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First ever right-of-way manual in NMI now in the works
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Posted on Nov 08 2011
Today is the last of a two-day CNMI Right-of-Way Manual Orientation, Contents and Applications workshop being hosted by the Department of Public Works at the Fiesta Resort and Spa in Garapan.
Some 15 DPW, Department of Lands and Natural Resources, and Department of Public Lands staffers attended the first day of the event, which aims to review the islands’ first ever Right-of-Way Manual.
The first day featured presentations by Colin Thompson of Thompson Law Office, LLC; Alfred K. Pangelinan of Meridian Land Surveying, LLC; Vicente Sablan of American Appraisal Associates; and Jon Abrams of Land Tenure Consultants.
Land Tenure Consultants was contracted by DPW in September 2010 to develop the manual that will establish policies and procedures for the acquisition, compensation, management, and maintenance of designated public right-of-ways to be implemented by DPW.
The manual also seeks to improve the project development process and provide opportunities for additional funding eligibility for roadway infrastructure projects under the current federal-aid highway program.
“A federal regulation requires us to have a CNMI Rights-of-Way Manual in compliance with the federal regulations,” DPW Secretary Martin Sablan.
Now that the CNMI receives more funding from the Federal Highway Administration under the U.S. Department of Transportation, Sablan said it would be vital for them to finalize the manual.
Besides comments obtained from the two-day workshop, Sablan said they will also seek comments from surveyors, architects, engineers, and appraisers in the CNMI to be incorporated in the final draft of the manual.
Sablan told Saipan Tribune that the 125-page manual, which contains seven chapters, is expected to be completed by December 2011, then forwarded for approval to the Federal Highway Administration
Once the manual is formally adopted hopefully by Jan. 1, 2012, Sablan said they will revisit and update the manual every five years to reflect any changes.
