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Council approves pipeline encroachment agreements so 53rd Street multi‑use path can proceed; one member dissents
Summary
After engineers and staff said pipeline owners reviewed and accepted final plans with mitigation, the council approved encroachment agreements with Phillips 66 and KPC (each 3–1), while one councilmember warned the standard boilerplate language placed too much liability on the city. Staff said agreements will be included in contractor RFPs.
Bel Aire's City Council approved two pipeline encroachment agreements needed for the 53rd Street multi‑use path, allowing construction where the proposed path crosses utility easements. Both votes were 3–1, with Councilmember Brandon Macintosh opposed in each case.
Ken Lee of Garver explained that the project team met with the pipeline companies, revised alignments where needed, and received conditional acceptance of the final plans. Lee told the council that the firms’ standard encroachment agreements assign liability and include boilerplate provisions; staff recommended executing the agreements to avoid further delay to the project.
Councilmember Macintosh urged caution and asked whether the city could negotiate less onerous language. City Attorney Katherine Klumsky said she had requested pipeline contacts review proposed edits and that the companies were willing to review suggested revisions, but staff cautioned that additional negotiation could delay work. Mayor Bina and engineering staff emphasized schedule concerns: councilmembers want the multi‑use path in place for school access and hoped to avoid repeating prior delays. “We are two years behind on this project,” a councilmember said, and urged the council to move forward while tying the agreements into contractor responsibilities.
The council approved the Philips 66 encroachment agreement (vote 3–1; Macintosh opposed) and then approved the KPC Pipeline LLC agreement on the same margin. Staff said the executed encroachment agreements will be provided to KDOT and included in contract documents so that contractors are on notice of the pipeline company requirements and any contractor responsibilities if damage occurs.
Next steps: staff will finalize and execute the encroachment agreements with Phillips 66 and KPC and require the contractor selected for the 53rd Street work to acknowledge and comply with the encroachment terms as part of the RFP/contract package.
