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<br />e <br /> <br />e <br /> <br />- <br /> <br />ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES <br />APRIL 14,2003 <br /> <br />6 <br /> <br />corner lot and was being assessed on both sides. He stated he would have paid a <br />total of $11,000 for curb work around his house, He noted he felt this was <br />exceSSIve, <br /> <br />Councilmember Larson stated he understood Mr. Clifford's argument, but it has <br />been a long-standing policy of the City to handle corner lots this way, since a <br />corner lot had more value than a lot that was situated in the middle of the block. <br /> <br />Mr. Clifford replied he was not given credit for owning a corner lot because the <br />previous road improvement exceeded the five year period, <br /> <br />Mayor Aplikowski asked how important the five-year standard was to the City, <br /> <br />Councilmember Larson replied this was not the right time to start fiddling with <br />the assessment figures. <br /> <br />Mr. Clifford asked if the City would take into consideration his corner lot and <br />split the difference, <br /> <br />Mayor Aplikowski stated the Council could not negotiate from the bench, but he <br />had the right to appeal beyond this point. <br /> <br />Councilmember Grant stated he understood a five-year standard was the policy, <br />but ifit was a bad policy it should not be kept. He stated in the interest offairness, <br />he believed five years was too short a time and the City should have an idea of <br />what road(s) should be done, He stated he would like to see this postponed due to <br />its unfairness, <br /> <br />Mr. Filla stated ultimately the City had to decide whether the proposed <br />assessment roll, on a parce1-by-parce1 basis, conferred a special benefit on the <br />properties involved and that meant the market value of the properties should go up <br />by the amount of the proposed assessments, Cities that adopt assessment rolls try <br />to make sure that over a long period of time people in the City, as a whole, are <br />treated fairly and in the same manner. He further stated it was basically the City <br />Engineer who drafted these policies and so these polices became mathematical <br />formulas that meant the person was not receiving an economic benefit equal to the <br />proposed assessment, which the Court was more concerned with. The problem <br />with this was that once the City strayed from a mathematical formula, it became a <br />