10-26-2001 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commission Minutes--October 26, 2001 2371 DEPARTMENT HEADS--PLEASE POST IN A CONSPICUOUS PLACE FOR STAFF TO READ SPECIAL MEETING OF CASS COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OCTOBER 26, 2001 MEETING TO ORDER Chairman John Meyer called the special meeting to order at 3:30 PM on October 26, 2001, in the Commission Room, Cass County Courthouse, with all members present as follows: Donna Schneider, Robyn Sorum, Alon Wieland, Scott Wagner and John Meyer. PURPOSE OF MEETING, Special assessment hearin(~ continued The purpose of this special meeting is to continue the hearing from October 15, 2001, on the assessment list for Street Improvement District #2001-1 (Holmen's Third Subdivision). Chairman Meyer declared the public hearing open and called upon the State's Attorney, Birch Burdick, who was asked to conduct a legal analysis of issues presented at the last meeting. The main question was whether the county could consider an agreement between the resident parties for the purpose of spreading the assessments equally or strictly adhere to the law, which states that the assessment shall not exceed the benefit. In a letter dated today, with copies to all Commissioners, Mr. Burdick provided some background information on the issues discussed by the board and residents of Woodland Acres and the Westwood Homeowners Association on October 15, 2001. In a separate document attached to his letter, Mr. Burdick outlined the questions and gave answers on the related issues. He said it appears there is nothing in North Dakota statutes, case law or attorney general opinions that would support the idea of deviating from the statutory requirements which limit a commission from assessing in excess of the benefits received. His correspondence also addressed a proposed agreement among the homeowners, as discussed at the last board meeting. The Special Assessment Commission determined the amount of benefit to each property, and they are requesting the County Commission to confirm the list. Frank Klein and Jake Gust, from the Special Assessment Commission, were present. In talking to one of the residents, Mr. Klein said he understood that if the property owners could have agreed among themselves, they would have completed this project without asking the county to get involved through the special assessment process. Mr. Gust said he has served on the Special Assessment Commission for a number of years, and the committee has tried to use the same standards with each subdivision. In the future, he suggested informing property owners ahead of time what is involved when a project is special assessed through the county. This could be accomplished through the recently appointed county subdivision review committee, according to Mr. Wieland. He and Commissioner Sorum are among its members. Also present today were three residents from the special assessment area. One of them, Mrs. Carol Kenville, said some of the property owners in this area tried to work out an agreement ahead of time but always had about three parties who would not participate. Commissioners were in agreement that the law is clear about their responsibilities concerning special assessments. Mr. Wieland said the dollar difference is not great enough that there should be any hard feelings among the residents of the subdivision. Mr. Meyer asked for any additional comments, and hearing none, declared the public hearing closed.