SYLVAN TOWNSHIP
PUBLIC HEARING ON DANDELION LANE SW AND W. NORWAY DRIVE SW PETITION FOR TOWNSHIP TO TAKEOVER AS A TOWNSHIP ROAD MEETING MINUTES
6:00 PM
MAY 15, 2014
(Recorded for Transcription Purposes Only)
Call to Order/Pledge of Allegiance/Call to Order: Chair Booth called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM at the intersection of Dandelion Lane SW and W. Norway Drive SW. The Pledge of Allegiance was said back at the Town Hall when the meeting reconvened there. Those present: Supervisors Roland Anderson, John Wulff, Yvette Adelman-Dullinger, Greg Booth, Lee Shade and Faith Broberg, Clerk/Treasurer. Sign-In Sheet Attached.
Agenda: Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Supervisor Anderson and the motion carried.
Purpose of Hearing – to take comments concerning the petition presented to the Town Board of Supervisors requesting the Township takeover the roads Dandelion Lane SW and W. Norway Drive SW as Township roads.
Notice of Public Hearing – Chair Booth read the notice.
Affidavit of Publication – Notarized Affidavit received.
Call for Written Comments – None received.
Preliminary Remarks-
The Board received a petition requesting the Town Board of Supervisors to take over the two roads as Township roads. This requires a public hearing. In taking over the road, the road must meet the Township’s Road Standards. The Board can vote to alter some of those standards. A portion of Dandelion is already paved.
Some options the Board can consider in taking over the road:
· Take over the road as is.
· When the road meets the road standards.
· Vote to maintain the road for maintenance purposes only. After maintaining for 6 – 7 years can become a Township road by use and maintenance.
Some residents did not know that the road wasn’t a Township road when they purchased their property. It is a public road but not a Township road.
The residents can get together and agree to bring it up to Township standards.
This can be done through creating a Subordinate Service District (SSD) which involves:
· The Township obtaining the financing,
· cost being divided among property owners
· And the majority of property owners agreeing to form a SSD.
Several years ago the Wilderness Dr property owners wanted their road paved and it wasn’t on the Township’s list to be paved, so the property owners went through the process of creating a SSD.
The meeting tonight is to see if there is enough support to bring the roads up to Township standards.
Supervisor Shade explained that in this process the property owners would all need to dedicate 33’ from the center of the road (both sides) to the Township (basically 66’).
Opened Meeting to Public Testimony and Questions -
Jake Niggeler – 1775 Dandelion Lane SW – he agrees to Township taking over the road and is open to all options in taking over the road.
Jeff Chambers – 1832 Dandelion Lane SW – a representative is here to get information for Jeff.
Brian Marquart-1785 Dandelion Lane SW- heard out on the road that the road would need to be brought up to Township standards before being taken over as a Township road. He also heard that no development can come into the Township unless its roads are up to Township Road standards and clearly that is not the case with Dandelion Lane SW. He is in favor of the road right-of-way and whatever needs to be done to be a Township road. Also, he would encourage the Board that if that is your rule, that all roads in a development have to be up to Township Road Standards, you should stick to it as it appears that wasn’t the case with Dandelion Lane.
Chair Booth explained that he might have misspoke in that when a developer comes in and wants his plat to be approved and the road to be Township roads, he is given the Township’s Road standards and then the Board would have Bryan Drown, Township Road Engineer check it to see that it is up to the Township’s Road standards. In this case the developer did not build or request that the roads be a Township road.
Kim Marquart – 1785 Dandelion Lane SW – she is in favor of the road being taken over by the Township.
Karen Skeesick – 1782 Dandelion Lane SW – Also in favor of the road being taken over by the Township.
Christina Wilson – 1740 Dandelion Lane SW - did not return to the Town Hall.
Matt McKinnon – 1713 Dandelion Lane SW – no comment at this time.
Devon Dumpprope – 1682 Dandelion Lane SW – Devin asked if the 33’ road right-of-way would include cutting some trees. Supervisors Shade and Anderson had measured the 33 feet and that it goes 3’ behind the 2nd row of trees. Supervisor Shade felt that the 2nd row of trees could possibly stay but that would be something the Board would have to decide. Devon asked if the Board could take over the road “as is” if that could be an option to not have all the trees cut down. Chair Booth explained that the Board can in some cases make an exception. The Board is reluctant to make a lot of exceptions as the next resident or developer wants the same exceptions. The Board has to take a long range look at maintenance as the more obstacles that are in the ROW makes it harder to plow snow. The Board can make some exceptions in the standards but especially with a new road the Board wants the road built up to Township’s Road Standards. This road (Dandelion Lane SW) is an existing road so some exceptions could be made.
Devon asked what the process is now:
· General consensus – does the majority of property owners want Township to take over road?
· Estimate – have the Township’s Road Engineer give an estimate as to cost to bring the road up to Township standards.
· Create the SSD – creating the Subordinate Service District and then there is a waiting period of 30 days to give residents time to bring a reverse petition. We don’t want to get too far into the engineering so in case there aren’t enough property owners in favor of having the Township take over the road.
· Will there be different options? Such as clearing back to 2nd row of trees.
· Board would have to determine what standards they would require and get an Engineers estimate on that work.
· Dandelion Lane is already paved part way-- would the Township take over just up to where the pavement ends or to the end of the road.
· It was noted that there is not a lot of class 5 on the road and the road is real sandy. It would take a lot of work to bring up to Township Road Standards.
