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| Roundabout will be part of Lake St. improvements |
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| Wednesday, 29 July 2009 | |
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Jennifer Larson Staff Writer Despite an attempt two weeks ago to end-run a roundabout at the downtown intersection by killing improvements to Lake Street, both projects are moving forward. During Monday’s regular meeting, the Forest Lake City Council voted 3-1 to approve supplemental agreements for engineering totaling $102,900. Mayor Stev Stegner was the lone dissenting vote. Councilwoman Jackie McNamara was absent from the July 27 meeting. Both are opposed to the roundabout at Lake Street (US-61) and Broadway Avenue (CR-2), and voted against authorizing the improvements on July 13. The supplemental services proposed by Bonestroo, the city’s engineering firm, includes landscape and irrigation design for the roundabout, improvements to the sidewalk, street lighting and utilities on a four-block section of Lake St. In addition, surveying to describe easements for land acquisition as well as relocation coordination of Xcel Energy facilities. The cost for planning improvements for Lake St. and the roundabout are estimated at $271,900. Conflict of interest opinion At the last meeting, Stegner said Councilman Bo Bogotty should not be voting on anything related to the roundabout as he is a proprietor of Average Joe’s, a newly opened restaurant and bar located at the downtown intersection. The establishment is operated by Bogotty, his wife Vicky, and a third business partner. City Attorney Dave Hebert issued his opinion Monday, saying there is no indication that Bogotty will receive a financial benefit from the supplemental agreements. Stegner said he sided with Hebert that there is no conflict of interest related to the engineering work for the improvements. Even though the building is owned by Forest Lake-based Gaughan Companies, a real estate brokerage firm, the mayor believes that Bogotty should abstain from voting on the matter. According to Stegner, the standard the council goes by is that “If there is an appearance of a conflict of interest, ethically we recuse ourselves from the vote.” This week, Councilman Jim Dufour eluded to the mayor intentionally challenging Bogotty’s votes when he was not even present at the July 13 meeting. And on Monday night, Bogotty insinuated that he and Vicky could be divorcing. Stegner said that was “immaterial” when asked about Bogotty’s comments during an interview on Tuesday morning. Safety concerns “I do believe the roundabout is the wrong traffic solution,” Stegner said the day after the council’s regular meeting. He has concerns with pedestrian safety at Lake St. and Broadway Ave. Stegner said as the preferred solution, the roundabout has been compared to another one located elsewhere in Washington County. However, he noted the roundabout in Woodbury has an underground tunnel for pedestrian traffic. The mayor is also concerned about construction of a pedestrian bridge, estimated to cost $1.2 million with the funds coming from the county, within 45 feet of the Forest Lake downtown intersection. 5th Ave. Work The council accepted a revised feasibility report for an improvement project to NW 5th Avenue between NW 1st Street and US-61. The road is a gravel section that runs on the north side of Dandy Auto Sales. City Engineer Paul Hornby said the work is a “shape and pave project.” He also indicated the costs have increased by 10 percent since the project was initially proposed in July 2008. Abutting property owners will be assessed $83.25 per front foot, up from approximately $75 last year. The construction contract for $46,000 project will be awarded during the council’s next meeting, 7 p.m., Monday, Aug. 10. Social Bookmarking ...       |
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