Board settles highway disputes, By LISA KACZKE, Staff Writer

Dispute resolutions board finds in favor of Koochiching County on Highway 332 issues

Koochiching County officials are hoping to move forward on the reconstruction of Highway 332 after a dispute resolutions board found in favor of the county in its dispute with the city of International Falls over Highway 332.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation’s dispute resolutions board voted in favor of Koochiching County on three issues during its meeting Friday. The county is proposing to reroute the northern entrance of Highway 332 one mile east of its current location.
The board consisted of a city engineer, a city councilor, a county engineer and a county commissioner from outside Koochiching County. A representative of MnDOT also was included on the board. This was the first time Koochiching County used a dispute resolutions board.
The three issues were whether a dispute existed, approval of the revocation of county state aid highway mileage and approval of the county’s plan without approval by the city of International Falls.
Commissioner Wade Pavleck, who represented the county, said “the facts spoke for themselves and that’s why we prevailed.” The county hopes to now put the dispute behind them, Pavleck said. City Administrator Rod Otterness and City Attorney Joe Boyle did an “excellent job” representing the city, but with the issue being resolved, “the city can now focus on their own roads.”
The city expressed disappointment in the decision and said in a statement Monday that it considered all community interests when it made the contingency in its approval for vacation of the Burner Road that the road be constructed to the foreign trade zone.
The city has several options following Friday’s decision, such as appealing the decision or annexing the area surrounding the road, Pavleck said.
The board’s recommendations now go the commissioner of transportation, but those attending the meeting on the city and county were told that a recommendation has never been overruled.
In addition to the issues discussed at Friday’s meeting, it was also reported by the regional engineer for MnDOT that the portion of Highway 332 known as the Burner Road is under Koochiching County’s jurisdiction, and not the city of International Falls as it has been assumed.
The Burner Road reverts back to the previous entity that originally held jurisdiction over the road and the Burner Road was previously a county road, according to Pavleck. The county’s position is that it has jurisdiction over the Burner Road and a motion has not been passed by the city of International Falls to vacate the Burner Road to Boise Inc., county Highway Engineer Doug Grindall said.
Pavleck pointed out that the county owns several roads in International Falls, such as 11th Street, and pays the city for maintenance of the roads.

Revocation of mileage
Friday’s hearing was initiated by county officials after the city took no action on a request by the county to revoke the designation of state aid highway miles to allow the reroute of Highway 332 to move forward.
The state provides funding to roads designated as county state aid highways, with each county awarded a certain number of miles in that classification. The county needs to revoke state aid miles to create a bank of state aid miles needed for the Highway 332 project. County officials plan to designate the new northern entrance to Highway 332 as a county state aid highway during construction. That portion of the road will later be turned over to the state for maintenance.
The dispute resolutions board approved the county revoking state aid highway mileage to complete the project. The county needed the city’s approval because the road falls within the city’s limits.

Road to the FTZ
The city of International Falls had earlier agreed to vacate the Burner Road portion of Highway 332, as requested by Boise Inc. staff, but only if the highway relocation lead to the FTZ.
“The City of International Falls wants to build a road to the foreign trade zone that will meet the economic development needs of this important asset. The future of this community must be considered when roads are being planned. Existing businesses along established business corridors have made tremendous investments in property improvements. In addition, safety considerations on the Burner Road and support of Boise are benefited by the vacation of the Burner Road. The city considered all community interests when it approved vacation of the Burner Road contingent upon a road being built to the foreign trade zone,” the city’s statement said.
The county had rejected the idea of building a road to the FTZ, believing it to be too expensive at an estimated $1 million, while the county’s proposal for a reroute already had funding.
“The real winners are the taxpayers,” Pavleck said. Once every part of the city’s proposal for reconstruction to the FTZ was tallied up with wetland issues and environmental impact reports on top of construction costs, it would cost an estimated $2 million, according to Pavleck.
“The county does not have the money to build that,” Pavleck said, and the taxpayers would then be forced to pay for the road.
The county can now move forward with constructing a road that is already fully funded, Pavleck said.

The existence of a dispute
Also at issue was the existence of a dispute between International Falls and Koochiching County. The city of International Falls stated earlier that a dispute did not exist because the city had not approved or rejected the county’s request to revoke state aid miles. The dispute board determined in nearly five hours of testimony that there was a dispute between the city and the county.
“The City of International Falls is disappointed that MnDOT’s dispute resolution board met last Friday without there being a dispute because the city council has yet to approve or disapprove of plans for (county state aid highway) 155. In fact, these plans do not yet exist,” the city’s statement said.

Approval of the plan
The dispute board also approved in a 4-1 vote that the county’s plan can move ahead without the city’s approval. The city would normally have up to one year to review the county’s plan because the road falls within the city’s limits.
“The city is further disappointed that the board did not recognize the clear state law which provides for city approval of road plans for roads located within city limits. Road safety and design are important considerations to the citizens of International Falls. Because this issue is of tremendous local interest, the city is considering how best to vindicate the state law that gives cities clear authority to approve road plans prior to construction,” according to the city’s statement.