01-16-08 Council Special Minutes

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 16, 2008 The Engineer continued his report, reviewing the City's assessment policy in detail. He noted that residential street reconstruction is assessed at 85% of an 8"/3" urban section street. However, assessment costs are capped at a maximum of $57.97 per front foot. Given the fact that most lots are of similar size and frontage along Lakeside Court, the City is proposing a per lot assessment for street costs at $7,023.91 per lot. Water main improvements are assessed at 100% of the costs to the benefitted property owners at a cap of $6,302.00 per lot. Based on cost estimates, however, that assessment is may not reach the cap. The Engineer is estimating water main at $6,272.73 per lot. The City Engineer noted the proposed assessment roll for the project with total assessments for street and water main estimated at $13,296.64 per lot. He then reviewed the proposed project schedule as well as construction issues that are typical of any project. Dean Hedlund, 855 Keller Parkway, asked for an explanation of the - frontage range of 75 feet to 125 feet that the City uses for assessing lots. The City Engineer reported that typically street improvement costs are assessed based on actual front footage, with the minimum front footage amount at 75 feet and the maximum at 125 feet. The Engineer also explained the odd-shape lot formula which comes into play for cul-de-sac lots, etc. and is utilized to provide equity among property owners. He noted that in the case of Lakeside Court, however, the City is utilizing an equal per lot assessment for the road improvement. Peter Ganzel, 2795 Lakeside Court, asked about the City's share of the improvement costs. The City Engineer indicated that the assessment policy allows the City to assess up to 85% of road improvement costs. He also noted that in levying an assessment, the City must prove that the amount of the assessment is equal to the benefits received by the property. The Engineer stated that in order to ensure compliance with the benefits received test, the City has put a cap on road improvement assessments at $57.97 per front foot. In the case of the Lakeside Court road reconstruction, the City would actually be assessing 36% of the project costs with the City paying the remaining 64% of costs. Again, water main is assessed at 100% of the cost up to a maximum of $6,302.00 per lot. Keis noted that the assessments are estimates at this point. While it is unlikely that the street assessment would go down given the City cap at $57.97 per front foot, it is possible that the water main assessment could be lower. In any event the assessment for the water main would not exceed the cap of $6,302.00. Ganzel asked when the decisions were made on the level of property owner versus City cost participation. The City Administrator explained