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estimated cost if 47th Street, Kimbro Avenue, 50th Street or 43rd Street were paved in their present condition, location and alignment and compare that cost to constructing to MSA standards. He was also to investigate the possible use of MSA maintenance funds for this paving. City Engineer Bohrer referred to his correspondence dated March 12, 1987 in which he defends the adopted City Standard and their MSA Standard as being reasonable for a safe and long lasting road design. The City Council had previously asked for a comparative cost estimate to shape and pave the road in its present condition and location. The correspondence gave a comparative analysis of the estimated project cost and the potential assessments from these various projects. Bohrer made specific recommendations that whichever route is ultimately chosen that State Aid standards should be followed and State -Aid funds used to construct the road. Bohrer stated that this will result in a higher quality road, will provide a higher level of service and require less future maintenance. It will provide a safer road built to prevailing standards which will reduce the City's liability and risk. Using MSA funds will also result in the least cost to the property owner. It was further recommended that the City not consider paving the road as it exists today. This limited improvement will not provide any improvement in the safety concerns that now exist along the road. This option now has the highest cost to the property and will be more costly to mantain in the long run. This option also exposes the City to a greater financial burden of deferred green acre assesments. The northern route and the southern route each contain six Green Acre lots for which the assessments might be deferred. Under a City project this would amount to $26,340-$38,400 in deferred assessments for the northern route or $24,000-$32,500 in deferred assessments for the southern route. Under an MSA project the maximum deferred assessments for either route would be $6,000 in this example, Therefore, the City's financial exposure for deferred assessments is much less with an MSA project. Bohrer was asked to investigate moving the southern route curve farther to the south to avoid the existing house. This was not recommended because it would result in back to back reverse curves which can be confusing to drivers and will require additional right-of-way taking. It was confirmed with Elmer Morris, the MnDdT District State Aid Engineer, that maintenance funds could theoretically be used to pave an MSA gravel road. Bohrer explained that there is no definition of what constitutes "maintenance" and what constitutes "improvements". The State Aid Rules provide that a City may request up to 25% of its total annual allotment for maintenance purposes. Based on the City's 1987 total allotment of $149,305, $37,326 could be requested for maintenance. However, this request must be made by December 15 of the previous year; therefore maintenance funds could not be used for a project in 1987. If a 5% increase is assumed in construction costs from 1987 to 1988 and apply the maximum maintenance contribution, the estimated costs to pave the northern route in 1988 is $70,250 and the southern route is $87,900. Bohrer handed out a summary of a brief article written by a former special assistant attorney general for the Iowa Department of Transportation which