FORT MADISON – An effort to secure an easement for the concrete path that will go in front of Pizza Hut as part of the reconstruction of Avenue L was met with extra onion Tuesday night at the Fort Madison City Council meeting.
Public Works Director Mark Boussselot said city staff had reached an agreement to secure a portion of the property at 24th and Avenue L at the corner of the Pizza Hut lot.
The easement was needed due to a stoplight on the corner that would require the city to secure some space outside of the right of way to continue the new 8-foot recreational trail that is part of the new construction on that stretch of highway.
The work is part of the next phase of the city’s Business 61 reconstruction efforts from 20th Street to 30th Street.
Bousselot wrote in a report to the council that that corner has been an issue. The city is required to secure all easements outside of the right of way per DOT regulations.
“The northwest corner of 24th Street and Avenue L is a particularly challenging corner for the trail because of the existing traffic signal mast arm,” he wrote.
“In order to bid the project with the Iowa DOT, the engineer reduced the width of the trail to four feet.”
Summit Pizza Inc. had agreed to sell the parcel to the city to allow it to continue with the designed 8-foot wide rec. trail, which would eliminate one parking stall on the property, for $5,000.
Bousselot and City Manager Laura Liegois recommended the city council approve the easement purchase.
But Mayor Matt Mohrfeld pushed back and said the restaurant should recognize the value of the trail and give the city the easement that provides for what he said was about six feet of trail.
“Alright, I think this is a terrible idea,” he said. “They want us to pay for an easement about the size of that podium just so that we have a section of it that can be this wide instead of this wide. It bottlenecks there because of the traffic light. And I like Pizza Hut, but they're going to get a nice wellness trail in front of there and I think they should work with the city a little more than this.”
“I don’t think $5,000 for that little wedge of ground there is right. I think it sets a bad precedent as we move forward with our P.O.R.T trail and easements.”
Bousselot said he agreed with the Mayor that it’s a lot of money for the easement.
“Where we differ is we’ve been working a long time with Pizza Hut to get this easement. The Avenue L 20 to 30 project was designed with an 8-foot walking trail from beginning to end,” Bousselot said.
“Working with the DOT, we had to have all the easements and we didn't have all the easements, so on the corner of 24th and Avenue L, we narrowed the walking trail from 8 feet to five feet to dance around the traffic signal.
Narrowing the walkway down at that part near the traffic signal allowed the city to bid the project because doing that didn’t require the easement so there would be no issue with the DOT. Bousselot said the city did that to keep the project moving, but wanted to continue to work with the business to try to keep the original intent of the trail.
“If we approve this easement with Pizza Hut, we would have an 8-foot wide trail from beginning to end and there would be no narrow spot to get around the traffic light,” he said.
Councilman Rusty Andrews said the city could move the traffic light for less than $5,000, but he said just narrowing the trail there isn’t that big of a deal.
“If you move it to five feet, who’s gonna be mad? Tell me again,” Andrews said.
Bousselot said he doesn’t know why the city would want to have an 8-foot trail down the north side of the street except for that section.
Councilman Dustin Yager had the quickest response.
“Because they want $5,000,” he said.
Mohrfeld said it’s nowhere close to 20 feet and it's closer to five, but Bousselot said it’s 20 feet from the intersection to where the 8-foot resumes. Bousselot said the stretch would also hinder the city maintaining the trail with snow removal.
“If we’re running our side by side down it ,it would beneficial if it was 8-feet the whole way,” he said.
Mohrfeld said so now Pizza Hut gets a new trail in front of their building that the city will have maintain and they want $5,000 for what amounts to one parking spot.
Bousselot said he was asking for the easement because it would be beneficial for the trail. He said the $5,000 helps reimburse Summit Pizza’s legal expenses in considering the easement.
The contract for the work has already been approved, according to Liegois, and the contract is bid with the narrowing included.
“This is the lowest you get to get that to 8-feet. If you don’t approve it, you’re stuck with the (narrowed) path.
The motion failed 5-1 with Angela Roller voting in favor of paying for the easement and the rest of the council voting against it. Jack Gray was absent.
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