WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=U7BIpHuOPVM

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: U7BIpHuOPVM):
- 00:00:06: Meeting Called to Order; Minutes Approved
- 00:03:50: Streetlight Addition Policy Considerations and Discussion
- 00:10:17: Hills Crossing Streetlight Installation: Recommendation for Approval
- 00:17:04: 2027 Road Bond: City Hall, Main Street Intersection Improvements
- 00:30:57: Church Street & Lakers Avenue: Roundabout Concept Discussion
- 00:40:01: Main Street & City Hall Street: Intersection Layout Concepts
- 00:50:36: Public Comment 1: Intersection Closures and Lakers Lane
- 01:06:11: Public Comment 2: City Hall Corridor Improvements
- 01:10:04: Public Comment 3: Combined Sidewalk Trail Concept
- 01:15:20: Public Comment 4: Church Street Sidewalk Necessity
- 01:23:53: Public Comment 5: Concerns About Church Street Parking
- 01:28:26: Public Comment 6: Church Street Traffic Considerations
- 01:31:58: Committee Discussion: Intersection Styles and Sidewalk Plans
- 01:42:09: Adjournment and Sidewalk Summit Details


Part: 1

1
00:00:06.080 --> 00:03:17.680
It's my warning. Here we go. Show time. Apologize about that. I'd like to call the Special Public Works Committee meeting to order for Monday, May 11th, 2026 at 5:00 p.m. Uh, the first topic of this agenda would be to approve the

2
00:03:17.680 --> 00:03:34.640
minutes from the August, September, October, and December 2025 meetings as well as the January of 2026 meeting. Do I have a motion? >> I didn't have time to look at them. >> Do we have a second?

3
00:03:34.640 --> 00:03:50.879
>> No. Second. Okay, with all if without any other further comments uh all those in favor of approving say I >> opposed hearing none. We will now move to the second topic for the streetlight edition policy discussion and

4
00:03:50.879 --> 00:04:08.080
remediation. Mr. Blommer >> I have two handouts in your packet. Uh first one is consideration for the policy agenda. So if you follow If you recall, Jesse, you asked me to

5
00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:23.919
put together a policy for when and how to add street lights. I think that was at a council meeting when we were talking about hills crossing. So, I conferred a little bit with Dave and and typically cities don't have a specific

6
00:04:23.919 --> 00:04:40.960
policy of yes, here, no there. But what I did do is I put together a list of questions that could become a base policy uh for the council u basically to ask you know does the installation meet

7
00:04:40.960 --> 00:04:57.280
any of these points that I have on here. So for instance uh are street signs visible without it? Um is it a blind or difficult intersection? Are children present uh often? Are there crosswalks in the intersection

8
00:04:57.280 --> 00:05:14.800
that need to be lit? Um trail or sa sidewalk at the intersection it needs to be lit or personal security such as like it down at the tunnel. Um those would be safety concerns. U then I put in here traffic volume considerations. You know,

9
00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:30.800
does it intersect busier roads like 371 or one of the busier county streets or two of our own streets that might be busier? Uh if you can answer yes to most of these questions, I think that would be a point a point where you would want to say, "Yeah, we need to con uh consider

10
00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:45.919
adding the street light." Um then I go into cost and budget considerations. So if we haven't added any that year, chances are we could add it. We could afford it. Um, if we've already added say three of them somewhere in the city

11
00:05:45.919 --> 00:06:02.240
that year and somebody's coming forth with a fourth one, chances are we haven't budgeted for that. You might want to say, "Well, we think this is a good idea, but we'll wait to kick this one in until next

12
00:06:02.240 --> 00:06:19.919
budget cycle." >> Um, so those are the things I would I think would make um for a policy. Um and then I had some final considerations such as in the case to Hills crossing if the council said no we don't feel that

13
00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:38.160
it hits enough of these um items to be considered um imperative to add u the requesttor could be asked to pay for the installation of utility costs and in this case Crossing has said that if the council says no to installing it that

14
00:06:38.160 --> 00:06:56.080
he'd be willing to do it he just needs us to sponsor the installation. >> So, >> any questions or things that maybe you'd like to see added to a policy or

15
00:06:56.080 --> 00:07:17.280
>> anything from either Dylan? So, I can just set this up as a checklist even so that way anytime somebody comes forward with a new street light, I can just hand this out to the council and you can just walk right through it with them or we can walk through it with them here at this

16
00:07:17.280 --> 00:07:34.000
committee to make a recommendation to the council. And if we walk through this, I think you'd see pretty clearly if it makes sense to add it or not. My initial feedback on it would be Tom is if there's going to be a yes no checklist on this

17
00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:51.919
or to accompany all these questions essentially a recommendation from yourself I would assume it's still going to be a discretionary recommendation made to the council for a yes or no. >> Mhm. >> Right. Yeah. >> Okay. So it'll still be then up to the council to make an overall yes or no

18
00:07:51.919 --> 00:08:10.160
final call on that. Okay. I think uh the only other adders I would have for a suggestion on that this piece would be to provide any true fiscal dollar budgets or any true chewed- up numbers that you could try to put together at

19
00:08:10.160 --> 00:08:24.479
any time a request comes through specifically uh engagement with the local utility. Um, we've spoken for uh off and on a few times now about adding an additional siren uh to the

20
00:08:24.479 --> 00:08:42.399
south southeastern side of Niswah to be able to accommodate that area. Well, conversations that have come up is who's going to provide the pole, who's going to provide the land or the easement for it, right? Um, and additionally, what's the installation cost going to be? And then we have power to feed it and fiber

21
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:58.320
to be able to communicate with it, right? I think if you're able to pull any of those that would probably help this council and any future council for it as much more info the better. But this is a great start of a checklist and I think it satisfies >> you did include them in here.

22
00:08:58.320 --> 00:09:14.640
>> So the yeah that would be my next specific hills crossing. I did have another handout. So >> um if you look at that >> ju just just on the overall general form though if if you can m if you can maintain that like you have for hills crossing for all I think that's

23
00:09:14.640 --> 00:09:29.440
fantastic. >> Yeah I mean we can certainly provide that um like to your example for the siren um those get a little more complicated mostly because the counties admin administers uh that turning it on and off that kind of thing. So the

24
00:09:29.440 --> 00:09:45.440
county right now just give you a little information um is looking at a countywide maintenance for those and they're also talking about looking at where those need to be added or not added. So, they might they

25
00:09:45.440 --> 00:10:02.640
haven't yet, but they're considering countywide maintenance because it's them. It's the county that has to activate them. So, there's there's a lot going on with those. >> So, there's considerations for not just maintenance, but perhaps new ones. Yes.

26
00:10:02.640 --> 00:10:17.839
>> Okay. As long as >> might it might come down to where it's still our cost to install, but they'll tell us what's allowed. >> Okay. >> What's needed? >> Appreciate it. >> More to come on that.

27
00:10:17.839 --> 00:10:35.680
>> Got it. Anything else on this? So, as far as the street light goes, um, what I'd like to do is go through the hills crossing scenario and see if this group can make a recommendation to the council, yes or no, using the checklist

28
00:10:35.680 --> 00:10:52.480
as it's been here. So, I've kind of gone through this and I've made a recommendation of my own. Um, so looking at this, we're being asked to approve the street light. It's at Hills Crossing. I have a map to include, excuse me, a map that's been included

29
00:10:52.480 --> 00:11:08.000
with it showing they would like two different locations. Um, one is up by the trail kind of in the halfway between the trail and their buildings up here. Um, and then the other one would be

30
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:24.880
reasonably close to this intersection. Um, >> and that's our easement. Yes, both of these would be within our easement. And so I guess I would ask if you want to do one or both.

31
00:11:24.880 --> 00:11:40.399
And um if we kind of go through this a little bit, this one that's out on on the uh main street, lower Cullen Road, um street sign visibility. They they have complained that the street light

32
00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:57.760
the street names here can be difficult to see. Uh they are they are retroflective. So I don't know if they're that terribly hard to see but they have said that they are um blind intersection. I don't I don't

33
00:11:57.760 --> 00:12:14.720
think that's blind intersection. Children present. Not really. Crosswalks. No trails. Yes. I mean, at least with the second one going in, there's a trail there. Uh, personal security. Um,

34
00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:31.440
maybe I know there's some that there some of the older folks. Um, it doesn't intersect with any road that's terribly busy. You could say that Lower Cullen is one of our busier streets, which is probably true. Uh, has this location

35
00:12:31.440 --> 00:12:48.399
been budgeted for? It has not. Is there power located close by to connect to? Yes. Uh this has been verified by Minnesota Power. Um can installation wait until it can be budgeted for.

36
00:12:48.399 --> 00:13:06.000
Uh the manager of the facility wants it installed immediately. So that's not allowing for the budget in my eyes. Um, so he has said he'd be willing to pay for the installation. So I guess I'd

37
00:13:06.000 --> 00:13:23.040
like to see is do you feel that this light something that the city should pay for? I would suggest not. But I would give him permission to install them if he would like. >> Is this two light? Two lights.

