Agenda - Public Works Committee - 11/15/2011

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Hansen Tree Farm 2079 Dudley Ave. St. Paul, MN 55108 Nov. 9, 2010 Tim Himmer City Engineer City of Ramsey Tim, Thanks for all the work you've put into the trail plan at the west end of Hansen Tree Farm. It was nice to go over the router with you in person. We've reviewed the first draft of the map and the boilerplate easement. Following are our suggestions and questions. And one caveat is that whatever we rough out our attorney will want to have final review of. We — and I expect the city - would like to keep the trail as standard as possible. Paved, 8' width, and with the normal 2' edge on each side. Do we have the measurements correct? We've only vaguely talked of the duration of the agreement. May I suggest 10 years? And then how about 2 year renewals after that? Is it clear who has liability if there is an injury on the trail? Will there be signage, something like, "Non- motorized Traffic Only"? Would it be appropriate to include, "Please Report Violations Are any of your trails lighted? If so, is this something you may wish to consider? Or, if not, is the dark and forested area of this section a public safety issue? Not a concern to me, I'm only asking because down the line someone else may. You asked us to consider possible conflicts with our use of the easement area. There are really three situations where /when this may happen: • A very few of our customers' vehicles, on weekends, between Thanksgiving and Christmas. • A slim chance that 2 or 3 times when I am mowing in the summer I will overlap an edge of the trail. • Occasional hauling of "yard waste" (such as broken branches or tree stumps) to the composting pile on the wetland side of the trail. • Two possible scenarios that — in the past — we would have to cross the trail with our tractor, to unload trees into the compost area. Either after a huge storm (1999) or if we ever have a surplus of Christmas trees (in 2005 we had about 100 trees). There are several options for tree disposal: chipping, burning, composting, and in the case of mature trees cutting up for lumber or firewood. We have chosen to compost them at that end of our property, but that isn't appealing to the eye. Burning is bad for carbon emissions, and chipping requires a chipper (time and money). A possible solution (should it be necessary to dispose of storm damaged trees or an excess of white or Scotch pine trees) is if the city has a chipper, would you help with disposal? The advantage to our providing an easement is that it will be good for the community. It will also provide extra eyes at an exposed and vulnerable area of our land. In the past a few snowmobiles and ATVs have trespassed from the wetland and damaged our trees. Our hope is that increased non - motorized use will reduce the likelihood of abuse. Thanks, Dave, Mark and Trygg Hansen Hansen Tree Farm