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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 19909i ORDINANCE NO . ~ ~ ~l ~ AN oRDINANCE LEVYING ASSESSMENTS FoR SANITARY SEWERS IN THE RIVER ROAD AREA FOR B~iSINS "L- EAST" ~ rrG-NEST" ~ AND "Hf'; AND DECLARING AN EMERGENCY ~ ,' FINDINGS: In the exercise of its discretion to determine what is necessary or essential, the City Council has previously authorized the construction of a sanitary sewer system in the River Road Area. In Resolution No. 4329 adopted by the City Council on May 2~, 1992, the Council directed that sanitary sewers be constructed to serve certain property that would be benefitted thereby. On March ~4, 1992, the City Engineer called for bids an the proposed improvement and based thereon has determined the final cost tv construct the proposed improvement including local and regional Systems Development Charges ~SDC~ to be $4,530,486.80 of which $3 , 64 3 , 09 3.3 6 is to be assessed to and borne by the specially benefitted property described in Exhibit C hereto, as provided in Section 7.170 of the Eugene Code, 1971 ~E. C.~ and E. C. 7.17. A notice containing the information required by E. C. 7.185 has been pasted on a bulletin board at City Hall and given by certified mail tv the owners of the parcels of real property subject to the assessment at least ten days prior to the public hearing before the Hearings Official. At the time and place specified therein, a Hearings Official received the report of the City Engineer and Finance Officer as required by E . C . 7.187 ~ 1 ~ , GGH ORDINANCE -- Page 1 heard all evidence and argument presented, fully considered the same and has reported his adopted findings to the City Council. Because of the general proximity of the sanitary sewers constructed in Basins "G--East" , "G-West" , and "H" , because the work was done during the same construction season, because the historic public notices ~ hearings ~ proceedings and information have been the same for the specially benefitted properties, and because of savings in engineering and administrative costs, it is equitable that the cost of the three separate contracts under which the local improvement has been constructed in l9 9 ~ be combined when calculat- ing the assessments for the individual specially benefitted properties. Parcels for which sanitary sewers were constructed earlier but which were not fully assessed until being included in this local improvement district are to be assessed based on the same unit values as the 1992 construction. The extra capacity constructed in existing sanitary sewer interceptor lines in the River Road and Santa Clara areas was done with the intention and determination that the costs of that extra capacity benefitted the property to be served by such interceptors and that the costs therefore would be equitably spread to all properties served within the River Road and Santa Clara areas. The $4.oz~ per square foot local SDC included in the billing equitably spreads such extra capacity costs to all the properties in the River Road and Santa Clara areas. Without such extra capacity to receive sewage the sanitary sewer laterals and service lines recently constructed could not function and would not GGH ORDINANCE -~ Page ~ immediately benefit the abutting properties. None of the revenue received from the $0.025 local SDC will be used for projects to be constructed outside the River Road and Santa Clara areas nor to reimburse the City far projects it has constructed for other areas . The affected property is also obligated under E. C. 7.705 to pay a development charge for regional sewerage facilities prior to connection to the sanitary sewer regional development charge. Such charges may be paid in installments on the same basis as local improvement assessments. As a convenience to the owners of the affected property and as a means of avoiding multiple billings of accounts receivable to each affected praperty owner, the notice of assessment and the obligations created by this Ordinance shall also include the local and regional development charge. The totals costs far this capital construction project are as set forth on Exhibit A, attached hereto and incorporated herein by this reference. In these proceedings for the formation of the local improve- went district and the levying of special benefit assessments, the City has afforded the owners of the affected property the same notice, opportunity to be heard and all other rights and remedies which the owners of property within the city have under the Charter and ordinances of the City. The City Council has reviewed and considered the assessment report of the City Engineer and Finance Officer and the findings and sumYnary of hearing prepared by the