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Item No: 7C Meeting Date: February 9, 2009 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: _____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: James Ericson, Clerk-Admin istrator Item Title/Subject: Resolution 7409 Authorization to Contract with Evergreen Land Services to Acquire ROW for Traffic Signal Installation at SLR and County Road H. Introduction: As was communicated at the Council’s January 12 and January 26 meetings, Ramsey County has received funding to cover the cost of the installation of traffic signals at the intersection of County Road H and Silver Lake Road. The construction would be completed without any financial participation from either New Brighton or Mounds View, however the project necessitates additional right of way at three of the four corners—two in Mounds View and one in New Brighton. County policy dictates that the City is responsible for such acquisitions. Background: The cities of New Brighton and Mounds View along with the Mounds View School District have been working cooperatively with Ramsey County to have traffic signals installed at the intersection of Silver Lake Road and County Road H. The County conducted a Traffic Signal Justification Study in 2004 which determined the intersection did meet warrants for traffic signals and the project was programmed for construction in 2006 or 2007. Due to insufficient funding, the County dropped this project off their plan and suggested if the cities provided the funding perhaps it could move forward. While the Mounds View had identified this work in its capital improvement plan, New Brighton did not. In 2007, the cities wrote letters to Ramsey County expressing our continued ongoing support for the project. Discussion: I announced to the City Council at the January 12 meeting that Ramsey County had secured the necessary funding for this project and provided additional information on January 26 that the cities would need to acquire the needed right of way in lieu of any other cost participation. Because the amount of additional right of way needed is minimal, the cost to acquire the land from the residents should also be minimal (in the neighborhood of $1,000) however it could be a time consuming process necessitating multiple meetings and negotiations and potential appraisals to support the offers made. In light of this, staff obtained a quote from Evergreen Land Service, a land and right of way acquisition consultant (whom the City has used in the past) to coordinate this process. Their quote was $5,000, the cost of which would be shared with New Brighton. The City Council reviewed this option at their meeting on January 26, and given present staffing deficiencies, provided direction to move forward with Evergreen. This has been communicated to New Brighton who will be considering the participation later this month.