Ordinance No. 19962 - Laserfiche WebLink

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March 21, 1994 Public Hearing Minutes - Job #2813 Page 2 of 3 proceed with design, survey the site of the improvements, prepare necessary design documents and put the project out to bid. Following bidding, a formal local improvement district formation hearing is required at which time the City Council makes a final decision based upon information presented at the hearing as to whether the project should be actually constructed. At this hearing, staff will have a more refined estimate of the project cost, based upon bids the City has received. Construction would then proceed if authorized by the Council. Finally, after the completion of the project, abutting property owners would be notified of an assessment hearing. Mr. Lyle stated that because there has been development occurring in the area of this particular improvement project, staff has received a number of petitions submitted as a condition of development representing over 50 percent support However, since two of the properties that front the project are located in Lane County (outside of the Eugene City Limits), the County Commissioners must grant their approval to include these two properties within the local improvement district The intention of staff is to get general agreement for the project from abutting property owners and the City Council before taking the request to the County Commissioners. Mr. Lyle further explained that with most road improvements within the City, bringing a road up to City standards with curb and gutter, sidewalks, full paving, etc., is typically paid for by assessments to abutting property owners. Once the project is built the City takes on the long-term maintenance of the improvement; which is typically paid for by gas taxes. Chapter 7 of the Municipal Code spells out how costs for the proposed improvement would be distributed. Generally, the distribution is dependant upon the zoning, and condition of the properties at the time the local improvement district is formed. For example, if a person owns a large tract of vacant property, the maximum width that can be assessed is one-half of a 36 foot wide street plus curb and gutter. Property already developed with a single-family residence would only be assessed for one-half of a 20-foot wide street. Commercially zoned property would be assessed at a 44-foot . wide equivalent or 22 feet of street width. In the present case, the proposed project calls for a 46-foot wide street and the difference between that which can be assessed to the abutting property owner and the costs of the full width of the proposed street will be borne by the City. The non-assessable portion of the street would be paid for by system development charges. New development coming into the area would therefore indirectly pay for this portion of the improvements through the contributions to System Development Charges. Based upon the Code requirements, the staff has calculated a rough estimate of what each property would pay. After receiving a low bid, the staff would extend those costs out as if they were doing a final assessment. A ten percent contingency is added at this time to cover costs not anticipated during the design process. Mr. Lyle also noted that in addition to the non-assessable portion of the street width, the City pays for intersections and street lights. With the present project, staff is recommending that sidewalks only be constructed on the east side of Terry Street to get a continuous sidewalk on that side of the street The placement of sidewalks on the west side will await further development on that side of the street The estimated cost per front foot in the proposed project is $65 for a 20-foot equivalent width; $87 for a 28-foot equivalent width; $109 for a 36-foot equivalent width; and $131 for a 44-foot equivalent width. It is hoped that these estimates are on the high side based upon the fact that the project is the straight-forward extension of a street, it is on flat ground, and the contractor will not have to deal with traffic during construction. The sidewalk would only be assessed on the east side of the street and the cost of this improvement is estimated to be $18 to $21 per front foot. The final costs will be calculated at the completion of the project and no assessments will levied until