Thursday, March 28, 2024

City Council authorizes condemnation proceedings

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In a split vote the city council approved a motion to begin condemnation proceedings on a property at 125 Pine Street. The condemnation authorizes the city attorney to initiate legal proceedings to obtain easements to allow the city to enter the property and construct a driveway.

The property is owned by Craig Hess who has attempted to negotiate with the city regarding the best resolution to a problem created by the cities recent completion of improvements to Pine Street.

In March of this year the Council approved the design for the Pine Street improvements including the financial funding and bid for the project. Construction began on the street improvements without clear resolution of the issue regarding providing access to the Hess property.

The city made an offer to Hess for the appraised value of the property that was subject to the easement needed to address the issue. Hess countered with a request that the city also compensate him for the dedication of his property as a result of his Short Plat Subdivision in 2012. The city rejected that counterproposal and negotiations were at an impasse. The city advised Hess that the project would proceed without acquisition of his property and that he would be responsible for any necessary access improvements.

In July a meeting was held with city officials including Mayor Farivar, City Administrator Joel Walinski, WSDOT Engineer Dan Wolf, property owner Craig Hess and other individuals concerned with the outcome of that meeting. An agreement was reached and documents were ordered to be drafted.

The next day Hess informed the city that he was not in agreement and he would not be granting the easements.

The dispute revolves around the steepness of the slope on his driveway. The state engineer, Dan Wolf, says the best solution is to lower the sidewalk a maximum of approximately 3 inches and then replace the current concrete driveway with one that has a ten degree slope. Hess wants the sidewalk lowered by approximately 6 inches to reduce the slope.

The house is below the level of Pine Street so the driveway slopes down from the roadway to the garage.

The state engineer points out that lowering the sidewalk creates a potential problem in the case of a large rainstorm where the sidewalk, which is designed to act as a dam in the case of heavy storm runoff, will become overwhelmed and allow water to flow over the sidewalk and down the driveway.

The local Department of Transportation office has indicated they will not approve lowering the sidewalk beyond the 3 inches proposed by Wolf.

The Design Engineer has also expressed concerns that lowering the sidewalk beyond the 3 inches could open himself and the city to future storm water liability. Wolf contends that lowering the sidewalk beyond the 3 inches could result in the storm water control design to fail in a heavy storm allowing water to run over the sidewalk on onto private property.

Further complicating the dispute is the fact that without a resolution to the improved access to Mr. Hess’s property the project is not considered complete and Federal Funding for the project could be in jeopardy. Federal Funding for the project is $705,000. If the project is not completed the Federal Funds would have to be returned.

What was not clear is if the entire $705,000 would have to be repaid or some lower partial amount.

Council voted 4 to 2 to authorize the city to move forward with the condemnation. Lundgren and Wilson voted against the motion. Bretz, Neighbors, Waters and Strand voted for the measure. Those in favor said they could not put the city at risk of losing the $705,000 in Federal Grant money.

Lundgren said, “I’m not in favor of condemnation. It puts a bad taste in the communities mouth.”

In other business

Ordinance 1595 Commercial Street and Alley Vacation

Council voted unanimously to vacate the portion of Commercial Street and the alley east of 14th Street between the city property and the adjoining property owned by Tom Lin. The street and alley are used for access to the city public work’s yard and do not connect with highway 2.

Resolution 13-2019 – Affordable Housing

The state has approved a local revenue sharing program that returns a portion of existing sales and use tax to communities for affordable housing investments. The council voted unanimously to take advantage of the program, which will bring the city .0073% of the states share of local sales tax collections. The funds received from this program must be spent on housing projects that serve those who earn 60 percent or less of the average median income.

Festhalle Flooring

Council approved the expenditure of $37,832 to resurface the Festhalle main floor. The current floor was completed in 2007. The measure was passed unanimously after council women Neighbors and Waters asked that at least 50% of the funds for the work come from Lodging tax.

Pine Street Beautification

Council unanimously approved the expenditure of an amount not to exceed $12,000 to improve landscaping along Pine Street. A considerable number of trees and plants were lost during the reconstruction of Pine Street and this money was to replace some of that loss. The city plans to purchase the plants and then give them to the residents who will be responsible for planting and caring for them.

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