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b. Gaffron distributed a memo regarding the position of Met Council. <br /> i) Timing— If the City receives a Comp Plan amendment application by December 17, <br /> the application would go to the January PC meeting and the City could include in the <br /> 2030 Comp Plan amendment update to Met Council. <br /> c. Utilities for sewer and water would work on this site and could potentially be included <br /> with a Myrtlewood project. <br /> d. Council agreed this would be good site for this type of use. <br /> 3. Attorney Contract <br /> a. Contract Services and Rates <br /> i) In January of 2006 the rate was established for general work at $130/hour with the <br /> original contract. Discussion took place regarding rate increases in 2007 and 2008; <br /> however, the rates have not changed since 2006. The City has received a proposed <br /> contract with a rate at $145/hour. Historically the company adjusts rates in even <br /> years and honors for 2 years. <br /> ii) The City's budget process can be used to help determine how much time is needed <br /> and the funds available for attorney work. The City has the option to cut back on use <br /> of the attorney to address recession factors. Staff generally has sophisticated legal <br /> questions. <br /> b. Discuss Xcel Franchise Agreement and Casco Point Underground Utilities <br /> i) Basically two options exist for financing the underground utilities. <br /> (1) Special assessment procedure through the City. Although the underground <br /> utilities were not part of the original bond, the City could probably work this out <br /> with the bond company. The City would act as the bank, front the costs, and <br /> collect payments from Casco Point residents through a special assessment. <br /> Various methods could be used to determine the assessment for each individual <br /> property. <br /> (2) Negotiate cost as part of the Xcel Franchise Agreement. <br /> (a) Franchise agreements were originally used to monitor what went into right-of- <br /> ways and for maintenance of those utilities. The agreements were in <br /> ordinance format so they could be enforced with an expiration clause, often 20 <br /> years or more. Many communities are renegotiating these agreements or <br /> establishing their own right-of-way agreements. <br /> (b) The proposed agreement is another 20 year agreement and is basically a <br /> glorified right-of-way ordinance only for city streets. It governs location of <br /> new utilities, but not reconstructed or existing utilities. The City has been <br /> unable to come to agreement with Xcel. One of the terms the City wants <br /> included is to have Xcel utilities removed from the City right-of-way if they <br /> are abandoned. Xcel doesn't want to remove them for economic reasons. <br /> (c) City could refuse to sign the franchise agreement and pass its own right-of- <br /> way ordinance. The City could require Xcel to underground utilities with any <br /> new development or major reconstruction road project and require Xcel to <br /> allow other utilities to use the power poles. A potential downside is that Xcel <br /> would go to the Public Utilities Commission and ask for a rate adjustment that <br /> would affect the whole city. <br /> ii) Council has learned that undergrounding utilities only reduces the number of power <br /> outages on Casco Point by 10-15%. <br /> iii) Undergrounding utilities at this point is basically an aesthetic improvement. <br /> *Indicates Staff Action Item Page 2 <br />