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05-20-92 special agenda• CITY OF RICHFIELD WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 1992 SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING 4:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS AGENDA CALL TO ORDER 1. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ON THE 77TH STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT, MAKING A DECISION FOR NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND REQUESTING A FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT - COUNCIL LETTER NO. 120 2. CONSIDERATION OF APPROVAL OF RESOLUTIONS ? ACCEPTING CONDITIONS OF MAY 5, 1992 LETTER OF INTENT (MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING) FROM W.M. CRAWFORD REGARDING THE 77TH STREET PROJECT ? AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING COSTS FOR THE 77TH STREET PROJECT IN THE CITY OF RICHFIELD ? AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT WITH MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION FOR THE 77TH STREET PROJECT IN THE CITY OF RICHFIELD COUNCIL LETTER NO. 121 ADJOURNMENT • CITY OF RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA Council Letter No. 121 Agenda May 20, 1992 Issue statement: Consideration of approval of a Memorandum of Understanding (MEMO), Agency Agreement, and Right of Way (ROW) Acquisition Agreement between Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the City of Richfield for the 77th Street Project. Background: 1. A Memorandum of Understanding (MEMO) between MnDOT and Richfield is needed to document the rationale used to justify the 77th Street Project and the expected cost splits. The total cost of the project and the cost splits are as follows. The total cost of the project is estimated at $33 million. Of this total $13.7 million is for acquisition of land for right.of way, and.$19.3 million is.the cost of construction. Federal Aid Highway funds will cover 80% ($20.84 million) of the project cost. The remaining 20% of the total project cost will be broken down as follows. 15$ will be financed using Minnesota State Trunk Highway funds and 5t will be financed using City funds. Therefore, the City's estimated total costs will be $3 million. The City's funding source is the Municipal State Aid fund which is sufficient to cover the cost required of the City. The Memorandum of Understanding • will provide the basis for the cost splits and various agreements such as right of way, construction and engineering. 2. The Agency Agreement allows the Commissioner of Transportation to accept Federal funds for engineering costs and reimburse Richfield for engineering expenses for the project. 3. The Right of Way Acquisition Agreement stipulates the conditions for reimbursement of right of way costs for the project. The Agreement basically provides that the land will be acquired under Uniform Relocation Act Guidelines. Copies of the Memo and Agreements will be available at the City Council's May 20 meeting. MnDOT staff is making final revisions to the documents and the appropriate City officials will sign the agreements in their final forms. Recommended Motion: Approve the attached resolutions authorizing appropriate City officials to accept the condition of the Memo and to sign the Agreements. Basis of Recommendation: • 1. The Memorandum of Understanding provides the rationale for other agreements needed for the project. • 2. The Agency and Right of the responsibilities of costs and right of way Alternative Recommendation: None. Way Agreements are needed to define MnDOT and Richfield for engineering acquisition for the project. Discussion/Decision Mode: A decision is needed on these agreements in order to ensure the timely beginning of the right-of-way acquisition process. Respectf y submitted, James Prosser City Manager JDP:ds Attachments • 0 • RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF RICHFIELD ACCEPTING CONDITIONS OF THE MAY 5, 1992 LETTER OF INTENT (MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING) FROM W.M. CRAWFORD REGARDING THE 77th STREET PROJECT WHEREAS, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the City of Richfield (City) have been negotiating for over two years toward an Agreement on the 77th Street Project (Project) details and funding; and WHEREAS, MnDOT and City wish to express their intent with respect to the basic elements of the anticipated contractual relationship. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the conditions of the Letter of Intent (Memorandum of Understanding) are acceptable to the City as an expression of our intent with respect to the basic elements of the anticipated contractual relationship between MnDOT and the City. Adopted this 20th day of May, 1992. Attest: Thomas P. Ferber City Clerk Martin J. Kirsch Mayor • . RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AN AGENCY AGREEMENT WITH THE MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR PRELIMINARY ENGINEERING COSTS FOR THE 77th STREET PROJECT IN THE CITY OF RICHFIELD BE IT RESOLVED, that pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Sec. 161.36, the Commissioner of Transportation be appointed as Agent of the City of Richfield to accept as its agent, federal aid; funds which may be made available for eligible preliminary engineering costs for S.P. 157-108-06 and S.P. 157-108-07. