01/22/1996 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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COUNCIL MEETING JANUARY 22, 1996 Mr. Schumacher said that first the public hearing must be held and public input received regarding this proposal for a state aid road system in the Trapper's Crossing area. Following the public hearing, the first step for the City Council is to make a determination of what type of road should be constructed in this area. Then the next step is to determine the benefit to the developer so that the City can prepare a financing package. Mayor Landers asked if the $1,952,000.00 includes going south on 12th Avenue from Birch Street with curbing as well as an area in front of Trapper's Crossing with curbing. Mr. Heth explained that the $1,952,000.00 includes 3500 feet of curbing. Part of the curbing will be installed in front of Trapper's Crossing and part along side of Brandywood Estates. This plan was approved by the former City Engineer. However, Mr. Heth did not know what Mr. Ahrens thought about the plan. Council Member Lyden noted that this is the first public hearing of the new year. He wanted the audience to know that speaking in this type of public forum is stressful and difficult. He wanted the public to know that the City Council appreciates the thoughts, feelings and concerns of the citizens and would try to make this as easy as possible for everyone. Sue Walseth, 1101 Holly Drive - Ms. Walseth said she was not clear about whether or not the City planned to assess the adjoining property owners. She felt that there was a great deal of contradiction about this item. Ms. Walseth commented about the notices in the legal newspaper about the 12th Avenue/Holly Drive improvement. The notices had stated that there would be no assessment to the adjacent property owners. However, the subsequent notice on the same page, Resolution No, 95 - 159 said that the abutting property owners would be assessed per State Statute Chapter 429 and Chapter 8 of the Lino Lakes City Charter for all or a portion of the cost of the road improvement. Confusion, yes. Ms. Walseth said that the October 19, 1995 feasibility report states that the City expects to collect future assessments of $428,640.00 or $57.00 per foot from the 7,520 linear feet on abutting property on these two (2) streets. She said that the streets are adequate in width and construction for the amount of traffic generated by the present number of residents living on the streets. Any increase in traffic volume due to the development is not the residents fault and they should not be held responsible for any assessments at all. Last week it was mentioned at the Council work session that the City was restricted by State Statue 429 and Chapter 8 of the Lino Lakes Charter on assessing the developer for the road. Ms. Walseth said she researched these two (2) statutes and found some interesting information. Chapter 8.03, Subd. 2 of the City Charter states, "If the protest petition is determined to be valid and sufficient and contains the names of owners of a majority by area of all parcels or property proposed to be assessed for the local improvement, the City Council must not order the construction of the local improvement project." Ms. Walseth asked how could the proposed road improvement continue to proceed without it being in direct violation of the City Charter? During the past two (2) years the property owners on Holly Drive and 12th Avenue have submitted a total of three (3) petitions, February and March, 1994, August and September, 1994 and PAGE 6