6.0. OPEN MIKE 08-15-1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . mt:l~ Dear Mayor, and other City Council Members, August 15, 1994 This letter is in opposition to the unacceptable, unrealistic costs that may be placed on the shoulders of the homeowners in Sandpiper Estates if City Sewer and Water are extended to the County Government Center and beyond. In our case, it will cost us about $50,000 to have the project run by our property mainly to benefit the City and the County. The costs are broken down in another letter we wrote to the Editor of the newspaper. This letter is attached for your information. We've had our property appraised by the 12J2. real estate agent in this region of the country. He says the improvements will only increase our property value by approximately $7,000. A copy of the letter from Mel Beaudry has been included with this letter for you. You people have said- Sell half of your lot to pay the assessments. Even if some of the homeowners would like to, or may have to, 'Who's. going to buy them?' With all the improved lots in Heritage Landing, Mississippi Oaks, Country Crossings, Cherryhill Bluffs, Hillside Estates, Meadowvale Heights, and the remaining lots in Sandpiper Estates, there are several hundred lots - a surplus in the city, for several years to come. We realize the cost per foot is the same if you go by a one acre lot or a lot that is one-fourth of an acre. But your formula just doesn't work for one acre lots with existing brand new systems already in place. For one thing, even if the homeowners split their lot and sold one-half, they would pay twice as much as smaller lots just because of their size. Secondly, the smaller lots in the newer developments do not have new private systems to abandon. Thirdly, the smaller lots in the newer developments do not have perfectly good existing streets that have to be torn apart and replaced. The city has to take a great deal of the responsibility for the financial waste and financial burden being placed on the Sandpiper Estates residents because of the city's irresponsible information and irresponsible decisions in allowing the developer to proceed in his method to develop, instead of the way the city had planned. We were told three to five years, probably not for ten years. This was in mid August of 1993. We see that we will benefit slightly, but that the County and the City will benefit the most by running improvements to the Government Center and improving about 200 acres to the north of our addition and to the West of the Government Center. If the City and the County are going to be the big benefactors, we feel they should pay for most of the improvements in our area too. We feel we have strong legal grounds to fight these assessments, and we have spoken to an Attorne Thank you for your consideration. Emery and Kathleen LaPoi t ,~I(~