01-12-2005 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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If a project (or projects) moves forward, the City Engineer will prepare plans and specifications. The Council will then approve those and authorize the advertisement for bids. Once bids are received, the Council may either award or reject the bids. If the project is awarded, the City Engineer and staff will proceed with construction. In the fall of the year, usually mid to late October, we will call for and hold the assessment hearing. This is when the special assessments are actually levied upon the benefited property. Again, adopting the role takes four affirmative votes with a City initiated project. Special assessments are made in accordance with the Improvement Policy we adopted several years ago in an attempt to make assessments as equitable as possible. (If you would like to review a copy, please let me know.) The other key consideration in the levying of special assessments is the "benefits received" principle. Essentially, we cannot assess more than the increase in property value associate with the making of our improvement. While this can be a subjective issue, our policy has survived testing in the courts and we have had little problem in levying assessments in recent years. In the case of the three projects recommended to go to the improvement hearing, here are the key issues for your consideration: County Road B2: > Narrowing street from four lanes to three (two plus a center turn lane). We believe this configuration will accommodate existing and future traffic volumes. > Currently, on- street parking occurs adjacent to the various athletic complexes located along the street. Also, Roseville Area Middle School (RAMS) is also talking about significant upgrades to the ball fields adjacent to Capitol View School. This could exacerbate the on- street parking problems. Staff believes we need to provide for off- street parking in these areas to minimize traffic conflicts. Accommodating parking on street will be very expensive (we believe higher than the cost of off - street lots). > Currently, there is no left -turn signal to go southbound on Rice Street from B2. Staff agrees with those present at the neighborhood meeting that we should attempt to add this to the traffic signal at this intersection. This will involve approvals from Ramsey County and possibly Roseville. > Pedestrian paths should be added from our new trail on the east side of RAMS to Rice Street. We may also want to consider sidewalks to Viking Drive. > Storm water treatment (ponding) will be needed. We may need to work with the School District to provide adequate treatment of storm water. Carla Lane: > Due to the high water table, this will be a difficult project to construct. > Water will need to come from Maplewood (St. Paul water). > The residents would prefer we keep their street width at 24 feet versus our policy minimum of 28 feet due to tree and landscaping impact. Staff believes this situation may warrant that concession. 2