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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,April 9,2018 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> 21. CONSIDERATION OF PETITION CONCERNING A PORTION OF BRACKETTS <br /> POINT ROAD—Continued <br /> Dankey asked if the existing road would be ripped up. <br /> City Administrator Rief indicated the existing road would be relocated and the new road would be <br /> completed by the developer. Upon completion of the new road,the road will go straight rather than curve <br /> to the left and the only access for turnaround would be on the private road section. <br /> Walsh stated the discussion about private roads has come up a lot in the past and that he personally has no <br /> problem taking back any privately-owned road as long as it is up to City standards. Walsh stated the City <br /> will need to look at what the useful life of the road is since it is 10 years old as well as the costs associated <br /> with improving it. <br /> Crosby noted the other part of the public road is not up to city standards. <br /> Barnhart illustrated the portion of the road that would be removed. Barnhart noted that portion of the <br /> public roadway is currently 21 feet wide and will be widened to 28 feet. <br /> Dankey asked where the snowplows would turn around. <br /> Barnhart indicated a cul-de-sac will be constructed. <br /> Seals noted the City has 97 other private roads and questioned whether this would be opening Pandora's <br /> Box. Seals asked what the benefit would be to the City to take over ownership of the private portion. <br /> Walsh stated it comes down to a cost issue. Walsh noted the residents are paying taxes and that he is <br /> willing to take back any private road as long as the costs to improve the road are taken into consideration. <br /> Crosby noted the residents were told in the past that a private road is a luxury. Crosby asked if there is a <br /> benefit taxation-wise to someone who lives on a private road. Crosby concurred the City has to look at it <br /> from an economic perspective and that the road will have X amount of cost to the City in the future. <br /> Crosby stated if they do it for one group of residents,there could be a number of others that would request <br /> the same thing. <br /> Dankey commented there are a number of private roads that have more houses on them than this road. <br /> Printup stated the bottom line is,when the private roads came into being,the idea was to help keep taxes <br /> lower. <br /> Crosby asked whether the people on private roads pay less in taxes than someone who lives on a public <br /> road. <br /> Printup asked whether the amount of private roads versus public roads is approximately 50 percent. <br /> City Administrator Rief stated they are all paying the same rate and that the City has 19 miles of private <br /> roads. <br /> Page 10 of 16 <br />