Residents Unite To Oppose Street Project
Front Yard Meeting Sees Large Turnout
CENTERVILLE - Even Maggie the dog was riveted as 60 citizens gathered in a front yard to discuss their battle plan.
It was standing room only at the residents' meeting, held on April 5 in a front yard on Mill Road to bring people together in their opposition to the city's 2009 Street Improvement Project, the second part of a two-part reconstruction eff ort that began in 2004.
If approved by the Centerville City Council, that plan will see 470 homes given access to city water and sewer, and streets around Centerville torn up and reconstructed.
Homeowners will be assessed for the cost of the $7.8 million project. As proposed, individual assessment costs are likely to range from $2,200 to $14,100.
Opposition was fierce on April 5, with residents united in their eff orts to persuade the council to stop in its tracks and listen to their views.
"This country was formed because there was taxation without representation, and that's what we are back to, here," said Craig Sievert.
"I think we have come to believe that spending in this city is out of control."
Residents were especially concerned about being forced to hook up to city water when their wells still provided a safe drinking source, the cost of the project at a time when the economic climate was uncertain and foreclosures were on the increase, and streets being reconstructed before absolutely necessary.
Speaking after the meeting, Patti Miklas, who lives on 72nd Street and is already hooked up to city water, said she was unconvinced of the benefits of city water.
"When I had St. Paul Public Health Department and the University of Minnesota come out and test the [city] water, legally they couldn't say my water was bad, but they said, 'Off the record, don't drink it,'" she explained.
Miklas had called the experts in after she grew concerned that her water smelled of fish and chlorine, tasted terrible and had dead bugs floating in it.
One Mill Road resident, who did not wish to give her name, explained that she and her husband had lived in Centerville since 1975 and had fought the city's assessment costs in a similar, previous project in 1987.
Their class action lawsuit was successful, after their lawyers proved the city was over-estimating the increase in value to their homes through the street project.
Russ Koski, another concerned resident, told those assembled, "I think the comment that the city has made about the street improvements increasing the value of your home is asinine.
"My neighbor had his house appraised Friday. He asked the county assessor if the value of his house would be increased by having a nicer road outside, and the assessor said absolutely not."
When interviewed by The Citizen, City Attorney Kurt Glaser said he believed street improvements would add value to a property.
"Theoretically, if [the project] added no value, the city could not assess you for it," he said.
"What normally happens is the cost of the project exceeds the added value to your house.
"So if the cost was $15,000 but the appraised added value was $10,000, you could only assess for $10,000 and the city would have to eat the $5,000."
The 60-odd citizens who attended plan to draft and distribute petitions among Centerville's streets ahead of the first formal public hearing on May 1. Two informal information sessions have been held by city staff to inform residents of the details of the project; one took place last October, the other in February 2008.
Centerville Mayor Mary Capra said, "We started the input meetings in 2007 because it's a very large project and we wanted to give people a long process to voice their opinions and allow us to hear what they have to say."
She added, "We will never be done with roads. We will do the 2009 street project and there will be a 2014 street project and a 2019 street project. There will never be an end to road work."
At the city council meeting April 9, City Administrator Dallas Larson told council members that the estimated assessment costs for homeowners looked to be lower than originally believed.
"Generally the amounts that will go out as estimates will be lower than the numbers we gave out at the open house," explained Larson. "Hopefully, that will soften the blow a bit."
Speaking outside the meeting, attorney Glaser mentioned a figure of $9,000-$10,000 on homes originally quoted for assessment costs of $14,000.
Residents hope to meet again before the May 1 hearing to mobilize neighbors in their opposition to the street improvement project.
The public hearing on the 2009 Street Improvement Project will be held at the St. Genevieve Parish Community Center, 6995 Centerville Road, on Thursday, May 1 at 6:30 p.m.