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<br />B. WORK SESSION: <br />Street Assessment Policy <br /> <br />City Engineer Mark Schoening used a map to illustrate the location of 75 miles of unimproved streets within <br />the City. He noted they were clustered in the areas of River Road, Trainsong, Bethel, Crest Drive, Laurel <br />Hill valley and Willakenzie. He said regulatory authority for the City’s assessment code came from state <br />law, the City charter and the Eugene code. He explained that local improvements could be initiated either <br />through petition/poll where property owners bore over half the cost of any improvements or council action <br />or motion. He said once bids on the project had been received there was a hearing before the Hearings <br />Official. He said if owners of property that would bear more than half the estimated costs remonstrated, the <br />hearing would be continued to the City Council; it required approval by two-thirds of the council to continue <br />with the project. <br /> <br />Mr. Zelenka arrived at 6:25 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Schoening said if the council approved the formation of a local improvement district (LID), a contract <br />was awarded for construction and when construction was completed the costs were assessed. He said a <br />second public hearing would then be held before the Hearings Official to determine if the assessments were <br />done appropriately. The council would then adopt an ordinance levying assessments and notice was given to <br />property owners. He said property owners had 10 days in which to pay the assessment without interest, <br />obtain personal financing or finance the assessment through the City. He reviewed the financial assistance <br />options offered by the City. <br /> <br />Mr. Schoening said the council had established an ad hoc committee in 1999 to review the City’s assessment <br />policies and achieve greater fairness and equity in how property owners paid for the cost of upgrading <br />unimproved streets. He reviewed the seven committee recommendations that were approved by the council: <br /> <br />? <br /> Assessable costs <br />? <br /> Assessable frontage <br />? <br /> Equivalent assessments <br />? <br /> Street subsidy program <br />? <br /> Corner lots <br />? <br /> Primary access <br />? <br /> Vacant and partially developed lots <br /> <br />Mr. Schoening used a flow chart to illustrate the decision tree for determining street assessment status and <br />assessable frontage of a property and a diagram to illustrate the calculation of assessments for several types <br />of lots. He said arterial and collector street projects since the code was updated had been council initiated <br />and the City’s share funded with transportation system development charges (SDC). He said local projects <br />on local streets, including unclassified streets, were initiated by petition poll and the City’s share was <br />unfunded as the City lacked a viable funding source. He said options for initiation of local street improve- <br />ments included maintaining the current petition poll process or initiating improvements through the budget <br />process. He said options for funding the City’s share of local street improvements included identifying an <br />existing source of funds, identifying a portion of the proposed bond measure for that use, and amending the <br />Eugene Code to assess all costs for local streets. He concluded his presentation with the assessment of Pearl <br />Street construction in 1908 to show the City’s history of assessment abutting property owners. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />MINUTES—Eugene City Council June 23, 2008 Page 2 <br /> Work Session <br /> <br />