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Ms. Susan Hoyt November 12, 1993 Page 3 street which abuts their property was not named in the petition. There is some support for this position. In a case where a property owner of the only lot on the block without a sidewalk petitioned for a sidewalk, with the cost to be assessed against his lot only, the Attorney General held that signature on the petition by only the affected lot owner satisfied the statute. You have informed me that the proposed improvement project is non controversial and that you are aware of no opposition. Under these circumstances, I think the City will be adequately protected if it follows the basic procedure set forth below: 1. Obtain from School District 623 a written petition. The petition should be duly adopted by the school district and should: A. name the street (as defined by end points and by center line, if necessary) which is the location of the improvement; B. describe the improvement, including the plans, specifications and cost estimates. Minn. Stat. 429.031, subd. 3 expressly provides: "[I]f the owner is contracting for the construction of the improvement, the city shall not approve the petition until it has reviewed and approved the plans, specifications, and cost estimates contained in the petition. The construction cost financed under Section 429.091 shall not exceed the amount of the cost estimate contained in the petition." (emphasis added); C. request the City to assess the entire cost of the improvement, including engineer's, attorney's, other consultant's and administrative fees of the City, against the school district property; and D. authorize the appropriate school district official to enter into a cooperative agreement with the City acknowledging benefit to the school district's property in the amount of the cost estimate, waiving all rights to object to the amount of the special assessment, agreeing to pay the assessment plus interest over a five -year period, agreeing to defend and indemnify the City from any claims or liabilities with respect to the improvement project, and other reasonable terms and conditions. 2. The City (and the City Engineer) must review and approve the plans, specifications and cost estimate. 3. The City Council must adopt a resolution which does two things: (i) determines that the petition is duly signed by all owners of real property abutting upon any street named as the location of any improvement in the petition; and (ii) orders the improvement. The order for improvement should be conditioned upon not receiving any objection or appeal within 30 days.