Agenda - Council - 04/25/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I ,I CASE ISSUES SURROUNDING THE CLOSURE OF 171ST AVENUE , BETWEEN BISON AND ZEOLITE STREETS By: Steve Jankowski, City Engineer Background:! At the last Ci~ Council meeting, the Road and Bridge Committee recommended the temporary elos~are of 171st Avenue N.W. between Bison Street N.W. and Zeolite Street N.W. I could r~ot support this recommendation since I indicated that such an action would result in a situa~on where 17 residences along a nearly one-half mile of roadway would be limited to a sir~gle access point. Although such situations may exist in other parts of the City, changing, fhlfrom the exis, ting situation to the proposed would be counterproductive to the goals of m .a[lcing the City s transportation system flexible and efficient and particularly to the goal of n~alntaining good emergency access. Attorney Goodrich and I were directed to provide theCouncil with information on the following issues: 1) What is thelcost of obtaining right-of-way access from the south end of the dirt cul-de- sac of Bisofi Street to the north plat boundary of Trott Brook Ridge? 2) Right-of-W. ay would need to be obtained for a distance of approximately 350' from the point the e~isting dirt road terminates. This property would need to be acquired from two landor/rets. We have estimated the acquisition to be $7,000 per acre, or $3,500. In addifion~ it is estimated that eminent domain proceedings could cost $10,000 for these two p~operfies. Finally, tree removal and grading necessary for the connection of the dirt road to the Trott Brook Ridge plat boundary is estimated to be $3,500. [ 3) What was tO be done with Bison Street N.W. when Dellwood Hills was approved? Attached is the ~evelopment agreement between the City and Dellwood Hills. Paragraph 14 on page 5 6f the agreement addresses the issue of the paving of Bison Street quite specifically. ; Bison Street NW Improvement. The City has determined that Bison Street Northwest, which is a stre~ providing access to the Plat, needs to be improved including bituminous surfacing. The City is considering this improvement as a special assessment project. The Developer agrees to make advance payment to the City in the amount of Nine thousand Four Hundred-Thirty-four and 00/100 Dollars ($9,434.00) which is the City Engineer's estimate of the ibenefit Lots 1 and 9 of the Plat would receive from the improvement of Bison Street N.W. The City agrees that it will not further assess any of the lots in the Plat for the hard s .u,l-face improvement of Bison Street N.W. The said $9,434.00 will be deposited with t~e City prior to recording of the final plat. 4) What are th~ liability issues of closing a street? M.S. §412.221,1Subd. 6 grants the Council the power to maintain and control its streets. This does, therefore, give the Council the authority to close a street temporarily or permanently in 6rder to safeguard and protect the public. The justificatio~n for the closing of a street should be public safety or convenience and welfare of the ~tizens of the community. In order for a decision to close a street to be constitutional, ~the decision must be reasonable, uniform in operation, and not discriminatory ~ oppressive. McOuillin Municipal Co _rporations, 3rd Edition, §24.616.