The city provided one more piece of the puzzle the county is putting together as it moves forward with plans for a courthouse expansion – but not without conditions.

Tuesday, April 09, 2002

The city provided one more piece of the puzzle the county is putting together as it moves forward with plans for a courthouse expansion – but not without conditions.

As part of the preparations for the courthouse expansion, Freeborn County had asked the city to give a one-block section of Pearl Street to them. And they would like an answer sooner, rather than later.

According to Ron Gabrielson, county administrator, the bids for demolition of the Western Grocer Building will be let in a couple of days, and will be opened on April 23, with May 10 set as the date set for demolition to begin. They need to have control of that street for the demolition.

The temporary closure of the street for demolition activity won’t be a problem, according to city officials and council members. But two issues complicate the transfer of ownership of the street itself: the water and sewer lines that lie under the street and the ownership of a lot at the corner of Newton and Pearl, adjoining the Western Grocer building.

Before agreeing to the county’s request, the city is asking for an agreement covering those utilities. The agreement would have to specify the county’s responsibility to relocate those lines at its expense, when possible, or to provide access to utilities that cannot be relocated.

&uot;We need an access agreement before vacating the street,&uot; said Paul Sparks, city manager. The city doesn’t usually surrender ownership of a street unless it has such an agreement, Sparks added.

It helps that the agreement would be with Freeborn County, a public entity, because such agreements usually can’t be reached with private organizations, he said.

The city also wants ownership of the only property on that block not owned by the county to be resolved before they finalize any action on vacating Pearl Street.

The water line can be relocated with minimal impact on the system, but the sewer line is very deep (approximately 30 feet) and cannot move. The sewer line is a gravity-fed system, and adding turns to the line would restrict both flow and volume.

The section of Pearl Street what would be closed is the block between Newton and Broadway, and lies between the courthouse and the Western Grocer building.

In other business, the city council:

– Approved the assessments for work on James Avenue. In that project, which involves the repair of water lines, $269,000 of the $1 million cost can be assessed to landowners. The city is responsible for all other costs.

– Appointed Tina Martinez to fill a vacancy on the Human Rights Commission. The vacancy was created when Lupe Gasca resigned from the commission. Martinez will serve for the remainder of Gasca’s term.

– Approved a testing well installation contract with Terracon. Three wells will be required near the City Center, because the MPCA is requiring that the city test for horizontal water contamination after a buried barrel holding solvents was found under the city’s parking lot.

– Set a public meeting for discussion of a paving project in New Hills area. The city is planning on assessing the condo association for the costs of paving, and letting them decide how to assess individual landowners within the development.