Agenda - Public Works Committee - 02/19/2008

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CASE#~ RECEIVE RESULTS OF DIRT DRIVEWAY PAVING SURVEY By; Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: The topic of promoting the paving of unpaved driveways within the City has been a topic of discussion since the June 19, 2007 Public Works Committee meeting and was subsequently discussed at the September 18,2007 and November 20,2007 Public Works Committee meetings. At the latest meeting the Committee wished to determine the degree of interest in paving by approving the mailing of a survey to be sent to properties with one or more unpaved or partially paved driveways. The post office delivered the attached survey and accompanying letter to 455 properties and 174 responses (38%) were received. Of these responses five had reported that their driveways are now paved or are in the process of being paved, and two reported that they lived on unpaved streets. Recall that the cost of paving the first 50 feet of driveway might be expected to range between $1,500 and $3,000. Also recall that the Engineering Department survey conducted last summer provided the following information relative to the scope of the unpaved driveway issue: . There were a total of 498 unpaved driveways identified . 366 unpaved driveways were the primary driveway for the property . 132 unpaved driveways were secondary driveways . 19 driveways were generally paved but had a short unpaved length between the paved driveway and the street. Observations: The attached sheet contains a summary of the survey responses to questions one through four. In general, roughly two thirds ofthe respondents expressed an emphatic lack of interest in pursuing the paving of their driveways. This compares to approximately 15% of the respondents that expressed strong interest in wishing to have their driveway paved and a similar percentage of respondents that were mildly interested in the concept (those respondents which indicated a level of interest between 4 and 7)~ There is a strong correlation in the response to Question #2 (Why isn't your driveway paved?) with the opposition to driveway paving noted above. 68% of respondents stated that they preferred an unpaved driveway or that having an unpaved driveway wasn't a problem. Below is a summary of other reasons submitted by respondents to Question #2: . Gravel or dirt drives are more environmentally friendly . . Gravel or conbit should be considered adequate . Anticipate relocating current drive or selling to a developer . Unpaved drive is a second drive with minimal use . Anticipate truck traffic which would damage a paved drive . Rock or stone drives are aesthetic . Street drains onto lot; paving drive would exacerbate problem 5