Hearings Official, and based thereon: GGH ORDINANCE - Page 3 THE CITY of EUGENE DOES aRDAIN AS FgLLOWS: Section 1, The Swmmary of the hearing conducted. by the Hearings official is hereby made a part of the Council's record in these proceedings, and the above findings and the Hearings official's findings, including those regarding compliance with E. C. 7.160 through 7.190, attached hereto as Exhibit B and incorpo- rated herein by reference, are hereby adopted, Section 2. The costs of construction of the improvements, including the overhead costs specified in E. C. 7.170 and whatever other special costs, such as expenses incurred to obtain short-term financing and to defend legal challenges to the City's authority to undertake these improvements, as are necessary to make the improve- ments, as declared in the Hearings official's findings are hereby assessed against the parcels of land and lots hereinafter described in the amounts set opposite, respectively. Notwithstanding that the improvements in Basins "G-East", "G-West", and "H" were constructed under three separate contracts, all casts of the improvements are combined for the local improvement district as a whole and are apportioned on that basis. The division of this local improvement district into three areas is for engineering and administrative convenience and has no relation to the manner in which costs are to be assessed to individual specially benefitted properties within this local improvement district. Section 3. The City Council does hereby determine and assess each parcel of land and lot being within the described local GGH ORDINANCE -- Page 4 improvement district as set forth on the assessment roll attached as Exhibit C hereto and incorporated herein by reference. Section 4. The City Council does hereby determine that each parcel of land or lot hereinabove described is specially benefitted to the extent of the assessment set forth. The Finance Officer shall give notice of the assessments to the owners of the assessed parcels and lots advising them the assessment may be paid in full, without interest ~ within ten days of the effective date of this ordinance. Assessments that remain unpaid after the ten day period are declared to be liens upon the respective lots or parcels of land against which said several amounts are assessed, and may be paid, with interest on the unpaid principal amount commencing ten days after the adoption of this ordinance: 4,1 in up to twenty semi-annual installments, including principal and interest at the rate set by the City Manager as provided in E. C. 2.022 through 2.024; or 4.2 if the property owner so elects in 120 monthly install- meets, including principal and interest at the rate set by the City manager as provided in E. C. 2.022 through 2.024 plus a service charge to be determined by the City Manager as provided in E. C. 2.020. Section 5. The parcels and lots herein assessed are also obligated to pay a development charge for local and regional sewerage facilities under E, C. 7.705. If the local and regional development charge'is unpaid at the time the notice required by Section 4 of this Ordinance is sent, the local and regional GGH ORDINANCE -~ Page 5 development charge shall be included in the notice and shall be a lien against the property to be paid along with the assessment as provided in this Ordinance. Section 6. The City Recorder is directed to enter in the docket of City Liens a statement in connection with each unpaid assessment containing the following: b.l A description of each lot, part of lot or acreage specially benefitted by the local improvement; 6.2 The name of the owner or reputed owner thereof or that the name of the owner is unknown; and 6.3 The sum assessed upon said property, the amount and date from which interest accrues, and the date of entering the same in the docket of City Liens. The City Recorder is further directed to file with the county clerk a certified transcript of the assessments as required by ORS 224r~7~. Section 7. Upon enactment of this ordinance, the Finance Officer shall send notice of the assessments and local and regional development charges by first class mail, postage prepaid to the owners or reputed owner of the assessed parcels containing the information required by E. C. 7.194 and enclose therewith an application for paying the assessment in installments according to the terms set forth in Section 4 of this Ordinance. Such notice may also include information regarding programs that allow the deferral of payment of the assessments for qualified property owners. GGH ORDINANCE -- Page 6 section H. The unpaid assessments and local and regional development charges and any assessment to be paid in installments that is in default shall be foreclosed as