38
00:13:23.040 --> 00:13:38.160
>> Two lights. >> Why is this one set back? the one on the left there. >> Oh, >> back from the sidewalk. >> So, don't get too hung up on where the axes are. It's kind of a general location. There's a pole here. >> Oh,

39
00:13:38.160 --> 00:13:58.079
>> and that's where it would be. And with this proximity, it would be close enough to light up the intersection. >> So, >> would like a motion? >> Yeah. So my recommendation is is that we

40
00:13:58.079 --> 00:14:17.920
approve the installation of the lights at the expense of Hills >> and just I'd be asking the council to approve that uh at the next council meeting on 19th. >> I'll make a motion that we accept his recommendation.

41
00:14:17.920 --> 00:14:34.079
>> Um want to talk about it just a little more first. >> Sure. for the brightness level, the 4,000 lumens. Um, is that something that can be changed after it's initially installed? Is it the same bulb that has different settings on it? >> Yeah, they can go up or down.

42
00:14:34.079 --> 00:14:50.160
>> Is that >> I don't know if it's the same bulb, but they they can increase or decrease. It does change the monthly cost depending on which one we >> go. Second discussion. >> Okay, I'll second. >> Thank you.

43
00:14:50.160 --> 00:15:06.240
open for further discussion. >> Okay. Um it's just there's a it's a significant difference per month um just for a difference in light and I'm just wondering if that's something that we can change or if if we're going to get bill another

44
00:15:06.240 --> 00:15:24.320
$1,500 if we change the bowl. >> No, it wouldn't be that much. I I couldn't tell you exactly what the cost was for the change. We did ask about that at another location recently. Amber might be familiar with that. It's at the end of um Lower Royal Lake Road um where

45
00:15:24.320 --> 00:15:40.399
the new trail is. Uh we had to change the brightness level there and I want to It wasn't that bad. I want to It was like >> pretty minimal and then it went to the buck. >> Yeah. >> Cost increase.

46
00:15:40.399 --> 00:16:03.240
And by minimal I mean like under $100. How much is the installation? >> So, the installation for this particular light, I thought I had it on here. Yeah. So, each each light is uh 1,500. >> 1500. Okay.

47
00:16:06.079 --> 00:16:23.920
>> And you see here, I did point out the difference in two of the lights. So on the low end, which is probably what we'd be looking at here, we want to call out the signs and make it lit, but we don't want to create a light light pollution problem or too bright. Um 4,000 would be

48
00:16:23.920 --> 00:16:48.399
1586 each month. If we increase it up to 8,800, it would be 1988. And we can go as high as 23,000 for 2956. I I just And I recommended going to the 4,000. So, we have a motion and a second on the

49
00:16:48.399 --> 00:17:04.000
table. Uh, with that being said, I'll take a vote. Uh, all those in favor signify by saying I. >> I. Opposed. Motion. Recommendation carries. >> I'll set that up for council approval. You'll see it there.

50
00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:21.439
>> Thank you. Next item is the 2027 road bond considerations for the final engineering proposal. Um, looks like we have a couple sub items underneath this. Uh, so Tom and Mr. Dave, we start with the first item, City Hall Street and Main Street intersection treatment

51
00:17:21.439 --> 00:17:39.280
discussion and recommendation. >> Great. So Tom, would you like me to just jump off with this >> and go through a presentation first or do you have something you want to cover first? >> Um, I think all I was going to give was kind of a an overview. The reason we're

52
00:17:39.280 --> 00:17:53.200
going through these different items tonight is so that we can arrive at what uh this com this committee would recommend to the city council as far as treatments for uh the intersections

53
00:17:53.200 --> 00:18:10.480
um and then the sidewalks so that can move forward to their final engineering for the the road projects in on city hall street. Um, and with that I Okay, go ahead.

54
00:18:10.480 --> 00:18:33.039
>> I think I'm gonna go to that one just being closer to Jean walk through some of the exhibits. So, thank you mission members um members of the uh city residency that have come

55
00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:48.320
tonight. We'd like to go through uh some of the work that's been laid out in preparation for 2027 street improvements specifically uh for Lakers Lane, Church Street, uh

56
00:18:48.320 --> 00:19:05.039
City Hall Street, a portion of Nisa Avenue. Um Church Street would uh include all of Church Street going up to Birch. Uh so that's the scope of the project area that we want to cover

57
00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:23.200
tonight and go through some specifics about the type of improvements that have been discussed. Um, we've had several uh stakeholder meetings uh since uh mid to late January

58
00:19:23.200 --> 00:19:39.760
and received input from um business owners, particularly along City Hall Street and uh Lakers Lane and Church uh within the downtown district.

59
00:19:39.760 --> 00:19:56.080
Um just for everyone's information essentially Church Street um going north of the park is fairly simple project. It's full depth reclamation project. Um

60
00:19:56.080 --> 00:20:12.720
we would be looking at a trail that would extend with that project. So, that's the one unique thing about uh the road project north of the park would potentially be extending trail uh

61
00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:30.480
alongside that. So, um Amber's here tonight. Uh we do have um a master plan uh that the park department put together uh for connectivity of

62
00:20:30.480 --> 00:20:48.159
trails and sidewalks. So maybe right now would be a good time for Amber just to speak to that and then we can go to the exhibits um that are a little more detailed. >> Thank you. Um, so for those that don't

63
00:20:48.159 --> 00:21:04.720
know the parks and recre master plan, um, we did some concept design and survey work, community engagement back in 2022. Um, that plan was approved by city council in February of 2023. Within that, one of our master plan directives

64
00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:20.720
was improving wayfinding signs and pedestrians circulation throughout the city. Um the master plan really only focused on like the expanded downtown area. And so um it didn't look out into

65
00:21:20.720 --> 00:21:37.679
the further corners of Niswah, but really focused through the Lakers Lane downtown um and kind of this more densely residential area. Um kind of when you look at walkability, it's like a 15

66
00:21:37.679 --> 00:21:52.640
minute loop. And so that's kind of what we looked at circling downtown. Um we have the Gullic Trail on the western side of 371 that connects some of our areas, but then focusing in a little bit

67
00:21:52.640 --> 00:22:07.360
um on the eastern side with the Paul Bunion Trail and just different circulation routes throughout that. And so we've also been a part of some of these rob discussions talking about um ADA access, pedestrian circulation and

68
00:22:07.360 --> 00:22:29.039
what might make sense for um Niswah residents. So that's a little bit of the history on that and I'll be here throughout the evening. You guys have further questions. Amber, my only question on this. Can you tell me or tell us again what there's a

69
00:22:29.039 --> 00:22:46.159
trail portion that's in consideration for Main Street and City Hall Street or just one or the other? >> Jane found an example for you guys. Um, and so the main areas within this kind of expanded downtown are looking at

70
00:22:46.159 --> 00:23:03.440
Lakers Lane. There's a gap from the school to 18. So connecting those two dots, um trying to figure out within the um business district, the downtown area, where those sidewalks might align. We've all been through there and there's

71
00:23:03.440 --> 00:23:21.200
really not a lot of um good angles for pedestrian crossing and things like that. So what might make sense there? And then it also has one going down Church Street and Popppler. So it kind of makes a loop. um and then

72
00:23:21.200 --> 00:23:37.520
ties in kind of the north eastern quadrant of the city as they get in towards city center where it's more densely populated, more traffic to get them off of the roadways. >> Um so that was kind of the mindset looking at that and then along with some

73
00:23:37.520 --> 00:23:53.919
of it um an additional trail into city park off of the Paul Bunion because right now there's no sidewalk into that side of the park. So for the broader group then question on the right of way and potential easements that are going to have to be

74
00:23:53.919 --> 00:24:11.760
acquired for this. Do we have adequate right of way to be able to accommodate this or will there be additional easements that'll have to be taken to be able to accommodate this? >> Sure. So there are existing rightways

75
00:24:11.760 --> 00:24:27.840
within these project corridors. Um, in some instances, we're going to need additional rightway in the form of easements and they may be for trail purposes uh and drainage

76
00:24:27.840 --> 00:24:47.120
>> primarily. So, um, where we have the downtown area where, uh, impervious coverage can go to 90%. Uh definitely storm sewer is part of the equation to successfully rebuild these

77
00:24:47.120 --> 00:25:02.640
corridors >> and that's going to need an outlet. Um we'll be able to see that in the next few slides where we're uh focusing on for those areas. >> Okay. >> Do you have a print out of that for for

78
00:25:02.640 --> 00:25:20.880
us to look at? Um we do have uh >> detail >> some exhibits the scale at which some of these are at um gets to be too small for a even an 11 by 17. So if you would like

79
00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:37.760
we can bring larger >> fun size >> drawings u would >> yeah um I don't know if we can zoom in but uh >> well perhaps I maybe above and beyond that because that's going to turn into a lot of paper or a

80
00:25:37.760 --> 00:25:54.880
large file perhaps a summary of this let's call it the proposed loop >> of what's the percentage of I mean we know there's x amount of properties how many of those properties are going to have to

81
00:25:54.880 --> 00:26:11.919
have that easement for either this uh drainage andor trail >> so part of tonight. Um, obviously this was a part of the master parks master plan. So, this is conceptual. It was approved, but it's conceptual. And so,

82
00:26:11.919 --> 00:26:29.039
now we're moving towards the implementation, right? So, we got to vet all these things. And that's kind of where we're trying to get some feedback from that and figuring out maybe what the best plan is or the feasible plan moving forward from the concept. >> So, who provided the input for this so

83
00:26:29.039 --> 00:26:46.480
far? Was that uh you and the engineer or >> this is an uh an image from the master plan? So it was an approved document with um the goal of improving pedestrian

84
00:26:46.480 --> 00:27:01.760
circulation, improving way finding. So that was one of our directives. So this is a piece from that based on the feedback and community engagement um while they analyzed our park system. Yeah, I'm just wondering the master plan

85
00:27:01.760 --> 00:27:19.440
is somewhat old, you might say, as far as being up to date for things like this. >> Well, it's based on the old master plan. U what's the date on that? When did they do that one? >> This was adopted in 2023. So, it is three years old. And so again, now we're

86
00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:36.799
at the point um we've kind of looked at as we go through road bonds, assessing every road. Does it make sense to have a sidewalk, a trail, nothing? Um and so these are some of the roads that we've identified that it could make sense to have some sort of

87
00:27:36.799 --> 00:27:54.240
pedestrian pathway. Um makes a little more sense to have a sidewalk versus a trail or a shared shoulder. Um, and so now we're at that vetting process here. >> So what you show in yellow, when would that be constructed?

