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Age Friendly volunteer asks council to redirect $35,000 grant to median safety
Summary
Mary Riley of Age Friendly urged the council to consider using a $35,000 grant originally meant for sidewalks to address tall grasses and sight-line hazards in traffic medians, and asked the city to coordinate with MnDOT for safe removal or replanting.
Mary Riley (speaker 10), speaking for Age Friendly volunteers, asked the council to re-evaluate the planned use of a $35,000 grant and instead apply it to medians and sidewalks that she says are presenting sight-line and safety hazards.
Riley told the council the medians have become overgrown and create dangerous sight-line issues for drivers and pedestrians. "We have a huge safety issue in our town with the mediums that are coming in, with the tall grasses and, sight lines," she said, and asked the council to seek MnDOT assistance for safe lane closures or other measures because volunteers cannot safely remove vegetation in medians that require traffic control. She said volunteers have already dug up and bartered about 100 plants and offered to help replant them in other city locations such as the cemetery.
Council members and staff acknowledged the request and discussed options including filling tree well areas with concrete (to eliminate planting maintenance) or coordinating with MnDOT for work that requires lane closures. Staff (speaker 7/Michael) confirmed paper survey and community outreach are ongoing. The council did not adopt a final funding reallocation at the meeting and asked staff to follow up with MnDOT and report back.
