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10.d1 Resident Communications re 197th St Project1 Kyle Morell From:Kris Berggren < Sent:Thursday, September 4, 2025 7:18 AM To:Mike Lubke; James Gribble; Kirsten Libby; j.cusick; s.kronmiller@ci.scandia.us Cc:Kyle Morell Subject:197th St. proposed improvements Dear Members of the Scandia City Council, I am sending this brief email as I will be out of town during the Sept. 8 public listening session on the issue of road improvements to 197th St. N. My husband and I own a seasonal cabin at 16963 197th St. N. I believe it is reasonable for the city to widen the road in order to ensure that emergency vehicles can access homes or cabins all along the road. This includes fortifying the northeast side and widening the top of the top of the road as well as water drainage to prevent degradation from runoff and ice melt. That said, I strongly advocate for no paving, as I understand paving the road would require salting it during icy winter months. Road salt would seriously deteriorate the habitat and the water quality flowing into the St. Croix -- this runs completely counter to overarching goals to maintain the scenic and natural waterway. Furthermore, I think residents would prefer minimal visual impact to the degree possible - no reflective signage, low profile guardrails if needed, no retaining wall, etc. Finally, I would ask that any work be scheduled, to the extent possible, during months when we don't typically use our summer cabins! If work is done during the summer, that would seriously hamper our use of the property we own and enjoy for only a few months of the year. Thank you for your consideration. 2 Sincerely, Kris Berggren 1 Kyle Morell From:Angie Conley < Sent:Monday, September 8, 2025 9:53 PM To:Kyle Morell; mail Cc:b.eklund; T. J. Conley Subject:In support of Road work on 197th Dear City Council: Thank you for taking the Ɵme to solicit feedback regarding the road improvements on 197th and Dinosaur Hill. Please share this feedback with the city council. My husband and I have a winterized home at 16960 197th St N, Scandia, MN and use it year-round. We spend almost every weekend at our cabin. We are in support of a modified approach to widening the road provided that: 1. There are no assessments now or in the future pertaining to this project. 2. The construcƟon begins aŌer Labor Day, preferably in October, when many of the cabins are not used. 3. A thoughƞul plan of how the runoff is addressed if paving is warranted. We believe that this will increase the safety for residents and emergency services. We appreciate that you allowed Ɵme and space for a thoughƞul discussion; the informaƟon and discussion allowed us to come around to fully embrace this project. Respecƞully, Thomas and Angie Conley 1 Kyle Morell From:Stephen Bradley < Sent:Monday, September 8, 2025 10:16 PM To:Kyle Morell Subject:Fwd: Improvements to "Dinosaur Hill" on 197th St N- Note in SUPPORT for proposed improvements Kyle, I don’t think you were copied on this from our neighbor. Stephen Bradley ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Bradley Benson < Date: Mon, Sep 8, 2025 at 10:03 AM Subject: Improvements to "Dinosaur Hill" on 197th St N- Note in SUPPORT for proposed improvements To: <s.kronmiller@ci.scandia.mn.us >, <j.cusick@ci.scandia.mn.us>, <j.gribble@ci.scandia.mn.us>, <k.libby@ci.scandia.mn.us>, <m.lubke@ci.scandia.mn.us> Cc: Jane Baer < Dear Scandia City Council Members, I am writing to briefly share my family's perspective on the proposed road improvements for "Dinosaur Hill" on 197th Street North leading to our house at 16989 197th St N in Scandia. I know there is a meeting this evening to discuss the project but due to work commitments, I am unable to attend. In short, my family and I support the proposed improvements and find the arguments for improved safety and accessibility for emergency services to be compelling. We are grateful for the city's investment in the access to our property. Thank you for your service to our community. Brad Benson, Jane Baer, Henry Baer-Benson, Oliver Baer-Benson, Abe Baer-Benson, Violet Baer-Benson Bradley J. Benson, MD, FACP, FAAP Chief Academic Officer Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics University of Minnesota Medical School he/him/his 2 For help with scheduling appointments, please contact Shannon Sawyer at sawy0076@umn.edu or call 612-625-9995 Our Shared Work "A community, learning together, to improve healthcare and health." 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If you have received this communication in error, please destroy and delete this message from any computer and contact us immediately by return e‐mail. 1 Kyle Morell From:Tom Swain < Sent:Tuesday, September 9, 2025 10:47 AM To:s.kronmiller; Kyle Morell; j.cusick; James Gribble; Kirsten Libby; Mike Lubke Subject:Cabin Owner Serviced By 197th St. North City Council Members, as suggested, here is a email with input on the proposed significant improvements to 197th. > First of all, thanks for the opportunity to be part of the planning process; Kyle Morell and his team did an excellent job at last night’s session sharing planning documents, speaking to proposed construc Ɵon opƟons and answering quesƟons. > > As my family beƩer understands the raƟonale for the “hill” improvements we are very suppor Ɵve of making these upgrades. We appreciate Scandia leadership being commiƩed to ensuring the “hill” is safe and stable to support residenƟal, commercial and emergency traffic. > > It appears that given the “hill’s” physical aƩributes and Scandia’s budget capacity, the construcƟon while not bringing the “hill” up to new codes/standards will significantly improve access to homeowner and emergency traffic. Thank you for doing this without assessments. > > Both the minimum and full opƟons include road widening, retaining wall on east side, a guard rail, surface improvements and water miƟgaƟon. > > My family prefers the cable opƟon as a guard rail and