88
00:27:54.240 --> 00:28:10.799
>> The goal would be with road bonds. So we look at pathways with roads. >> So there's no date on those yet. >> Well, yes. >> Well, the road bonds 2027 >> for Church Street >> for construction in 2027 bonded, >> right? But let me budget.

89
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:26.720
>> Let me clarify that deal. So it's uh if you're thinking about that yellow stretch say on Lakers Lane from the school out to 18 that is not part of the 2027 street improvements. Okay. So that

90
00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:42.799
would have to come in the next bonding cycle just to be clear on that. >> That's kind of what I wondered. >> Yeah. >> I think that's uh I wish there was some way that could be introduced earlier, >> instructed earlier. Yeah, >> maybe you can't do that now.

91
00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:57.840
>> Well, I think uh >> I think there's a need for that. >> There is definitely the need. Um that was discussed and that's kind of the premise of showing you kind of the leg work that's gone into this from the park

92
00:28:57.840 --> 00:29:14.480
commission um back in 2023 getting public feedback. A lot of the work that we're talking about here tonight for the 2027 improvements um is built out of the consistency of

93
00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:30.799
implementing this plan. So you'll see that in the next coming slides, but it's also tonight is for getting feedback from all of you folks that have uh spent your time tonight to come here.

94
00:29:30.799 --> 00:30:02.960
Uh we'd like to get your feedback as well. Okay, let's show you what we've accomplished to date. All right. >> Okay. You're talking about pathways. I'm wondering if you're being putting a

95
00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:19.120
sidewalk down Church Street on both sides. Is it a regular sidewalk and how far from the street does a sidewalk have to be? So, they're going to come into that, but we are considering a sidewalk on at least one side of the street.

96
00:30:19.120 --> 00:30:39.240
>> Which side of the street would that be? >> Um, it depends where along Church Street you are, but I we're going to look at that next. We're going to talk about that and show you, and then we can get your feedback on it.

97
00:30:57.760 --> 00:31:53.279
Jane, it's that same tool on the top left that I Yep. Apologize. These are large files. It takes the computer a little while to load them. Perhaps Bill, zoom out as far as he can.

98
00:31:53.279 --> 00:32:36.240
Let the whole document load. It is up. Is this a CAD file? >> Pardon me. >> Is this a CAD file? >> Um, no. It should be a PDF. Looks like there's more layers to it than just a

99
00:32:36.240 --> 00:33:20.320
>> It's the aerial background that takes time to cache up and load. There's a lot of data there. Okay, that looks pretty good right there. Don't Don't touch it. >> Just going to talk along to what we've

100
00:33:20.320 --> 00:33:36.480
got. All right. So, the city spent quite a bit of time in the last three, four months looking at um how to deal with uh Church Street and the intersection with Lakers Avenue.

101
00:33:36.480 --> 00:33:54.000
We looked at a number of different um concepts in this area. Uh we've identified with public works commission at their last meeting a lot of the issues that we're dealing with drainage, pick up and

102
00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:08.960
the school children walking the street there. Um, we've looked at concepts of traffic circle at this intersection and at this intersection. I think it's uh all of the feedback that

103
00:34:08.960 --> 00:34:24.960
we've got so far has been u preferring a traffic circle at this intersection. And there's a number of reasons why. A lot of it is to provide efficiencies for

104
00:34:24.960 --> 00:34:40.960
traffic to be able to do the drop off or pick up route with their kids and be able to get back to the street and also have the opportunity to go eastward to highway 18

105
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:59.200
or northbound church. And so, uh, this concept here, uh, which shows what you're seeing on the screen is a mini roundabout. Um, that would have, uh, opportunities for safer uh, children,

106
00:34:59.200 --> 00:35:16.440
crosswalks, adults able to navigate through the intersection, be able to get around this location. We're showing uh, sidewalks in reddish color

107
00:35:18.560 --> 00:35:35.599
and that would connect up with some existing sidewalk that's already there. Um it would provide 88 pedestrian ramps at these locations which not currently exist

108
00:35:35.599 --> 00:35:51.200
and um it would provide signalization for protecting pedestrians are trying to get across here at the location of the school. That would be uh flashing beacon

109
00:35:51.200 --> 00:36:06.240
signs that pedestrians can push the button and warns vehicle drivers of pedestrians are crossing the street. Okay. So there's been quite a bit of

110
00:36:06.240 --> 00:36:23.520
input from uh residents on this. I just wanted to recap that discussion. I think the public works commission for the most part it is um in sync with that and be

111
00:36:23.520 --> 00:36:38.240
able to take that on to the city council. uh going north on Church Street talked about the impact that this would have on earth spaces but also the importance of

112
00:36:38.240 --> 00:36:57.520
getting sidewalks northward to provide connectivity that doesn't exist right now with the gaps and sidewalks. Um this is conceptual that we're looking at um adding parking along Church Street

113
00:36:57.520 --> 00:37:16.079
and adding uh walkways walkway routes. Uh there's currently sidewalk that exists right here on Moxy's. Uh that would be a continuation going

114
00:37:16.079 --> 00:37:35.040
north to city hall street. And then conceptually to the west to mean street on city hall street. Um we also looked at um possibly a

115
00:37:35.040 --> 00:37:53.920
walkway along east side of street and that would have crosswalks at the intersection with city hall street. and with the sidewalk connectivity to

116
00:37:53.920 --> 00:38:11.200
the park. That's the important part of being consistent with the master plan has put together that we just saw. Okay. So, um there's a wide variety of styles

117
00:38:11.200 --> 00:38:30.400
of sidewalk. We're looking at concrete sidewalk that would be done in conjunction with concrete and gutter and the storm sewer that I mentioned previously properties along these corridors

118
00:38:30.400 --> 00:38:46.320
carry that uh storm water to retention areas. So first just to talk about sidewalks um the variations on them typically are bit

119
00:38:46.320 --> 00:39:03.440
where we have perpendicular parking or diagonal parking. Uh typically we look at something that's uh at minimum 6 ft of times wider because of the car

120
00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:22.400
overview or curve or the sidewalk is curve. One way to get uh beyond that is to have a grass boulevard so that we won't have to concern

121
00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:39.119
ourselves with a vehicle in that also gives us a place to put mailboxes and street sign. All right. So those are basically two of the concepts for sidewalk

122
00:39:39.119 --> 00:40:01.359
that they look at. Um you can see that the improvements go as proposed all the way through the intersection of Main Street and partially down Missah Avenue.

123
00:40:01.359 --> 00:40:17.440
These are some of the folks that we talked with uh in stakeholder meetings. We looked at a couple of concepts of how to deal with this intersection. Um right now it's very wide. Some

124
00:40:17.440 --> 00:40:34.320
pedestrians have to walk about 80 ft to get across the street one corner to the other. So um in the interest of improving that situation and pedestrian

125
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:48.079
safety. Giving people a little more generalization for vehicles to be able to um uh get through the intersection. We

126
00:40:48.079 --> 00:41:06.720
looked at both the conventional style intersection which is what you see here the pedestrian refuge islands that shorten up the distance that they have to travel to get across the street.

127
00:41:06.720 --> 00:41:23.520
It also slows down uh the speed of vehicles going through this intersection. That's part of the feedback we got was speed of some cars going through that intersection that's excessive

128
00:41:23.520 --> 00:41:40.079
and then the uh broad area uh the turning movements become really erratic going through that intersection to say at best. So this gives a little

129
00:41:40.079 --> 00:41:59.520
more definition to the travel and also provides some protection to uh the parking areas um north and south. Uh so there are some uh parking stall

130
00:41:59.520 --> 00:42:16.720
losses with this concept particularly at main street house here and potentially um some north side intersection where the

131
00:42:16.720 --> 00:42:33.440
historical society property is. Um this plan expands that parking area uh to go further northward um and also

132
00:42:33.440 --> 00:42:50.319
street to allow parallel parking where it's currently really not refined but is in gravel grass area. on the north side. And so, um, that's the conceptual

133
00:42:50.319 --> 00:43:08.560
layout for a, uh, dimensional intersection. All right. continuation of the 12 trail going through these lanes and islands so that get cross that

134
00:43:08.560 --> 00:43:23.920
safely. Um we also looked at a traffic circle at that location and similar to what this would look like being a mini roundabout that you could

135
00:43:23.920 --> 00:43:39.760
drive over if you had to. fire trucks and so forth. The feedback that we got um from stakeholders around this area, including the historical society, the street yellow

136
00:43:39.760 --> 00:43:53.920
house, the managers, operators of the pickle area, so forth, uh really were not favor of a traffic circle.