provided in E. C. 7.225~2~ or collected as otherwise provided by law, Section 9. Proceeds from the payment or foreclosure of assessments levied by this ordinance shall be deposited to the City funds as follows: 9.1 The determination to use a rate of $ 0.02 5 /square foot of total lot for the local system development charge under E. C. 7.705 et seq is ratified and the proceeds therefrom shall be used to reimburse the City for the cost of the extra capacity required in the sewer interceptor system to serve properties within the River Road and Santa Clara area; and 9.2 The proceeds from the regional development charge shall be deposited to the appropriate fund; and 9.3 The balance of the proceeds shall be deposited to the City funds which advanced the cost of the construction of the sanitary sewer system serving the properties assessed herein and may be used to reimburse the City for its costs in constructing said sanitary sewer system or to retire any indebtedness incurred by the City for that purpose. Section 10. The matters contained in this Ordinance affect the public health, safety and welfare concerning the City's ability to continue to finance the construction of sanitary sewers using its sewer utility funds. Therefore, an emergency is hereby declared to exist and this ordinance shall become effective GGH ORDINANCE - Page 7 immediately upon its passage by the City Council and approval by the Mayor, retention by the Mayor for more than ten days, or readoption over a mayoral veto by tWO-thirds of all members of the Council. Passed by the City Council this Approved by the Mayor this ~~ T~ da of ~~ , 1993. ~~ day of ~ 1993. ~~ City Reco er Mayor GCH ORDINANCE -- Page 8 f 4 1 ~' ~ A ,-. r/// . ~ ~' 1 . ,~~ ~,y` s ~ !jw. . ~'" ti. ,,. rf ~ ~ • f «~ ~ ~.:. ~ ..,. f. ~ ~~ Jae 3 ~ 1911 . fir. wry blood 114 Gorliss Line Eu~rM OR 91~It14 ~: itiVER RQIIO • UEI~LtHL RQAD SA~1tTIlRy SEWER UiSTRICT r Jls you knoN~ s pririte corporation constructed t1~e sanitary seer syste~ i~ ~ the tree Weer Riwr Cad rnd aeltline Rood. 'the corporation raceatly turnNi the system owr to thr City for operytion end ~lntansnel. Thar also prorided a state~ent showing which properties beta paid their snrrr of the _ j oMginal cost, ~ht rocord thous the following infors~tion Tout the proptrtias that yoq -rer~ concerned +rbout: Tex Lot Na, Site Present Owners ~ ...~... .. 14no un~„~,~ ~+r+www+~r+~» X04 ~ J9~y . L'49A Carl A, t. Uo rothy Y. ~ i oai 3 1. ~ S5 a ~ d~ ~: ~+ ~ ~q1 Ur. John C. ~ Ores i. hrrtrls ul,y~,Jq~ t 39J1 ~~ ~d3 .4;~ Hi tuiel ] ~ d 1 ood • net chrr~ed bircause of ~ inacassabilit~ .: ' Lots 39U~ i ~9U1 are sl~o~m as part of a 1ar~r tract. F if this is not corrdct please notify this afficx so the rrcords } a+ty be cor'reCt~d. ~ finis latter sill also confir~ that tt~a quo lots on Owosso Driw Tax Irate J9~2 and J~03j that are pnasently within flea City ur~y cor~ct to the s~rr sys#,MN ! on ~Carliss lane through a private easeraant. The follariny condition err rn~ a part of that approval: ; F F i F t i i r i it 1 .' ~ ~ ~' t I E . . ~ , ~ ~ i ~ ; I i f t 1 ~ "'~ Mr, Gri a~ood Junt 3, i4~7 PrQe ~ i. Thv connett~on be constructed 1n eccordenu to the E~pene Oode~ 7. She owners and subsequen! owners e4~ !o ~ futon usrss~nt for they r fed r end non~l she n of the tutu" oosRs of s se~we~ oN Owosso Dr~r~a. 3. Upon eppllwlion for a sewer connection penrit ~ fN egwl to ane•hal t-cent per ~querr foot of property wi i i be d~s~ 1n edd~tion to the norwrt permit tri. This amount is the none trunk fiery essesstd to ei" propef`tf ennexed otter lit. Da nat hesi tote to cAnutt this off! t~ ~ f rou hsw ~ turthor qu~tlons. dart S. ~eit~cel Ci~r Enpine'er dST: M 1 ' ~~~ FINDINGS AND REC4MMENDATIaNS SUBJECT: BASINS "G-EAST", "G-W`EST"AND "H"SANITARY SEWERS IN THE RIVER RGAD AREA, LEVYING FINAL ASSESSMENT F(]R L4CAL IMPRGVEMENT JGBS 2847, 2757 AND 275$; CONTRACTS 92-11, 92-12 AND 92-13 BACKGRGUND 4n May 26,1992, City Council formed the local improvement district for sanitary sewers in the River Road area for basins "G-East", "G-'West" and "H". This district encompasses those parcels served by the sanitary sewer construction in 1992 in the River Road area and properties served by sewers built previously in Corliss Avenue, River Road and River Avenue. The majority of the properties taking sewer service from these facilities will be assessed based on a distribution of the cumulative construction and staff service casts far the three basins. included in the billing to developed parcels will be the local and regional sanitary sewer Systems Development Charges (SDC} which are distinct charges not related to sewer assessment calculation. Prier to the May 6,1992 hearing regarding the uutiation of the local improvement district (LID} on property