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City Manager Fialho said yes, it is largely dependent upon development. The <br />infrastructure would need to be funded and development entitlements need to be in place <br />to assure that property owners can make an investment in the property to compensate <br />them for the investment they are going to make in roadway improvements. <br />Councilmember McGovern said the east side of town is the area where most growth could <br />actually occur and she felt the city needs to move forward on the specific plan and try to <br />get some infrastructure improvements that would help that area of town. Mr. Fialho agreed <br />and indicated the frustration that staff and Council has is that the General Plan update <br />needs to be completed first before they can prepare a specific plan for the east side. Once <br />this is done, more clarity can be provided along with timelines as it relates to the <br />infrastructure for that area. Regarding the second bridge, Mr. Fialho said it is supposed to <br />be four lanes over the Arroyo. One bridge currently exists and through the CIP program <br />staff is allocating an additional $2.7 million to complete that project. She said she wanted <br />the community to have a timeline to look at and how this will get done. She said regarding <br />the Valley Avenue and Santa Rita residents, safety of school children is extremely <br />important and they have brought some ideas and plans of how to make that area safer. <br />She asked if staff was looking at those items to move forward. <br />Traffic Engineer Tassano advised that staff is working on safety improvements and is <br />moving forward with several of them including the flashing beacons, additional signing, <br />radar speed signs, curb cut locations and removal of crosswalks. Staff is addressing each <br />one of those. He said staff is starting a bicycle and pedestrian master plan which will <br />specifically look at school routes and specific improvements.. The city received a grant <br />and the Council would hopefully be approving a resolution to accept those funds. <br />Councilmember McGovern said she asked Public Works Director Wilson when the last <br />time Santa Rita had been resurfaced and he indicated it was 1988. She was trying to push <br />for the highly traveled streets such as Santa Rita, Hopyard and others to move forward <br />and get some of the noise attenuating surfaces on them. Mr. Wilson said they have looked <br />at this already and in the next five year CIP program it added what they believe is the <br />incremental cost for sound attenuating asphalt into the budget. <br />Councilmember Sullivan disclosed he spoke with the applicant on the phone, met with <br />representatives, Nancy Allen and residents about six months ago. Regarding traffic, we <br />are projecting future traffic on a computer model and he believes that even with the <br />Stoneridge extension any improvements or gains over time would evaporate based on <br />demand. Regarding truck traffic, he felt it would be difficult to monitor and adding an <br />additional 20-25 trucks per day would not yield success. He felt the real issue of traffic <br />would be on weekends given the full build out of California Splash and a Home Depot. He <br />felt accurate data was needed. Regarding the economic and fiscal picture, he was happy <br />with what was presented by staff, but he felt the City's long-term local economy should be <br />reviewed as well as impacts to other small businesses that may be affected and hoped <br />that the Economic Vitality Committee and Chamber would be interested in doing this. He <br />also felt the Council needs to determine what it wants the City to look like from a quality of <br />life standpoint. He felt there should be a balanced mix of small and large businesses to <br />sustain the city's economy over the long term because he felt Home Depot spreads risk <br />over thousands of stores. <br />With regard to the site Councilmember Sullivan agreed everyone close to the store would <br />love to have a Longs Drugs, a Starbucks and a Home Depot. He felt this part of the <br />City Council Minutes 13 May 15, 2007 <br />