July 21, 2009 Special Council Minutes

VILLAGE OF MATTAWAN
SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING
JULY 21, 2009

Minutes
 
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

1.    CALL TO ORDER

2.    PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

3.    ATTENDANCE
Present: Ashbaugh, Bemer, Kirklin, Kucinich, Markle, and McLean

Others Present: Paul South, Mumawar Azam, Ralph Moyle, Tom Brown, Karl Freed, Craig Schumaker, Richard Ashbaugh, Claudia Spulick and others.

4.    WELCOME TO THE PUBLIC

5.    ANNOUNCEMENT OF MEETING BEING RECORDED

6.    ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA

There were no additions to the agenda.

7.        APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

Motion by Markle, support by Spulick to approve the agenda. All members voted in favor. Motion
 carried.

8.    LIMITED PUBLIC COMMENT ON ANY AGENDA ITEM

There was no limited public comment.

.      OLD BUSINESS

There was no old business

10.    NEW BUSINESS

A.  MDOT HAS REQUESTED A SPECIAL MEETING WITH THE COUNCIL TO DISCUSS THE BRIDGE OVER I-94.

Paul Smith and Mumawar Azam, managers from MDOT were here to talk about the situation Mattawan is in with the interchange of Main Street and I-94. Since the mid nineties Mattawan has grown. Traffic has increased and the current situation is that we have an interchange that is over capacity. What we want is an interchange that can pass traffic anytime day or night in an efficient safe manner. Some of the hurdle is that the funding is limited. We need to find creative ways to do more with less. As managers their focus is to fix this interchange. They had to find a solution that works now, and will work in the future, so the alternative they looked at was the roundabouts. They would like to build this in the next 24 months. The other alternative was to do a five lane section and replace the bridge. That would not fix all of the turning problems, but with the roundabouts it can fix the problem for the next 12 years. The cost for the roundabouts will cost 2.5 – 3 million dollars. The cost being paid for by MDOT. Then in ten to fifteen years MDOT would come back and widen the bridge, improve Main Street and open the roundabouts to four lane sections.

Ralph Moyle’s question was that he had forty to fifty trucks a day out there and is concerned about accessing the roundabouts with fifty three foot trucks. Smith stated there will be a truck apron. He also wanted to know how the trucks are going to be able to get into the roundabout with the traffic in the morning, with a yield at every point. Smith said that there is no delay to get into the roundabouts.

Ballingall questioned if there were traffic lights and if not the traffic would not be stopped. Smith stated that was correct it was yield conditions.

There was another question about the restriction on space during the wintertime with the snow removal. Smith stated that the snow will be stored off the ramps.        

Another question was what kind of shut down will happen when this is being built? Smith responded that this is going to be a painful construction. There will be a detour on the off ramp or the on ramp, and they will only be working on one side at a time. They want to keep it at a three month construction schedule. In and out from day one to the end. Three months total, starting with the curb work away from the roadway having the contractors start in early April. Nothing will be done with the bridge traffic until after school’s let out.

11.     COMMENTS FROM VISITORS

There were none

12.    COMMENT FROM COUNCIL MEMBERS

There were none

13.       ADJOURNMENT- 8:12 PM