Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/07/2008

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Mr. Enstrom stated that another issue is when the road is extended north; there is parkland- dedicated property. Community Development Director Miller stated that it isn't in that particular location. There was a Consensus to move forward with this and have property owner pay for appraisal. 3) Consider Assessment Policy for the Reconstruction of Municipal State Aid (MSA) Streets City Engineer Jankowski stated that currently the City has very few streets that have been reconstructed other than those for sewer and water, and in those cases, they have paid for the replacement. He stated that the City essentially has no policy for this, but there is a policy for sealcoating and overlays. He reviewed these policies and noted that the people that live on MSA pay no more or less than those that live on a residential street. He stated that the second key point has to do with what level of MSA revenues the City has and whether it is sufficient to support ourMSA system. He noted that he attached a case that he prepared for the Public Works Committee, which does an analysis of 10-year needs on MSA streets versus the amount of revenue the City can anticipate. He stated that they came to the conclusions that the City had more needs facing us than MSA dollars, so it would be prudent to leverage those dollars with assessments, when possible. He stated that in the City there is a need for $41,000,000; currently the City is getting approximately $900,000 per year. He stated that in previous years, the City has taken $140,000 from the MSA funds and applied it to the General Fund to pay for things like snowplowing. He stated that generally, on MSA streets, the City has far fewer properties that have access to MSA streets and they typically have double frontage. Councilmember Strommen left the meeting at 8:05 p.m. City Engineer Jankowski stated that he included the results of the 2006 Street Reconstruction Survey from other cities, which noted that the assessments range from $1,600 to a maximum of $7,100. He stated that the majority are 40-60% of the total project costs. He stated that there were a few interesting comments from this survey that he would like to highlight. He stated that Marshall determined that $5,000 was the limit of the assessment, due to increased property values. He stated that most cities did take the opportunity to assess for an improvement that did not exist prior, for example, if you had bituminous curb and gutter and you got a concrete curb and gutter, most would do an assessment. He noted that he had attached a few city policies to give the Council a flavor of what is out there. Mayor Gamec stated that Andrie Street has been discussed for reconstruction and asked if it was going to be a 9-ton road. Public Works Director Olson stated that it is currently 7 ton and will be going to 10 ton. Mayor Gamec stated that his feeling is that what the requires for MSA street should be in a policy, but if people ask for more, then it should be assessed back because it is over and above. He stated that, otherwise, the City could use all of its MSA funds for just a few projects. He City Council Work Session / October 7, 2008 Page 6 of 14