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Committee member wins approval to spend $200,000 in impact fees for 85th Street bypass lanes
Summary
The board approved allocating $200,000 from public‑works impact fees to acquire/design bypass lanes on 85th Street (near 60th and 57th). Discussion centered on whether the expense qualifies as growth‑related infrastructure under impact‑fee rules; staff said certain "new infrastructure" projects can qualify.
A motion to allocate $200,000 from the public‑works impact fee fund toward acquisition and preliminary work for bypass lanes on 85th Street passed on a voice vote after board debate about eligibility and scope.
The maker of the motion described it precisely: "My motion was, to allocate $200,000, from the impact fee fund to, accommodate an addition on 85th Street of bypass lanes at 60th Avenue and 57," and said the funds could secure land, initial design and help initiate a larger project. Other trustees questioned whether the impact‑fee statute allows the money to be used for existing traffic deficiencies versus new infrastructure tied directly to growth. Legal/finance staff replied that impact fees must have a rational relationship to new development and that certain new infrastructure (for example, an added lane created to serve new development) would be eligible while routine maintenance or replacing existing deficiencies would not.
Board members acknowledged that $200,000 likely would not cover full construction and said the money would be used for a discrete portion of a larger project (for example, land acquisition or design) and that further budgeting steps would follow. The motion was seconded and carried by a voice vote.
