Transportation, community development highlight Carver County District Dialogue
Contact: Bonnie Kollodge
(651) 602-1357
ST. PAUL – Nov. 10, 2009 – When Metropolitan Council officials joined the Association of Carver County Elected Leaders (ACCEL) for its November meeting, two themes emerged in the discussion: transportation infrastructure and community development.
Council Chair Peter Bell and Council Member Craig Peterson co-hosted the eighth meeting of the Council’s District Dialogue series for 2009 with the ACCEL group on at the Cologne Community Center. The annual series provides an opportunity for Council officials to meet with city, county and state officials to discuss top local and regional concerns.
Watertown Mayor K.J. McDonald and Council Sector Rep Susan Hoyt at the District Dialogue in Carver County.
The meeting included all communities in the Carver County, which comprises half of Council District 4.
“This is a very important opportunity for us to share what’s happening at the Council and the challenges we face as a region,” Bell said. “But more importantly, it’s a chance for us to listen to you. It’s important for elected and appointed officials to be responsive.”
Bell began by thanking communities in Carver County for their work to submit comprehensive plan updates. Currently, 95 percent of all plans have been submitted for review and about 62 percent of plans are through the review process. In Carver County, all 22 plans have been submitted and about half are through the review process.
Guy Peterson, community development director for the Council, said work Council staff did to prepare for the reviews and work more closely with communities as they prepared comprehensive plans helped improve the efficiency of the review process many-fold.
In addition, Bell said the Council will be creating a composite view of comprehensive plans around the region in the coming year, to get a sense of what the plans say about trends in the region’s development and local planners’ vision for the future.
Next, Bell addressed the Council’s $750 million annual budget, more than half of which goes to transit operations. Bell explained that the Council recently dealt with a $62 million shortfall in the 2010-11 budget for transit operations. The shortfall was largely due to lower-than-expected receipts from the Motor Vehicle Sales Tax (MVST), as well as the responsibility for operating the new Northstar commuter rail line, which begins service Nov. 16.
The Council used a combination of stimulus funds, shifts from other funds, and Council reserves to balance the budget. Specifically, the legislature gave the Council the authority to use up to half of its levy for Livable Communities grants and a portion of unexpended funds in the Right-of-Way Acquisition Loan Fund (RALF). Bell said he expects the Council will not use the RALF or Livable Communities funds for the budget. In addition, the Council does not anticipate raising fares or cutting service.
Metropolitan Council member Craig Peterson at the District Dialogue in Carver.
Bell also outlined transit capital improvements worth $21 million in state bonds for various projects throughout the region, particularly $5 million for the Southwest Transitway and the final $8.5 million for the Central Corridor. Bell also noted that Hennepin County has chosen the preferred route for light-rail in the Southwest corridor, and that the route will be submitted to the Council for consideration.
The recent expansion of Highway 212 through Carver County has given Carver County significant improvement in highway capacity and is likely to be one of only two new principal highways built in the region for years to come.
Yet attendees at the meeting expressed support for making 212 a four-lane highway all the way west to Glencoe (outside the metro area), and making Highway 5 through the county a four-lane road.
Bell noted that the Council will conduct a Metropolitan Highway System Investment Strategy assessment in early 2010, in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT), to assess major highway system expansion projects. This effort will take a comprehensive view of how to leverage new technologies and other strategies to make better use of the existing highway-system capacity in the region. The project will lead to an update of the Transportation Policy Plan (TPP) in 2010.
The study, Bell said, will help determine whether the region should devote resources to a handful of major road construction projects or several smaller projects that reduce congestion and allow current capacity to be used more efficiently. “The revenues simply aren’t going to be there,” Bell said. “I don’t think we can do both.”
Arlene McCarthy, director of transportation services for the Council, also noted the efforts of Carver and Scott counties to merge their dial-a-ride transit services. The two counties are partnering to provide dial-a-ride service and will soon be part of the regional Transit Link dial-a-ride system starting in early 2010.
Carver County Commissioner Randy Maluchnik asked whether the Council has plans to study freight rail infrastructure in the metropolitan area, in light of Mn/DOT’s efforts to create a statewide passenger rail plan. McCarthy noted that the Council will conduct a regional freight rail study in 2010.
Bell also discussed the recent changes in wastewater charges. There are two sources of revenue for the wastewater treatment system – the Service Accessibility Charge (SAC), which developers pay to connect to the sewer system, and the flow charges that residents pay for collection and treatment. The Council recently changed the way the charges are calculated, which will mean increases in municipal charges averaging four percent starting in 2010.
A task force, chaired by Council Members Peggy Leppik and Roger Scherer, will examine these fees and make recommendations to assure long-term sustainability. Bell said his only stipulation on the outcome of the task force is that the wastewater system continues to be self-supporting.
Attendees also had several questions regarding regional wastewater and road infrastructure. Victoria City Council Member Kim Roden asked about whether Bell anticipated that additional transportation funds would be available to expand road capacity to support population densities required for accessing the regional wastewater system.
“I don’t see that changing,” Bell said of transportation funding that comes from Mn/DOT. He reiterated the Council’s plans to evaluate transportation needs in the region and identify ways to enhance capacity through a combination of smaller congestion relief projects and building additional capacity.
In response to Watertown Mayor K.J. McDonald, Bell said there will be opportunities for input as the TPP is updated.
The Metropolitan Council is the regional planning organization for the seven-county Twin Cities area. The Council runs the regional bus and light rail system, collects and treats wastewater, coordinates regional water resources, plans regional parks and administers funds that provide housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income individuals and families. The Council board is appointed by and serves at the pleasure of the governor.
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