Agenda - Council - 09/23/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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based on trunk highway needs; however, the proposed establishment of other land use controls, including an official map, would strengthen justifications for such projects. Mn/DOT and the City of Ramsey can also explore the possibility of using Special Project Advancement procedures to acquire right-of-way earlier than traditionally done by Mn/DOT. In order to take advantage of this "Early Acquisition" opportunity, a risk assessment must be completed for the area targeted for right-of-way preservation. Approval to use Special Project Advancement measures must be received from the Mn/DOT District Engineer and the Director of the Office of Land Management. Funding for Special Project Advancement may only be granted for projects where no federal funding is available for right-of-way preservation activities. Ramsey-Mn/DOT Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)- The overall process to adopt the official map, manage the mapped properties, and to reach additional decisions about TH 10 improvements will take time. Some of the key anticipated steps will include: · City of Ramsey actions to adopt the official map, along with possible interim zoning actions (planned for the coming months); · The use of RALF program funds, or other funding sources, to begin property owner compensation and acquisition activities (to commence in the coming years); and Other actions to investigate the engineering design, environmental impacts, and funding of possible TH 10 improvements (planned to commence in the next few years). Some details of this process are uncertain. However, the City of Ramsey and Mn/DOT have committed to work together going forward and propose to outline their planned joint efforts in a memorandum of understanding (MOU). For more discussion of the MOU, please see the Mitigation Plan at the end of this document. Long-Term Riq~ht-of-Way Preservation and Acquisition Longer-term preservation and property acquisition include the transfer of title or other rights to a public agency through fee simple acquisitions, donations, required dedications, public and private partnerships, zoning and subdivision controls, land exchanges, or transfer of development rights to other properties. Such tools definitively ensure that lands are, or will be, available for an approved transportation facility when needed and require more capital outlay than does official mapping. While permanent land acquisitions are very possible along TH 10 in Ramsey, such actions are not needed nor appropriate at this time. There is not yet any preliminary engineering design, nor any detailed corridor planning and environmental studies, required to support a final highway improvement decision. Furthermore, no sources of funding sufficient to support major upgrades to TH 10 have been identified. Therefore, the proposed official mapping along the corridor is considered the appropriate right-of- way preservation approach for an interim period- approximately the next 5 to 10 years. RAMSEY TH 10 CORRIDOR AUAR 9