01-23-2013 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 23, 2013 CANADA ROAD following estimates: 35E to McMenemy - $419,077 McMenemy to Edgerton - $416,250 McMenemy to Noel Drive - $201,000 The Administrator reported that utilizing Xcel's Community Requested Facilities Surcharge (CRFS) funding over a three year period to offset these costs would result in $2.00 per month to offset $400,000, $3.00 per month for $600,000, and $4.00 per month for the full costs. The Administrator reviewed options wherein the City would help offset these costs by utilizing dollars from the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Fund. Again, he cautioned that the costs for burying the power lines are estimates only. McGraw asked if the Council was going to consider developing a policy governing when power lines are buried this evening. The Administrator noted that developing this policy came from the goal setting session held last evening. He indicated that the intent of the policy would be to address when power lines should be buried and when they should not. The Administrator indicated that that the Council may want to consider burying of power lines along the major routes in the City, such as Rice Street, Little Canada Road, Edgerton Street, and perhaps LaBore Road and County Road C. A policy would identify those areas where power lines would be buried and could then be used to explain why the power lines are not being buried on the typical residential street, as an example. The Council then discussed in detail the Xcel's estimates for the cost of burying power lines along Little Canada Road. It was noted that Xcel does not provide detailed information relative to these costs, nor is the project put out for competitive bids. The City Administrator recommended that the Council make a decision on whether or not the power lines would be buried so that Xcel could begin their planning process and the road project is not delayed. The Administrator also suggested that if the power lines are buried on Little Canada Road, he would suggest consideration be given to burying the lines from 35E to Edgerton Street. Keis pointed out that the project is very costly for a short stretch of road. Given budget issues relative to the loss of half the City's LGA in 2014, Keis indicated that he could not support spending the money to bury these power lines. Blesener felt the Rice Street project had a higher priority than Little Canada Road. Boss agreed that the cost of burying the lines on Little Canada Road was too high and indicated that the decision to spend the money is even more difficult given the project is not put out for competitive bid. The Administrator pointed out that the City is not 7