Consideration of Adopting Resolution #14-01-017 Approving Joint Powers Agreement with Anoka County for CSAH 5 / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements

Purpose:
The purpose of this case it to review the Anoka County led CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements and to consider adoption of Resolution #14-01-017 approving the attached draft Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for this project.

Background:
By approving the draft JPA, the City Council will effectively be providing municipal consent for this project to allow Anoka County to move forward with the project in 2014 and to take advantage of the available federal funding.  This project is proposed to be constructed in the summer/fall of 2014. Construction is proposed to begin after schools recess for the summer which will minimize impacts to school bus routes, especially as related to Ramsey Elementary School which is located approximately one-quarter mile south of the intersection on CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd).

The CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) / Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements project, designated as City Improvement Project 14-20, proposes various operational and safety improvements at this severely skewed intersection. The primary improvements include installation of a signal system, construction of dedicated right and left turn lanes on all approaching legs, and access management measures including disconnecting the nearby intersection of old CSAH 5 and new CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd), and constructing raised concrete median islands along CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) on both sides of Alpine Drive.  Attached is a layout of the proposed improvements.

The JPA defines the terms of agreement between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for constructing the proposed improvements including project purpose, method of delivery, estimated costs, fund disbursements, maintenance considerations, and termination of the agreement, to name a few.

No notifications were required for this case.

Observations:
The primary improvements being proposed include the following.

Signal system installation – This intersection is currently controlled by a 4-way STOP which was installed in November of 2006 in response to numerous crashes that occurred at this intersection. The 4-way STOP was intended to be a temporary traffic control measure until such time that a signal system could be installed. The new signal system will control traffic operations on all 4 legs of the intersection, and will include an Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) system to allow emergency vehicles equipped with EVP to change the signal during emergency calls.  The signal system will also be equipped to allow the future use of flashing yellow left-turn arrows, when warranted.

Access modifications – Raised median islands will be constructed along CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) on both sides of Alpine Drive to physically separate opposing streams of traffic and to restrict access (primarily left turn movements) from abutting properties.  The following is a summary of impacts to abutting properties.

• Old Municipal Center – Access from/to this property will not be impacted by this project. The raised median on CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) is proposed to end just north of the entrance to this site and will therefore still allow full access to/from CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd).
• 15200 Nowthen Boulevard NW – Access to be restricted from full-access to right-in/right-out only.
• 15220 Nowthen Boulevard NW – Access to be restricted from full-access to right-in/right-out only.
• 15250 Nowthen Boulevard NW – Access to be relocated from CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) to Alpine Drive and will remain a full-access.
• 15243 Nowthen Boulevard NW – Access to be restricted from full-access to right-in/right-out only.

The intersection of old CSAH 5 / new CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) just north of Alpine Drive will be disconnected and the south end of old CSAH 5 will be converted into a dead-end road with a “T” turn-around to accommodate snow plow and emergency vehicle access. All traffic must then access CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) at the current intersection of old and new CSAH 5 approximately one-quarter mile north of Alpine Drive. To address safety concerns due to restricted sight-lines at this intersection as noted by numerous residents during the public Open House held by Anoka County in October, a bypass lane will be constructed along southbound CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd), plus Anoka County proposes to remove the existing trees within County right-of-way at this intersection.

Stormwater ponding – The City owns a 0.57 acre parcel of property in Alpine Acres in the northwest quadrant of the intersection, which is dedicated in the plat as parkland.  This property, which is essentially undevelopable due to access and grading limitations and because most of it is classified as wetland, has an assessed value of $3,300.  Anoka County is therefore proposing that the city provide a drainage easement over the entire parcel to allow the County to use it for stormwater ponding to accommodate runoff from the increased impervious area due to the intersection improvements.  In exchange, Anoka County is offering to reduce the City’s costs to construct a missing trail connection north of Alpine Drive between CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) and Krypton Street as discussed below.

