Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008-03-10 MinutesCity Council Street Committee Minutes March 10, 2008 Page I of 3 Member Aldermen Mayor Dan Coody Ward 1 Position I — Brenda Thiel V10 Ward 2 Position 2 — Nancy Allen CityAttorney Kit Williams � 1 Ward 3 Position 2—Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan City Clerk Sondra Smith ARKANSAS City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes March 10, 2008 A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on March 10, 2008 at 4:30 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Lioneld Jordan, Chair; Alderwoman Nancy Allen, Alderman Robert Ferrell, Alderwoman Brenda Thiel STAFF PRESENT: Ron Petrie, Chris Brown, Gary Dumas; Mayor Dan Coolly 1. Call Meetine to Order Chairman Lioneld Jordan called the meeting to order. 2. VAN ASCHE BOULEVARD: Discussion of the status of the plan to extend Van Asche Boulevard from Garland Avenue to Gre22 Street. (This item was tabled at the February 28. 2008 meetinz). Ron Petrie thanked the Committee members for meeting on short notice. This is an item that is of particular importance to everyone. Mayor Coolly said about two and a half years ago we began the discussion of extending Van Asche to connect Hwy 112 to the Mall area. One of the problems with this is that if we put the extension in its proposed location we would be opening up Johnson to a lot of new retail and commercial development which would not have benefited Fayetteville citizens. Staff began talking about annexation with the major land owners in that area in an effort to ensure that when we extend Van Asche, it would be totally within Fayetteville's corporate limits and the City of Fayetteville would see the resulting benefits of the commercial development. The key property owner has now expressed his willingness to be annexed into Fayetteville and staff feels it is time to move forward with the extension of Van Asche. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes March 10, 2008 Page 2 of 3 Ron Petrie said he submitted a memo to the Committee with recommendations of ways to move this project forward. The Carter & Burgess study showed a price of $4 million for this extension. The proposal was for half of the boulevard and was a very rough estimate. He said they were given very general estimates because we didn't have any real conceptual estimates as we have with the other bond projects. He displayed a chart that breaks down all the bond projects into the three different bond issuances. He said the 15th Street project had been budgeted at $2 million and was to be done in 2009-2012. We knew that in 2012 we would have $8.5 million to pull from to do any of these projects. We aren't interested in removing any of the bond projects but need to discuss how to sequence them to get this project (Van Asche) added back in. He said there is also about $785,000 remaining from other projects that have now been bid out where the bid came in less than what was budgeted for the project. He said we can definitely perform this project in-house, doing all the engineering design and construction management and reduce the cost significantly. He said if the Committee decides to proceed, staff will develop concept drawings and get some real cost estimates for the project. Alderwoman Thiel asked if this street would have access to I540. Ron Petrie said the State says the interchange with Fulbright is too close and they will not allow on and off ramps at that location. Gary Dumas said this improvement will be a good start (at connectivity) and will open up a great deal of area that will be relatively easy to develop. Alderman Ferrell said any way we can expedite the flow of the traffic in a safe manner into our retail and economic area is a good idea. He congratulated Mr. Petrie on the savings of $785,000 on projects being done. He said moving forward with this plan makes all the sense in the world to him. Alderwoman Thiel said she knows this project is important but has received a couple of calls and people are really frustrated with the traffic back-up on 6th St. The other critical issue is the discussion regarding the relocation of the high school. One of the locations being discussed is the family farm just west of Morningside Drive between 15th & 6th Sts. One of the things being considered in the examination of that site is the projection of a five -lane street there. She asked how soon 15th would be improved and if the staff could promise that it would be improved around the time the school might be built. Gary Dumas said through the next bond issuance in 2012 another $8.5 million will be available for projects. The Street Committee will choose those projects. Alderwoman Allen said we have to get access to our "cash cow" and this is as good a deal as we can do at this point. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Street Committee Minutes March 10, 2008 Page 3 of 3 In response to a question from Alderman Ferrell, Alderwoman Thiel said she had heard that many people support the location of the new high school in this area. She said the traffic now seems to be split between 6th Street and 15th St. and for that reason she believes the 15th improvements can wait as long as the improvements on the 6th St. part go forward. She supports the Van Asche project using the 15th St. funding. Alderman Jordan opened the floor for public comment. There being none, the discussion was returned to the Committee. Gary Dumas pointed out a couple of issues in the letter from the property owner involving specific zoning consideration. He said he feels these requests are very reasonable. However the requests will have to go before the Council to get some type of letter of agreement so the property owners can move forward with their actions. Alderman Ferrell moved that the Van Asche Boulevard extension with the attached requests from the property owner be forwarded to the City Council for approval Alderwoman Thiel seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org