this year. Finance Director Copfer said that the money had not been appropriated. Mr. Miller answered that the request for that would come from the administration. Mr. Spagnuolo felt that would be a very short-term fix and would certainly not last seven years. Mr. Miller said it was not Council's intention to hold off any other improvements for the full seven years, but it does give us the presentation that we want down a very nice street that has beautiful shade trees. He, too, is concerned about damage to the root zone of the trees when the poles are moved and the wires are placed underground. It is not Council's intention to let the street continue in its present stage--they do want this addressed and they do want it be safer and appear better. However, the mandate city-wide two years ago was that borrowing be held down as the city was in debt. This Council, as a whole, has done everything they can to successfully bring the debt down. Council wants to go forward with repair to all the needy streets, but within our means. Mayor Musial said he wished to reply to Mr. Miller's remarks in that it isn't only Council that is looking to reduce the debt of the city but also the administration. As a matter of fact, when the capital improvements were proposed, they were done with the idea of spending less than what is being paid down. However, it must be kept in mind that spending cannot be reduced to zero. There has to be a balance of spending and reduction in debt. His second point is that it would be pure speculation to ascertain what the cost of the islands are going to be and what the cost of putting utilities underground will be unless an engineering study is done. The study would cost about $60,000. He proposes that the engineering study be done this year so we can know what we are talking about and what should be cut out of the project, if anything. Mrs. Kasler said she is not inclined to spend $60,000 on an engineering study until we commit to doing the project because she does not want to have to do the study again if the project is delayed for a time. Secondly, there was a reason for the $b00,000 figure and she is asking for a breakdown of that figure. We certainly should know why $600,000 was proposed and what that includes and she would like to see that in writing. 7