04 - Highway 371 Road Turnbacks - Laserfiche WebLink

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participating in the negations,the County has been led to believe that the City would accept all the turn backs in exchange for a nearly$5.5M lump sum payment. On September 29, 2010,a letter was sent to the City of Pequot Lakes regarding the County's intent to turn back a number of roadways west of the bypass alignment. In this communication the City was urged to evaluate the long term financial obligations associated with these roadways prior to granting MnDOT municipal consent. It's uncertain if the prior analysis was completed or whether the recent Springsted study was the first attempt to do so. As the possibility of advancing the TH 371 project became more likely,the County engaged both MnDOT and Pequot Lakes in negotiations related to the roadway turn backs.In January 2014 the City forwarded the County an extensive list of roadway improvements associated with CSAH 11,CR 112 and the existing TH 371 alignment.This list represented all upgrades required by the City prior to acceptance as turn backs.Since that time,the County has been negotiating in good faith with MnDOT and the City regarding the roadway features contained an the list. In May 2014,the County and MnDOT reached an agreement associated with the turn back of existing TH 371. This agreement includes a very large portion of the components listed by the City.These improvements include a roundabout to replace the existing signal,new urban sections north&south of the roundabout and a full-depth pavement reconditioning over the entire length existing TH 371. The combined cost of these components, including inflation and contingencies, has been determined to be $4.2M. It has always been the intent of the. County pay this full amount to the City upon the turn back of existing TH 371. ' In a similar fashion, negotiations have been progressing between County and the City with regard to CR 112 and CSAH 11.As of the last negotiation session,the County has agreed to nearly all City requirements allowed by the County's cost participation policy.The combined cost of these components,including inflation and contingencies,stands at$1.45M. Although I have reviewed the presentation prepared by Springsted, I still remain unclear what information ultimately shaped the City'ss current position. I have questions regarding the methods and figures used in this study, but acknowledge that the City Council has the authority to make decisions with or without this type of information.For my benefit I would like an opportunity to review this study with City and those who developed it. I will close by stating Crow Wing County's position regarding the future of the roadways the City is unwilling to accept as turn backs. Although extensive discussions have taken place with the City to define needed roadway upgrades, much of the negotiation has been contingent on successfully developing a turn back agreement. If the County is unsuccessful, it's likely that many of the roadway upgrades will not happen for several years or, in some cases,not at all.It's likely that both CSAH 11 and existing TH 371 will remain unchanged for ten or more years after the bypass is built.This may be contrary to City's desire to revitalize its urban business areas. Under this scenario,the County will likely use the $4.2M received from MnDOT to fund its portion of the interchange and other obligations associated with the