Minutes - Public Works Committee - 05/15/2007

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Councilmember Olson suggested consideration of other things that might fall under this same umbrella that they would want an association to need to deal with, such as signs. Public Works Director Olson noted private streets and trails could be included in this as well. If Council were to decide to allow for a private street in a single family development an association would be required to maintain the street under this type of policy. Chairperson Elvig suggested staff prepare a list of similar items for the full Council to weigh in on. Councilmember Dehen stated the concern he has is with an association and covenants, and with the City deciding to make a policy of not enforcing the particular covenants the neighborhoods choose to adopt. For instance, in Ward 3 they had some covenants on buildings and there were people in that particular association that were doing things contrary to the association covenants. The question becomes how to enforce it and where do you get the money to enforce it. Chairperson Elvig commented this is a valid concern, but currently they are looking at the issue of whether the City has a responsibility to fix the liner. He questioned how they can make sure the people understand the day they move in to a home, and the following homeowners also understand, that the City is not responsible. That is step number one; some of these measures will take care of that. The next thing to address is the enforcement that Councilmember Dehen is referring to. Public Works Director Olson indicated the only way this type of project would be taken on as a public project is by a petition with the required number of property owners approving the public project. If there is a homeowners association there is method to finance the project through the homeowner policies. Councilmember Dehen clarified that the assessment process would be for those that do not have the association. The question is what to do to ensure that they do not have to go through the assessments and to mandate a homeowners association to cover this and other things that potentially come up. Chairperson Elvig stated there are two steps. First is how to protect in the future any exposure to the City and have a mechanism in place. Secondly, it needs to be determined how to handle the current problem on the ground. His understanding is that the assessment approach is about the only mechanism there is right now. He asked if people have been asking about the liner repair at Highlands at River Park at this point. Public Works Director Olson replied there is one individual that has said there is a group of people interested; however, they are not interested in paying for it. Staff is currently trying to research why the liner went bad and where the leak could be. Staff is trying to help the homeowners out as much as they can. They are looking into alternatives like bentonite. They are trying to determine the cost before they start talking about who pays for it so they can at least provide background information to the homeowners. Public Works Committee / May 15, 2007 Page 5 of 11