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Howard R, Green Oompany Item 6.5. March 6, 2002 File: 815640J-0045 Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Elk River 13065 Orono Parkway P.O. Box 490 Elk River, MN 55330-0490 RE: ZANE STREET IMPROVEMENTS EMINENT DOMAIN RESOLUTION Dear Council Members: Since February 25, 2002, when the public hearing for the Zane Street improvements were held and the City Council passed the resolution ordering the improvement, we have been discussing with Mr. Dwight Kirkeide the small impact to his property and the possibility of him granting a permanent easement for these improvements, along with a temporary construction easement. We have done some additional survey work in the area of Mr. Kirkeide's property and have looked at alternatives to minimize the impact to his land. These alternatives include eliminating the sidewalk which was proposed on his side of the street, adding retaining walls to the project to minimize backsloping requirements onto his property, and adding additional screening by way of planting evergreen trees in the area impacted. We met with Mr. Kirkeide on Tuesday, March 5, 2002, and discussed the project in further detail, and specifically the changes we could make to the proposed improvements to mimize impacts to his property. Mr. Kirkeide has been relatively steadfast in his protection of his property. Although we have explained to Mr. Kirkeide that this is a project initiated by the City in an effort to close an unsafe intersection with TH 10, Mr. Kirkeide sees this project as being a benefit to the commercial area of Saxon Motors and Napa Auto Parts and does not feel he should be asked to give or sell easements to facilitate the project which benefits others and has no benefit directly to him. We concluded the meeting on Tuesday with Mr. Kirkeide by telling him that if he had any other suggestions that would make this palatable to him to please contact us. When asked if he would absolutely not allow the granting of the easements for purposes of facilitating the proposed improvements, Mr. Kirkeide was somewhat evasive and did not directly answer the question. Therefore, I would recommend that the City Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing eminent domain of the small portion of Mr. Kirkeide's property necessary for the improvements. This resolution and attached description contain the necessary area to construct the road and the sidewalk along with temporary easements for backsloping purposes. Ltr 3-6-02 Council 1326 Energy Park Drive · St. Paul, MN 55108 · 651/644-4389 fax 651/644-9446 toll free 888/368-4389