Agenda - Council - 07/13/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CASE # ~r O`'~ CONSIDER RIGHT OF WAY PLAN FOR VARIOLITE STREET EXTENSION INTO THE COR By: Tim Himmer, City Engineer Background: Over the past year staff has been approached on separate occasions by two property owners that currently reside along this future north-south local road corridor for information about the status of this project. A case to consider the acquisition of Lot 1, Block 1 PINEVIEW ESTATES 2~`D ADDITION was discussed by both the Public Works and Finance Committees last summer, and it was the consensus of each that the City should not be actively purchasing property for this project until a funding source, alignment, and schedule was developed. Staff was directed to initiate a process to begin preparation of a right of way plan for State Aid submittal and consideration, which could result in a funding source for future acquisitions along this corridor. The P W Committee discussed potential alignments of such a plan on September 15, 2009 and the following issues were identified for additional research: • Could the City utilize State Aid funds to acquire properties over time and lease them back to the homeowners? • Are the residents in the area interested in selling? • How much would potential acquisitions cost in today's market? • How could we best limit direct access onto any future roadway through this area Staff was directed to gather additional information on these items and report back to the committee so an alignment could be chosen, contact could be made with the appropriate residents, and a right of way plan could be developed and submitted to MnDOT to review. The requested information was compiled by staff and presented to the PW Committee on June 15, 2010. The Committee agreed that we should meet with the residents to educate them on the need for the project and listen to their thoughts and ideas on such a connection (see item 5.16 -report from public works listed on the consent agenda), but they could not agree on whether we should choose an alignment prior to making resident contact or wait until we solicit their feedback before deciding on an alignment. Observations: This roadway project was added to the City's State Aid system in 2003 and has been in the Capital Improvement Program (CIP) since 2004. Currently it shows proposed funding of $1.7M from Sate Aid, beginning with $700,000 for acquisition in 201 I. In reviewing the potential alignments discussed with the PW Committee last summer the acquisition costs are estimated substantially higher than this amount (see attached). Staff has discussed this matter further with the Metro State Aid office of MnDOT and received the attached e-mail in response to our inquiry. They are agreeable to utilizing State Aid funds for the required acquisitions along the corridor once they have had the opportunity to review and approve a right of way plan submitted by the City. If the City is able to acquire properties in advance of construction and generate income from those properties through leases those proceeds must be used to offset future project costs and cannot be utilized for any other purpose.