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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2005-10-06 MinutesMayor Dan Coody City Attomey Kit Williams City Clerk Sondra Smith City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes October 6, 2005 Page 1 of 4 Member Aldermen aye evi le AR KA N SA 5 City of Fayetteville Arkansas City Council Street Committee Meeting Minutes October 6, 2005 Ward 1 Position 1 - Robert Reynolds Ward 2 Position 1 - Kyle B. Cook Ward 3 Position 2 — Robert Ferrell Ward 4 Position 2 - Lioneld Jordan A meeting of the Fayetteville City Council Street Committee was held on October 6, 2005 at 5:00 p.m. in Room 326 of the City Administration Building located at 113 West Mountain Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas. MEMBERS PRESENT: Alderman Lioneld Jordan (Chair), Alderman Robert Reynolds, Alderman Bobby Ferrell, Alderman Don Marr Staff Present: Ron Petrie, Gary Dumas, Kevin Springer Chairman Lioneld Jordan brought the meeting to order. Item 1. Approval of minutes of the August 25, 2005, Street Committee Meeting. A motion was made to approve the minutes as presented, and being seconded, was unanimously approved. Item 2. Discussion of the Gregg Street Extension Project and the purchase of property located adjacent to the west side of Gregg Avenue and north of Holly Street to allow for the relocation of Gregg Street. Ron Petrie stated that Ward 4 meetings had been held regarding this project and there was a great deal of discussion on both options of the project. A vote was taken at the Ward meeting, with the newest option garnering 37 votes and the older option 20 votes. Alderman Marr stated that the majority of those attending the Ward meeting did approve the newest option, but that people continue to have concerns about changes to the project. He stated that though there are still concerns about the plan, the newest option is the best option and he would support it Alderman Reynolds stated that he had been asked by a property owner about the route down Adams and that the property owner had stated that he would like the street to swerve to miss two particular buildings. Some discussion was held regarding the feasibility of this. Alderman Marr stated that he would like to see the road have a smooth transition rather than multiple right and left turns. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes October 6, 2005 Page 2 of 4 Chairman Jordan stated that much fine tuning would have to be done, but he asked if the Committee was in agreement as to the concept of the newest option. Alderman Marr stated that there were likely to be many comments and much input all the way through the process. He stated that at the Ward meeting, they had offered the option of doing nothing, and that it did not garner any more votes than either of the other options. Alderman Ferrell stated that his concern throughout the process is that the citizens of the Ward have their input. He pointed out that there have been either eleven or twelve ward meetings about this project. He stated that he would support the ward consensus. He stated that his other concern has been the University, which is one of the largest employers in the City and he feels that the University finds this plan acceptable. He stated that the newest option meets the criteria requested by the University and that he would support this option. Chairman Jordan opened the floor to public comment. After some discussion by the public, Chairman Jordan closed the floor to public comment and brought it back to the Street Committee. A motion was made to accept the newest proposal for the extension of Gregg Street, and being seconded, passed unanimously. Alderman Marr pointed out that consideration of the purchase of property adjacent to the west side of Gregg Avenue, north of Holly Street, would not be necessary since purchase of this property would not be required in the Gregg Street extension. Item 3. Approval of the proposed street cross-section of Rupple Road within the Clabber Creek Subdivision, Phases 3-5 adjacent to Salem Village Subdivision in association with a proposed cost share to widen Rupple Road from 36 feet in width to a four lane boulevard. Ron Petrie stated that at the last Street Committee meeting staff was given direction to review the proposal and see if there was a way to leave the alley, which encroaches in the existing right- of-way, in place. He presented three options which would leave the alley in its current location. The first option was to have the sidewalk on the east side of Rupple Road with only 4 feet of greenspace in the portion where the alley encroaches. The second option eliminates the left turn lane into the Clabber Creek Subdivision and pushes the transition to the north, leaving 10 foot of greenspace, 6 foot sidewalks and two to three feet of separation between the sidewalk and the alley. The third option involves shifting all of Rupple Road to the west and six lots would be affected. Mr. Petrie stated that these lots are large enough that Rupple Road could be moved, but it would be property that the City would have to purchase. He stated that he had spoken with developers and gotten an idea of the cost of these lots, which was approximately $8.00 a square foot. The frontage runs 630 feet and every foot of right-of-way which is pushed into those lots would cost a little over $5000. That being the case, if the road were shifted five feet, the cost would be approximately $25,000 and for ten feet it would be around $50,000. He stated that the City could only push so far to the west and then the lots would have to be purchased. The cost of the six lots would be approximately $390,000. Some discussion was held concerning the three options,. