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** ITEM 7. 2** <br /> <br />ity of <br /> <br />iver <br /> <br />TO: <br /> <br />FROM: <br /> <br />DATE: <br /> <br />SUBJECT: <br /> <br />MEMORANDUM <br /> <br /> Mayor and City Council <br /> <br /> Steven B. Ach, City Planne.r~~~ <br /> <br /> July 15, 1996 <br /> <br /> Construction of Trails <br /> within Developments <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />In the past, the City has been following in the footsteps of residential development <br />to complete the planned trail corridors as approved as part of the plat. <br />Unfortunately, the construction of these trails has lagged further and further behind <br />to a point where it became a "after the fact" improvement and a surprise to the <br />homeowners that purchased homes adjacent to these trail corridors. I believe a <br />well-planned and implemented trail system is very important element of the park <br />and recreation system. Trails and sidewalks provide a safe means of pedestrian <br />movement between neighborhoods and to other destination points in the <br />community. <br /> <br />Therefore, to insure that the trail system is built according to the plan, staff will <br />begin making sure that all trails that are approved as part of a subdivision be <br />installed along with all the other improvements (i.e., streets and utilities) of the <br />development. Since the City does not receive a trail fee and it has been the City's <br />past practice to finance and install trails, the cost of these trails will have to be <br />taken from the park dedication fund to reimburse the developer's contractor once the <br />trails have been completed. <br /> <br />By having the trails installed as part of the improvements to the subdivision, all <br />home buyers moving into a particular development will be fully aware of the trails <br />in the area. It has been standard practice to have sidewalks installed as part of the <br />public improvements and assessed back to the developer. These sidewalks are <br />typically installed along collector routes and have not presented a problem in the <br />past. There will probably be three or four residential projects this year that will <br />require trail construction as part of the overall improvements. Staff will monitor the <br />process of having these trails installed and reimbursing the developer for this cost <br />throughout this construction year. <br /> <br />There is really no action the Council needs to take on this issue; rather, staff wanted <br />to update the Council on this issue since it has come up several times in the past <br />couple of years. Staff would be happy to update the Council towards the end of this <br />construction season to let you know how this approach of trail construction is <br />working out. <br /> <br /> s:\council\trails.doc <br />13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 · (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 <br /> <br /> <br />