Monitor In A Minute

by JANE McCLURE

Organized collection fight goes on

Some Allianz Field neighbors will get residential permit parking, but others saw their request rejected June 26 by the St. Paul City Council. While that helps Snelling-Hamline residents who say their streets are full on game days, it frustrates Merriam Park residents who will continue to deal with spillover parking from soccer games.

Both requests had the support of Union Park District Council. Ward Four Council Member Mitra Jalali Nelson opposed both districts. She and other council members agreed that they’d like to see something other than a year-round permit district in place to deal with game parking.

Nelson also said that there have only been nine games.

On a 6-1 vote the council OK’d expansion of a permit district that includes Concordia, Carroll and Iglehart avenues between Asbury and Pascal streets. That district in Snelling-Hamline was created years ago to deal with commuter park and ride issues. Street, east of Snelling Ave.

Longtime neighborhood resident Daniel Jambor told the council that game day employee and attendee parking has affected the tiny neighborhood. He said that all neighbor want is reasonable access to their homes. Snelling-Hamline residents also tire of speeding and illegally parked motor vehicles, trash strewn on boulevards and noise after games.

Ward One Council Member Dai Thao represents Smelling-Hamline. He sympathized with neighbors.

Nelson cast the lone vote against the Snelling-Hamline request and led the charge against the Merriam Park request. She said that permit parking is too “broad and overreaching” to address the game day issues. She wants other solutions tried first.

Council President Amy Brendmoen supported the Snelling-Hamline request but shared Nelson’s concerns about the overly broad impacts. One suggestion raised during the council meetings was to see if game day only restrictions could be posted.

Snelling-Selby Area Business Association and commercial property owners opposed both requests.

Merriam Park neighbors in the area southwest of I-94 and Snelling Ave. had worked on their permit request for more than a year, in anticipation of soccer. They were unhappy that the request failed on win approval, on a 2-3 vote. Council members Kassim Busuri and Jane Prince voted for the district, with Nelson, Brendmoen and Chris Tolbert against. Thao and Rebecca Noecker had left the meeting before the hearing and vote.

Restrictions in Merriam Park would have included Concordia between Pierce St. and Snelling and on Pierce and Fry streets from Carroll to Concordia avenues. Neighbors there have also struggled with spillover game day parking, along with fan behavior and traffic issues. Neighbors after the meeting said they haven’t decided next steps.

Nelson has called for a more comprehensive parking plan, rather than what she calls a “piecemeal” approach. Allianz Field has 400 parking spaces, most of which are reserved, and 20,000 seats. Fans are urged to use transit or off-site parking.

Bonding requests set

The city of St. Paul will submit four of its own bonding requests to the 2020 Minnesota Legislature, the St. Paul City Council decided June 12. The council and Mayor Melvin Carter’s administration will also work with several St. Paul nonprofit organizations that are submitting bonding requests, to determine what level of support the city can provide.

2020 is a bonding year for state lawmakers.

The state will issue general obligation bonds to pay for the fixed asset, brick and mortar projects. St. Paul will be up against other cities, counties, colleges and universities, state projects and other needs when it makes its requests. The 2020 lists were due at the capitol June 14. Review will start soon, with decisions made during the 2020 legislative session.

The preliminary priorities approved June 12 are, in order, Third Street/Kellogg Boulevard Bridge - $55 million; eastbound Kellogg Boulevard Bridge at River Centre - $10 million, the River Learning Center at Crosby Farm Regional Park - $3 million and planning funds for the Como Zoo Orangutan Habitat and Energy Efficiency and Asset Preservation.

The top three requests have been on the city’s wish list for several years. The bridges are both in deteriorated condition. The Third/Kellogg Bridge is considered to be most critical because it will carry future transit vehicles on the planned Gold Line.

Ward Four Council Member Mitra Jalali Nelson said she and other council members have been hearing from nonprofit groups that will be seeking state bonding. Nelson said there are several entities in her ward seeking critically needed legislative support, including the International Institute on Como Ave.

The council member agreed that it is important for the city to review and determine support for the nonprofits’ requests. That review will be done at a later date.

No more “opt-outs”

It’s official – streets will be reconstructed whether St. Paul property owners like it or not. Without discussion, the St. Paul City Council June 12 rescinded its longtime street reconstruction opt-out policy.

The policy has been on the books since 1994 and was sparked when a group of North End homeowners asked to not have their street rebuilt. That led to the opt-out policy. The policy was amended over the years to indicate that residents who successfully petitioned for an opt-out would have their projects moved to the end of the residential street paving projects’ list. The opt-out was also clarified to indicated that an entire project area had to opt out, not just one street.

The current street program is meant to address very old paved or oiled streets that have never been formally built. Streets get new surfaces curb and gutter, sidewalks, driveway aprons, boulevard trees and new streetlights.

Streets with sanitary and storm sewers that required separation were rebuilt in the 1980s and 1990s under a separate program.

Council members Amy Brendmoen and Chris Tolbert introduced the resolution eliminating the past opt-out policies. They contend that delaying work creates high costs later and adds to ongoing street maintenance costs. The city often hears from new residents in areas that opted out in past years, who question why their street hasn’t been rebuilt.

The most recent opt-out was in Macalester-Groveland neighborhood, for the second phase of the Woodlawn-Jefferson project. Residents complained that street reconstruction would mean adding sidewalks and losing more than 50 trees. They said residents don’t need sidewalks and can walk in the streets.