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2021-03-03 TC Minutes Richfield Transportation Commission Attachment #1 March 3rd, 2021 - Meeting Minutes 7:00 p.m. | WebEx Virtual Commission Meeting Commission members: Wes Dunser (Chair) Husniyah Bradley, Dan Edgerton, Jeffrey Walz, Louis Dzierzak, Mollie O’Howard Commission members not in attendance: David Gepner, Kyle Schmidt, Ken Severson Liaisons: Jan Matheus, Councilmember Sean Hayford Oleary Liaisons not in attendance: Kevin Wendt City Staff Liaison: Joe Powers Other City Staff: Scott Kulzer, Olivia Wycklendt, Melissa Poehlman I. Call meeting to order Chair Dunser called the meeting to order at 7:01 pm. II. Approval of Agenda Motion by Commissioner Bradley to approve the agenda. Seconded by Commissioner Walz. Motion carried. III. Review & Approve Minutes for December 2nd, 2020 Meeting Motion by Commissioner Dzierzak to approve the December 2nd, 2020 meeting minutes. Seconded by Commissioner Bradley. Motion carried. IV. Welcoming of New Commissioner and Officer Election ▪ The Commission welcomed the new Richfield Bike Advocate Liaison Jan Matheus, and Commission members, City Staff, and other liaisons introduced themselves at the beginning of the meeting. ▪ The Commission took nominations and voted on the 2021 officer positions with the following results: • Chair, Wes Dunser • Vice Chair, Husniyah Bradley V. Community Development Update ▪ Assistant Community Director Poehlman provided insight into what Community Development is and how Richfield’s Community Development operates in the context of all the redevelopment going on in Richfield. ▪ Poehlman informed commissioners of several current or upcoming apartment redevelopment projects. This includes the Lund’s apartments, Novo apartments, 6501 Penn Avenue, the Henley Apartments, the Rowan Apartments, the Emi apartments, and Lynk65 Apartments. Several of the apartments will include affordable housing units. ▪ Emerson Lane is another redevelopment which consists of 5 single-family homes which were quickly sold and occupied in late 2020. ▪ Poehlman also mentioned a Chase Bank which was recently completed at 66th St and Lyndale Ave. ▪ The Lyndale Garden Center redevelopment was a multi-phase project which includes the construction of the Lakeside at Lyndale Gardens Condominiums and the Lakewinds Food Co-Op. Poehlman mentioned that other improvements that were a part of this redevelopment included a new bridge leading into Richfield Lake Park and an Amphitheater. ▪ Poehlman mentioned the potential for HUB redevelopment which is owned by a publicly traded corporation called Brixmor. Brixmor and developers of the Hub have shown interest in phased, mixed-use redevelopment for this site. ▪ Poehlman notified Commissioners of the Portland and 66th/Veterans Park 7-month development moratorium that has been adopted by City Council. This moratorium will help the City get an idea what types of businesses and uses for this area would be either good or bad for this area and its existing land uses. ▪ The Cedar Point Housing or R64 project consists of several townhomes and apartments located along Richfield Parkway North of 66th St. Some of the townhomes have already been built and are based on an affordable ownership model. The Rya Apartments, which are another part of this project, are scheduled to begin construction in March/April of 2021. ▪ The Portland Legacy project involves Richfield and Bloomington and aims to find ways to improve the area located along Portland Ave with the infrastructure changes to I-494 and the additional stops of the D-Line bus route. VI. Public Engagement Refresher ▪ City Staff Kulzer discussed the project development and planning process and how projects are presented to the public through open houses. These open houses help gather public input and comments and concerns residents may have with a given project. After several open houses to gain public input and develop a preliminary design which meets all necessary requirements, the design goes to council for approval. More details on this policy can be found on the Sweet Streets website. ▪ Kulzer mentioned how the City sends out postcards and will send out targeted mailings, which are letters that are sent to specific areas of Richfield impacted by a given project. Ads in the Sun Current are also used to help notify the public of different projects that are upcoming or currently happening throughout the City. ▪ Social media is another way to ensure public engagement, which is done typically through the City of Richfield Facebook page or the Sweet Streets Facebook page. VII. 2021 Project Updates • 77th St Underpass. City Staff Wycklendt announced that MnDOT currently is reviewing the final construction agreements and plans for the underpass and that construction is slated for summer 2021 through early 2023. • 