11/14/2011 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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P28 COUNCIL MINUTES October 24, 2011 DRAFT 134 improvements. The stimulus funding became available and other fortunate elements, this project 135 became possible. 136 137 Mayor Reinert opened the public hearing at 7:01 p.m. 138 139 Robert Foster, Attorney with Foster & Breyer, representing the property owners listed as East Lino 140 Lakes LLC. They have presented a letter to the council objecting to the assessment amount and on 141 the basis that their property value will not receive the amount of benefit for the amount assessed and 142 actually that amount of assessment will have a negative effect on selling the property. They oppose 143 the assessment and, if it passes the council, they will be filing an appeal. 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 A council member asked, if property owners are successful abating assessment amounts, how is that 155 made up? Attorney Squires responded that the amount approved to be assessed to others would not 156 change without a new process; it would probably need to be covered by the city. 157 158 Tom Rooney, representing Gerald and Gordie Rehbein, read a portion of the letter he had submitted 159 to the city. Noted were sections indicating that his clients believe the amount assessed exceed the 160 benefit as well as the cost of the improvements to the city and also that their properties are being 161 assessed higher than other like properties. 162 163 Jerry Broker, Eaglebrook Church, (letter had been submitted), noted that the church, as non =- profit, is 164 being asked to shoulder nine percent of the total assessment even though they are the furthest from the 165 interchange. They feel that their rate exceeds the rate of existing businesses and that is unfair. They 166 have already contributed $100,000 to improving the intersection in 2005, temporary in nature, but a 167 contribution none the less. The $365,000 they are now being asked to contribute is a large burden. 168 Even though they appreciate the bridge, they are a non -peak user and not at the volume of a rush hour 169 so they believe the assessment rate proposed to them is to high. 170 David Graetzer, Applecrest Orchards, 24th Avenue. He noted that staff announced a reduction in the assessments originally proposed and he asked if that reduction was evenly distributed (percentage wise) to all property owners? Mr. Grochala replied that it wasn't distributed uniformly but was determined with the help of an appraiser and he added that every property owner saw a decrease. Mr. Graetzer asked if some property owners saw a greater than 24% decrease? It's a question of fairness to him and he'd like to understand how savings were spread. The Mayor directed staff to prepare a breakdown and provide that level of detail to Mr. Graetzer, the public and the Mayor himself. Mr. Graetzer noted that he isn't objecting except that he wants everyone to be treated fairly. 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 Lee Perrault, representative of the Bernier Family Farm, LLC. Their concerns about the assessment have been pretty much alleviated and they now feel that the amount requested of them is fair. He commended the council and especially Mike Grochala who has responded fairly. One concern is to hear complaints about assessments from persons who have taken large amounts of money from the project; they don't have a leg to stand on since they took one -third of the total cost of the project. There are six families in his group and the cost of the assessments outright would be prohibitive so they will be applying for a deferment. 4 • • •