not paving the surface. There was detailed discussion on the guard rail opƟons and why pave. UlƟmately, what is the best opƟon to ensure the “hill” is safe and stable without unintended consequences while keeping the character of the river community. > > It appears there is a significant amount of work to be done regarding water miƟgaƟon and treatment. Our property runs parallel to the “hill” and we have three streams going through our land. The stream at the boƩom of the “hill” ulƟmately empƟes into our large pond at the south end of our property and into the St Croix. I believe this pond collects much of the “hill” rain and snow runoff. > > Staff did speak to building a collecƟon pond to handle the runoff; locaƟon to be determined. Please provide more details as this is very important to health of the watershed as well as impact on our property. > > Also there was lots of discussion about building a turnaround and I am confused with its proposed locaƟon and physical aƩributes. Can you provide more details please. > > As shared, my family is very supporƟve of the objecƟves of this project and are fully supporƟve to moving forward. We also understand there will be access disrupƟons during the construcƟon phase. Good communicaƟons will be required. > > Best, > > Tom and Laura Swain > > 1 Kyle Morell From:Stephen Bradley < Sent:Tuesday, September 9, 2025 7:28 PM To:s.kronmiller; j.cusick; James Gribble; Kirsten Libby; Mike Lubke; Kyle Morell Cc:Claudia Bradley Subject:197th St N Hill We wanted to share our perspective on the proposed road improvement to 197th St N. We live year round at 16975 197th St N. I want to complement the city staff hosting the neighborhood meeting on the hill. They were outstanding in presenting the situation, options, and potential flexibility with the project. The feedback from my neighbors was that they felt respected and listened to in their feedback and issues important to them. We agree completely. Similar to the comments from the 6 neighbors in attendance and others who were on-line or sending written comments, we believe the improvements and rationale around safety, emergency vehicle access, and long term hill integrity to be logical and necessary. There are three points we would like to mention. Safety: We have had quite a few harrowing experiences on the hill as have others. Claudia slid backwards down the hill due to the road conditions two years ago and the only thing that saved her from going over was a small snowbank. The ice slides that form at the bottom of the hill because of poor drainage make for some dangerous ascents and descents. One former resident flipped his truck over the side. Trees stopped him from rolling to the bottom of the cliff. He was able to crawl out of his car to safety while hanging perpendicular over the cliff side. It was an extremely dangerous situation. We left photos with Kyle at the neighborhood meeting this week. Services: It is extremely important to us that we have fast and dependable fire and ambulance protection. If there is a lighting strike or an untended fire out of control, all of our homes could be at risk. Ambulance services have been used by our family and most likely saved my mother’s life. Emergency service access is crucial. We have heard from our propane service , utility and maintenance vehicles about how difficult the hill is to get their vehicles down to service the area. If the road deteriorates further we may not be able to depend on delivery of necessary services to live here. Maintenance : We walk or drive the hill daily year round. The erosion at the top is clearly getting worse and the road is very narrow. If two cars try to pass, one driver needs to drive close to the cliffside where the integrity of the road is not reliable. Recently, we noticed gullies forming over the edge of the hill at the top after a big rain storm. We are down to bedrock in some areas and post rain events the water flow creates gullies running down the hill surface. The conditions will not improve without intervention. We fear if it is not addressed now when money is available then fails in the future, it will be even more expensive to fix , access will be closed and the money may not be available. We fully support the proposed improvements and appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback on timing and process for the work. 2 Thank you for investing in our safety and access to our properties. Claudia and Steve Bradley Claudia Bradley Stephen Bradley September 11, 2025 Scott Wheatlake C: Outdoorsman303720@gmail.com Donald Wheatlake C: Linda Wheatlake-Sundine C: Dear Scandia Council Members We are writing in regards to the 197th Street North Hill Project . We are owners of the property at 16969 at the bottom of the hill. Our family has owned this beautiful spot on the St. Croix River for approximately 90 years. Our Grandfather R.H. McClanahan, a doctor in Whitebear Lake, chose this spot as a sanctuary to go to in nature away from his busy life as a doctor. Now it is a favorite place for his generational family to come every summer from Colorado! Linda and her husband Judd attended the recent neighborhood meeting hosted by some of the Scandia staƯ. They did an outstanding job presenting the need for road improvement for safety reasons as well as better access for emergency vehicles, provided possible options and solutions, and encouraged our questions and concerns. We were deeply impressed with how well each staƯ person listened to our concerns and thoughtfully answered our questions. Although we are only seasonal residents, we support this project. One can easily see that the road is gradually eroding and is very narrow for emergency vehicles. It is only prudent to upgrade and protect the road from further erosion rather than waiting until major repairs are necessary. In addition, having the road as close to standard for emergency vehicles only makes sense. We are grateful that the Scandia staƯ are aware of our needs for a safer road