137
00:43:53.920 --> 00:44:08.720
Um so we has turned our focus for conventional style intersection unless public works or the city council really wants to drive that toward a

138
00:44:08.720 --> 00:44:25.920
traffic circle. Our focus is at the conventional intersection. for those reasons. Uh around here also we have eliminated

139
00:44:25.920 --> 00:44:42.079
any more parking spaces because of the radius of uh traffic points coming in and back out of traffic. Okay. So

140
00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:58.720
given that we're also looking at u some of the parking improvements uh in this vicinity of pickle and that would be part of what's being proposed for

141
00:44:58.720 --> 00:45:13.839
2027 street improvements reorganization of the pickle parking lot and city hall street um and the entrance

142
00:45:13.839 --> 00:45:32.400
into the current park here at city hall just to widen that up. So those are kind of the highlights of what we're proposing to do the limits of 2027 street improvements.

143
00:45:32.400 --> 00:45:49.200
Although we're showing sidewalk going all the way main street, we're really just enough to get this traffic circle in for now. So really

144
00:45:49.200 --> 00:46:09.119
to this point from the intersection here up to perch from intersection city hall street across Main Street and down to that point of the alley

145
00:46:09.119 --> 00:46:26.720
and then north and south just that far as far as extens So some of the areas that we're looking at monitor retention which you had asked earlier about Jesse

146
00:46:26.720 --> 00:46:42.160
we're looking at potential area St. Christopher's church property up in this area. Uh there's quite a bit of snow

147
00:46:42.160 --> 00:47:03.839
up here already. It is lower in this area right here. And from a topography standpoint, that seems to make the most sense of being ablection system that

148
00:47:04.079 --> 00:47:28.560
Infiltration down to the south back up capturing some of the runoff this intersectionalizing storm square down this open ditch where it currently outlets

149
00:47:28.560 --> 00:47:46.359
that would continue on it east conceptually. Okay. Um the area up by uh and uh city hall street

150
00:48:13.359 --> 00:48:46.000
Just a quick question. First street where the birds Okay. Uh for the storm water area right in this vicinity, we're looking at area off the end of the pickle parking

151
00:48:46.000 --> 00:49:03.119
lot seated on the ground up there right now. Uh that's where a lot of the snow storage goes. And again from uh some of the feedback from city's uh

152
00:49:03.119 --> 00:49:20.000
establishment manager there and how they operate that facility that would be a potential area for us. So conceptually that's retention area there.

153
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:39.520
There's also some uh we got some topography to deal with that restrictive to us as a city that ultimately discharges right away.

154
00:49:39.520 --> 00:49:57.040
So glad to look at that area tonight. Uh we wanted to give you that overview of what's in uh studied here a lot of human energy engineering that's taking place some of the stakeholder

155
00:49:57.040 --> 00:50:11.200
feedback uh folks that have come to the prior public works commission meetings and city council to provide input tonight is another opportunity for you to give us

156
00:50:11.200 --> 00:50:35.800
your further input on sidewalks some of the history share that with as far as benefits that you might see in this project. Yes.

157
00:50:36.640 --> 00:51:11.160
Main Street Hall Street interching right now is something that would ultimately have to happen. Soing or the other issue is all

158
00:51:15.119 --> 00:51:30.800
>> second question. >> Bob, can you come up to the microphone because there are some people I think are watching us on YouTube and probably can't hear you. >> Sorry, Bob. >> Thanks. Okay. So, my concern is shutting down two intersections

159
00:51:30.800 --> 00:51:46.400
for an entire summer or for part of a summer where where is the vehicle traffic going to go to get in or out and it's all coming down from the round main roundabout right

160
00:51:46.400 --> 00:52:02.640
now, but there's no exit. So, how do they get out of there? That's that's one of my concerns. Second, and I this hasn't been addressed yet, but Lakers Lane from where you said that it would stop to Main Street. When

161
00:52:02.640 --> 00:52:17.920
would the rest of that then be planned? >> When we have to resurface Lakers Lane, uh the earliest that could happen is 2032. That's our next bond cycle. >> Okay. So right now um given the condition of the pavement of Lakers Lane

162
00:52:17.920 --> 00:52:36.079
and the desire to make the trail connection, I'm uh looking at doing that in 2032, but it'll I need to wait a couple more years to know for sure. >> Okay? Because if it's too close, now we

163
00:52:36.079 --> 00:52:51.760
have Lakers Lane being disrupted on one end and then shortly thereafter disrupted on the other end >> versus disrupted all in one year, which would be >> ideal >> from a business perspective. Get it done

164
00:52:51.760 --> 00:53:08.559
in a year versus stretch it out over however many years. You know, Tom, to Bob's point there, what drive the road often, but I don't I remember a road if it's bad if there's a pothole and I get pissed off by it. I don't think there's a pothole or I don't

165
00:53:08.559 --> 00:53:23.599
know if that road Lakers lay in front of say A&W to Main Street, but if it's that bad, but what is the status of that road right now? >> So, right now, the condition of it is not bad relative to other roads in the

166
00:53:23.599 --> 00:53:39.760
city. So it's not a part of the 27 road bond. The reason the intersection with Church Street came up >> were issues with the school. >> So we've addressed that recently. Um as far as doing the entirety of Lakers Lane, it really wasn't considered

167
00:53:39.760 --> 00:53:56.400
because the pavement is relatively okay. The part that I would say is suffering the most is down by the intersection to the cemetery or coming out on 18. That pavement is becoming wore out, but it it's still

168
00:53:56.400 --> 00:54:11.680
serviceable. I would say that's why I'm pushing it out to 2032. At least that's why I have pushed it out to 2032 up till now. >> Dave, could you could you point though where would the construction

169
00:54:11.680 --> 00:54:32.400
end for that roundabout proposal on the west side of the roundabout? >> West side. >> Yeah. No, I'm just going to ask a simple question. Would it make sense to continue the reclamation all the way

170
00:54:32.400 --> 00:54:49.200
through on the west side from Lakers Lane to Main Street? >> How much >> you're talking about? Like a what 150 200 foot stretch? >> So, I know it's not too bad right now, but how much more wear and tear are you going to put on that with all the heavy equipment coming in and out?

171
00:54:49.200 --> 00:55:05.040
>> Well, that true. And I mean my aspect >> at the same time >> two-part Tom's absolutely right. There's other roads in the city of Niswah that need attention primarily due primarily in part to the dollars that are going to be required for any sort of repair or

172
00:55:05.040 --> 00:55:21.599
complete resurfacing. But having construction crew already actively in that area and mobilized does it make sense to consider? >> You can certainly consider it. I we haven't mostly because as you recall this was originally part of one bond.

173
00:55:21.599 --> 00:55:37.200
Originally this and the one that we're doing this summer were a 2025 road bond if if just to give you some. >> Yeah. >> So we busted it up because the council at the time felt that that was too big of a project moneywise to afford.

174
00:55:37.200 --> 00:55:53.200
>> So originally when we broke that up we weren't considering the school. You know what the school wanted on Lakers Lane. Lakers Lane really wasn't part of this yet. Lakers Lane became a part of this project last summer when they approached us with some issues with the sidewalk.

175
00:55:53.200 --> 00:56:10.160
Well, when you start to look at that sidewalk, there's some drainage issues and curb issues. The curb belongs to the city and the drainage in front of the school also belongs to the city. So, that's when we started to look at other issues regarding that portion of Lakers Lane.

176
00:56:10.160 --> 00:56:25.680
Um, it's a great point, Bob, to bring that up because I honestly I I think it probably does make a lot of sense to go right to the intersection with Main Street, >> especially if you're talking like 150 ft, 200 feet. >> Now, if we get to there, >> I know what about the other side.

