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7.4. SR 07-24-2000Item 7.4. Howard R, Green Oompany QONSULTING ENGINEERS July al, i~000 File: 606550J-0060 The Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway Elk River, MN 55330 RE: 175TM AVENUE IMPROVEMENT STATUS UPDATE CITY OF ELK RIVER, MINNESOTA Dear Council Members: At your June 26, 2000, City Council meeting, a preliminary discussion was held regarding 175th Avenue improvements. City Council direction at that meeting was to keep the project moving and be ready to construct the improvements in 2001. In order to stay on this schedule, we need some further direction from the City Council as to what the project should include and how the project should be assessed, if at all. First, here is a brief update on the status of the project. As you are aware, this project is scheduled for a federal TEA-21 grant. The paperwork necessary to receive the grant has been completed, submitted, reviewed, and comments have been received from Mn/DOT. Those comments have been acted upon, and the revised documents are now at Mn/DOT for final review. In order to construct the improvements, additional right-of-way is necessary. 175th Avenue is an old township road with no documented right-of-way. When we have done previous projects, such as Fillmore Street to the east, we have assumed a prescriptive rights for a portion of the right-of-way. We are proceeding along the same lines with this project; however, there is still additional right-of-way outside of the prescriptive rights that would be necessary for the overall improvements. A total of 17 parcels have been identified from which the City will need to acquire small strips of land. At this point, the necessary land acquisition has been identified, and legal descriptions have been written, but none of the property owners have been approached. Finally, preliminary plans are approximately 70% complete. All topographic survey is done. Preliminary layouts for sanitary sewer and water, whether installed initially or at a later date, have been established, along with center line grades and cross section for the street. Ultimately, the 175th Avenue corridor will include a rural design roadway, approximately 40 feet wide which will have one lane in each direction and wide shoulders. There will be enough right- of-way for a detached pathway on the north side. Drainage improvements will include those typically found with a rural road design, that being roadside ditches, driveway culverts, and perhaps cross culverts under the roadway. Trunk watermain and sanitary sewer will be needed down the corridor to serve the property on the north side of 175th Avenue which is in the urban service district. Ltr-071900-Mayor and Councill-175th.doc 1326 Energy Park Drive · St. Paul, MN 55108 · 6511644-4389 fax 651/644-9446 toll free 8881368-4389 The Honorable Mayor and City Council July 21, 2000 Page Two There are really two ways the City could approach this project. The first project option is to construct the street improvement at this point in time and wait on the sanitary sewer and water until a later date. As the City Council is aware, this portion of the urban service district adjacent to 175th Avenue is earmarked for urban services starting in 2007. If the sanitary sewer and water are delayed until a future date, we would recommend that the bituminous detached trail not be installed and that this corridor north of the roadway be preserved for the installation of utilities at a later date, followed by the installation of the detached trail. We have reviewed the necessary depth for the sanitary sewer and feel that, with some minor modifications to the construction techniques on the westerly edges, it will be possible to install both utilities on the north side of the roadway without endangering the road itself. We would expect, however, the City would pay an additional $25,000 to $35,000 for difficulty of construction. We would still recommend, if this option is followed, that the City acquire all necessary right-of-way for the future construction at this time. If this is the course that is followed, we have estimated the total street construction project cost at $650,000. The federal grant the City has received is $360,000. This leaves the unfunded portion of the project at approximately $290,000. The City would need to use street reserves for this unfunded portion since all MSA funds have been spent. To this amount, the City will need to add the cost of land acquisition. The very rough preliminary estimate of land values based on assessed values in the Sherburne County tax rolls is approximately $93,000. Evergreen Land Services estimated the cost for acquisition services at $42,000. These estimates would indicate a total land acquisition cost of $135,000. The City does have the ability to assess the street cost. Assuming an assessment rate of $36.00 per front foot and excluding Cargill land, the most the City can expect through assessments would be $180,000. However, another option the City may want to consider is attempting to get the land acquisition from the benefited property owners at no cost in exchange for no street assessment, given the time and cost associated with the land acquisition. The second project option would be to do the sanitary sewer and water with the street improvement and the trail at the same time. The total cost of this option would be $1,250,000. The TEA-21 grant would remain the same. It is unlikely that the City could assess for the utilities until 2007 or until a developer petitioned for the improvements, so the City would have to hold the cost of the sanitary sewer and water. Of course, in the future, the City would have the availability of trunk assessments at $6,000 an acre plus any inflation factor plus lateral assessments for a few of the properties immediately adjacent to the utilities under 175th Avenue. The land acquisition costs would be the same with this option so the City again could consider paying for the land acquisition and in turn assessing for the street improvement or, as outlined above, trying to acquire the necessary right-of-way at no cost in exchange for no street assessment. In order to continue work on this project and have it ready to construct in 2001, staff would need decisions on a couple of issues: (1) which way to proceed with the project--with utilities or without utilities and (2) how to proceed with the land acquisition. If the City Council wants to Ltr-071900-Mayor and Councill-175th.doc Howard R, Green Company CONSULTING ENGINEERS The Honorable Mayor and City Council July 21, 2000 Page Three assess the street improvements, we assume the land acquisition will follow the normal course of negotiations and of paying for the acquired land. If the City Council would like to follow the other option laid out of no street assessment in exchange for the necessary right-of-way, staff will proceed on the land acquisition following this scenario. If you have any questions regarding this project, I will be attendance at your July 24, 2000, City Council meeting. Sincerely, Howard R. Green Company /erryJ. Maurer, . . TJM/mjw Ltr-071900-Mayor and Councill-175th.doc Howard R, Green Company CONSULTING ENGINEERS