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Mayor and the City Engineer are hereby authorized and directed for and on behalf of the City to execute and enter into a Agreement with the Commissioner of Transportation prescribing the terms and conditions of said .,.....federal--aid-participation as set..forth and contained in Agreement No. a draft of which said Agreement was before the Council and which is made a part hereof by reference. Adopted this 20th day of May, 1992. • Martin J. Kirsch Mayor Attest: Thomas P. Ferber City Clerk 0 • 0 RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AGREEMENT WITH MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FOR RIGHT OF WAY ACQUISITION FOR THE 77th STREET PROJECT IN THE CITY OF RICHFIELD BE IT RESOLVED, that pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Sec. 161.36, the Commissioner of Transportation be appointed as Agent of the City of Richfield to accept as its agent, federal aid funds which may be made available for eligible right of way acquisition costs for S.P. 157-108-06 and S.P. 157-108-07. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the May hereby authorized and directed for a execute and enter into an Agreement Transportation, in an amount not to prescribing.the.terms and.conditions participation as set forth and conta draft of which said Agreement was be made a part hereof by reference. or and the City Engineer are nd on behalf of the City to with the Commissioner of exceed $12,500,000, of said federal aid . ined in Agreement No. a fore the Council and which is Adopted this 20th day of May, 1992. Martin J. Kirsch Mayor Attest: Thomas P. Ferber City Clerk 0 CITY OF RICHFIELD, MINNESOTA • Council Letter No. 120 Agenda May 20, 1992 Issue Statement Certification approval for completion of the environmental review process for the 77th Street Reconstruction Project. Background: The state and federal rules governing environmental review of proposed highway construction projects required that the City of Richfield prepare an Environmental Assessment of the 77th Street Reconstruction Project and that the public be given an opportunity to review and comment on the proposed action.. The City prepared the Environmental Assessment, distributed it to the appropriate agencies and individuals, and held a public hearing on the proposal. All written comments received by May 15, 1992 will be answered by City staff. Revisions to the Environmental Assessment are being made as the City staff responds to comments made at the May 5, 1992 public hearing or received during the public review period ending on May 15, 1992. Five people spoke at the public hearing and fourteen citizens provided written comments. Almost all comments were on design • issues, not environmental ones. The comments included: ? Additional openings in the median divider to provide left turn access to businesses located south of 77th Street. ? Relocation process. ? Pedestrian signal and left turn access to the church and school property. ? Possible closing of existing access on 77th Street. ? Bikes, buses and light rail transit as an alternative to road improvements. ? The design of the loop streets. ? Adequate traffic capacity based on traffic forecasts, including the need for left turn lanes on major north-south streets and the need for an additional bridge crossing of I-35W. ? Need for noise attenuation for the area north or south of 77th Street. • Five public agencies also commented on the environmental assessment. The treatment of storm water was the only issue raised. • According to state environmental regulations, the City Council must prepare, between three working days of the close of the comment period (May 20, 1992) and 30 days (June 15, 1992), the findings of fact. The findings of fact and the comments/responses will be available at the May 20 Council meeting. The findings of fact document the reasons used to arrive at the City's decision that the Environmental Assessment is adequate and that an Environmental Impact Statement is not needed. The decision to not prepare an Environmental Impact Statement, according to state environmental rules, is known as a Negative Declaration. Under state law the City of Richfield has the final authority to decide whether or not compliance with state environmental rules has been met. The only appeal of the City's decision is through the Minnesota District Court System. . ..The_revised..final.Environmental.Assessment.together.with all written comments to the environmental assessment, a complete transcript of the public hearing, staff responses to the issues raised by the commenters,-and the findings of fact will be forwarded to the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration. These agencies will review the final Environmental Assessment, • the findings of fact, the comments on the Environmental Assessment and the staff responses to the comments, and determine whether or not the 77th Street Project has met the state and federal environmental requirements. If they determine that compliance has been achieved, the Federal Highway Administration will issue a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board will publish the City's Negative Declaration in the Minnesota Environmental Quality Monitor. Issuance of these two documents is needed before state and federal highway funds can be released so that the City of Richfield can begin acquiring property and building the new 77th Street. Recommended Motion: Approve the attached resolution authorizing the City Engineer, as Project Manager, to request approval by the state and federal agencies for the revised Final Environmental Assessment on the 77th Street Reconstruction Project. Basis of Recommendation: 1. The Environmental Assessment and the comments received on it indicate that the City has adequately addressed all significant environmental issues on the 77th Street Reconstruction Project. . 