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Mounds View City Council October 11, 1999 Regular Meeting Page 19 Mrs. Werner stated she understood. She explained she was a great believer in democracy, and has lived twice the years as Mayor Coughlin, through the triumphs and the debacles of democracy, and they still have the First .Amendment, which is freedom of speech, and she believes this is very important. John Theis, representative of Northern States Power Company (NSP), stated that his company was somewhat concerned regarding the time frame of the proposed franchise fee ordinance. He explained after the passage of the ordinance, NSP has 60 days to implement the new program into their system. He commented they do not oppose the franchise fee increase, as long as their customers understand this is not an NSP rate increase on gas or electric service, but rather a tax by the City for necessary services, collected by NSP, who will return the money to the City. Mr. Theis commented that the proposed increase represents a fairly substantial impact to commercial and residential ratepayers, and particularly to small business owners, who are attempting to stay competitive, and perceive this as a negative proposal. He explained that NSP would prefer the City wait until after the first of the year to implement the increase. He stated at this time they would have the opportunity to discuss the matter with the City Administrator and City staff, and draft an ordinance with provisions for a meter fee charge, rather than a flat fee, in light of future deregulation. Mr. Theis stated NSP feels their nuclear plants are now compliant and ready to proceed in 2000, however, the plan to increase the fee from 2.5 to 4 percent may impact this, in terms of the new • programming in the system. He noted they would upgrade their computer system for gas and electric service at the end of the year, m the event something might occur, and this is somewhat of a concern as well. Planning Commissioner Brian Kaden, stated he came to speak on this as someone who originally was opposed to the Spring Lake Road street reconstruction project, and as a member of the Streets Policies Committee. He explained that one of the reasons he became a member of the Streets Policies Committee was, during the opposition of this particular road project, he became aware of the poor condition of the roads within the City, and the lack of a means to finance them in the future. He stated he desired have a part in determining how to make things better for the future. Mr. Kaden stated the Streets Policies Committee had researched many surrounding suburbs, in terms of how they financed their street projects. He advised that the assessments for the Spring Lake Road/County Road I street projects ranged between $2,500 to $8,000 per resident, and the resident who was assessed over $8,000 was Ruth White, a retired person. He noted this was the amount she would have been required to pay, had the project gone forward as originally planned. Mr. Kaden explained the city of Coon Rapids charges a flat rate of $800 per lot for street projects, and the remainder is paid for by the general taxpayers. Other cities charge between 20 and 25 percent for this purpose, and they all have other mechanisms in place to help pay for the remainder of the street construction costs. He commented that one of the best programs is that of White Bear Lake, which has a 30 million-dollar fund, of which only the interest is utilized to pay for their street reconstruction projects, thereby removing the burden of this expense from the citizens. He explained they had the foresight years ago, to set this money aside and dedicate it for that purpose, and it can not be utilized for anything else.