Alpine Drive trail connection (CSAH 5 to Krypton Street) – Numerous trails exist in the project area but a gap of approximately 700 feet exists north of Alpine Drive from CSAH 5 to the end of the existing trail approximately 100 feet west of Krypton Street.  This gap forces pedestrians using the existing trail north of Alpine Drive to cross Alpine Drive using the marked mid-block pedestrian crossing approximately 150 east of Krypton Street.  Mid-block pedestrian crossings are not widely used and therefore can violate driver expectations.  As such, mid-block crossings are considered less desirable than intersection crossings.  This is especially true when younger children are anticipated to use a crossing on a frequent basis as is anticipated in this area due to the nearby location of Ramsey Elementary School approximately 1,500 feet south of Alpine Drive on the west side of CSAH 5.  Staff therefore recommends constructing this 700-foot long trail connection north of Alpine Drive as part of this project, especially considering that it can be done at a greatly reduced cost due to the exchange for stormwater ponding easement as proposed by Anoka County.

The estimated construction cost for the trail connection is $17,000 and additional costs would be required to secure needed right-of-way and temporary construction easements, as well as to provide compensation for associated tree removals (these costs are unknown at present).  However, Anoka County is proposing to reduce the City’s costs for the trail connection as follows.  If the City provides the necessary drainage easement over the City-owned 0.57 acre parcel and allows the County to use the parcel for stormwater ponding, the County will pay to secure the necessary right-of-way and temporary easements needed to construct the trail, and will provide compensation for tree removals as needed.  The City will then only be responsible for paying to construct the trail, though the County is also proposing to apply federal funds to the trail construction (federal funds currently cover about 60% of all construction costs) instead of requiring the City to pay 100% of the construction costs which is standard practice for any improvements not required by the County. This will result in an estimated total cost to the city of $6,800, thereby saving the City about $10,200.  Additionally, Anoka County will design the trail connection, incorporate it into their plans, then pending City Council approval, the County will bid and inspect the trail construction too, thereby providing additional benefit to the City.

Trunk watermain connection / loop – City staff recommends constructing a watermain connection under the proposed trail connection north of Alpine Drive between CSAH 5 and Krypton Street which will loop the trunk watermain system in this area to provide additional flexibility while maintaining the trunk watermain.  Construction of this watermain connection will not require any portion of Alpine Drive to be reconstructed.  The estimated cost for this work is $40,000.

Existing Trails – All existing trails impacted by this project will be replaced with identical trail sections having the same width and pavement section, and new ADA compliant pedestrian curb ramps will be installed on all 4 corners of the intersection.
 
Alpine Drive Culvert Replacement (separate project) – Staff wants Council to be aware that an RCP equalizer pipe crossing Alpine Drive about one-quarter mile west of CSAH 5 was recently repaired and needs to be replaced.  Since the intersection of CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) and Alpine Drive will be temporarily closed during this project, staff proposes to replace the pipe at that time to avoid disruptions to traffic and to save on traffic control costs.  This work, which is not included in the CIP and would be completed under separate contract, is estimated to cost $35,000.


Estimated Costs:

The total estimated construction cost is $1,692,666.35.  Available federal funds are capped at $936,000.  The federal funds shall be split based on the ratio of eligible cost incurred by each party to the total eligible project cost. Eligible costs are the costs of items that can participate in federal funding as shown on Exhibit B of the attached JPA.

The total estimated construction cost to the City is $385,918.61. After available federal funds are applied (190,777.80), the cost to the City for our share of the construction costs is $195,140.81.  City participation in construction engineering will be at a rate of eight percent (8%) of our designated construction share of $385,918.61, or $30,873.49.
 
The City’s total share of this project before federal funds are applied is $296,883.36 which includes construction and construction engineering costs. The total project cost to the City after federal funds are applied, including construction engineering which is not eligible for federal funding, is $226,014.30.

Upon award of contract, the City will need to pay the County, upon written demand, ninety five percent (95%) of its portion of the project costs which is estimated to be $214,713.58.  Prior to billing, this estimate will be updated by the County to reflect the actual bid prices as awarded. An updated cost estimate shall be provided to the City at the time of billing. The City's share of the cost of the project shall include only construction and construction engineering expense and does not include engineering design and administrative expenses incurred by the County.

Upon final completion of the project, the City's share of the construction cost will be based upon actual construction costs. If necessary, adjustments to the initial ninety five percent (95%) charged to the city will be made in the form of credit or additional charges to the City's share. Also, the remaining five percent (5%) of the City's portion of the construction costs shall be paid.


