Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.
Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Thursday, August 21, 2008
County 14 Additional Spending By City Officials
This is an email response from the Anoka County Commissioner, Rhonda Sivarajah regarding the county road 14 budget and how our officials chose to increase spending. It may be time to call for a State audit to see exactly what else they have been up to. We wish to extend a thank you to Rhonda for her assistance!
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 10:31 PM
Subject: Re: Centerville Budget--additional information
I also wanted to pass along this information regarding the County Rd.14 Main Street project. As you can see in the article below, the administrator seems to be trying to put blame on the County Rd. 14 project for large tax increases. This is not an accurate statement. In fact, if you look at the information provided by our highway dept. at the bottom of the page, you can see that for the entire road project, they actually have very little cost after taking into account the federal dollars and the $125,000 they will be reimbursed for the trail after completion. The greatest costs they are incurring are costs that the county is not requiring as part of the project, but rather are a city decision to add streetscaping to the project. If you look at the dollars being spent you can see that Centerville's costs that are required are just a small fraction of what they are choosing to spend. Here is the article from the Citizen printed in June 2008 Extra Tax Burden Of Project Considered Every home in the city will face an extra $364 on its annual tax bill if a scaled-down version of the 2009 street improvement project goes ahead. That was the result of analysis done by city staff on the tax burden facing residents next year if a smaller project, costing $4.5 million in total, is given the go-ahead by the Centerville City Council. The findings were presented to the council at its May 28 meeting. The figure of $364.11 is calculated for a typical $250,000 property and is made up of $148.20 for the shared, city portion of the street improvement project, $107.95 for the city's share of the CSAH-14project and $107.95 for the city's share of the Backage Road project. Citizens face having to pay the CSAH-14 and Backage Road portions of the total regardless of whether the council orders the 2009 street improvement project. Below is a breakdown of expenses related to the road project as outlined by our highway dept. Below is a summary of Centerville's costs associated with items required for the reconstruction of Main St. (CSAH 14).
Total Project Construction Cost
- $13,485,213.49
Centerville's Total Responsibilities
- $1,211,496.49 (8.98% of Const. Cost)
Federal Funds Prorated/Credited to Centerville
- $272,410.00
Centerville's Cost for Upgraded Utilities
- $163,700.82
Centerville's Cost for Streetscaping
-$517,007.80
Centerville's Cost due to County Project
$258,377.87 (1.92% of Const. Cost)
Of the $96,919.72 we will charge the city for engineering & administration of the contract that is in addition to these construction costs, $54,456.69 is due to the city's enhanced utility work and streetscaping. Note too that the trail and sidewalk costs are included in the city's> costs due to the road construction (not identified as a city option), and they will be reimbursed $125,000 for a portion of the trail costs via the Metro Trail grant program after the trail is completed which will further reduce the city's total obligation towards the project.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Sivarajah
Anoka County Commissioner
763-274-4213
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Sent: Monday, August 18, 2008 10:31 PM
Subject: Re: Centerville Budget--additional information
I also wanted to pass along this information regarding the County Rd.14 Main Street project. As you can see in the article below, the administrator seems to be trying to put blame on the County Rd. 14 project for large tax increases. This is not an accurate statement. In fact, if you look at the information provided by our highway dept. at the bottom of the page, you can see that for the entire road project, they actually have very little cost after taking into account the federal dollars and the $125,000 they will be reimbursed for the trail after completion. The greatest costs they are incurring are costs that the county is not requiring as part of the project, but rather are a city decision to add streetscaping to the project. If you look at the dollars being spent you can see that Centerville's costs that are required are just a small fraction of what they are choosing to spend. Here is the article from the Citizen printed in June 2008 Extra Tax Burden Of Project Considered Every home in the city will face an extra $364 on its annual tax bill if a scaled-down version of the 2009 street improvement project goes ahead. That was the result of analysis done by city staff on the tax burden facing residents next year if a smaller project, costing $4.5 million in total, is given the go-ahead by the Centerville City Council. The findings were presented to the council at its May 28 meeting. The figure of $364.11 is calculated for a typical $250,000 property and is made up of $148.20 for the shared, city portion of the street improvement project, $107.95 for the city's share of the CSAH-14project and $107.95 for the city's share of the Backage Road project. Citizens face having to pay the CSAH-14 and Backage Road portions of the total regardless of whether the council orders the 2009 street improvement project. Below is a breakdown of expenses related to the road project as outlined by our highway dept. Below is a summary of Centerville's costs associated with items required for the reconstruction of Main St. (CSAH 14).