177
00:56:25.680 --> 00:56:43.280
>> So, th this is the thing. Where do you want to draw the line? I I agree with you. However, >> maybe >> Well, I agree with you though, but you're talking the east side of, let's call it the continuation of Lakers Lane, east of the roundabout would go for 3/4

178
00:56:43.280 --> 00:56:58.319
of a mile till 18ish maybe. >> Right. That's a that's a much No, no, don't go over there. We'll lose the the colored lines. Um, I think it's an argument that makes

179
00:56:58.319 --> 00:57:18.559
sense finishing west versus plowing all the way east to 18. And I if you look at the constructibility aspect, I mean, you're going to be having to have those crews mobilized, whether it's 20, 30, 31, 32, mobilize

180
00:57:18.559 --> 00:57:33.920
back to that area. And mobilization is a cost. They're going to have to lug their equipment. They're going to have to remove that asphalt right when we already have them there just a couple years prior. It might be worth considering. >> I see pros and cons both way. Um there

181
00:57:33.920 --> 00:57:52.160
could be also difficulties for these businesses intersection right here. Would that be inaccessible or be diminished during construction? All of

182
00:57:52.160 --> 00:58:09.599
through this session. Whereas if this is done right now, this is later businesses take traffic have access to Murray Street on the other side where this construction. Yes, it would

183
00:58:09.599 --> 00:58:25.040
have 32 time frame but would be fairly short. The work would be very close to the rest of Lakers. Um, so from a mobilization standpoint,

184
00:58:25.040 --> 00:58:41.040
>> it's not going to be too much of a hindrance. >> It's all going to be in the same general area and there will undoubtedly be other streets in that 2032 project >> um that we have to look out and

185
00:58:41.040 --> 00:58:55.119
forecast. >> Right now, I'm not predicting a lot of lot more in downtown in 2032. Although I will say Main Street is getting rougher. >> Well, actually on that on that note, let me ask you though, what what is

186
00:58:55.119 --> 00:59:11.599
>> because I don't think I know for the timetable for Main Street as a whole itself. >> So, it was last done in 2015. So, if we use our 30-year cycle as an average, >> that would push us out to 2045 is when we would have predicted that Main Street

187
00:59:11.599 --> 00:59:25.680
should be due. However, because of the traffic that's on there, because of the lack of drainage, they didn't, the city council chose not to do drainage in 2015, the significant drainage project. That asphalt is probably not going to

188
00:59:25.680 --> 00:59:42.160
make the 30-year cycle window. So, 2039 would be after 2032. That would be our next bond cycle. So you could somewhere say Main Street's going to fall somewhere between 2032 and 2039

189
00:59:42.160 --> 00:59:58.400
most likely. >> Yikes. >> So about every five years, >> every Yeah. Every seven years is when the cycles, but they get moved based on it takes a lot of time to go through all the logistics to get these projects rolling >> and funds. I'm sure

190
00:59:58.400 --> 01:00:12.160
>> funding. >> Well, the funding piece is >> council changes over a lot of things. >> Obviously complicated in its own nature. It's probably the more straightforward piece of it because once a total construction cost comes through, once the easements are determined in the

191
01:00:12.160 --> 01:00:28.559
dollar cost for that lab land grab, um, their proposal, them hitting the market, I mean, going to get the bond priced and issued is straightforward compared to the process of having to go parcel by

192
01:00:28.559 --> 01:00:45.280
parcel by parcel to be able to uh, accommodate. and downtown like we've been discussing as a C council for nine months, 12 months now. It's kind of become front and center specifically after that terribly named downtown

193
01:00:45.280 --> 01:01:02.559
master plan project of of how could we beautify/simplify downtown Niswah. Um but really only under the guise of once Main Street was to be resurfaced, we have an opportunity where that native soil is going to be exposed. Can you bury utilities? Can you

194
01:01:02.559 --> 01:01:17.680
redo the sidewalks? Can you obviously then add this the storm water drainage so these roads have the longevity that they're supposed to. Um, downtown has, if you look at it on a GIS standpoint, and there's a slight margin

195
01:01:17.680 --> 01:01:34.880
of error there, but some of these buildings, I know you're aware of this, Bob, there's uh a couple businesses in downtown where the property line is almost in the middle of of a clothing rack and a checkout aisle in a business. And that has to be cleaned out before

196
01:01:34.880 --> 01:01:53.040
anything can proceed forward in downtown with the city of Niswah making the decision to invest taxpayer dollars to improve it. So this is a great step in the right direction >> and I think that's why we discussed as uh uh we discussed at council about the

197
01:01:53.040 --> 01:02:09.599
beautifification. Yeah. at the last council meeting of adding actual street lighting on a small decorative sense, flowers, flags on the street lights. Um, and to have kind of like a a test road

198
01:02:09.599 --> 01:02:25.680
or a test street and downtown would be obviously a huge piece of that once or excuse me, Main Street would be a huge piece of that. um above and beyond the side streets which are just as equally as important. >> Right.

199
01:02:25.680 --> 01:02:41.280
Right. Well, thank thank you. Then I guess to revisit those two intersections, I would I would suggest when we're planning to not have them shut off at the same time if at all possible because I just I can't imagine

200
01:02:41.280 --> 01:02:56.880
what that is going to be like. Both Lakers Lane and Main Street and Church Street. It's It's like a giant dead end. >> What's driving the the timing of the project is the condition of City Hall Street and Church Street. They're shot.

201
01:02:56.880 --> 01:03:13.280
Everybody knows they are done. >> Yep. Agreed. >> So, what I'm working towards and what the engineering is working towards is not delaying this another year >> because now we're now we're in it probably for some kind of temporary fix

202
01:03:13.280 --> 01:03:30.000
on those two strains if we can't get into it by next summer. Yep. >> So, with that said, I I agree with you, Bob. I I you can see that that might cause some problems and I would like to figure out a way to work around that. Uh there probably are ways uh

203
01:03:30.000 --> 01:03:46.480
>> just a phasing in >> this step. So really what the purpose of this meeting was is this the correct treatment for these intersections roundabout versus conventional >> and then where do we want the sidewalks and how wide that those are the

204
01:03:46.480 --> 01:04:02.400
parameters I I felt we needed to get done to get these folks going on the final engineering. >> Makes sense. >> When they get into the final engineering we can get input from folks like you with timing of the components of it. Um,

205
01:04:02.400 --> 01:04:18.880
one more thing I'd like to bring up kind of with on your point of bringing it all the way to Main Street. We are also looking at the alley um I believe on the east side. >> Yeah, the main >> Yeah. So that we are working in that

206
01:04:18.880 --> 01:04:35.760
area too for that. So I as as long as it the the hardest part for us with with the with making all that connection is connecting with the remaining businesses that we haven't talked to and rightaway acquisition that

207
01:04:35.760 --> 01:04:51.440
that's what's going to drive the timeline on that if we can get those things done which it's it's a monumental task believe me it looks simple. >> No it I don't even think it looks simple. So yeah, no. >> Um >> I've seen I've seen the lines, >> but it'd be fantastic if we could do it.

208
01:04:51.440 --> 01:05:08.319
You know, Emma's here from A&W and she would have probably some things to say about what we do there and we want to consider that and uh >> All right. Thank you. >> It's a possibility. >> Thank you. >> Um one thing to kind of mention to you too as far as timeline would additional

209
01:05:08.319 --> 01:05:24.480
opportunities to offer input. Um, I'm going to be at a meeting for the chamber on the 21st at Main Street. So, if if you have some questions or things that you think of after this meeting and you want to ask about it, I'll be there. Um,

210
01:05:24.480 --> 01:05:40.240
you can ask me about that. And then also, we have our regular public works meeting at the end of the month on May 27th. And I'm thinking that we're going to uh address um elements of the sidewalk like uh what Jesse was alluding to as far as street lighting and that

211
01:05:40.240 --> 01:05:54.480
kind of thing. I would call it a sidewalk summit 2 where we're going to talk about some of the things that make the sidewalks nice. So, if you have things you like, things you don't like, I invite any of you to come back on the 27th and we're going to show you some

212
01:05:54.480 --> 01:06:11.359
ideas that we have and we'd like to hear plus or minus if you like it or if you have some things that maybe haven't occurred to us to look at. With that, I'll hand it back to Dave. I guess if >> um ma'am, I'd like to go back to you.

213
01:06:11.359 --> 01:06:29.920
You still have questions about the sidewall or would like to provide You have questions about the sidewalk? >> Well, I was wondering if it was on both sides, but apparently it's only on >> We're still considering both sides, but

214
01:06:29.920 --> 01:06:55.720
we'd like your feedback. Do you want it on both sides? >> Who's going to pay for the taxpayers? There is no funding set aside for these projects as far as >> that we don't know right now.

215
01:06:57.200 --> 01:07:20.240
>> So right now there the city does not assess for road projects. So your property taxes are how this will be funded and what a If if any of you have questions or comments, I just ask if you could come to the uh mic up here so that there's

216
01:07:20.240 --> 01:07:37.760
people watching on YouTube can't hear what you're saying. >> So, um, City Hall Street, I own what's called the Three Lake Center across from City Hall here. Um, I've heard a little discussion about reorienting that whole

217
01:07:37.760 --> 01:07:54.000
corridor between, well, I guess I call it the tax office, but Brandon, no, as his real estate office, the sidewalk, city sidewalk ends there and then it's just been our business

218
01:07:54.000 --> 01:08:10.319
sidewalks that have been put in over time. Mine's over 40 years old and it's out of alignment with the rest of it. Are we considering full sidewalk that can is continuous all the way to Church Street from there?

219
01:08:10.319 --> 01:08:24.640
>> Yes, sir. >> And are we considering bringing the parking all the way to the Church Street also? >> Yes, sir. >> So, we're adding parking to the east side of the road there.

220
01:08:24.640 --> 01:08:41.440
>> I think we did a count. It's over 20ome spots that we're adding if I'm not mistaken. >> Okay. >> How does that sound? >> Pardon me. H >> how does how does that sound to you? >> Well, that's Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, that's dysfunctional right now.