owners who will bear the costs of the improvement were notified in advance of the minimum 10-days notice required in Section 7:165 of the Eugene Code SEC}. Notice of Proposed Assessment was given as stipulated in EC 7.185. The sanitary sewers are projects constructed under three separate City contracts: 1} Basin "G-East", 92-11; 2} Basin "G-VL~est", 92-12; 3} Basin "H", 92-13. An informational session was held March 11,1993 at the River Road Park District facilities on Lake Drive for properly owners, in this LID. Approximately 31 property owners attended. PUBLIC HEARING A public hearing concerning the proposed assessment was held on March 16,1993 in the first floor conference roam of City Hall II. A copy of Minutes prepared from the public hearing are attached as Exlu`bit "1". As noted in the Minutes, three property owners questioned their assessments. The first speaker was Ann Danby. Ms. Danby would have preferred that the City have placed the service line for her property in such a way as to make it easier for her to partition her property in the future. As it is, the service line was placed at the south end of her property per her approval. If the service line to the Danby property had been placed as she wished, Page -1 an additional line would have ~ been necessitated for the neighboring property. At the constructed location, it is available to serve Ms. Danby's property and the adjacent property. It is the finding of the Hearings official that the City made a reasonable allocation of service paints in that area, so as to keep the cost as low as passible for all concerned. As noted by Mr. Lyle during the hearing, it ~is the City's task to bring the service line to the property. It is then the obligation of the property owner to connect to the service line as he or she would desire. If Ms. Danby decides latter to partition her property, she~will be allowed tv construct a second service line to the sewer in the street, A,s also noted in the Minutes, , Mr. Julian Tengs was unhappy that his property was being assessed for the sewer in Owosso Drive, even though his house is not and will not be connected to that line. However, the agreement between the City and the developer of the Tengs' property, attached as Fxlu~it "A" to the Minutes, makes clear that the City intended to obtain an assessment for the sewer at a later time. That time has now arrived. It is unfortunate that the information regarding the future assessment was not passed to Mr. and Mrs. Tengs by the previous owners. The Hearings official offers nv opinion as to whether the Tengs might be able to recover from the prior owners for non-disclosure. It is the finding, however, of the Hearings official that the Cifiy made an agreement with a previous owner of the property that an assessment would occur upon the construction of the Owosso Drive sewer. otherwise, connection to the sewer in Corliss Lane would not have been permitted and the Tengs' property could not have been developed. Therefore, it is the finding of the Hearings official that the Tengs' property should be assessed as recommended by City Staff. Also, at the time of preparing the agreement, ~it was unclear as to the ultimate timing of sewers to serve the area, and who would be ultimately providing the service. The complaints of Nir. and Mrs. Lake are also noted in the Public Hearing Minutes. In general, Mr. and Mrs. Lake take the position that they were ignored and abused by City Staff, that the approach taken by the City in seeking to extend the sewers to their property was grossly inef hcient and that they should not be charged the stipulated amount for their individual service line as proposed. . On March 25, 1993, the Hearings Official personally viewed the Lake property. It is the last property on the right at the end of Hillcrest. It was observed by the Hearings Official both from Hillcrest and from the bike path which is between the Lake property and the Willamette River. The Lake property is somewhat higher than the surrounding properties. From the visual inspection, it can be observed that the property has a large, main house and a smaller structure which is probably the "cottage" referred to in Mr. Lake's notes. Closer to the river is the "modular home". In addition to the visual inspection, the Hearings official received a Memorandum from Staff dated Mauch 19, 1993, which is attached hereto as Exhibit "Z". Although this Memorandum makes passing reference to the Tengs' property, it is largely a response to the Page - 2 allegations and complaints of the Lakes. As noted, Mr. and Mrs. Lake believe that they were ignored by City Staff. They suggest that the made known to City employees that there was a substantial rock strata below their Y property and the City-did