Total Project Construction Cost
- $13,485,213.49
Centerville's Total Responsibilities
- $1,211,496.49 (8.98% of Const. Cost)
Federal Funds Prorated/Credited to Centerville
- $272,410.00
Centerville's Cost for Upgraded Utilities
- $163,700.82
Centerville's Cost for Streetscaping
-$517,007.80
Centerville's Cost due to County Project
$258,377.87 (1.92% of Const. Cost)
Of the $96,919.72 we will charge the city for engineering & administration of the contract that is in addition to these construction costs, $54,456.69 is due to the city's enhanced utility work and streetscaping. Note too that the trail and sidewalk costs are included in the city's> costs due to the road construction (not identified as a city option), and they will be reimbursed $125,000 for a portion of the trail costs via the Metro Trail grant program after the trail is completed which will further reduce the city's total obligation towards the project.
Sincerely,
Rhonda Sivarajah
Anoka County Commissioner
763-274-4213
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
8/18/2008 Open Forum Gets Testy
Residents concerned over communication with city leaders
Aug 19, 2008 - 09:47:44 CDT.
by Loretta Harding Contributing Writer
Quad Press
CENTERVILLE — At their Aug. 13 meeting, Centerville City Council members exchanged curt remarks with two residents who took the podium to address their displeasure with the council's communication methods stemming from the 2009 Street Improvement Project. Mayor Mary Capra cut short resident Julie Riemen's comments about her conversations and e-mails with council member Tom Lee, in which she said that professionalism needed to be addressed.
"You're getting personal. This is done," Capra told Riemen.
A group of five people attending the meeting called out for the mayor to let Riemen speak.After council members Lee and Jeff Paar responded that Riemen could continue, Capra gave Riemen and any speakers following her two minutes to complete their address.
When Riemen continued her remarks, she said that the council had not responded to her e-mails until the day of the meeting and that she felt unwelcome to speak. She further noted that if citizens inspected government data, they'd find that the City of Centerville carried a long-term debt of more than $8 million.Riemen recommended that residents become informed by visiting a Web site, Centerville Citizens for Ethical Taxation and Representation, at http://www.centervillemn.blogspot.com/. The next speaker, Laura Powers, called attention to a petition that started what she called a "power struggle." The petition was signed by more than 500 citizens and called for the city to step back and reassess the scope of the 2009 road project. She objected to allegations by at least one council member that the petition was invalid and called for the council to apologize. As a former Centerville council member, Powers said that the council was elected to serve, and that service comes with a responsibility to listen and display demeanor. The council heard out Powers and Riemen and resumed the meeting without further comment
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Aug 19, 2008 - 09:47:44 CDT.
by Loretta Harding Contributing Writer
Quad Press
CENTERVILLE — At their Aug. 13 meeting, Centerville City Council members exchanged curt remarks with two residents who took the podium to address their displeasure with the council's communication methods stemming from the 2009 Street Improvement Project. Mayor Mary Capra cut short resident Julie Riemen's comments about her conversations and e-mails with council member Tom Lee, in which she said that professionalism needed to be addressed.
"You're getting personal. This is done," Capra told Riemen.
A group of five people attending the meeting called out for the mayor to let Riemen speak.After council members Lee and Jeff Paar responded that Riemen could continue, Capra gave Riemen and any speakers following her two minutes to complete their address.
