Will The Third Time Be A Charm?
Lino Voters To Consider Street Reconstruction Project . Again
LINO LAKES - West Shadow Lake Drive is not improving with age.
Like Shadow Court and Sandpiper Drive, its pavement has deteriorated, and voters city-wide will be asked to approve a referendum for the reconstruction of those streets at the city's municipal election on Tuesday, Nov. 6. (The wording of the ballot question is shown in the box on Page A6.) This year will mark the third time that the project has gone to a referendum vote: the referendum failed in 2003 and in 2005.
Photo by Deb Barnes
The project, which includes storm sewer and bringing sanitary sewer and watermain to an area that does not currently have these services, is estimated to cost $5,583,000. Approximately half will be assessed to benefi ting property owners. The remaining cost will be financed by bonds, to be paid off over a 15-year period by a city-wide tax levy. Th e city estimates the annual cost of the proposed tax levy to a property owner will be $38 for a $250,000 home, $53 for a $350,000 home, and $76 for a $500,000 home.
Many of the residents who live in the West Shadow Lake Drive (WSLD) neighborhood have told the city that they believe the road has serious problems. Homeowners cited a lack of drainage, which causes winter ice buildup and summer ponding on the roadway, and sight distance problems which they say endanger joggers and bicyclists. On WSLD, a bike trail and a more uniform street design are included in the city's preliminary plans. Th e installation of curb and gutter where possible will help reduce tree removals that would be necessary if ditches were constructed instead. New trees will replace trees that must be removed as part of the project.
Municipal utilities will involve installing gravity sanitary sewer and sanitary forcemain, as well as 12-inch water main. Th ose utilities will loop to connect to the north end of Black Duck Drive. A combination of infi ltration and storm sewer will handle storm drainage.
The city held two referendum informational open houses on Oct. 24 and Oct. 30. Community Development Director Michael Grochala said that additional neighborhood meetings are planned during final design to work out existing issues if the referendum is approved.
About 13% of Lino Lakes' local streets, most of them in older and more established neighborhoods, are classified in the "problem" category in the city's Pavement Management Plan.
Eventually, Grochala said, it becomes more cost-effective to reconstruct streets than to continue putting tax dollars into patching or overlaying them.
"If you do an overlay at that point, it's a cosmetic fix," he said. "Once they hit a certain [pavement] rating, the subgrade has been affected, and it's not going to support any additional improvements."
To reconstruct problem streets, there is a process that the city must follow. Not only is that process governed by the city's charter, but state statute plays a role.
The city cannot assess property owners for improvement costs that exceed the increase in property value resulting from the project.
This is generally not a problem when water and sewer are installed.
"Water and sewer are actually a big benefi t [to property owners]," Grochala said. But analyzing the benefi t that reconstructed pavement adds to a home can be more complicated. It's unlikely that all of that cost can be passed on to a homeowner, Grochala said, since the property already enjoyed the benefits of pavement, however old, prior to its replacement.
"You're always going to need a property tax levy to reconstruct those streets," Grochala said.
But if the project requires public money to pay for part of the improvements, the charter requires the project be approved by the voters. Lino Lakes voters will have that opportunity on Nov. 6 at the polls.