CCP 04-28-2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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