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BERNICK AND LIFSON <br /> A PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION <br /> • ATTORNEYS AT LAW <br /> ROSS A. SUSSMAN SUITE 1200, THE COLONNADE -tALSO ADMITTED IN WISCONSIN <br /> ALSO CERTIFI EO PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT <br /> NEAL J SHAPIRO 5500 WAYZATA BOULEVARD <br /> SAUL A. BERNICK' MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55416-1270 <br /> LEGAL ASSISTANTS <br /> THOMAS O. CREIGHTON <br /> JO BROWN <br /> SCOTT A. LIFSON TELEPHONE (612) 546-1200 <br /> DAVID K. NIG MTINGALEt JOAN M SCHULK ERS <br /> . <br /> FACSIMILE 1612) 546-1003 - KATHRYN G. MASTERMAN <br /> PAUL J. OUAST' <br /> THERESA M. KOWALSKI <br /> REBECCA J. HELTZER <br /> ROBERT J. V. VOSE <br /> Three Aspects of Rights-of-Way Permit Fee <br /> I. Administrative Costs <br /> Pursuant to the police power authority, municipalities have an obligation to ensure the public's <br /> safety, health and welfare, which includes aesthetic considerations. Street cuts, major excavations <br /> on public property, and installation of telecommunications lines, equipment and facilities implicate <br /> the municipalities' obligations in this regard. Municipalities are allowed, by clear precedent, to <br /> recoup the actual administrative costs incurred in reviewing, investigating and permitting <br /> telecommunications providers that will perform work in public property. <br /> II. Diminution in Value of the Public Property <br /> • <br /> Rights of ways (streets)with less than 3 cuts have a useful life of approximately 26 years based on <br /> a study by the City of San Francisco. The useful life is reduced to 18 years with 3-9 cuts and to 13 <br /> years with 9 or more cuts. There is a very real cost to utility/telecommunications use of public <br /> property. <br /> Public payment for Repair of streets with shortened useful lives due to cuts by telecommunications <br /> providers amounts to a governmental subsidy to such providers. The public need not subsidize <br /> private industry for its use of public property. <br /> III. Rent <br /> A recent MNDOT study entitled "Indirect Costs of Utility Placement and Repair Beneath Streets" <br /> determined that the total value of public easements in Minneapolis might be estimated at a value of <br /> $2.2 billion,or$5.70 per sq. ft. The value of land of course varies from city to city and city to small <br /> town or other municipality. <br /> Jurisdictional Comparison- The following are examples of the per foot, per year"rent" charged <br /> of telecommunications providers for use of public property. <br /> St. Louis, MO - $1.65 (`95-'96) + annual CPI <br /> • Addison, TX - $1.00 (`93) + $1,000 per street crossing and initial acceptance fee <br /> Fort Worth, TX - $1.00 (`85) +acceptance fee <br />