OAK PARK HEIGHTS - Already buzzing with construction of a new $20 million skilled-care facility, Boutwells Landing approached the Oak Park Heights City Council Tuesday with plans for two other, significantly smaller projects.

The first would create a tunnel under 58th Street that would link the senior living facility's main building with a new parking lot to be built near Norrell Avenue, immediately south of Wal-Mart.

The proposed pedestrian tunnel would run from the lower level of the new skilled-care building to an elevator across the street that would take users to ground level. This morning, Campus Administrator Deb Boyd said the tunnel would benefit both employees who would park in the lot and Boutwells residents who like to walk to nearby businesses.

On the opposite side of campus, Boutwells representatives sought permission to build a "historic village" that would include a schoolhouse, gazebo and chapel set around a public square just off of Norwich Parkway.

"Our vision is for a small historic village and park area that will allow our residents another place to enjoy on the grounds and hopefully also be a place that local schools can use to show their students what it was like to go to school back in the 1860s," Boyd said.

The historic one-room schoolhouse is already in place and undergoing renovation; on Tuesday Boutwells officials asked the city council to allow them to complement it with a new, wooden chapel modeled after the Second Presbyterian Church of Stillwater, as well as a gazebo and related trails and site improvements.

When it is complete, Boutwells representatives said they hope to use the McKean Square Historic Village as a venue for outdoor concerts, visits with local schoolchildren, and other public events.

The city council unanimously approved both requests, with relatively little discussion.

Boyd said she expects construction of the tunnel to begin in mid-June and last for between three and four weeks, during which time part of 58th Street will be closed and through traffic will be routed onto Norwich Parkway. She the historic schoolhouse renovation will be completed this fall, and construction of the chapel and gazebo will depend on the success of future fundraising efforts.

Bus garage

The city council was also asked to consider whether to allow a property at 5280-5302 Stagecoach Trail to again serve as a garage and storage facility for District 834 school buses.

In 1999 and 2001 the council allowed Ryder Student Transportation and First Student to store buses at the site, but more recently the school's bus company has operated out of a site in Lake Elmo, near Interstate 94, allowing the previous Oak Park Heights conditional-use permits to expire.

Addressing the council, Stillwater schools Assistant Superintendent Ray Queener said he is looking to return to the former site because relocating the buses to a more central location would save the school system a significant amount in fuel costs by reducing the distance buses would have to travel to and from their assigned routes.

Whereas the site, owned by Syd Stephan, was previously leased directly by the school district's bus service provider, the new 10-year lease would be held by District 834.

Council members were generally supportive of the idea, but some voiced concern over a proposed 14,000-gallon, above-ground fuel tank. Queener said the tank would allow the district to buy large quantities of diesel fuel at a lower price, it would be shielded on three sides by a 10-foot fence, and that the tank the district is considering has a number of advanced safety features.

The council ultimately approved the request 4-1, with Mayor David Beaudet dissenting.

Signs of strife

After rejecting a proposal from the Minnesota Department of Transportation that would have had the state agency resurface Highway 36 frontage roads in exchange for the city agreeing to take on some routine maintenance of them, the Oak Park Heights City Council decided to post signs blaming MnDOT for the streets' poor condition.

The council agreed to spend up to $600 to develop and install signs at several points along the roads that "advise the motoring public that the frontage roads are the responsibility of (MnDOT) and that they should contact the Governor's Office and/or MnDOT for complaint resolution."

Beaudet suggested the signs as a way to make drivers aware of the fact that MnDOT controls the frontage roads and is reluctant to fix them.

"I just want to make it clear to everyone that we didn't get an agreement with MnDOT," he said. "The cost is minimal."

Councilwoman Mary McComber said she still considered $600 too much to spend on such a gesture.

"I don't think it's really necessary to put up these signs. I think it might be better to put that statement in our upcoming newsletter so our residents are aware of it, as opposed to making the expenditure."

Councilman Mark Swenson said he would typically favor a more understated approach, but he sees the frontage roads as enough of an issue to justify the signs.

"I'm going to support this one, just because of the fact that of any item that we get in conversations about right now, the most common is the condition of our frontage roads," he said. "They're getting worse and worse and worse, and I think people need to know that we want to make them safe and travel-worthy, but it's out of our control."

At that, McComber bristled.

"It's not out of our control. We had an opportunity to get a mill-and-overlay agreement with MnDOT, and we rejected it," she said.

The motion passed 4-1, with McComber dissenting.

In other business, the council ...

• accepted the issuance of $6.3 million in municipal bonds for the construction of a new city hall. Steve Mattson of Northland Securities said his firm was able to place the bonds at an average rate of 4.07 percent, suggesting the owner of a $200,000 home would see their annual property tax bill increase by $78 for the 20-year term of the bonds. The motion passed 4-1, with McComber dissenting over concerns that $6.3 million is too much to spend on a new city hall.
  
  
• approved a revenue collections agreement that would have the city pass along revenue from a recently instated lodging tax to the newly formed Stillwater & Oak Park Heights Convention & Visitor Bureau, which will use the funds to promote tourism to the area.