04-04-1988 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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Page 5 City Council Minutes April 4. 1988 e Mr. Cliff Lundberg. business and property owner. and Chairman of the Downtown Committee. stated that the proposal before the Council and the residents is a very cost effective proposal and that it would possibly be more expensive if the project were delayed until a later date. He stated that he would like to see the Council order the project tonight so the electrical contractor can start work and not delay the project. Charles Christian. property owner and business owner. indicated his support for the project. There being no further comments from the public. Mayor Gunkel closed the public hearing. Mayor Gunkel indicated that there was a lot of discussion and thought process by the Council and Staff in determining the method of assessment and the area to be assessed. She indicated that the main element in this is timing and coordinating the lighting aspect of the downtown beautification project with the entire Main Street Project. She indicated that if the Council did choose to reconsider the method and area of assessment. the carefully planned timing schedule would no longer be valid. e Pat Klaers. City Administrator. informed the Council that if the assessment roll is adopted at this time. the people who have submitted letters of objection will have the right to appeal. however. there are additional steps to the appeal process which must be taken by these individuals. Councilmember Dobel indicated that if the Council does not go ahead with the project. valuable time from a number of people will have been lost. He stated that this project is needed and has been needed for a long time and if the opportunity is missed it may never present itself again. He indicated he was in favor of approving the project but would like to look again at the method of assessment. Mayor Gunkel indicated that the Council has tried everything possible to make the project acceptable. She stated that if property owners do appeal the project. the City would be in a defensible position regarding the amount and the method of assessment. She indicated that one of the reasons for keeping the assessment area east of Lowell was to keep the assessment at a defineable boundary. which is Lowell Avenue. She indicated she felt the Council is satisfying a majority of the people and that the project is very cost effective. Councilmember Holmgren indicated he was in favor of the project. however. would like to see the Council look at extending the assessment area to the commercial properties west of Lowell. e Mayor Gunkel indicated that if the Council were to look at possibly changing the assessment area. it would be a great inconvenience to the customers. She noted a lot of preliminary work has went into coordinating the project in order to keep a strict time schedule. She stated that the Council has already reviewed and determined the area to be assessed and method of assessment at a previous meeting. and stated