St. Louis County establishes Almos–McLeod cartway, awards $36,400 to affected landowners

The St. Louis County Board on July 8 established a cartway for the Almos–McLeod petition and set damages to the Engelbrechts at $36,400, with county costs of $15,003.61, after hearing technical testimony from county staff, an independent appraiser and parties on both sides.

County Attorney Chris Pinkert summarized the matter’s procedural history and legal standard for damages, saying the proper measure is “the difference in the before value of the property and the after value of the property.” He told the board surveys and appraisals had been completed after direction from the board at a prior hearing to better inform the alignment decision.

Public Works engineer Eric Falstrom presented route analyses and cost estimates, recommending the petitioned route because it uses the existing driveway and would avoid wetland impacts. “The petition alignment avoids all wetland impacts,” Falstrom said, and noted the alternate alignment would require roughly 420 feet of new driveway construction and entail wetland mitigation.

Independent appraiser Dawn Cole testified about her before‑and‑after valuations and methodology under Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice and Minnesota right‑of‑way guidance. Cole said the market value before the taking was $135,000 (land only) and that the petition route produced an after‑value of $98,600, yielding damages of $36,400; she estimated a $23,900 difference for the alternate route.

Petitioner Christina McLeod questioned appraisal assumptions—particularly the appraiser’s use of an “effective age” of the driveway and whether driveway value was being counted twice in comparable sales. She urged the board to consider whether a partial, percentage‑based reduction would be more appropriate because owners retain physical access.

Jeff Scott, attorney for the Engelbrechts, acknowledged the parties’ time and effort and said his clients were anxious for resolution; he told the board that legal research supported the appraisal approach for measuring severance or consequential damages.

After discussion and clarification that appraisals and survey costs were standard practice for contentious cartway matters, the board moved to find the petition legally sufficient, ordered the cartway established as described in the survey (the petitioned route), adopted findings of fact and set damages and county costs as noted. The motion passed by voice vote.

The board’s order and findings will be filed in board file #62400. Next steps include incorporating the engineer’s and appraiser’s figures into the final order and recording the cartway per statute.