221
01:08:41.440 --> 01:08:57.839
And I I guess like that we uh >> would probably put angular >> parking instead of straight out parking. I think there's been lots of incidents with that. Not people backing into each other that are

222
01:08:57.839 --> 01:09:12.719
backing out of both spots and it probably would help alleviate that. >> Dave, are these these are straight >> concept? >> Right. >> There's that's great feedback. If you

223
01:09:12.719 --> 01:09:30.960
feel they should be angular, that's something that still can be considered. >> Well, yeah. I mean, my sidewalk is back further off the street, and I just soon see it pulled forward and lined up. And also, my parking area after

224
01:09:30.960 --> 01:09:47.600
u the gas company board their gas line through there pushed it up. So, I got a water problem. So that the whole thing needs to be addressed and I don't want to be fixing it without this whole thing fitting together

225
01:09:47.600 --> 01:10:04.000
as far as drainage and stuff. So okay. So that's at where this proposal is right at this point is a continuous sidewalk that's in line with from one end to the other. Okay.

226
01:10:04.000 --> 01:10:19.920
>> I actually have something to piggy back off. Uh sir, what was your name? John Johnquist. >> Nice to meet you. And uh um madam, your your point. Um I have something to add to combine both your points. So if we're

227
01:10:19.920 --> 01:10:39.920
considering a sidewalk andor trail, can there not be like a combined version of both on one side of the road? Is that feasible within the ordinance and within design.

228
01:10:39.920 --> 01:10:55.520
>> So, I think maybe Amber has a little bit more to offer with with this, but when we started considering uh a trail along Church Street, uh there was um the council at the time wasn't terribly

229
01:10:55.520 --> 01:11:10.320
interested in that. Um so, we started to look at sidewalk. Uh we know we needed to connect sidewalk. We've had the safety issues with the school. So, we started looking at this in terms of sidewalk. And as far as one side or the other or both, um, that was something we hadn't

230
01:11:10.320 --> 01:11:27.199
really determined yet. I think, uh, we knew that we would probably want on both sides up to at least City Hall Street. Um, and we knew we wanted at least the sidewalk to continue on at least one side up to the entrance to the park, but

231
01:11:27.199 --> 01:11:43.840
uh, as Amber's pointed out, uh, to to blend it with the parks master plan, it would be helpful if we could bring it all the way down to popppler. Um, so

232
01:11:43.840 --> 01:12:00.560
I mean, we can still revisit what type. It hasn't been determined yet. what will be impacted is how much rideway is needed uh the separation things >> that so and maybe Dave or Bill could elaborate on this like different kinds of uses right pedestrian bike snowmobile

233
01:12:00.560 --> 01:12:15.679
what's on it that's a big differentiator between like trail and sidewalk um it could be material asphalt or concrete but more so what's the use and then when we're looking at width and boulevards and things like that. So, when we talk

234
01:12:15.679 --> 01:12:32.080
sidewalks, we're thinking more along the lines of it's walking, maybe it's little kids biking. Typically, your biker might not be up on a sidewalk where they might be up on a trail. Um, so I don't know if Dave has more to add to that, but more

235
01:12:32.080 --> 01:12:50.480
so looking at just the usage and then the specifications of that pathway, >> right? So when it comes to uh having call it a urban style street design with curbon gutter storm sewer and so forth

236
01:12:50.480 --> 01:13:07.040
typically we're looking at very tight grades, high density, high impervious um really needing to define ADA well and the grades are uh sometimes very

237
01:13:07.040 --> 01:13:24.560
exacting on meeting ADA. a in those situations. So concrete is much easier to work with to achieve those grades and being compliance than patuminous. Um unless you really exaggerate the

238
01:13:24.560 --> 01:13:40.400
slopes on pumminus, but that's really working in the opposite direction that we want to go. So, um, if we're in an urban setting, typically we're looking at concrete, uh, for sidewalks, uh, and

239
01:13:40.400 --> 01:13:58.159
pathways. Um, once we get out of that and into maybe a separated trail situation, then we can look at Buminous. >> Just for consideration, were bike lanes considered on the actual Church Street

240
01:13:58.159 --> 01:14:11.840
itself? >> At this point, we haven't. because could a bike lane be added to accommodate said loop and then have one side be accommodated for the sidewalk?

241
01:14:11.840 --> 01:14:29.600
And second point to that is um we're not trying to veer too far off topic, but was the invite perhaps for this sent to all residents in the area or like a notice or was this just posted? It >> both. So, it

242
01:14:29.600 --> 01:14:44.080
>> it was sent to residents. >> It was sent to residents along Church Street. >> Okay. >> And downtown. >> Okay. I hope for a stronger turnout because it'd be great to get feedback on is this one wanted and two

243
01:14:44.080 --> 01:15:00.239
how can we design this. One of the things about Church Street um in thinking of a bike lane versus a sidewalk is just the separation between the traffic as well as how people use that space during events and in the summer too,

244
01:15:00.239 --> 01:15:20.320
>> right? >> Um and so keeping that in mind, we er on the side of caution with a separated path being the preferred. Um but I think all things are possible to still look at Um, hi, my name is Paul uh Satderland. I

245
01:15:20.320 --> 01:15:36.480
live on Cander Court. Um, I'm very biased in my my look at the want for sidewalks, but I'm also the prime um uh I guess person to market to. I've got three little kids, one on the way. And

246
01:15:36.480 --> 01:15:53.280
so we walk down Church Street almost every day, whether it's myself or my wife walking to A&W, City Park, Elementary Park, or Chocolate Ax. But um right now, Church Street is a main artery to get out of N to get out of

247
01:15:53.280 --> 01:16:08.480
Nisa. Anytime we go south, we're driving down Church Street. Anytime we're walking, we go down Church Street. And that includes pretty much everybody norththeast of downtown. Um, with Centennial, a private road, Wooddale

248
01:16:08.480 --> 01:16:25.679
doesn't go through. Everybody's taking Church Street. And right now, if you walk down it with a bike or a stroller, there's no way to get there's no shoulder. You're taking a ditch. And that road is fairly narrow as is. Just getting two cars to pass each other is

249
01:16:25.679 --> 01:16:41.520
fairly tight. And then you put a stroller. So what happens is, you know, a cars will have to come to a complete stop. If there's two cars passing and you have a biker or anybody walking, car will have to stop, let a car through, and then that car will have to pass. So

250
01:16:41.520 --> 01:17:00.159
I think as a main artery for Niswah, um I I just think a sidewalk is extremely important, especially, you know, if we're looking at a 30-year bond. This doesn't happen in 2027. this conversation won't happen till 2067

251
01:17:00.159 --> 01:17:18.080
or 57. Um, and so I just think and I I work in the world of planning and zoning. I can talk all day on a walkable city um the safety uh of sidewalks and I just think if Niswah is going to invest in the future, invest in its

252
01:17:18.080 --> 01:17:34.719
infrastructure, I just think for a main artery like this, it's a no-brainer to have a sidewalk. And I just think getting kids and people off of the street and having a some sort of shoulder I don't whether it's a sidewalk or a a bike path um I have a strong

253
01:17:34.719 --> 01:17:51.679
opinion but I do think it's absolutely necessary to have something from a safety standpoint especially with the school there too. I mean nobody nobody feels comfortable sending their kids to to Nisa Elementary walking down church right now. Um there's a lot of kids just

254
01:17:51.679 --> 01:18:08.960
on Cander Court and Wooddale alone that um nobody feels comfortable sending their kids downtown um as it stands. And then another quick comment just on um the intersection of City Hall Street and Maine. Um Dave, I really like those

255
01:18:08.960 --> 01:18:24.480
plans for how wide it is. To your comment, I don't know how many times I've sat there and watched somebody do a U-turn. >> Uhhuh. When it's that wide, people feel like they can do whatever they want that intersection and it's just a total free-for-all >> or they come peeling off 371. >> Yeah.

256
01:18:24.480 --> 01:18:40.640
>> As fast as they were driving on 371 taking a right to go south on Main. >> Well, and from a visibility standpoint, too, if you're coming off 371 with cars parked by uh Main Street, it's hard to see. And so you stick your your car

257
01:18:40.640 --> 01:18:56.239
halfway into the intersection so you can see and then there's cars coming and then somebody's darting out to beat the other one. >> Um so so I do like that design and getting things narrow, getting visibility better and just being from a control standpoint that makes a lot of

258
01:18:56.239 --> 01:19:13.040
sense. question I have then for you if you're willing to provide some more feedback is so on church understanding the sidewalk argument and I can uh have empathy with you in regards to walking and children safety however when it comes to additional activity say a trail

259
01:19:13.040 --> 01:19:30.239
of some capacity to Amber's loop reference what would you suggest is a best fit for a church sidewalk sidewalk and trail combination perhaps a bike lane and sidewalk. >> I mean,

260
01:19:30.239 --> 01:19:47.520
a sidewalk probably fits the the urban aspect of of city hall and just continuing what's the the small amount of sidewalks we do have. Um, I do understand from a master plan standpoint to have a loop would be really nice in

261
01:19:47.520 --> 01:20:03.360
Niswah. You're coming off of the Paul Bunion, hit city park, and then do a loop up to Popppler and then back onto uh the Paul Bunion. Loops are always in the design world and parks and wreck, like loops are always a good thing from