Public Works Committee Recommendation:
City and Anoka County staff reviewed the proposed improvements with the Public Works Committee on Tuesday, December 3^rd. The following is a summary of Committee comments.
 

• Access modifications – The Committee generally agreed that they would prefer that raised concrete median islands not be constructed on County Roads within City limits.  However, in this case it appears to be acceptable given that County staff met with the affected property owners who generally supported the access restrictions created by the raised medians because of the increased safety provided by them.
• Stormwater ponding – The Committee was generally supportive of providing a drainage easement over this property for use as stormwater ponding.
• Trail connection – Two of the three Committee members (CM Backous and CM Kuzma) supported constructing this trail connection due to the regional benefits provided by this trail connection.  However, CM Riley was not supportive of constructing the trail connection as two of the abutting property owners contacted him to note their objections due to reduced green space along their front yards, as well as potential impacts to their driveway alignments and/or grades.  If Council approves the trail connection, staff will work with Anoka County to ensure that the proposed driveway alignments and/or grades will meet the property owner’s needs.
• Watermain connection – The Committee was generally supportive of constructing the trunk watermain connection given the benefits provided by looping the system as noted above.

 
The Public Works Committee recommended City Council approval of the draft Joint Powers Agreement as drafted by a vote of 2 to 1. CM Riley voted in the negative in keeping with his objections to constructing the trail connection and, to a lesser degree, due to raised medians being proposed along CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd).
 
As discussed with Council on December 10^th, the Public Works Committee recommended approval based on a city cost share of more than $60K less than the amount presented herein.  The city’s cost share and attached JPA were updated by Anoka County after the Public Works Committee meeting and was submitted to City staff on Thursday, December 5^th.  According to Anoka County, the city’s share increased because the previous estimate included all drainage improvements as Anoka County costs.  These costs were then prorated based on the percentage of runoff coming from City and County right-of-ways.  This percentage may still change based on State Aid percentages, but the estimates now show $111,026.61 as the City’s portion of the drainage costs minus $63,317.8 in available federal funds resulting in a total City cost for drainage of $47,708.81.  Also, additions to common excavation, bituminous pavement removal and aggregate base class 5 quantities increased the total project cost causing the federal funding percentage to go from 60% to 57% which also affected the City’s cost share.
 
 
Results of City Council direction from December 10^th:
On December 10^th the City Council requested City and Anoka County staff to contact all property owners impacted by the proposed improvements to ensure that everyone is aware of the proposed improvements, and that they had been offered a chance to voice their opinions prior to City Council considering approval of the JPA and the project in general.
 
On December 17^th, City staff mailed project information letters to all property owners with properties abutting or accessing roads proposed for improvement as part of this project.  The letter also included contact information to allow property owners to voice their questions or concerns regarding the project.  A layout of the project was also included in the mailing.  The layout was the same layout as attached to this case.

A resident on Potassium Street responded to the letter by voicing her concern about now being required to use the north leg of old CSAH 5 to access new CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd).  She said she has problems in the winter navigating the steep slope on old CSAH 5 due to icing of the street so she routinely uses the south access to old CSAH 5 in the winter, which will no longer be an option.  Staff did discuss this with Anoka County following the Open House last fall and Anoka County estimated the cost to be over $100,000 to reduce the grade on the north entrance, realign the driveway to the adjacent property on the north side, and purchase needed right-of-way from the property owner to the south.  However, knowing that Anoka County proposes to clear all trees from their right-of-way at this intersection and will construct a bypass lane on southbound CSAH 5 to prevent rear-end collisions for drivers waiting to turn left onto old CSAH 5 from new CSAH 5, and since this road is used exclusively by residents who know the streets well and can adjust their driving habits to accommodate the existing steep grade, and since this road will someday be reconstructed when adjacent properties redevelop, staff did not pursue improving the north leg of old CSAH 5 at this time.
 
