Progress on Creek Circle and Whitebirch Drive

The City Council has continued the progress on the extension of sanitary sewer and paving for Creek Circle and portions of Whitebirch Drive.  Plans and specifications were reviewed and approved which clears the way for seeking of bids on the project.  Bids will be received on February 28^th for the project.  With early bids it is hoped the city will see a number of bidders and competitive pricing. 

The project will serve 15 residential lots along Creek Circle and 18 townhouse units in a development known as Whitebirch Village. 

Once bids have been received the city can call for an assessment hearing as costs will be known.  A special meeting has been proposed to address assessments the week of March 31^st.  If the project is to be constructed, construction would start around the first of June.  Construction is proposed to be completed in the fall.    

Seal Coating for 2014

This past year the council discussed how to do a better job with the roads within the city.  The primary driver of the discussion was getting roads paved but part of the discussion included the need to maintain the paved roads we have.  A paved road has a life cycle, with proper maintenance, that can last upwards of 50 years but requires certain things get accomplished.  To get to that lifespan the road needs to have adequate base and drainage when constructed.  It needs periodic seal coating and asphalt overlays. 

Seal coating needs to be done when the roadway shows some wear of the top coat of the asphalt with the aggregate showing but not popping out.  A seal coat does little good once the aggregate is loose.  The purpose of the seal coat is to renew, refresh, and coat the surface with a tack coat of tar/oil binder to preserve the asphalt mat.  On top of that, sand, pea rock or granite chips are applied.  This sticks to the tack coat and provides an additional wear surface for the roadway.  This is allowed to firm up and the loose material is then swept off.  To further the advantage of a seal coat, a fog seal is applied.  This is a final spray of tar/oil to further tack the new surface to the roadway.  The result looks like a new roadway.  This was what was accomplished on Co. Rd. 4 this past summer.  

A conscious effort was made to provide funds in the 2014 budget to do some seal coating of roads.  $30,000 was budgeted for this year.  The roads approved for seal coating this summer includes the following:

1.              North Birchwood Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive

2.             North Pinewood Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive

3.             North Spruce Drive between Breezy Point Drive and North Drive

4.             North Drive from Co. Rd. 11 to North Lakeview Drive

5.             North Lakeview Drive between Breezy Point Drive and 

          Weavers Point Road

6.            Weavers Point Road from Co. Rd. 11 and intersection of North 

          Lakeview Drive

7.            Wolf Lane from North Lakeview Drive to Weavers Point Road

8.            Gopher Lane from Wolf Lane to Weavers Point Drive

9.             Fox Loop from and to Weavers Point Drive

The project will be accomplished in coordination with the Crow Wing County Highway Department.  They annually do seal coating of their roadways and will allow us to piggyback on their bids for this work.  Due to the size and quantities of their efforts we’re able to get competitive bids.  Adding our work only enhances the opportunity to get favorable bid prices.  

The process goes rather quickly so we hope disruption will be minimal.  There will be more information on this effort and timelines when bids are received and construction scheduled. 

Utility Easements

I think we all understand the concept of a parcel of property known as a lot.  Properties are subdivided from larger pieces to smaller ones to provide for development.  This process is called “Platting” and the outcome is a lot in a block of a subdivision.  So you end up with something like Lot 5, Block 2, Sunrise Development as an example.

The subdivision process requires certain things to be accomplished such as having all lots abutting a right-of-way so they have access.  The lots also would need to meet the minimum size for the zoning district.  Other requirements are in the mix as well.  One requirement that is seen in most cities is that of drainage and utility easements.  Commonly these are abutting property lines between lots.  These are platted along with the lots, appearing on the plat, typically within the setbacks so no buildable area of the lot is lost.  In other words if you have a 10 foot side yard setback and you have a 6 foot drainage and utility easement along the property lines the easement does not disrupt the lot as the setback is greater than the easement.  Combined in this example there would be a 12 foot utility and drainage easement between two lots.  

In Breezy Point lots were not platted with these easements.  I can only speculate as to why they were not required, except to say the ordinances did not require them.  One reason that may have come into play was the idea that a property purchaser could buy more than one lot, combine them, and not have to deal with the vacation of the utility easements between the lots.  Vacating the easement is a formal process that can be time consuming.  From a city perspective the lack of these types of easements creates problems in dealing with instances of drainage or the ability to extend utilities between lots. 

Having no easements for these purposes means establishing an easement becomes more difficult.  There is nothing to work with so a new easement would have to be established across private property.  Having some easement will allow for the use of the existing area with just a little more from the abutting property owner. 

The project proposed for Whitebirch Drive and Creek Circle requires an easement to install sewer between Creek Circle and the golf course.  In trying to establish an easement, property owners were reluctant to grant an easement.  One property owner inquired about the sale of their property.  Buying the property allows the city to establish an easement.  Once the sewer line is installed and the easement established the property can be sold for development. 

Upon consideration a conditional purchase was felt to be in the best interests of the city.  The conditional purchase is subject to the project moving forward with construction ordered and a contract awarded for the improvements.  The City Council approved the conditional purchase of the lot to make way for the construction of a sewer line.