Laserfiche WebLink
Staff Report <br />To:Mayor Fischer and Members of the City Council <br />From:Eric Seaburg, City Engineer <br />Amanda Johnson, City Attorney <br />Date: January 28, 2026 <br />Re:Little Canada Road Improvement Project - <br />Authorize Quick-Take Payment for Easement Acquisition <br />Action To Be Considered: <br />Motion to approve, table, or deny the following: <br />Payment to Second Judicial District Court in the amount of $129,900. <br />Background: <br />The upcoming improvements to Little Canada Road have been in development for several years. <br />Over the last year, City staff have been working with adjacent property owners to secure the <br />necessary easements to construct the project. At its August 27, 2025, regular meeting, the City <br />Council authorized the project, including necessary easement acquisition. The City Council also <br />authorized the use of eminent domain if easements could not be secured through voluntary <br />acquisition. <br />To date, most of the affected parcels have reached a voluntary settlement with the city. However, <br />several parcels remain unsettled and must continue down the eminent domain path. On January 5, <br />2026, the Second Judicial District Court heard and approved the City’s petition for eminent domain <br />on the remaining unsettled parcels. For the Quick-Take procedure to be finalized, the City must <br />submit a payment to the district court in an amount equal to the City’s original offer for each of the <br />easements. A list of those parcels and amounts is shown below. Notably, these offer amounts were <br />already approved by Council; the process of depositing those funds with the district court is a <br />procedural necessity to secure easement rights in time for the project. Upon the district court’s <br />receipt of the above deposit, the City will be granted title to and possession of the necessary <br />easement interests. <br />Parcel Amount <br />Parcel 10*$44,300 <br />Parcel 13 $11,000 <br />Parcel 16 $3,700 <br />Parcel 18 $13,200 <br />Parcel 21 $57,200 <br />Parcel 23*$500 <br />Total:$129,900 <br />*Parcel 10 and Parcel 23 have reached a negotiated settlement with the city. However, until the <br />paperwork is finalized, they must be included with this deposit.