262
01:20:03.360 --> 01:20:18.800
a bike perspective. Sidewalk um I guess just from a walkability and and just getting off of the road is maybe more practical, especially if the city's fighting easements. A bike trail is going to take up a lot

263
01:20:18.800 --> 01:20:35.040
more because typically there's a median in between a bike path and the road. So you're adding how many extra feet for whereas you can fit a sidewalk in a little bit tighter if getting easements is an issue. Um so there's there's pros

264
01:20:35.040 --> 01:20:54.239
and cons to to both. I mean, even a trail bike bike bike bikers are still encouraged to use the road. Even if there's a bike lane or a bike trail, you look at the one that went in behind like um yeah, go like

265
01:20:54.239 --> 01:21:10.239
trail. I mean, if you are a true biker, you're still you're still supposed to use the road. Um, so, uh, in an urban setting like this, if you're, you know, kids would use the trail for biking, um, but they could also use that for a

266
01:21:10.239 --> 01:21:29.440
sidewalk, too. So, I'd almost advocate, well, there's pros and cons to both. one issue with a bike path along Church Street. And I guess I'd ask this of Amber. Do you see that as being just a bike path and a walking path or is it

267
01:21:29.440 --> 01:21:48.239
also for things like snowmobiles or No. >> So there's like a best practice design standards on different designs have different uses. Um and then obviously snowmoilers I believe are allowed to ride in ditches. I think

268
01:21:48.239 --> 01:22:04.400
when you're talking like a bike lane that's ongoing striping and you don't have any physical barrier. So while it's space, your kids are still very close to the traffic lane and it also could double as

269
01:22:04.400 --> 01:22:22.320
a parking lane for those that do as they will. Um so if it's not designated as a bike lane and it's just an extended shoulder, then it's kind of parking. It could be biking and walking. Um, and there's no physical barrier. So, I guess that's kind of one of the biggest things. Do you want separation in a

270
01:22:22.320 --> 01:22:39.840
physical barrier or are from a safety standpoint or a land standpoint or a financial standpoint wanting a shoulder bike lane of sorts? >> What do I want? What do we want? >> The cheapest route. I mean, I think Paul

271
01:22:39.840 --> 01:22:57.760
made a lot of really good points of kind of continuing out the urban and blending it in. So maybe like down Church Street isn't going to have all the lights and things like that that you'd have in downtown, but a sidewalk and it kind of just melts together a little bit. It's a

272
01:22:57.760 --> 01:23:20.960
transitional area. Um, but my fear on Church Street is it becomes a park lane and then if it's wider and it's just striped now it becomes a raceway just from a safety perspective with all the events in downtown July

273
01:23:20.960 --> 01:23:38.080
specifically you try walking down Church Street on the sidewalk on 4th of July it is a nightmare. just without the traffic and people I mean people are parking all the way down top >> I I hate to bother you about that but

274
01:23:38.080 --> 01:23:53.120
nobody can hear you >> and it's Fourth of July is only one day of the week or a year but um people are parked along Church Street all the way down almost all the way down to Popppler on um Fourth of July and then some of the other big events in downtown Nysa.

275
01:23:53.120 --> 01:24:08.639
Um, yeah, it's dark, but then, um, you know, two cars can barely pass each other and now you have a a six foot car, um, on there and walking's almost impossible. And, um, we're constantly trying to walk into downtown for events.

276
01:24:08.639 --> 01:24:32.000
Um, and with four kids, it's Yeah, it's a nightmare. >> Any other comments from the public? So my question is um so if we just do the part of Lakers Lane like we discussed in those strategic meetings

277
01:24:32.000 --> 01:24:50.239
that still is not going to fix the pickup lane 100%. What's the status of that with the school and those property owners >> cuz that is still going to leave the people out on Lakers Lane for the pickup lane or for pickup time. Um, and then so

278
01:24:50.239 --> 01:25:07.040
we had discussed in one of those strategic meetings, one of the solutions to that problem is to shift Lakers Lane closer to that church and add diagonal parking all along my side of Lakers Lane. Um, which then there could be an

279
01:25:07.040 --> 01:25:26.159
easement through the back of the church to help solve the pickup lane problem. So I'm just curious on status with that. So, I haven't contacted the church yet. So, >> I got a phone number. >> Do you? >> I do. Um, >> you can share that with me later.

280
01:25:26.159 --> 01:25:43.040
>> Yeah, I can. Um, I can say I I will reiterate what Bob said just from my car show when I'm blocking off my little stretch. Um, the amount of middle fingers that I receive just from people not being able to get down this street is astronomical, honestly, for a happy event. So, shutting off both of those at

281
01:25:43.040 --> 01:25:57.920
the same time, very, very bad idea. people will be extremely confused. Um, and then the last thing is is that um, as you're planning this, Nesa, downtown Neswa is essentially landlocked on both

282
01:25:57.920 --> 01:26:14.639
ends. The only room for it to grow is the building across from me when the church eventually closes and the second church. So, make sure as you're planning this to put in all that infrastructure now because those two spots are going to be gold mines for businesses to come in and to have the storm sewers and the

283
01:26:14.639 --> 01:26:36.719
sidewalks there is top-notch. >> So, just to pick up from the questions points that you made, uh contact with the church property is uh something that we intend to do. That call hasn't been made as Tom alluded to yet, but having

284
01:26:36.719 --> 01:26:52.560
that easement through that as an alternate pickup lane, drop off lane, um mostly on the pickup side of things. Uh and we're talking about something through this area here,

285
01:26:52.560 --> 01:27:10.080
which was discussed at prior feedback meetings. Um that's something that we intend to do. Um shifting a lane uh or curb line over is also something that um would come in the next stage which would

286
01:27:10.080 --> 01:27:25.440
be the final design of the traffic circle at this intersection and then taking a look at that alignment uh as it goes to the west. So, it would basically be set up to

287
01:27:25.440 --> 01:27:42.400
um happen whether it happens as was talked about tonight all in one project or if that next uh phase comes in later through here that we would

288
01:27:42.400 --> 01:27:58.320
make uh make design preparations for that. >> Yeah, I say just be extremely cautious only half on land because essentially if you wait five years and then decide to shift it over, we're ripping up

289
01:27:58.320 --> 01:28:26.239
everything we did at that beginning. >> Yeah. Yeah, that's a good point. Yeah. So, >> yes, sir. My name is Jason Nickel. I live with my daughter and wife on Church Street here. And I would offer uh for Church Street

290
01:28:26.239 --> 01:28:41.920
um I see the need for either a sidewalk or a trail. However, uh apart from the times of the year where there's Fourth of July or whatever, there's in my opinion not the traffic to warrant

291
01:28:41.920 --> 01:28:58.639
something like two separate sidewalks or a sidewalk and a trail. I see the traffic coming down as far as the walking traffic and whatnot, but um and I think my friend Jeff who lives across the street would agree that that

292
01:28:58.639 --> 01:29:15.360
the the flow of traffic down Church Street is not that warrant that would warrant something of a large scale widened um type of uh plan. Um, personally, in my opinion, I would like to see less

293
01:29:15.360 --> 01:29:34.800
trees removed and uh more of a natural, you know, maybe an as narrow as you could type of plan with a trail trail or a sidewalk. So, >> okay, that's I thought >> I think one thing to clarify since it's

294
01:29:34.800 --> 01:29:50.080
not on the image and maybe we don't test moving it. Um, but correct me if I'm wrong, that the sidewalk on the east side of Church Street only goes up to the north end of the parking lot at the

295
01:29:50.080 --> 01:30:07.679
church and then it transitions to a single side. Um to your point where as you get further out and it might be less and less volume and less concentrated during turtle races and events and things like that, the further north you go towards popppler,

296
01:30:07.679 --> 01:30:25.199
it starts to filter out a little bit. And so there's two sides until you get past like the park entrance and the church parking lot to help with the ingress egress of that and uh define that area and then transitions into one side currently

297
01:30:25.199 --> 01:30:42.320
proposed on the west side and then there wouldn't be further parking down Church Street. Is that correct? >> Um >> it was only in that um southern end. Okay. Okay.

