The March 6 Lanesboro City Council meeting opened with a public hearing to discuss the potential paving of Zenith Street. At the February meeting, the council had proposed a motion to complete the project with 100% of the costs being assessed to the homeowners as it was their request that the gravel road be paved.
“I want to address the council in favor of the request to improve Zenith,” Lanesboro resident Michael Brown stated. Brown does not live on Zenith Street, but felt that the project would be beneficial to the city. He believes that assessing the project at 100% would go against the city assessment policy. Drawing from literature published by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies, Brown concluded that a paved road would be more cost effective for the city to maintain than the current gravel road. One of the objections that the council had brought up at the last meeting was that the project was not in the budget. “I want to remind you that the budget is an estimate or plan and not a mandate,” he countered.
Phil Dybing, the driving force behind the proposed paving project, presented the homeowners’ perspective to the council. “I truly believe that the maintenance cost savings will be beneficial for the city,” he stated, pointing out that recently, the city maintenance workers have had to plow the road and then come back with gravel to spread on the ice. In the summer months, there’s the cost of dust control to consider.
“I would like to summarize three key points that the homeowners would like to make,” said Zenith Street resident David Webb. His first point was the underlying problem of the type and volume of non-residential traffic on Zenith Street. Secondly, he noted that timing is of the essence as last year’s Zenith/Auburn Street project will be completed with its second overlay soon which means that the equipment necessary to pave Zenith Street will already be in Lanesboro. Last, he pointed out that non-residential traffic accounts for more than 70% of the traffic on that road. “All the homeowners have agreed unanimously to split costs with the city 50/50,” he said. “We think that’s a win-win situation for everyone and we hope that you would give it due consideration.”
Lanesboro resident Andy Batstone asked where the project would fit into the city’s infrastructure needs. “I think that’s something the city needs to ask itself as there are a lot of projects that need to be addressed around town,” he said. He also asked if there was a study that backed up the statistic presented by Webb stating that 70% of the traffic on the unpaved portion of Zenith Street is non-residential, and if the numbers had been crunched for the current maintenance costs. “The biggest thing is where does this fit into the greater scheme of things for what’s best for the city?” he concluded.
Deputy Clerk Darla Taylor noted that the city has received emails from three of the Zenith Street homeowners, all of whom have assessable lots. One was amenable to paying the usual assessment costs at 35%, the others were not in favor of having to pay anything for the project.
Webb said that while he and others have tried to identify and contact all of the landowners on Zenith Street, some had not been identified yet and feedback had not been received from others. “We’re hopeful that we can reach some agreement with them as well,” he commented.
“We realize that the city has a number of infrastructure projects to consider,” Webb continued. However, he wished to point out that the Zenith Street paving proposal has been brought before the council for four months in a row now. “We are asking that the matter be considered now to get the bargain price while the paving equipment is in the city.” He also noted that the total cost for the city if the homeowners are assessed for 50% would be in the range of $30,000.
The public hearing was closed and the regular city council meeting was opened.
Council member Tom Smith made a motion to accept the offer from the Zenith Street homeowners at a 50/50 cost share and to re-work the budget to find the money needed for the paving project.
Council member Marge Drake noted that while she empathized with the residents who wanted their street paved, she was concerned about the homeowners who had already stated that they do not wish to be assessed at 50% and would refuse to sign a waiver allowing those assessments. She also felt that Batstone had raised a number of legitimate concerns, primarily the city’s extensive list of infrastructure projects that need to will need to be addressed soon.
“There’s no lack of infrastructure needs in town,” City Engineer Brian Malm agreed. He recommended that if the council decided to move ahead with the Zenith Street paving project, that they assess all of the homeowners at 50% and get waivers signed by everyone possible to reduce the risk of appeals.
“We appreciate the letter and the offer of 50/50 assessments, but we need to be good stewards of the resources we have and some homeowners aren’t willing to pay (50% assessments),” council member Bridget Harvey commented.
Dybing made one final statement to the council before the motion was voted on, noting that the reduced maintenance costs should offset the cost of the project within 10 years. “It’s our intent that city has mitigation of investment,” he said. He also felt that the risk of any of the homeowners appealing the assessment costs in court were negligible as the court costs would be significant. “I can’t imagine someone making an issue out of paying their portion when city is paying half,” he commented.
Smith’s motion to accept the offer from the Zenith Street homeowners at a 50/50 cost share and to re-work the budget to find the money needed for the paving project was passed with a three to two vote. Malm agreed to put together a resolution to solicit quotes for the project and will present it at the April city council meeting.
Mayor Autumn Johnson read a proclamation declaring April 7, 2018, as Commonweal Theatre Day in Lanesboro to honor and celebrate the theatre starting its 30th season.
The lodging tax agreement with the City of Whalan was approved.
The city met with Ryan Oian from Generation X and his lawyer to discuss the pay request from the company for work done during the 2017 street and utility improvements. Extra work was done that wasn’t approved by the engineer, the final completion date was late, and a property on Auburn sustained damages that occurred during the project. Because of that, the city did not feel it was responsible to pay the pay request for the final eight days of work. Generation X countered that with an offer to reduce the pay request to 5.5 days of work. The council approved the offer.
Hal Cropp from the Commonweal Theatre asked the council for permission to have banners printed and hung on nine light poles on Parkway Avenue to celebrate the theatre’s 30th season. The council agreed to the request.
The next Lanesboro city council meeting will be held on April 9 at 5:30 p.m.
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