Agenda - Council Work Session - 11/01/2011

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DATE Public Utilities Commission Attn: Matt Langan 121 7" Place E, Suite 350 St. Paul, MN 55101 -2147 RE: Great River Energy Enterprise Park to Crooked Lake 115 kV Transmission Line City of Ramsey Comments Matt: Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the proposed project. The City of Ramsey appreciates the efforts of Great River Energy and the Public Utilities Commission in supplying the City with consistent and reliable service well into the future. We look forward to continued collaboration as we look to achieve our future land use goals. Consistent with our communication to Mark Strofus dated April 26, 2011, the City of Ramsey wishes to reiterate our desire to ensure that the location of the proposed transmission line be placed on the north side of Bunker Lake Boulevard as it crosses the Rum River through the City's Rivers Bend Park. Attached is a background memo explaining our findings to support such an alignment. We thank Great River Energy for taking into account our comments and revising the proposed alignment accordingly. The City would also like to take this opportunity to comment on tree removal practices the City has been observing in recent projects. While we understand and appreciate the need and rights to remove trees for safety and operational reasons to ensure continued reliable service, we ask that tree removal be minimized as much as possible in order to preserve this valuable resource for the community. To this end, we ask that care be taken, and the proper survey verifications be done, to ensure that tree removal by your contractors is not occurring outside of the utility easement and /or right -of -way. Also, there are a few, relatively minor suggestions the City hopes can be taken into account. First, the City would like to see any pole located just west of the Rum River on the south side of Bunker Lake Boulevard be located as easterly as possible to avoid conflicts with the existing commercial parcel located at 13939 Ramsey Blvd. NW. Secondly, the City supports the primary preferred route west of Saint Francis Boulevard that is located on the south side of Bunker Lake Boulevard as it minimizes conflicts with existing trails and infrastructure, including the existing radio tower. Next, the City would request and support an access connection or trail connecting McKinley Street to the Enterprise Park substation to ensure adequate public safety access in the event of an emergency. Furthermore, the City, in order to avoid any potential construction conflicts, notes that Anoka County has begun a reconstruction project to widen and improve Bunker Lake Boulevard through the cities of Ramsey and Anoka.