Title
RESOLUTION REPLACING RESOLUTION NO. 19-0424, VACATING PUBLIC PLAZA AREAS CREATED UNDER CERTAIN AGREEMENTS, AND ACCEPTING THE DEDICATION OF NEW PLAZA EASEMENTS.
Body
WHEREAS, on April 11, 2019, Minnesota Power petitioned the Duluth city council for the vacation of certain plaza agreements on and adjacent to its property in downtown Duluth;
WHEREAS, Minnesota Power was seeking to reduce the size of one of the plazas near the entrance of its building by 30-40 feet due to safety and security concerns;
WHEREAS, the plazas and the public's rights in the plazas were created under certain agreements described on the attached Exhibit 1;
WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 100 of the City Charter and Section 50-37.6 of Chapter 50 of the Duluth City Code, as amended, such petition was duly referred to the city planning commission (PL 19-042) and such commission gave due notice of public hearing and did consider same in a public hearing and the city planning commission found that all of the easements are not needed for plaza purposes if replacement easements are obtained on or before December 31, 2020;
WHEREAS, the planning commission, at a public meeting held on May 14, 2019, recommended approval of the vacation of the plazas;
WHEREAS, the Duluth city council approved the vacation of the plazas on July 8, 2019 under Resolution No. 19-0424, contingent on the dedication of new plaza agreements being executed and recorded in the St. Louis County real estate records;
WHEREAS, Resolution No. 19-0424 contained a legal description for Minnesota Power's entire property instead of listing the specific documents to be vacated;
WHEREAS, Minnesota Power was not the owner of record of the property to be re-dedicated as public plazas areas; and
WHEREAS, the City and Minnesota Power have been diligently working together to address and fix all of the title issue...
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