2021 Mill and Overlay, Concrete and Reclamite. City Staff Wycklendt said that the 6-year mill and overlay project is complete, however the City will be doing some smaller projects over the next few years. For 2021, 3 miles of residential roads and the Veterans Park parking lot will be milled and overlayed. The bid for this project was 100% virtual this year. Chair Dunser asked how bids are typically done in the past. City Staff Wycklendt answered that they are typically done in person and read aloud in a conference room at City Hall. City Staff Wycklendt mentioned that concrete work preceding M&O originally started in fall of 2020 will continue in Spring of 2021. This includes a few sidewalk locations throughout Richfield as well as sidewalk and curb replacement in Veterans Park parking lot. Wycklendt also mentioned that the City will be doing a Reclamite project in the early summer of 2021, which will add pavement rejuvenation to roads milled and overlayed in 2019 and 2020. • Xcel Duct Project. City Staff Wycklendt said that Xcel Energy is installing a large duct along Harriet and Garfield Avenue. This work is partially complete, and Xcel will be milling and overlaying the impacted roads that we have recently milled and overlayed in the past few years. • Small Cell. City Staff Wycklendt gave some background on small cell infrastructure in Richfield, how the City reviews and approves or rejects a small cell application permit, and the overall say the City has in dictating where small cell applications can or cannot go. She provided a map of currently installed and permitted applications, and highlighted that the City expects these small cell sites to be installed all throughout Richfield in the coming years. Commissioner Walz asked if this was related to 5G rollout. Liaison Joe Powers responded and said that while not all locations are expected to be 5G sites, a majority of them will be a part of 5G rollout. Councilmember Hayford O’Leary brought up a light pole with small cell equipment attached to it which looks different than surrounding light poles, and questioned if that difference in appearance is consistent with all small cell poles. Powers said that some small cell poles were approved prior to new zoning code which helps guide the aesthetics of the small cell poles. State legislation did not allow the rejection of the small cell poles based off of aesthetics alone, which is why there are a couple of sites where the poles do not match the style of neighboring light poles. • 65th St Final Design. City Staff Wycklendt announced that the City is working with their consultants to finalize the design for the 65th St Reconstruction, and to help coordinate with our redevelopment projects that are going on along the project corridor. Construction is scheduled for 2022. • Bus Rapid Transit. City Staff Wycklendt provided updates on Metro Transit’s Orange Line route, which will include two stations at 76th and Knox Avenue, and 66th and 35W. The D-Line project will include 4 new stations with improved station amenities which include benches, emergency phones, ticket machines, heaters, and other features along Portland Avenue. • Portland Bike Gap. City Staff Wycklendt announced that this Hennepin County project consists of partial roadway reconstruction and mill and overlay, in addition to the installation of flashing lights for pedestrians at the 66th St. roundabout. Construction is scheduled to begin in late March. • Penn Ave. City Staff Wycklendt clarified that there are two projects happening along Penn Avenue. The first is ADA improvements along Penn avenue, which includes the installation of ADA compliant ped ramps and relocating push buttons for pedestrians. The second project would be the mill and overlay of Penn Avenue, which occur in late summer of 2021. • I494: Airport to Highway 169. City Staff Powers said that the first project to start construction in 2-3 years will include reconfiguring the interchanges between TH 77 and Lyndale, construction of a new pedestrian bridge at Chicago Avenue, and a flyover ramp and other changes at the I35W/494 interchange. He mentioned that the City will be working with MnDOT to develop final designs details that will be an improvement to our local community. VIII. Updates from Liaisons • Liaison Jan Matheus mentioned that three bills, a transportation alternatives, a complete streets and a safe streets bill, are going to the state senate which will allow additional funding for transportation projects throughout the state. • Councilmember Hayford Oleary announced that Council is having discussions regarding the City’s affordable housing policy. IX. Upcoming events/meeting(s) The next Transportation Commission meeting is scheduled for April 7th, 2021. X. Adjournment Motion made by Commissioner Dunser to adjourn meeting. Adjourned at 8:58 pm.