CC Minutes - 01/27/03 Mtg - Laserfiche WebLink

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development. He said developers should check their figures before building to make sure that they could pay for the costs of their own development so the average taxpayer would not have to subsidize those costs. Mayor Torrey closed the public hearing and called for questions/comments from the council. Councilor Nathanson called for more information on the methodology and following State law over any intergovernmental agreements. Fred McVey, Public Works Department, said the Metropolitan Waste Water Management Commission (MWMC), by intergovernmental agreement, set the SDC rates and user fees, but he emphasized the current SDC methodology used by the City complied fully with State law. In response to a question from Councilor Poling regarding compliance with the Intergovernmental agreement, City Attorney Jerry Lidz said the City was obligated to follow the intergovernmental agreement so long as what was tendered by the MWMC complied with State Law. He stressed that following the intergovernmental agreement did not preclude following State law as well since the MWMC was required to follow State law. Councilor Bettman said the last time the Public Works Rates Advisory Committee (RAC) recommended a proposal on system development charges to the council, the homebuilders association had submitted last- minute information as a way of postponing implementation of updated SDCs. She said the RAC had representatives from both the Chamber of Commerce and the homebuilders association and it was industry-dominated. She added that the MWMC also included representatives from the development industry. She believed that the homebuilders association had plenty of opportunity to present written information in a more timely manner, or have discussions during the actual process, if the information was actually significant to the discussion. Regarding improvement fees, Councilor Bettman said there was no proportional relationship between improvement and reimbursement fees. She said that reimbursement fees were based solely on the capacity available in the existing system while improvement fees were dedicated to system expansion required to accommodate new growth. She acknowledged that the increase was 140 percent but said that for all of the years that the City was not collecting all of its SDCs, the rate payers were subsidizing infrastructure development. She said the new methodology would have more equity. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding the need for Springfield to adopt the same rates, City Manager Carlson acknowledged that Springfield would have to adopt identical rates for the change to go into effect. He said the Springfield City Council was supposed to take action on the following Monday. In response to a question from Councilor Kelly regarding infrastructure that needed to be constructed over the next ten years and whether SDCs would cover the costs, City Manager Carlson said the projects would go ahead if they were approved by the MWMC. He said it was not clear whether rate payers would have to pick up any extra costs if SDCs did not cover everything needed. Councilor Kelly commented that 140 percent was a significant increase but, putting the amount in context, said it would add $837 to the cost of a $150,000 home. MINUTES--Eugene City Council January 27, 2003 Page 7 Regular Meeting