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Shideman <br />4075 Highwood Rd. <br />Orono,MN 55364 <br />(952)922-5002 <br />This letter is to address concerns raised regarding the accessibility of the alley located adjacent <br />to 4075 Highwood Rd at the City Council meeting on May 13th.An anonymous concern was <br />raised that Arborvitae landscaping was blocking access to the alley.The concern is unwarranted <br />and inaccurate.The Arborvitae in question were in place when the property was purchased or <br />replaced existing landscaping that actually increased accessibility.In May city staff completed a <br />site visit where they determined that they had full access to do any work on the utilities in the <br />alley.It was also determined that this alley is not for lake access but rather for maintenance of <br />utilities as there is lake access at the end of Highwood. <br />The landscaping in the alley was in place when the property was purchased.A small area of the <br />vegetation was cut back and replaced with new arborvitae,extending the existing line of trees. <br />This work was done post construction as excavation had damaged the portion of landscaping on <br />4075’s property.Figure 1 below indicates the area where existing landscaping and vegetation <br />was replaced with what is now there..This landscaping was a replacement for landscaping that <br />existed before replacement and extends from within 4075 property to approximately 6 feet into <br />the alley.The resulting landscaping actually reduced the footprint of vegetation and improved <br />accessibility.Unfortunately pre-construction,this was one of the least photographed spaces. <br />However Figure 2 shows the existing vegetation in the background and Figure 3 shows the <br />overgrown vegetation in the foreground. <br />On May 8th City staff visited the site to determine accessibility of the storm sewer system.They <br />determined that their ability to access the site and perform any maintenance of the alley way and <br />associated utilities would not be impeded.Figure 4 shows a view down the alley where the white <br />flags indicate the eastern property line.As can be seen in the pictures a utility truck can be driven <br />down the alley without hitting the landscaping as there is roughly 16 feet to the edge of the line of <br />trees. <br />Finally when staff was on site it was mentioned that this alley was not designated for lake access <br />but rather utility work.Figure 6 shows the short distance to an alley designated for lake access. <br />This is consistent with our 5 years of property ownership as we have never seen a single person <br />walk down this alley other than the residents immediately adjacent.