Title
Resolution No. 2 - Newport Sidewalk Special Assessment
Memorandum
Attached for your review and approval is Resolution No. 2 for the sidewalk improvements to be constructed along Newport Road (M-14 to Riverwood Drive), District #42. Resolution 2 establishes the cost of the project and its distribution.
Background
On November 3, 2012, staff received a petition requesting the city to provide a sidewalk along Newport Road from Riverwood Drive to Wines Elementary and to consider "taxing" the neighboring communities to help pay for the costs. The petition was signed primarily by citizens neighboring Newport Road. The petition followed a public involvement process begun in 2011 in which staff sought to address the citizen-requested improvements of non-motorized access along Newport Road north of Sunset.
Subsequently in January 2013, City Council approved a resolution authorizing staff to design the sidewalk and investigate funding scenarios, such as spreading the special assessments to the surrounding neighborhoods (R-13-029).
In early 2014, the design was completed and cost estimates prepared. It is proposed to construct this sidewalk in conjunction with the road resurfacing planned for Newport Road (Sunset to just south of Bird Road) as part of the 2014 Street Resurfacing Project. Combining the two projects provides an efficiency of scale and spares the sidewalk project the cost of items such as traffic control. This results in reduced total cost for the sidewalk. It is proposed to fund the sidewalk north of M-14 by special assessment. The Ann Arbor Public Schools (AAPS) are being asked to pay for the assessable share of the sidewalk south of the bridge, all of which abuts AAPS property.
Special Assessments
As called for in Chapter 13 of City Code, the cost for the addition of new sidewalk where none currently exists is borne by the parcels that benefit from the improvements. Traditionally, the properties considered benefitting ...
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