Pioneer Press 2/1/2009
Centerville residents are finding strength in numbers as they fight what they consider hefty and poorly timed special assessments.
The Peltier Lake Drive Group is made up of dozens of residents who have banded together to contest the assessments for a $4 million road and water project meant to improve streets and hook up homes with private wells to city water. The group is considering several options — from negotiating a smaller bill to a lawsuit, should it come to that.
"The neighbors are very concerned about having to pay for a road for the third time. Everyone is of the same feelings and, therefore, formed a group to find a solution to this problem that would mutually benefit both sides — a win-win situation," said organizer Daniel Skoog, who lives on Peltier Lake Drive.
A battle over the project has been brewing for months. Many of the 250 affected residents are baffled that the city is forging ahead. They say now isn't the time to hit homeowners with special assessments.
This will be the third time in 30 years that many of his neighbors have paid for a new road on Peltier Lake Drive, Skoog said. They were most recently assessed in the late 1980s, he said.
"We're talking about large assessments against the neighbors at a time when the economy is terrible," he said.