298
01:30:42.320 --> 01:30:59.920
I think that kind of ties into some of what you were asking. >> Yeah. >> The other thing I'd say about uh keeping things narrow uh narrower in a construction zone would be

299
01:30:59.920 --> 01:31:17.600
uh having curb and gutter actually does help a lot in that instance where you're trying to keep your construction limits narrower. Um, obviously going with an open ditch or rural roadway design,

300
01:31:17.600 --> 01:31:33.600
uh, and having honest to goodness ditches would take up more space and require clearing more trees. Um, so that's something we try to keep in mind, too. Um when there's a

301
01:31:33.600 --> 01:31:56.679
concern like you raised about you know trying to preserve the corridor with the trees sometimes curbing gutter can help with that. Is there any other feedback or questions from the audience

302
01:31:58.400 --> 01:32:14.719
hearing? None. Uh I think at this point that covers the I believe three of the four topics if I'm not mistaken. Uh the drainage easement was discussed. >> Yes. >> Um so with that the last topic was the

303
01:32:14.719 --> 01:32:31.120
Grand View portion delayed until 2028. >> Tenatively that's what we're talking about. Yes. Okay. >> Okay. All right. So with that uh there's no motion necessary. Uh, is there any other questions or feedback

304
01:32:31.120 --> 01:32:48.719
from this committee? No. No. >> Maybe just a quick question for Dave. Do you feel like you have what you need for a final proposal? >> Well, I guess maybe if I can ask a question back to the public works commission. Um,

305
01:32:48.719 --> 01:33:06.800
are you supportive of the traffic circle at Lakers Lane and Church Street as it's been discussed? Um, and would you make that recommendation to the city council? And then the second one, it's a big question

306
01:33:06.800 --> 01:33:22.560
for us, is uh what style of intersection improvements would you prefer to see at Main Street and City Hall Street? Right now, we're, as I said, focused on a conventional style

307
01:33:22.560 --> 01:33:39.600
intersection with traffic channelizing, uh narrowing up those drive lanes to help with that situation. But um if you prefer that we take a harder look at a roundabout at that intersection, that's

308
01:33:39.600 --> 01:33:55.840
the kind of feedback that we need from you. >> Well, with the first topic, uh turn it over to you two, Dale. >> No, you're talking about in regards to the recommendations for two intersections as proposed. Personally, I

309
01:33:55.840 --> 01:34:12.480
I feel a roundabout I like roundabouts, but I don't think that's the place for one. Mainly because downtown Niswah is known as a area where people cross the street anywhere they feel. So, you've got people crossing the

310
01:34:12.480 --> 01:34:28.880
street everywhere on busy days and you can't have cars continually moving on a roundabout when you have people right in the same vicinity. So my personal opinion is what you have done there is the way to go. >> Yeah, >> that's my opinion.

311
01:34:28.880 --> 01:34:46.239
>> Now D, just so I understand that, right? Does that include the roundabout that's proposed in front of the school? >> No. No, I think that I think that's fine. It's just that on Main Street, >> okay, >> the people are held. >> Got it. >> My only concern about I I like the way

312
01:34:46.239 --> 01:35:02.159
that you have it drawn. My only concern is the crosswalks around the roundabout right by the school. with having the crosswalks within that circle that that's going to get really confusing for um cars that are trying to make those turns at the same time that they're trying to avoid kids walking

313
01:35:02.159 --> 01:35:19.199
through the circle. I wondering if those crosswalks can be pushed out 30 ft to either side so that people aren't crossing right through the the circle. Okay. Um yeah, typically those are

314
01:35:19.199 --> 01:35:37.440
pushed out so that you know they have a distance away from from the traffic circle to cross. Um we can take a harder look at that in design if we want to move those out further. Um, we're also trying in that in that space where the

315
01:35:37.440 --> 01:35:54.800
raised island is, we're trying to achieve, you know, the uh a minimum width there for pedestrians to be able to stop if they have to. Sure. >> Um, in that protective island u before

316
01:35:54.800 --> 01:36:12.159
they cross the next traffic lane. So, we have to kind of consider that too. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Otherwise, I think you did a great job. I really like the bumpouts that you put in there, and I agree with Bill. I think putting a roundabout out in front of Main Street would be would not be a

317
01:36:12.159 --> 01:36:30.719
good idea. >> We were thinking an overpass because that's the theme for Baxter. So, why not us? Well, I mean, why not? Yes, sir. >> Sorry. I don't mean to take us down a

318
01:36:30.719 --> 01:36:45.199
rabbit hole. And you guys have probably already entertained this, but what's the road on the east side of the school? >> Oh, School Street. >> Is that School Street? Have you guys considered And I'm going to kick myself because I'm on the park and wreck board and I want this space to eventually be

319
01:36:45.199 --> 01:37:02.400
partnered with the parks uh to use, but um has the school and the city um entertained School Street and then somehow cutting over? There's two fields there that don't get I mean it might get used for recess but doesn't get used from a park and wreck standpoint or

320
01:37:02.400 --> 01:37:18.080
really from a you know so I don't know if a loop coming down school street over has been entertained versus everything coming off of a busy intersection. >> I I think that that was actually discussed. We uh if correct me if I'm wrong I think the school is not overly

321
01:37:18.080 --> 01:37:34.480
tickled about that. Yeah, I mean it takes away any expansion area, but >> yeah, I just figured I'd bring it out in case it wasn't >> actually. And further to that point, we even >> floated the idea and I spoke to the land owner um to the south of the end of

322
01:37:34.480 --> 01:37:52.800
School Street there of having a what's the access called? school buses only access uh to plow through and then to be able then to connect on the continuation of Main Street before the other roundabout that's established on

323
01:37:52.800 --> 01:38:10.080
18 and that was shot down by the landowner. So I think we exhausted every imaginative idea that could have come up with um and this roundabout was actually not an idea at that time. It came up after the initial meeting or two, >> right? >> Yeah. So when I I think when we say all

324
01:38:10.080 --> 01:38:25.679
options were put on the table, like truly everything that could come to mind from professional engineering consultation to uh novice amateurs like me and the mayor that were there, we were doing our best to try to come up with a feasible solution to

325
01:38:25.679 --> 01:38:43.040
have a safe pickup for children as well as uh proper flow of traffic um without long-term pro prohibition of not allowing allowing them to turn left down Lakers Lane during that pickup window.

326
01:38:43.040 --> 01:38:58.400
People just don't ride the school bus like they used to, even when I was in school. It's almost a shame, but it is a parent's choice. So, hope that answered your question. Okay. Um, for the sake of time, if

327
01:38:58.400 --> 01:39:16.320
there's anything else to go over, >> um, I would ask Dave if so with the sidewalks themselves, I think in from say city hall street to the school, I I feel like that much of the sidewalk is pretty clear

328
01:39:16.320 --> 01:39:32.880
going north the recommendation. So, I think if I'm hearing it right, I'm hearing sidewalks at least to the park entrance. Am I right? >> And then from that point on, would you

329
01:39:32.880 --> 01:39:50.159
offer Well, I I want to keep going, but is it a sidewalk or a trail from the park entrance going further north? >> I would consider it just a sidewalk concrete and just keep continuity down the corridor. >> I agree.

330
01:39:53.440 --> 01:40:09.679
Are you doing a sidewalk summit too during our next meeting at the end of the month? >> Yeah. Where what we're going to talk about at that summit are things like you've seen the decorative lighting. Let's say at the street level,

331
01:40:09.679 --> 01:40:25.199
>> right? >> As opposed to the overhanging corras. Um, we talk about that uh with flower planters that Jesse alluded to earlier. Um, some landscaping signage, things like that. >> That's where we would start to talk

332
01:40:25.199 --> 01:40:41.679
about those issues. Now, we don't have to figure out all of those for final design right away, but we are pushed a little bit just to keep this on. >> Well, that's that's what I mean. Do we have enough? Have we agreed on enough here today for you to move on with what

333
01:40:41.679 --> 01:40:59.440
you need to do or do we need to wait till the end of this month when we have our next scheduled meeting for that portion? We have enough to put together a base uh final design proposal for this area. Um

334
01:40:59.440 --> 01:41:16.080
the remaining question would be um how in-depth the city council would like to go with with streetscaping. And so you know we can bring a base proposal to city council to take this to

335
01:41:16.080 --> 01:41:33.280
100% design excluding that. um which Tom and I had talked about briefly. Potentially that could be handled at the June meeting if you'd like to add that >> to the consideration for the at the June meeting.

336
01:41:33.280 --> 01:41:50.480
>> Yeah. For the streetscaping >> soon as you guys are able to put that together. I would imagine the entire council would appreciate that. I mean the idea has been floated for some time specifically around the notion that if and only if we are doing any downtown Niswah improvements to the city streets

337
01:41:50.480 --> 01:42:07.400
and side streets to consider that at that time and with us getting close to that time the dollar impact will be it's worth consideration. Okay.

338
01:42:09.360 --> 01:42:26.719
>> Okay. >> All right. Anybody else have any last thoughts before we close up? >> Hearing none, I'll take a motion or actually before I say that, uh, everybody's information, we do have a regular public works committee meeting on May 27th. Is that a two?

339
01:42:26.719 --> 01:42:42.880
>> That's correct. And so what I'm calling that right now is it is our regular public works meeting, but consider that sidewalk summit too. and we're going to talk about the treatments such as the street lighting and flower pl plant planters and that kind of thing. So, um I don't probably don't have enough time

340
01:42:42.880 --> 01:42:58.560
to send out flyers to everybody, but I'll try to advertise it as best as I can. Um I'll let the chamber know. Uh it'll be on our website. Um there'll be some flyers probably printed. Um so, if

341
01:42:58.560 --> 01:43:14.080
you see somebody who has an interest in this, let them know. Please show up. a year from now, uh, if it doesn't happen, uh, and you weren't involved with this, I I apologize, but we did our best to get everybody to show up and

342
01:43:14.080 --> 01:43:29.679
offer their opinion. So, thank you to everybody who showed up tonight. It was very helpful. Thank you. >> All right, without further ado, I'll make take a motion for adjournment. >> So move. >> Second. All those in favor?

343
01:43:29.679 --> 01:43:43.400
>> I opposed. This meeting is adjourned. >> Thank you to all the committee members for your work tonight. Thank you. >> Yeah.