06-14-2006 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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• contains a contingency regarding acquisition of land from McDonald's for the realignment of Viking Drive. • Acquisition of the Oasis convenience Store at Viking Drive and Rice Street. I have talked with the President of Oasis, and he has indicated an interest in selling this property. The price he has mentioned to date is in line with Ramsey County's estimated market value of $887,800 (See parcel info attached). I am meeting with him on Wednesday to have further discussions. • Finalization of property transfers with McDonald's that represents a "fair" transaction from our respective standpoints. (They would like the Oasis parcel and the County's excess Rice Street right -of -way in exchange for the easterly 60 feet of their current site. They recognize that there is enhanced value by this exchange, but not at the full value of the Oasis parcel. Therefore, we will have to negotiate what the added value they gain from this transaction. • Make a determination of additional right -of -way acquisition will be necessary from the property at 85 Viking Drive West due to the need to have an acceptable radius on the curve for the connecting street. • Realignment of Viking Drive to allow for the best traffic flow through the McDonald's site. This would involve construction of the connecting street to Minnesota. An upgrade to Viking Drive is also on the horizon so it may be an excellent time to pursue this project. Enclosed are some sketches McDonald's prepared relative to a new restaurant and contemplating Viking Drive realignment. The first uses the County's excess right -of -way while maintaining the "L- shaped" piece to the east for parking and traffic flow. The second drawing assumes the acquisition of the Oasis parcel and parking is then reconfigured using that land to free up the easterly 60 feet for use for the road realignment. The third assumes that their restaurant is constructed after the acquisition of the Oasis property. This layout is better from their standpoint in terms of parking, traffic flow, and building visibility. It is better from the City and County's perspective in that no accesses off of Rice Street exist thereby minimizing traffic conflicts. They have also moved the access off of Minnesota 60 feet from the property line to meet our code requirements. Lastly, all movements will be to the new Viking Drive connection to Minnesota and all thus will end up being regulated by the traffic signal at Minnesota. Staff believes we have a unique opportunity to address a difficult problem. While it will be a costly venture, these costs are eligible for Municipal State Aid highway funding. It may also be possible that Ramsey County can contribute turnback funds given the impact this project will have on Rice Street. However, we will need to act quickly to take advantage of the conditions that now present themselves, namely potential cooperation by McDonald's, the availability of the Oasis parcel, and the availability of 91 Viking Drive West. If the Council concurs, I would recommend staff be directed to negotiate the assembly of the needed parcels, subject to appropriate contingencies regarding environmental issues and overall project feasibility. cc: Dan Soler, Ramsey County Public Works Lee Elfering, City Engineer 2