03-25-09 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL MARCH 25, 2009 Demont Avenue (Canabury Drive to Rice Street), Westwind and Windrow Streets, Eli Road/DeSoto Street (Eli Road to LaBore Road). As a result, once bids were received, neighborhood meetings were held on those three projects to review the bids in detail with the property owners. The Administrator reported that at the Demont Avenue neighborhood meeting there was support for moving forward with the mill and overlay project. At the Lakeside Court meeting, one property owner was against, one did not voice an opinion, and two were in favor. At the Eli Road neighborhood meeting there was one in favor, two whose position was difficult to determine, and a few strongly against. The Eli Road property owners were concerned about their level of assessments in relationship to the school. The Adminisri•ator noted that the change in assessment policy for 2009 decreasing the maximum lot size assessed to 100 feet reduced assessments for some properties. He also noted that the bid results decreased the level of watermain assessment for Lakeside Court. The Administrator acknowledged that the assessments are still a lot of money, but he was confident that these improvements will never be done at a cheaper rate. He noted the savings to all taxpayers in the City given the very favorable bid prices. Those bids resulted in a savings of approximately $600,000 on a $3 million project. The Administrator reported that the streets proposed to be improved need attention. He noted the assessment deferral options available, including the fact that the Council is willing to consider special circumstances in approving deferral requests. It should be noted, however, that interest does accrue on defen•ed balances. The Administrator recommended that the City move forward with the 2009 improvement as proposed based on the condition of the sheets as well as the favorable bid prices received from a reputable contractor. The Administrator did not believe the bidding climate would remain as favorable it is right now. Blesener noted for the record that Josh and Bobbie Johnson, 2780 Lakeside Court, called the City Center to express their opposition to the Lakeside Court improvement. Blesener opened the meeting to comments from the general public beginning with the Lakeside Court project. Herman Schneider, 2796 Lakeside Court, expressed his opposition to the project. Schneider did not believe the street was in need of improvement. He agreed it would be nice to have City water. Schneider felt that the bids were below the City Engineer's estimate because the City Engineer estimated high. Schneider did not feel the City should order the Lakeside