CCP 05-24-2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . ARDEN HILLS REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MAY 10,2004 5 Councilmember Rem asked if staff had assisted Ms. Murphy with looking into financial assistance. Mr, Siddiqui replied they had not yet, but they would research this if Ms. Murphy requested staff's assistance. Margaret Murphy, 1111 Edgewater Avenue, stated she had received the letter. She asked if they had re-measured her lot, if the assessment was in line with the majority of her neighborhood, and noted she did not believe her property value was increasing in line with the assessment. She stated she would be looking into this further. She asked if this was her final attempt, or was there something further she could do. She asked what the proeedure was. Mr. Brown replied her assessment was higher than the median. He stated the lot had been re-measured and her lot was wider and longer than the average and that was the reason her assessment was larger. He stated they had followed the guidelines and staff could not recommend a change, but the Council could recommend a change. He stated she was still allowed to appeal, but he did not have the information as to the process for an appeal. He noted staff had fixed guidelines that they were required to follow. Mayor Aplikowski asked Ms. Murphy what she felt was unique about her property. Ms, Murphy stated she was on the comer of Lexington and Edgewater and because this was a noisy busy street, she believed it decreased her property value. She noted homes around her were selling for a lot more. Councilmember Larson stated the difficulty for the Council was that this argument could be made by all of the residents, and there was no way the Council could determine if the assessment increased the property value. He stated they had to treat all residents equally. Ms, Murphy noted the homes on the lakeshore, even though the frontage was not as much as her property, were thousands of dollars more expensive than hers and she was paying more in assessments than they were. Mayor Aplikowski stated she understood Ms. Murphy's argument, but noted she did have a comer lot. Councilmember Rem asked what was the appeal procedure and what did Ms. Murphy need to do. Mayor Aplikowski replied once the Council aceepted the roll, Ms. Murphy eould appeal and she believed this would go to Ramsey County. She requested staff to research this and get back to Ms. Murphy. Mr. Brown stated the City would adopt the assessment roll tonight and the process would continue on. He indicated Ms. Murphy would need to hire legal counsel and her eounsel would sit down with the City's attorney to discuss this. He stated he was not sure if this was a non- binding mediation, but the next step was legal counsel. He stated when an agreement was reached, that amount would be entered into the assessment roll. Mayor Aplikowski replied there was a form that would need to be filled out and her legal eounsel could give her assistance in filling it out.