6.4. SR 07-06-2004 Howard R, Green Qompany
July 2, 2004
File: 230000M-0325
Item 6.4.
Honorable Mayor and City Council
City of Elk River
13065 Orono Parkway
Elk River, MN 55330
RE:
RIDGES OF RICE LAKE HOMEOWNER'S ASSOCIATION
REQUEST TO PAVE 221sT AVENUE
Dear Council Members:
Attached is a letter from Mr. Dave Steiner, President of the Ridges of Rice Lake Homeowners'
Association. As I am sure you are aware, Ridges of Rice Lake is the clustered neighborhood being
developed on the north side of 221st Avenue between CSAH 1 and TH 169. Mr. Steiner's letter
requests that the City pave the remaining portion of 221st Avenue, which is approximately a half-
mile of gravel road between the main entrance to Ridges of Rice Lake going easterly to
approximately the abandoned railroad trail.
To fully consider this request from the Homeowners' Association of Ridges of Rice Lake, some
background is necessary. Staff would offer the follow comments and thoughts for the Council's
consideration:
City Council has had no financial involvement in paving the portions of 221st Avenue
between TH 169 and CSAH 1 that are currently paved. The developers of Ridges of
Rice Lake paved the portion of 221 st Avenue from Ridges of Rice Lake to the west to
CSAH 1. It should be noted that it was not a requirement of the plat, but a request of
the developers, that they be allowed to pave that portion of 221 st Avenue for marketing
purposes. The easterly portion of 221st Avenue from TH 169 to approximately the
abandoned railroad bed was paved by the gravel mining operations in the area. This
paving was done at their expense, in conjunction with working with the City staff.
o
At the time of the initial development of the Ridges of Rice Lake plat, the developers
indicated that they had plans in the future to develop more property to the east. As
properties to the east were developed, it was anticipated by City staff that there would
be a requirement of any development to pave the remaining portion of 221st Avenue.
To date, there has been no indication that further developments along 221st Avenue will
be forthcoming.
o
Currently, the City has approximately 15 miles of gravel roads. Although the Street
Department and Engineering Department would like to have no gravel roads, it is not
economically possible for the City to take on the burden of paving this many miles of
road.
There is an ongoing maintenance cost to maintain a relatively short stretch of gravel
roadway at the City's extreme north end of town. Paving the gravel portion of 221st
Avenue would reduce the maintenance costs incurred for that roadway.
S:\Engineer\pave221 .doc
2550 University Avenue West · Suite 400N · St. Paul, MN 55114 · 651/644-4389 fax 651/644-9446 toll free 888/368-4389
City Council
July 2, 2004
Page Two
If the City Council were to direct that the gravel portion of 221st Avenue be paved in
anticipation that the money could be recovered if a development adjacent to this portion
of roadway were to occur in the near future, staff feels that it would be very difficult to
recover all of the City's investment, and may be difficult to recover any of the
investment. No developer wants to market a new development from a gravel road, and
is therefore generally willing to do the paving leading up to their development. If the
paving is completed, it is more likely that the developer, if asked to pay for the City's
investment, will look at it like an assessment whereby the development would pay for
the half of the road their development sits on and the frontage that it covers of the
paved portion.
The mention in Mr. Steiner's letter that the Ridges of Rice Lake has received little or no
street sweeping/maintenance is due to the fact that the developers essentially are still
responsible for the roads in the development. The final lift of bituminous has not been
placed on the roadways as of this time. It is anticipated this work will be completed in
the summer of 2004, at which time the City will take over maintenance and operation of
the roadways. Presently, the City's maintenance department only plows the snow from
the roadways. Once the roads are completed, they will be swept, crack sealed, and
seal coated in a normal rotation with all other residential roadways within the City of Elk
River.
7. It is also important to mention that all families in Ridges of Rice Lake acquired and/or
built their homes with 221st Avenue in the condition that currently exists. Staff has from
time to time received calls asking what the City's plans are for completing the paving of
the roadway; the answer always given is that as future development occurs on the
gravel stretch of roadway, the City will work with the developer to pave the remaining
portion.
8. There have been some initial discussions with Sherburne County that 221st Avenue
may make a good candidate for turnback from the City to the County at some point in
the future for continuation of County Road 21 west of TH 169.
City staff is looking for direction from the Council on how to react to the request from the Ridges of
Rice Lake Homeowners' Association. City staff could prepare an analysis of the cost and internal
funding scenarios available for paving this portion of 221st Avenue. If it is the Council's desire to
proceed with this request, this work could likely be completed in 2004
I will be at your July 6, 2004, City Council meeting to discuss this issue further.
Sincerely,
Howard R. Green Company
Terry J. Maurer, P.E.
TJM:sw
S:\Engineer\pave221 .doc
Howard R. Green Company
Ridges of Rice
I-Iorneowners
Association
June 29,2004
Lake
Elk River City Hall
13065 Orono Pkwy
Elk River, MN 55330
Dear Mayor Klinzing and City Council Members Dietz, Kuester, Motin and Tveite:
As president of the Ridges of Rice Lake Homeowners Association, i'm writing you on behalf our
association members. We are proud of our neighborhood and many of us, that are new residents of
Elk River, are proud to be pad of your community.
I suspect you are familiar with the development, but I'd like to take a few words to describe our
association members. We currently have approximately 30 families. Within this small population, we
coach 8 youth sports teams, lead a cub scout troop, volunteer in 6 school classrooms, teach
accelerated reading classes, co-chaired "United for Kids" and participate in many other community
church volunteer activities. While we are a new neighborhood, we already have deep, rooted
commitments to adding value to the community.
Our "giving" is not purely time, however. Approximately $1500 per year per household goes towards a
city tax. We are not on city water or sewer (we pay @ $450 per household for our private systems) and
to date, we have little to no street sweeping/maintenance. While there are future plans for a city park,
we currently do not have one and have taken common area land and donated materials to create a
skating area for the kids in the development.
The purpose of this letter is to request that you pave the remaining % mile of gravel road on 221st
Avenue Northwest. As you probably know, it is the primary route to highway 169. In its current
condition, it represents a driving safety risk (as opposed to a paved road). I'm sure you are frequently
spending money to have it graded. Right or wrong, most builders and realtors set the expectation with
homeowners, that the road would be paved.
I, and other association board members, would like the opportunity to talk with you about the timing and
action for this request. We feel it is a reasonable baseline expectation for our neighborhood.
Please contact me at your earliest convenience to discuss the next steps.
Sincerely,
Dave Steiner
President, Ridges of Rice Lake Homeowners Association
(763) 559-6451 (home)
(763) 232-6439 (cell)
Dave. Steiner@Target.com