DESIGNING TURNLANE AT PARK DRIVE
A DANGEROUS HIGHWAY 5 INTERSECTION
Council unanimously approved an expenditure not to exceed $9,000 for a preliminary design of the dangerous Park Drive and Hwy 5 intersection in Victoria.  TKDA will do the design.
At the request of Councilmember Kim Roden, staff researched potential funding sources.  Holly Kreft, Victoria's Director of Planning, reported on Febru-ary 8^th that MnDOT has $3.5 million available for 2007 for improvements that would benefit the trunk highway system.
The biggest improvement at the Park Drive intersection would be a turn lane for eastbound traffic.
Stated Kim, a resident at Parkside Estates, "There is even more traffic with the dog park and it's a safety issue.  Neighbors talk about near-misses on a regular basis.  I'd like to see this move forward."
Stated Councilmember Jim Paulsen, "I don't think this is optional.  Somebody is going to get killed up there."
Stated Mayor Mary Thun, "I'm in favor of this, but I'd like staff to come back and tell us where they're going to get the $9,000."
Stated Councilmember Tim Amund-sen, "Perhaps the [Three Rivers] Park District should contribute to the $9,000 study.  This is a state highway and not just for the Park Drive residents.  People from Waconia drive Highway 5 too."
Stated City Attorney Mike Norton, "The Park District is not immune from assessments.  The engineers could draw up a plan that shows their appropriate benefit."

VICTORIA GARDENS AND GAZEBO
KIRKE-LACHEN PARK TO BE REFURBISHED
Council postponed $353,000 in pro-posed '07 Capital Improvements includ-ing $56,000 for trucks, $47,000 for paved trails at Diethelm Park, $250,000 for build-out of community space at the Fire Station.
The Finance Committee had also rec-ommended postponing $38,000 to fix up the tennis court area at Kirke-Lachen, but councilmembers kept the project on the 2007 to-do list. 
Stated Councilmember Kim Roden, "Kirke-Lachen is the one project I'd like to least give up.  The Parks Committee has really worked hard on this, and this is not an esthetic."  It includes gardens and a gazebo.
Agreed Councilmember Richard Tieden, "It's a desperate need over there.  We didn't even want to put up a city sign because we were embarrassed the way it looks.  It involves the identity of the people who live there."
As the council liaison to the Parks and Recreation Committee, Richard said, "We looked at the demographics of Kirke-Lachen.  It's a more established area.  It's also a connection point for the trail so gardens and gazebo seemed to work.  It all worked out quite nicely ... I really don't think it's an outlandish amount of money.  I don't think picnic tables fit that area.  This was really thought through.  People have been really concerned."
Councilmember Jim Paulsen said, "Our funds are not what they need to be.  That's the hard difficult truth and we need some forbearance."  However, his motion for cuts included keeping the Kirke-Lachen project intact.
Said Councilmember Tim Amundsen, "Is a gazebo going to get used?  The one in Chaska is used for decoration and a couple times a year.  The [Kirke-Lachen tennis courts] area needs to get cleaned up and reseeded.  Something doesn't smell right about a gazebo ... We don't have an excess of funds for this."
Kristy Mock, the Victoria Parks and Rec Supervisor stated, "I've had a discus-sion with many people from that neigh-borhood.  We looked at other options and decided on a more passive recreation at the end of the LRT.  I'd like to start a vol-unteer group for the gardens.  The boy scouts need to put time in for the com-munity."
Councilmembers voted unanimously on February 8^th to have the Kirke-Lachen project remain part of the 2007 capital improvement program at a cost of approximately $33,000.  It does not in-clude tennis courts and picnic tables.

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