2. Based on public comments received, the staff is recommending that no additional environmental study of the proposal is needed and the project should be built as proposed in the Environmental Assessment. Alternative Recommendation: Delay Council action until the next Council meeting on June 8, 1992. This alternative is not recommended because no serious objections to the proposal are anticipated based on public comments already received. This postponement until June 8 will only delay obtaining state and federal agencies approval of the Environmental Assessment. Under normal review schedules, environmental approval usually takes about 30 days from the time the City submits the final Environmental Assessment. Discussion/Decision Mode: The City Council should approve the attached resolution at its May 20, 1992 meeting. Prompt approval of the resolution is needed for MnDOT and the Federal Highway Administration to release funds to build this project. ly submitted, Jame R. Prosser City M nager JDP:ds Attachment 0 0 RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING SUBMISSION OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ON THE 77th STREET RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT, MAKING A DECISION FOR A NEGATIVE DECLARATION AND REQUESTING A FINDING OF NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACT (FONSI) WHEREAS, the City of Richfield has completed an environmental assessment on the proposed 77th Street Reconstruction Project that identifies the environmental impacts of the project; and WHEREAS, the City of Richfield has provided for adequate public review.and commenton the environmental assessment for the 77th Street Project including holding a public hearing on May 5, 1992 to receive comments and receiving written comments until May 15, 1992 on the proposal, including its location, design and environmental effects. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Richfield City Council has determined that the findings of fact have been prepared and are attached, and based on the findings of fact a Negative Declaration is made that an environmental impact statement is not needed, and the City has complied with all state environmental regulations on the proposed 77th Street Reconstruction Project, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Engineer, as project • manager, is authorized to certify that a public hearing on said environmental assessment has been held, and the City Engineer is authorized to submit the environmental assessment together with a copy of the transcript of the public hearing, written comments on the proposal, and staff responses to the comments received as evidence that the City has complied with all state and federal environmental regulations on the proposed 77th Street Reconstruction Project, and . BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the submission include a request that the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration issue a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board publish a notice of Richfield's Negative Declaration on the proposed 77th Street Reconstruction Project, and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Richfield supports and endorses the proposed 77th Street Reconstruction Project. Passed by the City Council of the City of Richfield, Minnesota, this 20th day of May, 1992. Martin J. Kirsch Mayor 0 ATTEST: Thomas P. Ferber City Clerk May 5, 1992 TO: CITY COUNCIL CITY OF RICHFIELD Dear Mayor and Council Members: As property owners on Fifth Avenue South between 77th Street and the North Frontage Road of I-494 we are very concerned about the pending improvement of 77th Street at Fifth Avenue South We have been informed that the City is considering a median strip extending from Portland Avenue to Fourth Avenue South so that there would be no left turn possible at Fifth Avenue South for West bound traffic. The problem of getting into the property will be even more difficult and circuitous with the upgrading of I-494 at Portland (by median strip on Portland) which we understand will prevent any North bound traffic from. turning left (West) onto the Service Road to Fifth Avenue. The commerical property at Fifth Avenue will be in a pocket extremely difficult to get to except when traveling East along 77th Street. We feel that if this plan is implemented it will seriously effect our business or those of our tenants and the value of the real estate. • For these reasons, we urgently request that the City Council provide us with an opening at Fifth Avenue South in the design of 77th Street. Sincerely, 0 rice nuilaing ifth Avenue South (formerly'`Sr C -ye--?? ? -P