Title
Rescinding the policy for delaying residential street paving projects also referred to as the Opt Out Policy.
Body
WHEREAS, City Council Resolution 94-1427 directed the Department of Public Works to develop a policy to permit areas or individual streets to delay a residential street paving project under the city's Residential Street Vitality Program (R.S.V.P.); and
WHEREAS, City Council Resolution 96-251 adopted the policy developed by the Department of Public Works; said policy permitted an area or individual street to delay a project by moving the project to the end of the R.S.V.P. project list; and
WHEREAS, City Council Resolution 13-745 rescinded Resolution 96-251; Resolution 13-745 permitted a project area to delay a project, but no longer permitted an individual street to delay a project; and
WHEREAS, the purpose of the R.S.V.P. is to reconstruct streets that have never been formally constructed or that have reached the end of their useful life; there is a significant positive effect on the revitalization of neighborhoods when streets are paved and lighted; and
WHEREAS, delaying a project increases costs to citizens citywide in the form of increased maintenance costs, as well as higher capital costs when the area is finally reconstructed; delaying a project increases calls from residents who purchase homes on blocks that have not been reconstructed; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Works has added arterial reconstruction projects to our 5-year plan and the program has since been renamed Saint Paul Streets (S.P.S.). The policy of not allowing any opt outs for reconstruction projects includes all S.P.S. reconstruction projects; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Public Works needs to plan many months in advance and spend staff resources to engineer these projects; permitting a project area to delay a project increases the time and resources spent on engineering these projects; and
WHEREAS, delaying a project by moving the project to the end of the R.S.V.P. project list is no longer an effective option; now, therefore be it
RESOLVED, that the City Council of Saint Paul rescinds Resolution 13-745 which means the city will no longer permit a project area to delay or opt out of an R.S.V.P. project.