In its April meeting, the Breezy Point City Council held a lengthy discussion regarding traffic and parking issues along Shoreview Lane.
The city’s road committee received a formal complaint regarding these issues, including difficulty emergency vehicles may have navigating that street. Some residents advocated for lowering the speed limit in the area.
“This weekend, there were strollers, seniors and pedestrians,” resident Steve Jenson said when addressing the council with his concerns. “Why not? It’s a great place to walk, but the road is narrow and there is a lot of traffic. It is not safe.”
Additional solutions brought forward included limit parking on one side of the street and posting additional speed limit signs.
Council members agreed that this needs to be addressed, but discussed further - possibly with individuals at the county and state level, particularly in regard to potential speed limit changes.
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“It will take some time for us to go through this,” Mayor Todd Roggenkamp said. “This is an ongoing piece. It is a process. The road committee has come forward with some recommendations to us to start somewhere. I don’t think it signals an end-all-be-all where we wash our hands of this. I think it is starting somewhere, and we have to memorialize and get to the point where we have a track record for this road, so that we can work in that process.
“The city is going to give its best efforts to correct the situation. At the end of the day, I don’t know if we are going to make everyone completely comfortable or happy with where the results end up.”
In other action during the Monday, April 5, meeting, the council:
Approved a disc golf tournament to take place on the city course Sunday, June 6. Council members also approved a motion allowing city staff to approve such tournament requests in the future without bringing them to the council.
Approved a Ranchette Road feasibility expansion project, spanning from County Road 11 to Buschmann Road. The cost of the study is not to exceed $10,000.
Approved the purchase of playground equipment to replace the existing equipment at the City Hall Park, not to exceed $140,000.
Adopted an ordinance to establish a city technology committee, consisting of two council members, various staff members and the city’s information technology provider.
Approved its 2021-22 fire contract with the city of Pequot Lakes, totaling $101,918.54.
Approved a request to allow geocaching at the disc golf course. This allows Breezy Point residents Chuck and Judie Chowins to place two caches in the course as a part of a recreational activity where participants use GPS devices to hide and find containers.
In March, the Breezy Point Police Department responded to 157 incidents, an increase of 31 from March 2020. Among the incidents were two traffic arrests, two crashes, one theft and one fire.
Breezy Point City Hall struggled with technical issues Monday, April 5, leaving the video and Zoom recordings of the city council meeting without audio, which is why this story wasn't published in the April 7 Echo Journal.
Dan Determan may be reached at 218-855-5879 or dan.determan@pineandlakes.com. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@PEJ_Dan.
