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collected is necessary to fund the other trunk and system improvements that are not proposed <br />to be constructed with this project but are necessary for the existing and ultimate system (i.e. <br />water towers, off -site watermains, wells, etc). <br />If the City proceeds with this project and funds the sanitary sewer and watermain extensions <br />through the enterprise funds, the City could expect to replenish the funds at some future point <br />in time through the collection of the connection charges as indicated earlier in this section. <br />Providing that the enterprise funds have sufficient balances to fund these improvements in the <br />interim period, this method is advantageous as it does not require that the City specially assess <br />the costs to the benefitting properties. <br />Assessment Alternative <br />Alternatively, if the City would prefer to finance the costs through special assessments it may <br />proceed with the assessment process as provided per MN Statutes 429 and the City Charter. <br />Assessment of the costs of the sanitary sewer and watermain extension would provide a known <br />timetable for repayment of the expenditures. However, the assessment process may affect the <br />timeline for this project as City Charter provides a mandatory 60 -day waiting period following <br />the public improvement hearing. City Charter also provides that a project may be stopped by a <br />counter - petition of the properties proposed to be assessed. <br />If the project proceeded as an assessment project, one - hundred percent of the lateral costs for <br />the utilities would be assessed to the benefitting properties. Therefore, for the Sanitary Sewer <br />the entire cost of the 8" lateral on Riverdale Drive would be assessed. The cost of the Riverdale <br />Drive sanitary sewer lateral is estimated at $167,900. <br />As discussed earlier, the Comprehensive Water System Study depicts the watermain proposed <br />with this project as a Trunk Facility. Therefore, only the lateral portion of the cost could be <br />assessed to the benefitting properties, with the additional cost for upsizing to a 12" trunk being <br />funded by the collection of the trunk Connection Charge. The cost of an 8" watermain lateral <br />along the entire length of Riverdale Drive is estimated at $338,000. <br />If the City proceeded with this project as an assessment project, it would be necessary to assess <br />all benefitting properties. The total estimated cost to be assessed for the utilities is $505,900. <br />It would be recommended that the assessments be distributed by the area method given the <br />land use and zoning of the benefitting properties. Assessments are usually amortized over <br />time, usually 20 years for utility improvements, at an interest rate in the order of 6 %. <br />An exhibit showing the benefitting properties that would receive an assessment for the utility <br />extension is shown below as Figure 8. <br />111 Page <br />