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Department Approval �� Item Description �1� �+ REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION Date: 12/03/12 Item No.: 12.g City Manager Approval Approve Contract far Engineering Services to develop Twin Lakes Area Public Improvements Feasibility Report BACKGROUND The Twin Lakes Business Park AUAR contained a mitigation plan which identified a number of public infrastructure improvements necessary to mitigate the environmental impacts of the traffic generated by the redevelopment of this area. The AUAR mitigation plan identified 16 different improvements that needed to be constructed in order for the Twin Lakes Area to redevelop with limited impacts to the area road system. Preliminary engineering and cost estimates for these infrastructure improvements were developed as a part of the City's Infrastructure Improvement Study in 2008. A map and summary table showing these improvements is attached. The majority of the improvements identified are on regional roadways. Subsequent development proposals in the area have shown that the need for these improvements is cumulative. One redeveloped parcel does not trigger all of the improvements, rather it is the cumulative traffic generated by all of the redevelopment parcels and the growth in the background traf�c that causes the need to construct the street improvements. As a result, it is anticipated that there is a benefit to more than just the properties directly abutting the roadways to be improved. When there is a demonstrable benefit to property owners, the City can fund the public improvements through special assessments. Special assessments are a charge imposed on properties for a particular improvement that benefits the owners of selected properties. The authority to use special assessments originates in the state constitution which allows the state legislature to give cities and other governmental units the authority "to levy and collect assessments for local improvements upon property benefited thereby." The legislature confers this authority to cities in Minnesota Statutes Chapter 429. � The first step in the assessment process is to take a look at the feasibility of the project. This includes; determining the project need, identifying the benefitted area, and developing a methodology to allocate the public improvement costs to the benefitting properties. The project need was identified in the AUAR. The majority of the improvements identified are on the � regional roadway system and it is anticipated that there is a benefit to more than just the �- properties directly abutting the roadways to be improved. In order to take a look at the extent of the benefit to property owners, the City will need to take a look at the land uses in the area and how the traffic would use the proposed public improvements. To accomplish this analysis, City Staff is requesting the assistance of SRF Consulting Group, Inc.. The study will look at the feasibility of constructing the following improvements that were identified in the Twin Lakes AUAR Infrastructure Improvements Study: Page 1 of 2