01-25-10 Council Special Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 25, 2010 One property owner asked about impact to driveways. The City Engineer reported that the project would include the installation of four-foot concrete driveway aprons, and explained the details of the replacement. He noted that one property has a concrete driveway that is textured and has colored concrete. The Engineer stated that he would attempt to minimize impact to this driveway given the difficuhy of matching a new apron to the existing driveway. T'he Administrator reported that as the project moves ahead and plans are drafted, the City Engineer can review plans with property owners to address individual issues. Tony Costa noted that they have a Special Use Permit on their property to operate their business, and are being assessed as commercial property. Costa asked if his property could be rezoned to commercial. Costa also noted that their side yard abuts Iona Lane and they have no access to the street. The City Administrator noted the commercial use of the property. He further noted that once Rice Street is improved, their may be assessments against the Costa property for the Rice Street improvement. As a commercially-used property, the City's Assessment Policy calls for a 100% assessment on both frontages. I Iowever, this may be an issue that merits further consideration. Keis asked for a show of hands relative to support for the improvement. One property owner took issue with that approach feeling that it may pit neighbors against one another. Blesener felt that the next step would be to order the improvement, obtain bids, and then have another meeting with property owners relative to the bids. Keis noted that in the past improvements were ordered at improvement hearings and not. at the time that bids were received. It was only last year that the Council made the final decision on whether or not to proceed with a project at the time that bids were obtained. McGraw felt that given the aggressive bidding climate, as well as the need to finalize some details such as whether or not to decrease maximum lot widths from 125 feet, it was appropriate to delay the final improvement decision this year until bids were obtained. The City Administrator noted that when bids are obtained, the property owners would be invited to another meeting to review bids and discuss the improvement. Bergstrom pointed out that in addition to the issue of the maximum lot width, there is also the issue of interest rate on the assessments. One property owner pointed out the need for an assessment hearing. The City Administrator agreed, and noted that if the improvement is ordered, an assessment hearing would be held in October to review final assessments, including interest rate, with property owners. ]0