New Fee Structure Examined For Street Project

Water Portion Of Project May Not Be Charged To Homeowners

CENTERVILLE - City officials have announced they are examining a proposal to drop special assessments on the water portion of the 2009 street improvement project.

Instead, a connection fee would be charged to all homeowners as and when they choose to hook up to the municipal water.

In the meantime, the immediate cost of the improvements would be paid for out of the utilities enterprise fund, according to minutes of a Nov. 5 special session.

The possibility was discussed at the Nov. 12 city council meeting. “We had looked at the potential of pulling out of special assessments for the water part of the project,” explained Mayor Mary Capra. “One of the largest assessments in this project is the improvement of the city water.”

It was also announced that the Dec. 1 public hearing on the special assessments to homeowners affected by the project had been postponed to allow city council members more time to investigate options.

The special assessment hearing, at which homeowners will be permitted to challenge the exact amount of their assessments under the project if they wish, is now likely to be scheduled for the first week in January.

Discussion at the special council session convened on Nov. 5 had raised several issues, including the possibility of the connection charge rather than assessment on the water part of the project.

Other areas to be investigated include asking the Rice Creek Watershed District to relax its requirements on rain gardens (accounting for about $250,000 of the project cost), and extending the drop-dead date for water hook-up in the city.

Figures presented at the Nov. 12 meeting indicated that the cost of the city portion of the 2009 street improvement project was $2.8 million, which is an impact to all property owners across the city, amounting to approximately $152 for a home valued at $250,000 or $259 for a commercial property at the same rate.

Louise Edwards

The Citizen 11/26/2008

A Road Maintenance Pacifier?

City Minutes Work Session 8/13/2008
Finance Director John Meyer reviewed the draft budget for 2009 and commented on areas that Council members had suggested for change. Material he prepared also identified the impact to the levy if additional money were included for street maintenance at levels of $50,000, $100,000 and $150,000 per year. The Council consensus was that some amount perhaps around $25,000 could be included in the 2009 budget to begin setting aside additional money for streets. Mark Statz suggested doing a cost estimate for seal coating all streets once every five years and doing mill and overlay at 15 to 20 years. The Council would like to see the report showing the cost of such a maintenance program.

The Quad Press 8/19/2008
Mark Statz noted that the city would need to save more than $300,000 per year to keep pace with the road maintenance over the next 30 years without imposing assessments. This statement was not in the approved work session minutes and is not required to be there by law. The reporter caught it though...
What is going on behind the walls of City Hall? When our own City Engineer states we should be saving $300,000 annually to avoid future assessments, why did they only budget $25,000? The future assessments will keep coming unless something is done to address the basic need of road maintenance! Is the pathetic amount of $25,000 a pacifier because it's election year?

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Council Information

Assessment Hearing Sees Low Turnout
By Louise Edwards of The Citizen

There are a couple of residents on Old Mill Road who are rather unhappy with their recent special assessments.
A public hearing was held ahead of the regular council meeting on July 10 to allow citizens to voice their opinion on the sum they will be assessed for the installation of water main, sanitary sewer, street pavement, curb, storm sewer and related drainage improvements which were made last year as part of the Old Mill Road Improvement project.
Only one person spoke at the hearing, Jeff Carroll, a lawyer representing Old Mill Road neighbors Cathy Fruth and Fred Fischer, but he said both his clients were very dissatisfied with the bills they had been sent.
He questioned the assessments, which he said indicated the property values would increase by $100,000 apiece, from a current estimated value of $375,000.

“The current taxes are over $5,000,” said Carroll. “This is going to increase their taxes to $14,000 a year, an increase of 140 percent, which is incredibly substantial.”
Fruth had appeared before Centerville City Council at a previous meeting, at which she claimed her drive had been left four feet above street level since the road improvements had been made.
She was offered two options to remedy the situation by the city engineer at the July 10 meeting, but explained she would need further time to decide which course of action she wished to pursue.
The City Council voted to delay the passing of a resolution on Old Mill Road residents’ special assessments until a later meeting when Fruth’s situation had been resolved.
In other action, the council:
• Discussed briefly the subject of residents’ payments on the 2009 Street Improvement Project special assessments. Council Member Linda Broussard Vickers said she would like to see the monthly repayment kept at or below $100 per household.
• Heard that the Planning & Zoning Commission was looking to alter a city ordinance governing fences to ensure that any front fences must be positioned at least 10 feet back from the front line of a property.