not respond to that information. Based upon the materials later provided to the Hearings Official, it~ appears that Mr. and Mrs. Lake are mistaken that no testings occurred. The Hearings afficial.can see no particular significance to the unhappiness expressed about the depth of the sewer lines. It appears that the Staff made decisions to place the lines as deep as they could in.light of the conditions as were discovered. It is the observation and experience of the Hearings official that such accommodations for existing conditions occur all the time. The other complaints that are mentioned, such as equipment sitting along the road front, do not provide the ~ Hearings Official with a 1 basis for finding that the assessment recommended by~ City Staff is inappropriate. The Eugene Code does not direct the Hearings Dflicial to conduct an audit of these construction projects. The Lakes also indicate that they were abused by City Staff with respect to a building permit to finish the modular home. The City's response states that the Lakes employed counsel who revised a proposed agreement which was then signed by the Lakes and the City. It appears that the Lake's attorney had the agreement from September through December, before the revision was presented. The Lakes have not made clear in any specific way that they were "abused" by City Staff. Instead, it appears that the bulk of the time devoted to the delay was controlled by Mr. and Mrs. Lake. The City Memorandum also makes clear, as is also mentioned in the Minutes, that the City's approach as set forth in the Eugene Code has always been to require that individual service lines be uniformly calculated. It is the boding of the Hearings Official that the City Staff have properly computed the individual service line costs for these projects. The most difficult thing to assess with respect to the Lakes' complaints is what they believe should be done. They do not point to any code provisions to suggest haw the Hearings official or City Council should address then contentions that there were inefficiencies in .the way the project progressed, Certainly it is to be expected that same parts of projects such as these, will proceed more efficiently and easily than others. City Staff is acutely aware of the funds which are available to construct these projects. Accordingly, it is the finding of the Hearings Official that the Lake property has been properly assessed. After the public hearing, City Staff received a letter from Eva Kronen concerning her property at 356 Horn Lane. Her letter is attached as Fxhi~bit " 3". Ms. Kronen's letter describes a situation which has occurred before in other sewer construction projects. The difficulty for a property owner like Ms. Kronen arises because she has purchased a large, Page - 3 comer property and may not have been told by the seller about the future sewer assessments. Attached as Exh~~bit "4" is a map which illustrates the Kronen property. As can be noted, she has frontage along both Hodson and Horn Lane. It would appear that she has about 30o-feet of frontage along Hodson Lane. As noted in the City's follow-up Memorandum, the lot is Iarge enough to be partitioned. A arentl the riot owner suggested about a year ago that he was considering partitioning. PP .Y P Ms. Kronen inquired about partitioning in August, 1982. No steps toward partitioning occurred. From Ms. Kronen's letter, it would seem that she is not interested in partitioning. It is the finding of the Hearings Qfficial that the assessment has been determined in accordance with the Eugene Code. Had there been a timely partition of the property, then the undeveloped portion would not be assessed at this time. However, because the partition did not occur, the code provides that the entire property would be assessed now. RECQ ATI~N It is the finding of the Hearings Official that these sewer projects are ones for which the assessments are for a local improvement as set forth in ORS 310.140 because: (1) The assessments do not exceed actual costs; (2) The assessments are imposed for a capital construction project which provides a specific benefit to a specific property or rectifies a problem caused by a specific property; (3) 'The assessments are imposed in a single assessment upon completion of the project; and (4) The assessments allow the property owners to elect to pay off with interest over at least ten (10) years. Therefore, it is the recommendation of the Hearings Official that City Council adopt a ordinance imposing the assessments as determined by the City Engineer. Respectfully Submitted, Jack A. Billings Hearings Official Page - 4 SPECIAL ASSESSMENT DISTRIBUTION not attached; it is on file and available by written request to the City Recorder's 4f~ice.