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Wayne Davis, 6530 Green Valley Road, Ramsey, stated that he had met with the City Engineer <br />and appreciates his efforts in working with him. He stated that the charge makes no sense to <br />anyone, not even the Council seems to be clear on how the fee is determined. The storm <br />drainage utility fee more than doubled his taxes. He has owned his property for 20 years and has <br />a conditional use permit to operate his business on his property and has always done what he has <br />suppose to do and then a fee comes which do not make any sense and is unfair. Staff is <br />proposing to cut his rate in half which helps, but it is still high. <br /> <br />Councilmember Zimmerman reviewed the projects that were done this year because of the fund <br />and stated that he did not think that the City was mistreating anyone. <br /> <br />Tom Kurak, 15001 Sunfish Lake Boulevard, Ramsey, stated that a business is being charged <br />whether or not they use the land or not. The method of calculating is inequitable. If it were done <br />as part of the taxes then commercial would be charged only four times more than residential not <br />300 times greater. He stated that he has not seen any justification that residents would be <br />subsidizing the businesses. <br /> <br />Councihnember Hendriksen replied that if the claim is that the businesses are being overcharged <br />then that overcharge would have to be spread amongst the residents and there would be no <br />differences amongst the businesses who worked hard to try and contain their run-off. <br /> <br />Mr. Kurak stated that when a business comes to the City they are probably not aware that they <br />will be charged thousands of dollars because they built in Ramsey. He inquired as to what other <br />cities charge a storm drainage utility fee. <br /> <br />City Engineer Olson replied that staff did a rate study last year and the City of Ramsey, on <br />average, was below on commercial and industrial. <br /> <br />Mr. Kurak stated that the City should drop the fee and collect the necessary funds from the tax <br />base. <br /> <br />The Public Works Committee discussed at length on how the fee was determined and what <br />factors are included when determining a fee. <br /> <br />Representative fi'om Connexus Energy, stated that within the confines of the Council they do not <br />agree that it is not a multiplier of the residential rate. It is not a factor of storm water run-off. <br />The City is not calculating the amount of storm water run-off leaving the property. <br /> <br />City Engineer Olson replied that property owners are being charged for the runoff they produce. <br /> <br />Representative from Connexus inquired if residents that don't produce run-off from their <br />property will not be charged. <br /> <br />Public Works Committee/July 16, 2001 <br /> Page 5 of 13 <br /> <br /> <br />