Agenda - Council - 03/25/2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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NOT ELIGIBLE — Work that is required as a condition of obtaining a permit or concurrence for a different transportation project is not eligible for enhancement funding. For example, a city may require a highway expansion project to include streetscape enhancements in order to gain municipal consent. In that case, streetscape work performed to satisfy the municipal consent requirement is not eligible for Transportation Enhancement funding. Federal permitting and authorizing agencies may include the U.S. Forest Service, U. S. Corps of Engineers, and others. State permitting agencies may include the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office. Regional agencies may include watershed districts and metropolitan planning organizations. Local agencies may include counties and cities. RESPONSE: The Mississippi River Trail does not include any elements of required mitigation. It is a bicycle and pedestrial trail that is intended to provide an optimal route for users without causing environmental impacts. Landscaping improvements will be completed as part of project construction. 6. The applicant must assure it will operate and maintain the property and facility of the project for the useful life of the improvement, and not change the use of any right-of-way acquired without prior approval from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. The FHWA requires that states agree to operate and maintain facilities constructed with federal transportation funds for the useful life of the improvement, and not change the use of any right-of- way acquired without prior approval from the FHWA. TAB has determined that this requirement will be applied to the project applicant. FHWA considers most physical constructions and total reconstructions to have a useful design life of 10 years or more, depending on the nature of the project. Bridge constructions and total reconstructions are considered to have useful lives of 50 years. The useful life of the project will be defined in the inter -agency maintenance agreement that must be prepared and signed prior to the project letting. RESPONSE: The City of Ramsey will be the owner and operator of the Mississippi River Regional Trail. The City warrants that this trail and associated improvements will be operated and maintained for the useful life of this facility (including snow removal), estimated to be more than 10 years. The City of Ramsey will not change the use of the right of way without prior approval from the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration. 7. Projects must have an estimated total cost of at least $125,000. There are significant federal project processing requirements that come with federal funds. These requirements translate into expenditures of time and money on the parts of both the agency proposing/developing the project and the state agency administering the federal funds for the project. Project applicants can "bundle" projects together to meet this minimum (Example: bundled projects could consist of signing and lighting a number of bike trails in several counties.) Communities may want to consider using joint powers agreements for implementing bundled projects. RESPONSE: The total estimated costs for this segment of the Mississippi River Regional Trail exceeds the $125,000 minimum threshold established under SAFETEA-LU guidelines. 8. TAB will not award more than $1,000,000 in TE funds to a specific project. Other federal funds may be combined with TE funds. RESPONSE: The City of Ramsey seeks $1,000,000 in TE funds for the Mississippi River Regional Trail segment. 9. Projects must have an assured local (nonfederal funds) match of at least 20% of the estimated total cost of the proposed project. At the time of application, the applicant must assure the local match will 13