and easy access for any emergency. It is our hope that you will approve to develop a proposal plan for this project, and that we as a community will have input along the way. It is our desire that the road improvement will take into consideration the ambience of our location in nature and the timing of the project to not be during the summer season if possible. Sincerely, Scott Wheatlake, Don Wheatlake, Linda Wheatlake-Sundine 1 Kyle Morell From:Mark Holloway < Sent:Thursday, September 11, 2025 2:18 PM To:Kyle Morell Cc:Scott MacDonald; s.kronmiller; j.cusick; James Gribble; Kirsten Libby; Mike Lubke Subject:Improvements to 197th N Hi Kyle, Mark Holloway here – 16987 197th St. Thanks again for the productive and informative meeting on Monday the 8th. I’ve Cc’d my cousin Scott Macdonald – 16981 197th St., along with a few City Council Members. Can you please pass this along to other City Council Members and/or verify that this gets to the Counsil? In keeping with my comments of support during the meeting earlier this week, I wanted to submit my comments in written form as well. On behalf of me and my family I am writing to support the next step needed to develop plans for improvements to 197th. In addition to supporting the development of plans, we also support eƯorts and improvements to enhance safety and accessibility for property owners and emergency service vehicles. As plans develop, we will look forward to opportunities to provide input and feedback about the proposed improvements. Perhaps it goes without saying but we are very thankful that the City of Scandia and the City Council have identified the current risks associated with 197th and have prioritized the improvements with safety and access in mind. If anyone would need to reach me, I can be contacted by either this email ( or the email I provided at the meeting ( . A good, old phone call also works. Thanks again, Mark Holloway 11 September 2025 Dear Scandia City administrators and City Council Members, Thank you for meeting with residents earlier this week to hear concerns and answer questions. I just watched the recording last night because I was at work during most of the meeting (I’m on Pacific time). I appreciated the collaborative nature of the discussion and your intentional seeking out the concerns from the residents along 197th. My cabin is at 16970 197th St. and of course I love the area. I especially appreciate the area seeming like a rustic retreat, far from the cities and suburbs, even though it is actually pretty close in. I think a lot of the concerns stem from wanting to keep that aesthetic and resist change that will make it seem more developed or suburban in nature. I write to add my 2 cents to the conversation. ● I support approval by the City Council to go ahead with the planning stages of this project. The safety reasons were clear at the meeting (and Isiah explained them over the phone to me at one point). ● My concerns, which can be addressed later as needed are as follows: ○ I’d like to make sure we keep the impact on the animals in mind, since they can’t speak for themselves and were in the river valley first. Their numbers (for the native species) are declining with every habitat alteration. For example, snapping turtles can live a long time (estimated 100 years!) and there is quite a large one that makes the trek UP THE HILL in the spring and lays her eggs in Nick and Emmy’s yard. They are creatures of habit and I’ve seen her for several years now. One year, I confess, I watched her travel for several hours. Can the retaining wall be built in such a way to allow this turtle, and other critters, to follow the wall edge and then climb to the top (or back down)? And when the juvenile turtles make the trek down the hill to the river, can they accomplish that without falling over a steep edge somewhere? Is it possible to put a turtle causeway underneath or next to the road (I know some turtle experts that might have some advice)? At this point you may be rolling your eyes, that’s okay, but if we want to keep enjoying nature, and not let these cabins end up as cabins in suburbia in the future, then we need to consider such things as we go along. ○ Asphalt: I agree with many of my neighbors that any additional paving should be avoided. Even any additional asphalt on the E-W flat top portion. Not only are the old red cedars up there historic, but there’s the beautiful old barn that’s close to the road (as Nick pointed out at the meeting). Furthermore, as any walkers can tell you, asphalt changes the local temperature–it absorbs a lot of sun and radiates heat back into the environment. Paving more of the road would exacerbate that problem. But I do want to add that if at any point you look into asphalt here (or elsewhere in Scandia), I hope you consider the newer asphalt available these days that is more reflective and actually allows some water to pass through it! If the planning process determines that asphalt is recommended, perhaps it could added at a later date if the gravel doesn’t work out. o If having a gravel road is a concern for the amount of traffic, we could develop guidelines to minimize traffic from non-residents (for example, a package lock-box up top so not as many delivery trucks zoom up and down the hill). o I was going to suggest looking at smaller fire trucks, but the Fire Chief clearly explained why that isn’t feasible. I appreciated the explanations about the truck size, gallons of water per minute needed, hydrant capacity, and hoses! o Guardrail: I agree with my neighbors with the “less is more” approach–a low profile guardrail with cables would be preferable to the “W-rail" construction. Again, thank you for your collaborative and thoughtful approach to this project and being intentional about inviting input from the cabin owners. Thank you for your service to our community. Best wishes, Nancy Staub ______________________ Cabin: 16970 197th St N Scandia, MN 55073 Permanent address: 458 W 17th Ave Spokane, WA 99203