Title
AN ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING AN ELECTRIC LINE EASEMENT TO MINNESOTA POWER, A DIVISION OF ALLETE, INC. UPON, OVER, UNDER AND ACROSS REAL PROPERTY IN THE DULUTH HEIGHTS NEIGHBORHOOD FOR NOMINAL CONSIDERATION.
Body
CITY PROPOSAL:
The city of Duluth does ordain:
Section 1. That the proper city officials are hereby authorized to grant an electrical line easement to Minnesota Power, a division of ALLETE, Inc., a Minnesota corporation, and enter into an easement agreement for the installation, construction, operation, maintenance, inspection, repair, replacement, reconductoring, removal and relocation of electric power lines or cables, together with all structures, poles, towers, structures, crossarms, cables, braces, guy wires, supports, conduits, counterpoises, fixtures, equipment, devices and any other utility related improvements, substantially in the form attached as Exhibit 1, upon, over, under and across the real property described and depicted on Exhibit A to the attached Exhibit 1, for nominal consideration.
Section 2. That this ordinance shall take effect 30 days after its passage and publication.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: This ordinance authorizes an electrical line easement to Minnesota Power, a division of ALLETE, Inc., a Minnesota corporation (“MP”), for the installation, construction, operation, maintenance, inspection, repair, replacement, reconductoring, removal and relocation of electric power lines or cables, together with all structures, poles, towers, structures, crossarms, cables, braces, guy wires, supports, conduits, counterpoises, fixtures, equipment, devices and any other utility related improvements, upon, over, under and across the real property described and depicted on Exhibit A to the easement agreement, for nominal consideration.
MP has an existing easement for the same purposes over a 130-foot-wide corridor on certain City-owned property. The existing easement area is approximately 4.42 acres. MP desires to expand the existing corridor by 30 feet, for a total width of 160 feet, which equates to adding .99 acres to the existing easement area.
MP desires to expand the existing easement to accommodate the Duluth Loop Reliability Project, which will construct approximately 14 miles of a new 115 kV transmission line between Ridgeview in Duluth to Morris Thomas Road in Hermantown (the “Project”). There is an existing single transmission line corridor in this section, but it is aging infrastructure and MP will be converting it to a double line corridor. The new transmission line will parallel the existing line. Under the easement area, MP is responsible for obtaining all licenses, permits and other authorizations necessary regarding its activities within the easement area, including but not limited to environmental permits and authorizations. MP already has the Certificate of Need and Route Permit from the Public Utilities Commission to complete the Project.
The easement authorized by this ordinance will terminate the existing 130-foot-wide easement and grant a new easement over a 160-foot-wide corridor. The easement area is near the intersection of Haines Road and Miller Trunk Highway. The City is granting the easement for nominal consideration because of the public benefit of the Project. This ordinance is one of three for the Project on City-owned property, and the only one in this vicinity on City-owned property.
A map depicting the easement area is attached as Exhibit 2.