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Falcon Heights Page 3 minutes the parties came to a resolution on what the city should pay. It was more than the original purchase offer, but less than the first proposal from a property owner. Neither party exchanged harsh words during the process. Results Four things resulted from this meeting: 1) The city accomplished its objective of acquiring the easements to construct an important sidewalk along a busy street without going to court. 2) The city spent $2,170 more than originally offered for this acquisition, but substantially less than the estimated $8,000 to $10,000 that it would have cost to go to court and possibly get the same resolution. (Part of the additional cost was that owners of the four properties who accepted the original price were also paid the higher rate.) The dispute resolution process cost the city $10. 3) The residents left with a better understanding of the project from this small group meeting and knowing that the city is willing to talk and consider their point of view. And, rather than building upon the tensions that arose between the city and property owners over this street project, it substantially reduced them. 4) The city's success from meeting with a very small group of residents to discuss the street project, lead the city to change how it plans for street projects. As part of the process, the city administrator and engineer now, not only meet with residents from the individual neighborhoods about the project, they also meet with a few representatives of each neighborhood. In these meetings they pull out the plans and talk about the project's impact before being presented to the council for its consideration. This small group approach continues to be successful in preparing better plans and substantially reducing confrontations at the public hearings on street projects (see attached article).