The Paynesville City Council received a sampling of information on the 1998 street improvement project at their meeting Wednesday night. Pete Carlson, city engineer, explained the effect the 1998 improvement project would have on Main Street and Washburne Avenue.
“Considering we are only installing a water main on Washburne and not sewer, we can save some of the trees on the west side of the street but the root systems would be damaged,” Carlson explained. “To save more trees, we would need to position the sidewalks on the property lines.”
“We have a dilemma to deal with. If we widen Washburne Avenue to 44 feet, as it has been suggested, the street would be only 22 feet from the front of some homes. In addition it would be hard to save any trees at this width. If we construct a 36-foot wide street, we could save all the trees on the east side by shifting the street to the west,” Carlson said. (This is the one block portion between Main street and First Avenue.)
On the construction segment on Main Street, the school fence is 10 feet into the street right-of-way. All the trees in this block would be lost.
The construction maps are available at city hall for viewing by property owners affected by the property. A special council meeting will be held on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. to discuss the project and answer any questions property owners might have.
David Bell, Freedom Development and Consulting, updated the council on the status of the Ridgeview Court Townhomes project. Bell told the council the engineering drawings are complete and they have checked the drainage and decided a detention pond on the west edge will be needed. “All the paper work is 100 percent in compliance for the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) district,” he added. The council approved the development agreement between the city of Paynesville and Ridgeview Court Townhomes.
Property owners on Spruce Street and Maple Street sent a petition to the city council requesting another exit be constructed from the Chladek Addition. Petitioners are concerned about the traffic flow coming off Spruce Street onto Maple Street as that amount will increase once the townhomes are completed.
“The city council has talked about this problem off and on over the years,” Mayor Jeff Thompson said. “There are several options the city can explore, one being to complete Stearns Avenue south of Highway 55 up to the apartments and townhomes.”
The council did not feel MnDOT would permit them to add another approach to Highway 55, thus maybe a frontage road would need to be constructed which could also serve the businesses along Highway 55. The council referred the issue to the public works committee.
In other business..
•The council accepted the resignation of Roger Schmiginsky, liquor store manager, effective Dec. 31, 1997. The job position will be posted 30 days internally before opening it up to the public.
•The council set Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7 p.m. as the public hearing date on the Diekmann Utility Extension project. The property owners will be assessed at eight percent interest over a 15-year period.
•The council approved setting Wednesday, Oct. 29, at 7:15 p.m., as the assessment hearing date on the alley improvements between Central and Lyndall Avenue. Property owners will be assessed eight percent interest over a five-year period.