Centerville Tidbits
Assessment Hearing Sees Low Turnout
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 dissatisfi ed 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 off ered 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 a juvenile who had been vandalizing the skate park at Laurie LaMotte Memorial Park had been caught by police. Thousands of dollars of damage has been caused to the park over recent months, by people spraying graffiti on to the ramps, and a $1,000 skate rail was stolen earlier in the year.
• Was informed by City Engineer Mark Statz that Anoka County was investigating further the question of soil contamination in downtown Centerville as part of its work on CSAH-14. As a result, the city of Centerville may get to keep $12,000 it had previously voted to spend on its own soil contamination studies.
• 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.
• Voted to pass a resolution authorizing the city to act as the legal sponsor for a redevelopment grant program and application to the Department of Employment and Economic Development for funding.
• Passed a resolution acknowledging the need for Livable Communities Demonstration Account funding through the Metropolitan Council as part of the downtown redevelopment project and agreeing to act as legal sponsor for any applications for grants made under the program.
• Approved special event and raffl e permits requested by St. Genevieve’s Church for a golf and dinner benefit to be held on Aug. 3.
• Approved an encroachment agreement relating to the installation of a fence at 7031 Eagle Trail.