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8.g Administrator's report
c SCANDIA Staff Report Date of Meeting: August 21, 2018 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, Administrator Re: Administrator's report Building Inspection —Through the end of July, 254 permits with a total valuation of $18,329,445 have been issued. The 2018 totals include the permits for the Scandia Elementary School improvements and for 6 new homes. The compares to 228 permits with a total value of $6,835,572 with 9 new homes for the first seven months of 2017. Of the 212 permits issued in 2018, 145 are for reroofing or residing. May Township Fire Agreement — The agreement approved by the Council in April was sent to the Town following the meeting. The agreement has been on Town Board agendas for discussion and there is general agreement as to the terms except how to apply the factor that uses households. Town staff is looking at how to utilize the County Property data consistently for both communities. The Town has been billed for service through the end of July based on the extension terms of the previous agreement. 2040 Comprehensive Plan — Comments on the Plan have been submitted by the Rice Creek Watershed District and Washington County. The Metropolitan Council submitted comments based on their preliminary review. The sections for Transportation, Parks, Forecasts, Surface Water Management, Subsurface Treatment Systems, Aggregate Resources and Implementation were determined to be complete. Changes need to be made to the Land Use section regarding the labeling of tables and figures, the Housing section to address programs which would be used to support new housing and when TIF would be used, and to Wastewater to clarify jurisdiction over community treatment systems and the conditions under which community treatment systems would be allowed. MnDOT Landscape Partnership project —The fall plating time for MnDOT projects begins on August 25th. The planting beds are prepped and the locations re -staked. All of the plant material is being held in a mulch bed at the Public Works building. We are looking to recruit volunteers for the plantings. Blandin Foundation Robust Network Feasibility Fund grant application — CTC is nearing completion of the pre -design broadband engineering work. A meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, August 28th to review the data. The City has received the grant funds from the Blandin Foundation that will cover one-half of the cost of the pre -design work. Tourism Assessment — The Community Leadership Team is working on inventory information provided by the Tourism Development Center. A visit from the expert team followed by a community meeting has bene tentatively scheduled for October 29th Conservation Partners Legacy Grant — Ryan Goodman has identified an opportunity to apply for a Conservation Partners Legacy Grant program which is managed by MnDNR. The grants must restore, protect, or enhance prairies, wetlands, forest or habitat and require a 10% match. The intent would be to apply for a grant for wetland restoration at Lilleskogen Park and to use the funds requested in the 2019 budget for the match. Gateway Trail — The DNR has funds available that were designated for the Gateway Trail acquisition and must be used by a given date. The DNR is seeking to enter into a local government agreement with the City of Scandia that would allow the DNR to encumber the fund with the City acting as fiscal agent. This would enable the DNR to begin the pre - development work on the Gateway Trail segment between William O'Brien and the Annex building on Oakhill Road. Mayor Maefsky and I will be meeting with DNR representative on this proposal on August 21. Tii Gavo Development Agreement Amendment — The Tii Gavo Homeowner Association has submitted an application to amend the development agreement to allow for expansion of the number of docks from 19 to 37. The City has received comments from MnDNR, the Carnelian Marine Watershed District and the Big Marine Lake Association. The application was received on July 16th with the review period ending on September 10. The Association has requested and been granted an additional 60 -day extension until November Stn Friends of Scandia Parks & Trails Pollinator Planting — Based on the growth of the plantings at Lilleskogen Park, the Friends are no longer interested in relocating the plant material to the location west of the skating rink. Based on discussions earlier in the year a memorandum of agreement for the maintenance of the plantings at Lilleskogen is under review and will come to the council at the September meeting. SafeAssure — SafeAssure, the company that we contract with for safety training, conducted a simulated OSHA inspection for the Public Works and Fire Station and generated a listing of deficiencies and recommendations. Corrective action will be taken to resolve the issues noted in the report. Disposal of fixed assets - The Fire Department sold an enclosed trailer in an on-line auction for $3,100. The Chief has placed a reserve price of $2,500 on the trailer. The Ford Ranger used by the Public Works Department that was replaced is currently up for auction on the publicsurplus.com website. The auction closes on 8/28 Liquor license violation — In a compliance check Scandia Olde Towne Liquors failed due to sale to an under aged person. Mr. Franssen appeared for court this week and entered a plea of guilty to the charge of providing alcohol to a minor. Under the City's liquor ordinance the Council will need to conduct a hearing regarding the suspension or revocation of the liquor license. The ordinance provides direction as to the minimums for failure to comply with the ordinance. The hearing will be held at the September City Council meeting. Maintenance of platted but unopened roads — Following up on the discussion at the work session I submitted a request to the League regarding the issue that was raised about the City maintaining an undeveloped but platted street that is being used as a driveway. The response from the League follows this report. Veterans Memorial —The Veterans Memorial Committee sent out a notice regarding the dedication ceremony to be held on September 29th. A copy follows this report. Neil Soltis From: Hartnett, Kyle <KHartnett@lmc.org> Sent: Friday, August 3, 2018 2:42 PM To: n.soltis@ci.scandia.mn.us Subject: RE: Research Question Submission Attachments: Reg ulatingCityRightsOfWay.pdf Neil The law on platted but unopened roads ("paper -roads") in Minnesota is not entirely clear. While the courts have clearly determined that, a city determines when a platted road is to be opened. The law is not as clear in defining what actions a city may take on a road that has not been formally opened, nor the rights of the public to use the paper -road. Based on the analysis we have from the courts, it appears that a city and the public may use an unopened road for the purpose for which it was established and yet, adjacent property owners may use the paper -road in a manner that does not interfere with the public's use. Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 505.01, subd. 1, a dedicated platted street conveys an easement to the municipality held in trust for the purposes described in the plat. In Minnesota, municipalities are authorized to choose whether and when to improve and open dedicated land for public use. Municipalities, not neighboring landowners, decide whether a property dedicated for a street will be improved to accommodate that use. An owner of land abutting a dedicated but unopened street has the right to use the portion of the street that lies on the owner's property. The abutting owner, however, may only use the land in a manner that is not inconsistent with the public's interest in the easement; i.e. the owner should not be allowed to make permanent improvements within the paper -road. A city's responsibilities related to paper -roads is limited. When a city does extensive work on a paper -road, the road may be deemed to be opened by the city. If the street is opened, the city would then have the responsibility to maintain the area. A city may also use a paper -road for purposes consistent for which it was dedicated. For example, a city could extend sewer and water services through a paper -road but not open the road for travel. In addition, a city may maintain a paper -road in a manner that would allow pedestrians but not vehicles to use it. A city could maintain a path or other amenity over an easement area without opening the area as a full city street. A city should protect its platted right-of-way even if it is not formally opened. Because a city holds the easement in trust for the public, it should ensure that the right-of-way remains free of obstructions that would prevent it from being used for the purpose for which it was dedicated. A city, therefore, should try to prevent permanent structures from being erected in platted right-of-way in case it is needed in the future. To help with enforcement of maintain such right-of-way, a city should adopt a right-of-way ordinance regulating obstructions. More information regarding maintain a city's right-of-way can be found in the attached memo. Ultimately, when doing any work in unopened right-of-way, it is a best practice to inform neighboring residents of the work being done. This is especially true if private property is being removed or altered by the city. Likewise, if a resident places an obstruction in the right-of-way, the city should inform the resident as soon as possible that the obstruction may need to be removed if the right-of-way is ever opened. Putting the resident on notice will prevent a future claim that the city, through non -action, is allowing a particular obstruction. As far as a tree falling into a paper -road, I would argue the landowner who owned the tree is likely responsible for removing it from the paper -road. If the paper -road is currently used by others within the plat, or by the City, the City may want to remove it on its own as it would for any other City street. For example, if a city knows the paper -road is used by pedestrians on a regular basis, it would be best to remove the tree obstructing the route to limit the city's liability. If the City does remove the tree it should receive consent and a waiver from the property owner, especially if the City would need to go outside of the platted right-of-way to remove the tree. More information regarding the removal of trees can be found at https://www.Imc.org/media/document/l/maintenanceofcit rees.pdVinline=true We cannot give legal advice but only general legal information so I cannot give you a clear answer to your question. LMC does not maintain any sample policies for dealing with such issues. I recommend contacting your city attorney for more specific guidance to your situation. Regards, Kyle Hartnett I Staff Attorney Office: 651.215.4084 Cell: 651.247.8138 khartnett@lmc.org I www.Imc.org League of Minnesota Cities 145 University Avenue West I St. Paul, MN 55103 This response is intended to convey general information and should not be taken as legal advice or as a substitute for competent legal guidance. Consult your city attorney for advice regarding specific situations. From: Research@lmc.org <Research@Imc.org> Sent: Thursday, August 2, 2018 9:23 AM To: Shared -Research <Research@Imc.org>; n.soltis@ci.scandia.mn.us Subject: Research Question Submission Research Question Submission Thank you for submitting a research question to the League of Minnesota Cities. The League's Research Staff will begin working on it as soon as possible. You submitted the following information: First Name: Last Name: Position: City: Phone: Email: Date Submitted: Question submitted: Neil Soltis City Administrator City of Scandia 6514332274 n.soltis@ci.scandia.mn.us Thursday, August 2, 2018 We have a number of locations where streets platted many years ago have remained undeveloped. Some of these are used as shared driveways but have not been maintained by the City. We have been asked by a resident to remove a tree that has fallen in one of these platted, but undeveloped streets. The Council is looking for direction as to the City's responsibility, potential liability, or policies from other cities that address platted streets. Greetings from the Scandia Veterans Memorial Committee: RECEIVED ni,1-J C� ,?1.� CITY OF SCANDIA We are pleased to tell you that the memorial has been completed! Now that we have it done, we will be holding a dedication ceremony on Saturday, September 29th at 10:00am. Please save the date as we would love to see you there. Representative Bob Dettmer will be our featured speaker. A reception will follow in the Scandia Community Center, located two blocks from the memorial. Please come and celebrate with us at the reception! Food and desert will be provided. We will have a few other surprises to enjoy including a wall display, testimonials and video of the memorial construction. We have learned many things along the way to completing the memorial. One is that each brick has a story! You can read many of the stories on the wall display at the reception. If you have not submitted a short biography for your brick, there is still time. Please send what you have to the address below to be included in the display and in the information book at the memorial. We have also learned just how important this memorial is. It's not only important to veterans, it is important to families and to the community. We hope that you will visit the memorial and surrounding park often. It has truly become a Scandia landmark for all to enjoy. Lastly, while we have completed the memorial, we are still in need of additional donations to help cover sidewalk costs. If you care to make a tax deductible donation, we will provide a receipt for your tax records. This can be done now or at the reception. Thank you again for your support of the memorial! Sincerely, The Scandia Memorial Committee Send biographies or donations to: SMC, PO Box 263, Scandia, MN 55073 Please have biographies delivered no later than Sept. 12. © Gartner Studios