03-18-2002 Planning Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

iB. MINUTES OF THE ORONO PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, February 19,2002 6:30 o'clock p.m. (#02-2749 Thomas Egan, Continued) Weinberger indicated the City of Orono maintains public access to the Island for pedestrian and other types of use. Weinberger stated the City docs have a policy not to vacate any public accesses to the lake. Weinberger stated the portion of the right-of-way requested for vacation is not a right-of-way that provides access to the public waters. The City of Orono has notified all public utilities of the vacation request, and Reliant Energy/Minncgasco has responded that they have no facilities in the right-of-way. Qwest did notify the City that they do have e.xisting facilities within the right-of-way and stated they respectfully decline the right-of-way vacation request. Weinberger noted included with the Planning Commission packet is a letter from Rick Jorgenson with Qwest stating that they respectfully decline the vacation request. Weinberger indicated he has spoken with Mr. Jorgenson who indicated that Qwest would not be opposed to the vacation of the right-of-way if it is determined that utility lines are located within the public land and adequate easements arc put in place for the utilities. Weinberger stated it is anticipated that location of the lines will be verified this Thursday by Gopher One. Weinberger stated the Public Works Director has reviewed this request, and has no objection to the vacation of the right-of-way. Weinberger stated the City at this time has no intention to ever use that portion of the right-of-way for any public purpose. Weinberger stated the City likes to insure that access is maintained to each individual island over public land. Weinberger stated public access remains open with the proposed vacation. Egan presented pictures of the cabin, noting there are trees located on both sides of the cabin. Egan stated he has a concern that the City may in the future request that the cabin be moved since it is located within a right-of-w ay. Egan stated if something happened to the cabin, they would not be able to rebuild since it is located within the setback and would need to be relocated. Egan stated he is attempting to avoid any conflicts in the future, and that due to the trees i«- V area, the road is basically unusable. Egan noted he has spoken with all the neighbors and he is u*-, j-^re of any objections to the vacation. Smith questioned whether Qwest knows where their utility lines are locate; Egan stated Qwest did supply a draw mg show ing that their lines are located dowi, the road. Egan stated he personally does not feel those are correct, noting there is a junction box that is approximately three feet tall located in the area where the lines come from, which is different than what Qwest’s drawing depicts. Egan noted the cabin w as constructed sometime in the 1960s. John Burch, 380 Big Island, indicated he owns the property to the left. B'irt* stated to his knowledge the phone lines were put in about 15 years ago and come up to the indixndua! Ca'.ins from poles that are along Lakeview Avenue. There were no further public comments relating to this application, PAGE 26