City Council Meeting Date: June 20, 2017
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Sean Simonson, Engineering Manager
Dave Bennett, P.E, Public Works Director/City Engineer
Subject:
TITLE
2017 Street Reclamation Project - Call for Assessment Hearing
BODY
Action Requested:
City Council approves a Resolution calling for an assessment hearing for the 2017 Street Reclamation Project (STRT2017-A36).
Note: This is the second of two actions related to the assessment hearing. The first item is a resolution which will declare the amount to be assessed.
Summary Report:
The City Council is being asked to hold a public hearing on August 8, 2017 regarding the assessments anticipated as part of the 2017 Street Reclamation Project (STRT2017-A36). A required 14-day notice will be published in the Northfield News and notices will be sent to the abutting property owners within the project boundaries. Additionally, as part of this mailing a summary of the hardship policy and additional information from the Housing and Redevelopment Authority will be included. Staff will ask the City Council to adopt the assessment roll at the August 22, 2017 City Council meeting.
The actions requested are required by Minnesota Statutes Chapter 429, which specifies the steps that must be taken to assess property owners for the cost of local improvements. The City Council has moved this project forward to this point with the actions shown on the attached project process (Attachment 2).
The proposed street and utility improvements are eligible for assessment according the City of Northfield’s Assessment Policy. All abutting properties are proposed to be assessed according to the policy. A benefit appraisal was prepared as part of this reclamation project, and it took into account zoning and land use within the project area. Due to the uniqueness of the four different project areas, which included Single Family Residential and Commercial Zoned properties included in the 2017 Street Reclamation Project, a separate benefit appraisal was completed for each individual area. The assessment rate cost per linear foot is as follows:
The assessment rate is a cost per linear foot of street frontage depending on type of improvement and the zoning/land use. Individual lots were also categorized using the approved City Policy Standards for Adjusting Front Footage for Special Assessment Purposes to identify which of the eight methods each individual lot falls under. Attachment 3 shows the method used for each individual lot. Using the proposed rates listed above for each project area, the estimated assessment revenue is $489,574. The individual assessments range from a low of $605.00 to a high of $9,075.00 for single family residential, and up to $22,800.00 for the commercial properties included in the project area. The proposed assessment roll is shown in Attachment 4.
The benefit appraisal categorized the lots in the Professional Drive area into three separate specific use groups. These use groups were Typical Interior Commercial Site, Typical Corner Commercial Site, and the Dokmo Ford Chrysler properties. The rates shown in the table above are the Typical Interior Commercial Site and Typical Corner Commercial Site respectively. The remaining lots, which belong to the Dokmo Ford Chrysler Properties use group were assigned a special benefit amount based on the pro-rata share of the site due to their relatively large land area. Attachment 5 shows the specific use group each lot in the Professional Drive was assigned to.
Following the process required by Minnesota Statute Chapter 429 will allow the benefits of this project to be assessed to the property owners, which aids in establishing overall project funding. The resolution, assessment roll, and public hearing are a necessary part of that process. Staff is recommending the approval of the attached resolution.
Alternative Options:
The Council could delay the adoption of this resolution, which would result in delaying the Assessment Hearing. However, since assessments are a necessary part of the project funding the hearing will need to be held at a future date.
Financial Impacts:
The total project cost and funding is shown in Attachment 6.
Tentative Timelines:
The attached project process (Attachment 2) shows the next steps in moving this project forward.