When Riemen continued her remarks, she said that the council had not responded to her e-mails until the day of the meeting and that she felt unwelcome to speak. She further noted that if citizens inspected government data, they'd find that the City of Centerville carried a long-term debt of more than $8 million.Riemen recommended that residents become informed by visiting a Web site, Centerville Citizens for Ethical Taxation and Representation, at http://www.centervillemn.blogspot.com/. The next speaker, Laura Powers, called attention to a petition that started what she called a "power struggle." The petition was signed by more than 500 citizens and called for the city to step back and reassess the scope of the 2009 road project. She objected to allegations by at least one council member that the petition was invalid and called for the council to apologize. As a former Centerville council member, Powers said that the council was elected to serve, and that service comes with a responsibility to listen and display demeanor. The council heard out Powers and Riemen and resumed the meeting without further comment
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Is it The Fault of Others or Just Miscommunication?
A recent comment left by a citizen. There seems to be a pattern of behavior coming from elected officials.
Hello All, I live in the older neighborhood (behind Kelly's) that is slated to be torn down in phase two. I have had to deal with Dallas on a continuous basis. One story I would like to share. My property along with my neighbors is now the home for the additional power lines for the new downtown development. We were given a notice on our doors that all of our trees would have to be trimmed or come down completely (I would have had the most trees lost completely) in our backyard. These trees give us some privacy from the Chauncey Barett Gardens. I ask Xcel energy what easement do you have to take down 6 of my trees? Some of my neighbors had already given the ok but I held out as I knew that I would lose more property value. Xcel told me this, and I quote, "The city told us they [City] already owned all these properties." I told him that I own this house and until I see an easement bought by the city or Xcel, they are not going to get my signature to take my trees. Xcel immediately said they were not touching anything until the city deals with the home owners. I sent an email to Mayor Capra and she forwarded it on to Dallas (I also copied all the news stations and newspapers). Dallas called me ASAP and left a message that this was a miss-communication and it was Xcel that was in a hurry. This was curious because Xcel had no stake in the increase power needed at this time. Unfortunately, Xcel had already taken down trees in an elderly couples yard. Then, Xcel couldn't drive the truck over her neighbors yards (neighbors said no) and so they left the mess for the couple to clean up. The increase power lines now reside in our front yards. Xcel did some trimming but nothing like what it would have been had they run it in the back yard.My elderly neighbor lost the most in the entire ordeal. My question to Mayor Capra is, who is the advocate for the citizens? She never responded to any my questions.
Thanks for the outlet to speak our minds!
Margaret Lee
August 20, 2008 9:06 PM
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Hello All, I live in the older neighborhood (behind Kelly's) that is slated to be torn down in phase two. I have had to deal with Dallas on a continuous basis. One story I would like to share. My property along with my neighbors is now the home for the additional power lines for the new downtown development. We were given a notice on our doors that all of our trees would have to be trimmed or come down completely (I would have had the most trees lost completely) in our backyard. These trees give us some privacy from the Chauncey Barett Gardens. I ask Xcel energy what easement do you have to take down 6 of my trees? Some of my neighbors had already given the ok but I held out as I knew that I would lose more property value. Xcel told me this, and I quote, "The city told us they [City] already owned all these properties." I told him that I own this house and until I see an easement bought by the city or Xcel, they are not going to get my signature to take my trees. Xcel immediately said they were not touching anything until the city deals with the home owners. I sent an email to Mayor Capra and she forwarded it on to Dallas (I also copied all the news stations and newspapers). Dallas called me ASAP and left a message that this was a miss-communication and it was Xcel that was in a hurry. This was curious because Xcel had no stake in the increase power needed at this time. Unfortunately, Xcel had already taken down trees in an elderly couples yard. Then, Xcel couldn't drive the truck over her neighbors yards (neighbors said no) and so they left the mess for the couple to clean up. The increase power lines now reside in our front yards. Xcel did some trimming but nothing like what it would have been had they run it in the back yard.My elderly neighbor lost the most in the entire ordeal. My question to Mayor Capra is, who is the advocate for the citizens? She never responded to any my questions.
Thanks for the outlet to speak our minds!
Margaret Lee
August 20, 2008 9:06 PM
Contact us privately with City information, news and personal stories. All contact information will be kept private and not posted on the blog unless requested.Email Centervilleblog@yahoo.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)