Item 5: Ordinance Levying Assessments for West University Alleys

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LAW OFFICE OF BILL KLOOS, PC OREGON LAND USE LAW 375 W. 4TH STREET, SUITE 204 EUGENE, OR 97401 TEL (541) 343-8596 FAX (541) 343-8702 E-MAIL BILLKLOOS@LANDUSEOREGON.COM January 30, 2006 Milo Mecham Eugene Hearings Official c/o Lane Council of Governments 99 East Broadway, Suite 400 Eugene, OR 97401 Re: Hearing on Assessment for West University Neighborhood Alleys LID Testimony of Diamond Parking and Joel Diamond Dear Mr. Mecham: This letter is submitted on behalf of the owners above. Today's staff report to you indicated, on page 2 item 10, that my clients contacted staff and indicated they would be appearing at this hearing. My clients own the properties identified on the Assessment Map documentation as Sequence Numbers 540, 580 and 620. I ask that the record be left open in this matter, until such time as the Public Works Engineering file on this matter is made available to me for inspection as a public record. I visited public work engineering today to inspect the file. Staff confirmed the file was present, but would not allow access for inspection until approval by the City Recorder's Office and upon filing of a public record inspection request. I filed the public record inspection request today. A copy is attached to this letter. Inspection has not been allowed yet. I have no idea at this point when inspection will be allowed. Under EC 7.170(1), the costs that may be assessed include the costs of construction, engineering, interest on warrants, advertising, and providing notice of assessments and overhead. It is not clear, from the summary documentation that has been provided to me thus far, that the "project total" costs to be assessed includes only costs that are allowed. More detailed information is needed. That information may be in the public records, which have not been provided yet. At first blush, it appears that some of the costs claimed to be project costs are not costs that may be included. For example, the "project direct total" is $1,202.939. In addition to this, there are indirect costs of$650,703. The indirect costs are 54% of the direct costs. The vast majority of the indirect costs are an "engineering charge" ($546,217). It is not clear what is included in these indirect costs. Are all of the "engineering charges" for city staff within the scope of what can be charged to this project? When did these city staff charges begin to accrue? Was it when the City Council authorized the LID? Was it before that time? The Hearing Official needs to determine what costs are being charged to this project, for what period of time, and whether those charges are appropriate. My clients can provide more detailed information for the Hearings Official to