Agenda - Council - 05/09/2000 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CASE ADOPT RIGHT-OF-WAY ORDINANCE By: Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: On January 11, 2000, an ordinance regulating the use of the right-of-way within the City was introduced. This ordinance was patterned after a model ordinance prepared by the League of Minnesota Cities. At that meeting, representatives for Connexus Energy requested an opportunity to meet with City staffto review a number of concerns with the ordinance. Connexus Energy suggested a number of changes to the Ordinance. These changes were reviewed by the City Engineer, the City Attorney and ultimately the Public Works Co~nmittee. The amended ordinance was then reintroduced on March 21, 2000. When the ordinance was considered for adoption at the April 11, 2000 Council meeting, a representative of Reliant Energy appeared requesting adoption be delayed for two Weeks to allow for their in-house expert to review the proposed ordinance. The Council agreed to table the issue until April 25th and again until May 9th, SO that the ordinance could be reviewed by other potentially affected utility companies. Staff has sent copies of the ordinance to Media One, U.S. West, and NSP. City staff has received the attached letter with comments and questions from-Ame Hcndrickson of Minnegasco. Staff does not believe any of Mr. Hendrickson's comments or questions would result in a change to the draft ordinance itself. Instead, the questions and issues raised are more appropriately resolved when a fee schedule is adopted, or the policy of the City becomes established during implementation. For example, the questions relative to Sec. 410.04 as to whether fees would be required on a project basis or could be established anuually or longer for a particular utility could be addressed as an implementation policy issue. Similarly, the decision of whether the City will require removal of abandoned facilities or waive requirement, may likely be a policy decision based upon how crowded a particular right-of-way may be. None of the questions or comments above effects the ordinance as it has been introduced. On Friday May 5, 2000, staff received the attached comments from Mr. David Seykora of Media One regarding the Right-of-Way Ordinance. This letter has been forwarded onto the City Attorney for review. Recommendation: Staff recommends adoption of the right-of-way ordinance contingent upon the City Attorneys favorable review of the comment generated by Media One. Council Action: Motion to adopt Ordinance 00-XX establishing regulations governing activity within the right-of-ways within the City of Ramsey.