Cul du sac – would take substantial work as there would have to be a place for school buses to turn around.
Utilities – it would have to be determined where the utilities are located and what work would need to be done.
Jill Dumpprope – 1682 Dandelion Lane SW - Not here.
Allan & Carol Harrison 12676 W. Norway Drive SW – No comment at this time.
Sharon Orser 1849 Dandelion Lane SW – she is in favor of doing something to the road. Is there a possibility of bringing the road up to a gravel road at Township’s standards and have it maintained. The problem with that is that it sets a precedent if another developer came in and would want to do a gravel road also. With the policy we have, we are trying to establish that the developer who wants to subdivide property into lots is the one to put in the road with Township’s standards and bear that initial cost—which would increase the cost of the parcels.
John Henderson – 12677 W. Norway Drive SW - no comment
Rodney Kohout –1653 Harrison Drive SW - would something be done regarding the hump at the end of the road where Dandelion Lane comes onto County 18th? Now it is a slide on to County Road 18th in the winter.
Rick Swira –12652 W. Norway Drive SW --- cost divided among the property owners on the road?
Bernadette Schultz– 12671 W. Norway Drive SW - nothing right now.
Justin Wilson – 1740 Dandelion Lane SW - no comments except he is for the road being taken over.
Sylvan’s Road Engineer -
Chair Booth asked Bryan Drown, Bolton and Menk, Sylvan Township’s Road Engineer to explain the steps involved in bringing the road up to Township’s Standards and costs per mile.
Bryan explained that in referencing the Township’s Road Standards it is easier to look at and see what Dandelion Lane would look like. Classic Pines Trail SW was done last summer and is a good example of a road cleared to 66’ wide with full cul du sac at the end and with substantial ditching.
West end of Dandelion Lanes SW will need lots of grading –to bring up to Township Road standards as the road is lower than surrounding area-- would need quite a bit of work. To pave the road and have water running down it the paving would deteriorate fast.
From a procedural standpoint he can come up with a plan from looking at similar projects,
and a budgetary number. We would then look at the number of residents on the road to give a ball park amount for each resident as to their costs. This would be the first step.
This would then lead into creating a Subordinate Service District process.
If we are looking at a full reconstruction project, it would take enough time that we are probably looking at next summer. We would possibly need to remove the pavement on Dandelion Lane to see what is under it. It looks like in some areas on (Dandelion Lane)
something is moving around under there. The Township when doing a project over $100,000, the project has to be publicly bid and go through that process of finding the lowest bidder and signing contracts.
Chair Booth asked if any of the residents know when Dandelion Lane was paved. It sounded like it was paved in 2001-2003.
W. Norway Drive SW – the paving looks newer, and is 20’ wide and paved around 2001.
Patch that runs 250’ – patching on (Dandelion Lane) was done 1 or 2 years ago.
Utilities – Natural Gas coming in on Dandelion Lane on this summer. There was discussion on how this would affect the road.
There was some discussion on the potholes on Dandelion Lane and why the holes are there. W. Norway Drive is closer to the road standards.—so would it be the same price as Dandelion Lane SW? Would the Town board accept the road “as is”? The residents think there is around 25 residents on the two roads. Whoever owns the undeveloped lots would also have to pay for the cost of the road.
Closed Public Hearing to Public Input – at this time Chair Booth closed the hearing to any further comments.
At this time the Board has several options:
· Recommend approval –can’t approve at this time as need more information on costs.
· Recess the hearing for more information.
· Move to close hearing and make a decision on at a Regular Board Meeting
There was discussion if the Township will be paying the engineering costs. Chair Booth said that according to MN statute the Township can require the petitioners to pay the engineering costs, however in one previous petition the Township paid the engineering costs. The residents after hearing the Engineer’s estimate then decided to not go forward with the petition as they couldn’t get enough residents to agree to have the Subordinate Service District created, so the Township decided to pay the engineering costs, as everyone was a tax payer.
Supervisor Shade feels we can go ahead and close the Public Hearing as any decisions could be made at a Regular Board of Supervisors meeting.
Supervisor Shade reminded the residents that the improvement of having a paved road would have a positive effect on their property value.
Chair Booth is looking for a motion to direct the Township Road Engineer to bring two (2) estimates for bringing the two roads up to Township standards:
· Paving to the end of the existing pavement and
· Paving the entire length of road.
Supervisor Anderson moved to have the Township Engineer get the cost estimate for both roads:
· Tar to the Township standards and
· Estimate for the whole road, including gravel, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
SSD Payment Options:
· Property Owner can pay off their portion right away,
· Pay off over 5 years with a low interest rate and added to their taxes.
Adjournment: Supervisor Shade moved to adjourn, seconded by Supervisor Wulff and the motion carried with the meeting adjourning at 7:12 PM.
Minutes submitted by,
______
Faith C. Broberg, Clerk/Treasurer Chair, Greg Booth
Supervisor Wulff moved to approve the minutes as presented/as amended, seconded by Supervisor Adelman-Dullinger and the motion carried.
Amendments: Page 2 first paragraph remove one ‘. Correct spelling of Jeff’s last name—add an h. Also same sentence remove the word “she” and insert, a representative. On page 5 first bullet insert the word existing between the word “the and pavement.”
Date:
05-15-2014 Public Hearing 6:00 PM Dandelion Ln & W. Norway Page 5