1992-01-28 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I Council Meeting Minutes January 28, 1992 Page 7 Council Business. continued Motion by Gunderman, seconded by Williams, to WAIVE THE READING AND ADOPT THE RESOLUTION ACCEPTING DONATION OF 11.5 ACRES OF lAND FROM BUILDERS DEVELOPMENT FINANCE AND AUTHORIZE EXECUTION OF THE DONATION AGREEMENT. 5 Ayes - 0 Nayes, Motion Carried. City Manager Dave Childs presented the Ramsey County local Government Services Study Commission (RLGSSC) report. The report evaluates the areas of Police, Public Health, Libraries and Public Works. The Library Systems recommendation would merge the St. Paul and Ramsey County Systems as part of an eventual step to merge all metropolitan area libraries into a unified system. Childs said the St. Paul Library System per capita cost is higher and this proposal would shift additional costs to suburban Ramsey County. He feels legislature should consider merging the library systems, but there should be an examination into insuring proper allocation of costs. The Public Health recommendation involves the merger of the St. Paul and Ramsey County Public Health Departments. The costs to merge the two departments would increase New Brighton's taxes by $102,000, however, St. Paul would see a decrease of about $1.6 million. Childs feels merging makes sense, but the cost allocations need to be examined. The Police recommendation includes consolidation of dispatching, crime lab, bomb squad, animal control and SWAT. Some of these activities can be consolidated, however, the cost shift needs to be studied. The Public Works recommendation involves the transfer of some less traveled County roads to the cities. Streets proposed to be transferred to New Brighton include several streets east of Cleveland Avenue and 7th Street east from Silver Lake Road. The proposal would also involve transferring State Aid for street repairs. Rebelein asked if the County would transfer Silver lake Road to New Brighton. Childs said the larger County roads involve uniformity of standards and maintenance, and the turnback recommendations were based on criteria assembled by engineers. Childs said a city has the right to refuse a road transfer. Proper was a committee member which reviewed the roadway proposal. The consensus felt roadways which have a multi-city service area and are connected to a major roadway should remain to the County. He noted all streets including County roads in St. Paul are maintained by St. Paul. Benke said the consolidation effort can be viewed as a learning process. However, if the Commission continued to work on the project for two more years, he fears cities would be asked to fund a state experiment. Council Business Land Donation. 10th St. and 5th Ave. Report 92-027 Resolution 92-009 RCLGSSC Report Report 92~028