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May 11, 2021 David Swearingen Interim Public Works Director City of Arden Hills 1245 W Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112 Re: Lake Valentine Road Improvements Comm: 172270 Dear David: As you know, Mounds View Public Schools has been working with the City to make modifications to Lake Valentine Road in front of Mounds View High School. Per the City of Arden Hills memo from Mike Mrosla, dated April 27, 2020 there were 12 conditions in the staff memo with 2 additional conditions as amended by the planning commission. It is the School District’s intent to fully comply with all of the conditions as the improvements to Lake Valentine Road are implemented. We are coming to the City to discuss some of the developments with condition number one. This condition focused on alignment of the parking lot driveways along Lake Valentine Road. As instructed, the District has been working to negotiate a land purchase from the State of Minnesota to allow construction of the westernmost drive on the north side of the road. After almost 2 years of discussions with the State, it does not appear that procurement of additional land is feasible. The current status is that the State would need to appraise the land, and can offer no timeline as to when their staff would have the resources to complete the appraisal. We updated Mike Mrosla on February 22nd that land negotiations were not looking favorable and an alternate solution would be advisable. It is our suggestion that the District has negotiated in good faith to procure the land as required in condition number one. Since getting the full benefit of the road improvements is in the best interest of the District as well as the larger community, we are recommending that an alternate solution be implemented. This solution would re-work the south driveways in such a manner that they would align with property already owned by the District on the north side of the road. This would allow us to accomplish the goal of aligning the driveways as requested, but with an alternate design. A diagram of the proposed solution is attached to this letter. Because these improvements will require engineering, public bidding, and construction, we are also requesting an extension to complete the project by the start of the 2022-2023 school year. If an extension of one year isn’t acceptable to the City, the District would also consider an extension to improve the road into the fall and early winter. That would make the project feasible to complete in a shorter time period, but the District shares the City’s concern that road construction during the school year would make it very challenging to manage the flow of traffic on Lake Valentine Road. Therefore, we are recommending the City allow the 1 year extension rather than constructing the road improvements this fall.