HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 06-10 Gas franchise fee in Maplewood should fix local streets MAPLEWOOD REVIEW2/11/2016 Gas franchise fee in Maplewood should fix local streets I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Gas franchise fee in Maplewood
should fix local streets
Submitted by admin1 on Wed, 06/10/2015 - 12:OOam
By: Erin Hinrichs
Using funds generated t fraena the new gas franchise fee, city
engineers will be able to repair a. n additional two miles of roads a a.= ch
year, 7 hey estimate the streets highlighted in red would be
completed in the first figs; years of this 20-. y ar investment program,
(submitted graphic)
Maggie Arneberg says the condition of Dahl Court
— the Maplewood street she's lived on for the past
30 years — is so poor that it likely affects the
property value of her home. For her, though, the
potholes and crumbling pavement became a real
quality of life issue when friends began
commenting on the apparent lack of pavement
upkeep.
"It's become kind of an embarrassment to live
there and I don't like to say that about my home,"
Arneberg told council members at the May 26 city
council meeting.
Thanks to the possibility of a new gas franchise
fee, Arneberg and her neighbors in the south leg of
Maplewood, along with other locals coping with
deteriorating roads, may benefit from an additional
two to three miles of city -funded road repairs each
year, over the course of the next 20 years.
On May 26, the City Council held a public hearing
on the proposed gas franchise fee, earmarked
specifically for road repairs. After listening to four
residents speak on the matter, they unanimously
approved the first reading of the new ordinance.
"It's probably the biggest issue in the city right now
— the condition of the roads," Mayor Nora Slawik
said. "It's a huge issue for the entire state. There
isn't any quick fix.
"I think [the franchise fee] is innovative. It seems to
be the best option. This is really about the common
good."
How much?
Working with Xcel Energy, city engineers proposed
tacking a franchise fee onto each local user's
monthly gas bill. Per the agreement with Xcel, this
money would be passed through on a quarterly
basis to the city at no additional charge to either
the customer or the city.
In order to fund an additional two to three miles of
street repairs each year, city engineers determined
they would need to generate an additional annual
revenue of $470,000.
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2/11/2016 Gas franchise fee in Maplewood should fix local streets I Lillie Suburban Newspapers - LillieNews.com
Deteriorating streets have been patched along Dahl Avenue and
Court in south Maplewood. A new fee may allow the city to repair an
additional two miles of city roads each year. (Linda Baumeister/
Review)
Using customer data to calculate the expense, residential
users would pay an additional $2.50 per month on their
gas bill. According to Xcel, more than 12,000 Maplewood
residents would be affected by the fee. Roughly 1,000
commercial non -demand users would pay $6 per month.
And just 22 users who fall outside these two categories
would pay $50-$100 per month.
It's an amount that longtime resident John Donofrio told
council members at the public hearing that he'd like to see
increased.
"I'm glad you're being aggressive with the roads," he said,
before suggesting they bump the fee up a dollar or two.
"People will spend more money on their cars in repairs
over the next few years."
Pay now, save later
Part of the city's rationale for implementing a franchise
fee on a utility, rather than raising property taxes,
Thompson explained, is to cast a wider net. In doing so,
he explained, the cost will be more evenly distributed
amongst local beneficiaries, including churches and
nonprofits.
"More users would pay into the systems," Thompson said. "Right now, tax-exempt users of the roads don't pay into property
taxes."
Once fully adopted by the council, the gas franchise fee for road repairs will be factored into the city's five-year Capital
Improvement Plan. City engineers will update road project maps to reflect the expanded coverage. Roads will be prioritized based
on surveys of current pavement conditions.
While some of the residential streets in the city's south leg don't qualify as the oldest, a faulty blacktop mixture used back in the
late 1980s subjected these streets to premature pavement stripping.
Once some of the south -leg streets are addressed, the new franchise fee will help fund mill and overlays, full depth reclaim and
fog seals for remaining streets throughout the city.
According to Thompson, roughly 40 percent of the city's 135 miles of city streets are in poor or fair condition.
"This is an investment because we're fixing that surface pavement before the base [is compromised]," he said.
A grassroots effort
Back in October, the city held an open house at the Londin Lane fire station to discuss growing concerns about deteriorating road
conditions in the face of limited funds. Looking to expand the list of streets outlined in the city's five-year Capital Improvement
Plan, residents in the south leg of Maplewood raised the possibility of creating a franchise fee to help close the funding gap.
From there, the idea was presented at a council workshop and vetted in a number of public forums. According to a tally of all
feedback received from open house events, phone calls and emails kept by Thompson, 33 people were in favor of the fee, 21
were opposed and five were undecided.
"This was a community -driven effort to explore options to fund more street repairs," Thompson said. "I certainly understand the
position of those against paying a franchise fee, but this was becoming a quality of life issue for many residents."
With a solution on the horizon, Arneberg may soon be able to host company again without having to apologize for the condition of
her street, which she describes as a failed patchwork of pavement with grey, pink and orange undertones.
The ordinance may pass just on time, as far as she's concerned. She'd recently heard about a woman who had taken to planting
impatiens in the potholes on her street — as a form of protest and beautification.
"I was thinking, 'Maybe I should do that,"' she said. Erin Hinrichs can be reached at 651-748-7814 and ehinrichs@lillienews.com.
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