City and County staff also met with the owners of the three residential properties north of Alpine Drive to discuss the proposed trail and watermain connections.  In summary, the property owners are generally opposed to the proposed trail connection due to its relatively close proximity to their homes and the anticipated loss of privacy they will experience when people are using the trail.  Regarding the proposed watermain connection, the property owners are generally not opposed to this improvement as long as they are not required to pay for the watermain as part of this project, and as long as they are not required to connect to the watermain unless they request to do so.  One of the property owners may in fact request to be connected to city water during the project, and another property owner requested that a letter be mailed to each owner with more information on the costs and process required to connect to city water should they choose to do so at this time.  Staff will mail such a letter if Council provides municipal consent for the project and approves construction of the watermain connection.  Associated tree removals and right-of-way/temporary construction easement needs were also discussed, as well as potential compensation and/or optional mitigation measures.  Staff anticipates that one or more of the three property owners will be in attendance at tonight’s meeting and may wish to express their opinion on these items with Council.

Anoka County staff contacted the property owners along CSAH 5 whose accesses are proposed to be restricted by the raised concrete median islands.  According to Anoka County, the property owners generally support the project and understand the County’s reason for proposing the raised median islands, but some are still concerned about their reduced access due to the raised medians.  Staff anticipates that one or more of these property owners will be in attendance at tonight’s meeting and may wish to express their opinion on this item with Council.  Attached is a summary of Anoka County staff conversations with property owners regarding the project.
 
Council also asked Anoka County to check whether the federal funds awarded to this project would be jeopardized if raised median islands were omitted from the project.  Anoka County staff did check and provided the following response. “We checked with MnDOT State Aid and for this type of federal funding, the median is not a required component of the project.  But, at a staff level, we feel the median is a necessary safety component of the project.  This is a high speed roadway at a skewed intersection, with access points close to the intersection.  The median provides channelization to insure the drivers have a clear understanding of where they should be in approaching the intersection, reduces the risk of drivers crossing the centerline, while also providing a means of managing access points that are in close proximity to the intersection.  If we removed the median, we would still have to restrict the access to the business in the southeast corner to right-in/right-out because a left turn lane cannot be developed for southbound traffic turning left into the business, due to its close proximity to the intersection.  This would result in there not being a location for a u-turn for southbound traffic to get back to the business.  We have again spoken with the owner of the business, and he is not interested in having the access relocated to Alpine Drive.”


Alternatives:

Alternative #1 – Motion adopting Resolution #14-01-017 approving the attached draft Joint Powers Agreement between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for the CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) /Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements as written.

Alternative #2 – Motion adopting Resolution #14-01-017 approving the attached draft Joint Powers Agreement between Anoka County and the City of Ramsey for the CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) /Alpine Drive Intersection Improvements with the following modifications; _______________.

Alternative #3 – Motion denying adoption of Resolution #14-01-017 at this time.

Funding splits for this project will be apportioned as indicated in the Joint Powers Agreement using Anoka County’s standard cost sharing policy. The City's share would be funded using a mix of Municipal State Aid Funds (signal/street improvements), Park and Recreation Funds (trail connection), and Water Utility Funds (water connection).

The City's total costs for the improvements shown on the attached project layout are estimated to be $226,014.30 (construction and construction engineering). This total reflects a reduction of $190,777.80 due to the application of federal funding received by Anoka County for this project.  The total cost includes costs for constructing the trail connection north of Alpine Drive between CSAH 5 (Nowthen Blvd) and Krypton Street, as well as the trunk watermain connection under the proposed trail connection.  Should Council not approve the trail and watermain connections as part of this project, the City’s estimated costs would be reduced by $46,800 bringing the total estimated City cost to $179,214.30.
 
It is important to note that these costs are based on engineer’s estimates and that the city’s actual costs will be based on final construction costs, which may be more or less than estimated costs.

Staff recommends selecting Alternative #1 or #2 if Council supports the project and is in agreement with the attached draft JPA as drafted, or with only minor revisions as noted.

Staff recommends selecting Alternative #3 if Council does not support the project and/or the draft JPA without significant modifications.

Alternative #1 – Motion adopting Resolution #14-01-017 approving the draft JPA as written.

Alternative #2 – Motion adopting Resolution #14-01-017 approving the draft JPA with the following modifications; _______________.

Alternative #3 – Motion denying adoption of Resolution #14-01-017 at this time.