Agenda - Council - 11/14/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Observations: The proposed improvements should have a serviceable life of 60 years, assuming that proactive, regular pavement maintenance treatments are performed during the life of the improvements. Developed properties along the project corridor may have private irrigation systems. Impacts to these systems may occur when existing bituminous curb and gutter is replaced with concrete curb and gutter. Staff will notify property owners in writing of the pending construction as far in advance of construction as possible to allow them time to move their irrigation system components out of the construction area, after which they may replace the components in their original locations. Public Comment On November 1, 2017, Staff conducted a Public Information Meeting from 5:30 - 7:10 pm at City Hall. Notices for this meeting were mailed to all benefiting property owners. Eleven (11) property owners attended the meeting. The meeting was conducted as an open house forum, with Staff responding to questions one-on-one from 5:30 — 6:05 pm, and again from 6:50 — 7:10 pm. A formal presentation was provided by Staff from 6:05 — 6:50 pm, which addressed all aspects of the project including project purpose, scope, and schedule, existing conditions, proposed improvements, estimated project costs, proposed funding sources, including special assessments, and a primer on the Public Hearing. Numerous comments were received during this meeting as summarized below. Similar to the other two meetings, one of the main comments was that it is difficult for property owners to pay special assessments, especially when they are as high as the assessment being proposed with this project. Property owners generally do not budget for assessments. Special assessments also make it difficult to sell your property. In general, those in attendance were opposed to paying special assessments and felt these projects would be better funded through the general fund. Attendees also questioned the addition of concrete curb and gutter, noting that the existing bituminous curb has been in place for 28 years and is not falling apart yet. Staff responded that while bituminous curb exists on numerous streets throughout the City, the observed life expectancy is typically much less than that of concrete curb and gutter, and that concrete curb and gutter better directs snow plow drivers increasing safety and preventing damage to sod, mailboxes, landscaping, irrigation system components, etc. Concrete curb and gutter also better directs drainage along the edges of streets and driveways, and does not degrade over time as bituminous gutters do. Another common comment was that adding concrete curb and gutter would be completely out of context for this neighborhood. Another question received was why the City is not paving gravel streets first. Why spend money on streets that are already paved when other streets are not paved yet? Staff noted that gravel roads do not fail in a similar manner as paved roads and are therefore not as high a priority as paved roads when it comes to maintaining all 180 miles of public roads in the City. Another question raised was what guarantee do the property owners who are being assessed for this work have that the new street will be maintained properly to protect their investment? Several property owners are concerned about this based on the lack of previous maintenance completed on these streets after they were first paved. The property owners asked what the City's plan is for maintaining these and other streets throughout the City. Staff responded that current Staff and City Council are committed to maintaining the public streets, as evidenced by the $500,000 that is budgeted annually for sealcoating to help proactively maintain public streets, as well as the 5-year Street Reconstruction and Overlay Bond program. The property owners agreed this is a good start, but they are still concerned that this will change over time as Council members change. Questions were also posed regarding property owner's rights for opposing assessments. Staff briefly discussed Chapter 8 of the City Charter, including the right to petition against a project. One resident requested a petition form template, which was emailed to them the following day, along with a link to the City Charter on the City's web site. Attached is a copy of 3 comment cards received during the Public Information Meeting containing additional information.