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes October 6, 2005 Page 3 of 4 Alderman Marr stated that he did not favor the option that had no turn lane. He stated that on roads that function as a major arterial, scenarios are created as they build out where they become very hazardous. He stated that a good example of this is access to the Post Office on Joyce Street. Alderman Ferrell stated that he felt that doing away with the left turn lane would defeat everything the committee had set out to do with this project. Alderman Reynolds stated that he did not know how to correct a wrong with the alley, but felt that the City could go with a smaller greenspace and smaller sidewalk if the residents would put up a fence. He stated that he is not in favor of shifting the road or of doing away with the turn lane. The floor was opened to Public Comment and some discussion was held concerning the safety of the sidewalks and only having four feet of greenspace. Several citizens commented that they felt that the third option was the best from a safety perspective Chairman Jordan closed public comment and brought it back to the Street Committee, stating that he understands that the neighbors need to keep the alley. He stated that he has concerns about option three and the deviation of the road, and one concern is the considerable cost to the City. He stated that with the second option and the elimination of the left turn lane, traffic would be backed up at that left turn lane trying to get into the development. He did not feel that would be a good plan, and stated that he felt that option one was the best the City could offer at this time, even with the limited greenspace. He stated that in the area that he lives in on Razorback Road, there is no greenspace along the sidewalk and the sidewalk is used extensively. He stated that he does feel that the more greenspace along the sidewalks the better, but in this case, though greenspace could be obtained by taking part of the alleyway and part of these driveways, he did not feel that was fair to the people that live there. He reiterated that he felt that the best option was the first option, narrowing the greenspace down, keeping the left hand turn lane and eliminating as much cost to the City as possible. A motion was made to adopt Option One, and being seconded, passed unanimously. Ron Petrie stated that he would get the final cost estimates from the contractor and bring that to the Street Committee, after which it would be forwarded to the full council for the actual approval of the cost share. Item 4. Discussion of proposed street improvements to be included in the 2006-2010 Capital Improvement Program. Gary Dumas stated that staff is in the process of continuing the evaluation of all the CIP projects which have been submitted by the various divisions. He stated that staff expected the Street Committee to request that all transportation and engineering projects be moved to the top of the list. He stated that in the next year there would be approximately $89 million dollars in CIP Funds available and he would like to see the focus placed on the project that could show significant improvement quickly. Kevin Springer gave the Committee a hand out and explained that all of the CIP projects had been put through a ranking process and this was reflected in the handout. Considerable 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org City Council Water & Sewer Meeting Minutes October 6, 2005 Page 4 of 4 discussion was held concerning this ranking process and what criteria were used to arrive at the ranking. It was agreed that this was a good tool, but further study was required before deciding the ranking of the street projects. Item 5. Presentation of the results from the bid opening of the Huntsville/Happv Hollow Road intersection realignment. Ron Petrie stated that there had been three contractors which had picked up plans, but only one contractor had submitted a bid. He stated that staff's estimate had been $1,172,000.00. The bid which was submitted was from Sweetser Construction and was for $1 2 million, which was very close to the estimate. He stated that with the Street Committee's approval, staff would prepare the agenda item and forward it to the council for approval of the contract. A motion was made to forward the bid to the full City Council, and being seconded, did pass. Item 6. Scheduling of the next Street Committee Meeting. The next Street Committee meeting was scheduled for October 25, 2005, at 6:00 p.m. 113 West Mountain 72701 (479) 521-7700 (479) 575-8257 (Fax) accessfayetteville.org