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EXPENDITURE FOR TRAIL DESIGN APPROVED BUT NOT FOR THE TRAIL CONSTRUCTION Council voted 5-0 on March 11th to authorize the expenditure of $4,670 to complete professional services for the trail connection from Victoria to the underpass at Hwy 5 and the MN Landscape Arboretum. This preliminary design work will help determine layout of the trail and which easements may or may not be needed. This was not an approval to construct the trail connection nor to take advantage of the $150,000 grant awarded to the City of Victoria to assist in the trail connection. Total construction cost is estimated at $260,000. It includes a length of .7 mile from the Swiss Mountain and Overlook neighborhoods at Rolling Acres Road east toward the Tristan Heights neighborhood and Faith Lutheran Church at the underpass. In so doing, it also connects the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail (which crosses Rolling Acres Road) to the underpass. In February, Councilmember Jim Crowley had requested metrics in regard to the trail connection. In that regard, Community Development Director Holly Kreft reported the proposed trail would connect three major assets -- Carver Park, the LRT, and the Arboretum. Annual user estimates are in the hundreds of thousands. She reported that 206 homes in Victoria have direct access to the Lake Minnetonka Regional Trail plus another 185 homes via trails or on-street access. "Obviously there are others with inside trails," she said. The Arboretum had approximately 303,400 visitors in 2012. Councilmember Joe Pavelko stated, "We also talked last month about not having the money for this. Where is the money coming from?" City Manager Don Uram replied that council's authorization to go forward with the grant application last year implied, to staff, approval to construct. "Historically, funding has been through bonding," he said. Remaining cost of the trail construction would be bonded with the Hwy 5 construction costs. He said it's a 15-year bond with pretty cheap interest. Holly said there had been 44 applicants for the trail grant and that the DNR had $1 million to allocate, so it was a very competitive pool. Victoria's application "ranked high because of the number of people it can serve," she said. "Victoria received the maximum amount of $150,000. The funds have to be expended by June 2014. There are no extensions." "Thank you for gathering the metrics," said Councilmember Crowley. "We want people to come to downtown Victoria, not the Arboretum." Countered Councilmember Lani Basa, "I think we have to look at both directions. It also connects to the LRT." "I don't like the idea of paying a license trail fee," said Councilmember Crowley, in regard to the city being required to pay for crossing property at the University Research Center. Holly Kreft explained, "The University of Minnesota does not grant easements so they call them trail license agreements." Said Mr. Uram, "The arboretum was supportive but then a Real Estate Division got involved and wants $1/square foot. They agreed to defer that fee until the actual trail is constructed. Our former mayor had to go downtown to work out the details with them." Actual fee being asked is not known at this time. Said Holly, "It depends on how much area is needed. It would include the area of the trail, both the paved section and any additional land that is required." Mr. Uram urged city councilmembers, "Give us the money to get the preliminary design done. I'm asking for that flexibility. Maybe 90% can get done on public right of way." "I agree," said Councilmember Basa. "We don't even know if a licensing fee will be required." Said Mayor O'Connor, "We have to look at this more holistically. This is linking a significant asset to the community.' "I don't want it to be part of the [Hwy 5] bonding," said Councilmember Crowley. "On the contrary," said Mayor O'Connor, "we have bonded for trails in the past. This qualifies for long term bonding." Reiterated Mr. Uram, "We thought this decision was already made. We got authorization to apply for the grant -- twice. It takes a lot of time to do that." Said Councilmember Crowley, "It may have been an incorrect assumption on` my part. I thought there was another funding source." After the motion to approve the design cost of $4,670, Council Strigel stated, "I won't support expending city funds to pay license fees." This issue will not be on the agenda for the March 25th city council meeting, but will return to council for their consideration when this preliminary design phase is completed. According to City Engineer Cara Geheren, it could take about two to three weeks, which means the issue could return to council for the April 8th meeting.
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April 2013 |
