At Monday's City Commission Meeting, Commissioners considered whether to authorize the Mayor to execute an encroachment agreement & grant of easements among Storage Mart, L.L.C., the Salina Airport Authority, and the City of Salina, Kansas.
BACKGROUND: Storage Mart, L.L.C. owns a tract of real property commonly known as 1540 W. Schilling Road upon which it constructed in 2016 the two structures circled on the attached aerial location map. The Salina Airport Authority owns the real property immediately west of the Storage Mart Property, commonly known as 2845 Centennial Road. The easternmost 75 feet of the SAA Property is subject to a public drainage easement running the full length of the common boundary between the Storage Mart Property and the SAA Property. The Centennial Road Storm Drainage Channel is located within the Drainage Easement. Improvements to the Drainage Channel are currently underway, including tree removal, re-grading and seeding.
Origination and Funding of Drainage Channel Improvement Project: The Project Rise Centennial Road Channel Improvements (authorized for $1,422,224.21) are being constructed by T&R Construction and were awarded by the City Commission on January 23, 2023. SFC Global Supply Chain, Inc. is expanding plant production capacity at their Salina, Kansas location. This expansion necessitates some public infrastructure improvements to streets adjacent to the facility and a drainage ditch along the south and east sides along Centennial Rd. In cooperation with this facility expansion, the City of Salina was awarded $3,756,800 in funds from the Department of Commerce's Economic Development Administration investment for the Project Rise Drainage and Road Improvements project. With $939,200 in city matching funds, the total project cost is estimated at $4,696,000.
The storm drainage improvements are proposed to be made in the channel starting at the Bailey Road cul-de-sac running east to Centennial Road and then north under Schilling Road and the proposed Aero Plains subdivision (Lindbergh Lane) crossing and ending at a point about 1,600 feet south of Magnolia Road. The proposed Centennial ditch improvements consist of over 8,000 feet of channel earthwork, silt, debris and vegetative growth removal, and associated slope stabilization, erosion control and restoration for a more maintainable and long term conveyance solution. Further design and coordination with Schwan's is ongoing for a future street improvements project later in 2023.
Storage Mart's 2013 plan for code compliant zero-setback construction
The SAA and Storage Mart entered into the attached Covenant and Agreement Regarding No Build Easement dated March 20, 2013 and recorded with the Saline County Register of Deeds on March 2014 whereby the SAA agreed to not build any structures within twenty-five feet (25') of its border with the Storage Mart Property (the "No Build Easement"). The No Build Easement facilitated Storage Mart's zero-setback building design for construction of the Structures along the western boundary of the Storage Mart Property in compliance with local codes relating to separation between structures.
2023 recognition of encroachment and consequential complications
The attached survey of the Storage Mart Property dated February 21, 2023, prepared by Jeremy A. Lawson, a licensed surveyor, revealed that the two referenced structures built on the Storage Mart Property encroach upon the SAA Property. As depicted on the Survey, the extent of the encroachment varies along the back (western) side of the Encroaching Structures to a maximum of plus or minus six feet (6'+/-). To the extent the Encroaching Structures encroach upon the SAA Property they also encroach upon the Drainage Easement such that the Encroaching Structures are in violation of Salina Code Sec. 42-63 unless expressly authorized by the board of commissioners upon a finding by the city engineer that the encroachment does not obstruct, impede, or otherwise interfere with the drainage of stormwater. Because the Encroaching Structures are located either adjacent to or within the Drainage Channel improvements, the City is unable to mow and maintain the area between the western lot line of the Storage Mart Property and the commencement of the side slope of the Drainage Channel and the area between the commencement of the side slope of the Drainage Channel and the channel itself with the equipment ordinarily utilized by the City for that purpose.
FISCAL NOTE: The proposed Agreement does not involve a financial commitment by the City.
The motion was approved 5-0.