HomeMy WebLinkAboutA003 - Transcript of Public Hearing on Annexation Area t�. f
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IRV 2 FREED DRIVV AND '1'VAGARDEN n1.KAS
by the
3 CITY OF AMES
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5 Public hearing commenced at: 7 :30 p.m. , September 18 ,
6 1975 , in the City Hall, City of Ames, Iowa 50010 .
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BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT
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Michael Dunn, Chairman
10 Sharon Nail , Co-chairman
Eldon Guge , For the County
11 Ralph Potter
6 -C. Schilletter, For the City
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La Donna Wells & Joni_ 1111tillos
22 2712 flour. Drive, ApL . .3
Des Moines , Iowa 50321
23 CIT S A
A'w E% IC.',A
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25 ,JAN, 2 �97
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I N D E X
`l BUSINESS PAGE
3 Opening of meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4 Mike Dunn elected chairman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5 In favor of the proposed annexation. . 6
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6 Presentation of the Petition by Mr . Castner. . . . . . . 6
7 Beginning of slide presentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8 End of slide presentation . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
i 9 Questions by members of the committee. . . . . . . . . . 14
10 Against the petition for annexation. . . . . . . . . . . 38
11 Meeting adjourned. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . G 1_
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I MR. MICI AT.U. DUNN : Ladies and GenL.l c%men, I would
2 like to bring this meeting to order, please.
3 I 'm Mike Dunn. I 'm the chairman of the City Develop-
4 ment Board for the State of Iowa. This is Sharon Nail .
5 She is co-chairman of the City Development Board ; and Mr .
6 Ralph Potter, member of the City Development of this state.
7 In addition to these three members of the City Development
8 Board, we have two members of the local representatives
9 which make up the City Development Committee. They are
10 J. C. Schilletter, representing the city, and Mr. Eldon Guge,
11 representing the county. In addition to this, we-,have statf
12 people here from the City Development Board, Mr. Bill
13 McNarney and Mr. Jetf Segin. In addition to that, we have
14 f Iwo court reporters here La Donna Wells and Joni Hughes.
15 The purpose of the City Development Board is
16 outlined in the Chapter 368 of the Code of Iowa. This is
17 to examine any types of boundary adjustments between munic-
18 ipalities.
19 On the 27th of August, the City Development
20 Board , ruled by Chapter 368 of the Code of Iowa, received
21 a petition to annex. certain territories from the City of
22 Amps . It ' s because of the 22nd of August petition to the*
23 City Development. Board, that we are meeting here tonight. In
24 ac:cordance with Chapter 368 , when such a petition has been
25 filed with the City Development Board , the City uevelopment
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I Board is charged with i_hc r-ospons;i.bi_lity of ] o.ok.i.nq It the
2 petition to sec if it meets a1.]. i.he qualifications under law
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3 as a valid pctitionj and once this is ascertained to convene
4 a City Development Committee-- the City Development
� 5 Committee. Then they must hold a public hearing on this
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6 petition and that is why we are here this evening with the
7 City Development Commissicn. The commission is made up of
8 three members of the City Development Board , plus members of
9 the local community, who will be involved with actions
10 pertaining to that particular petition. In this case , we hav
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11 one 'member from the city and one member from the county.
12 At this time, I would like to convene the City
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13 Development Board Committee, which will be hearing on the
14 petition for the City of Ames .
15 The first order of business of the committee. will
16 be to elect a chairman to present-- to preside over the
17 hearing. Nominations are open for t ,is chairman..
18 MS . SHARON'-NAIL : I nominate Michael Dunn.
19 (Nomination was seconded . )
20 MS . NAIL : I move nominations cease .
21 MR. DUNN : All those in tavor say "aye" .
22 (Nomination was approved . )
23 MR. DUNN : Let the record show that Mike Dunn has
24 been elected . as the chairman for the City Development Board
r 25 Commission to hear the petition of 22nc? August , 1975 , City of
I Ames.
2 Now, T would like -to go through the procedures
3 of what the commission will be doing. The committee will be
4 looking at this evening this particular proposal, annexation
S proposal, of the two packages to the City of Ames. The
6 committee shall find on this public hearing tonight and the
7 content of the petition. The committee will base its findings
8 on all relevant information before the committee including-and
9 not limited to the following :
10 Statements in the petition of plan and evidence
11 supporting those statements.
12 Recommendations of regional planning authority
13 to the area, commercial and industrial area, on potential
14 and cost and adequacy of existing facilities. Potential
15 effect of the rroposal and the possible alternatives .
16 Proposals on the cost and adequacy of such service and
17 facilities . Potential effect of the proposal on any unit
18 of government including, but not limited to the potential
19 effect on future revenues as such. units govern.
20 The committee may approve or disapprove of this
21 proposal . The committee may not approve an annexation unless
22 the territory is adjoining the city to which it will be
23 annexed , and the committee finds that: the city will be
t 24 able to provide to the territory substantial , measurable
25 service. not previously enjoyed by such territory and that the
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I wo tives 1.()r illtl1oy;i tioii lt (, II()�, ;:i)l (.] Y tCl
revenues of' Lhe c-i Ly . 1,ho col it]wi f' l (1(, caII cI11101Id ,i 1,o t_i l:, i oI1 U.1
3 plan. if a petition or a plan is substantially
amended, the
4 committee shall continue the hearing to a later date and
5 serve a public notice described in the amended petition or
6 plan as required in Section 39 of the Ilome Rule Act .
7 The hearing will now commence and the procedure
8 will he as follows :
9 Anyone who wishes to may address the committee.
10 Upon addressing the committee, we would ask you to state
11 your name and spell your name so that the court reporters
12 will get them properly.
13 Those in favor of the proposal will be heard
14 first, and those opposed will be heard next. All views
15 expressed must have a factual basis . Repetition will not
16 be permitted.. The committee may question any speaker and
17 a complete record of this hearing will be made. .After the
18 hearing is completed, the commission has ninety days in
19 which to render a decision upon the petition. Within five
20 working days , anyone may 'file written briefs to this
21 hearing.
22 At this time I would like Lo hl-.lve Mr. J . R. CL-Istner
23 of Ames please present the petition.
24 MR. CASTNER: Mr. Chairman, members of the, City
`� 25 Development Committee; my name is J. R, Castner of the City
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of Ames-- Ames City Manager.
On August 19 , 1975 , the city council adopted a
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resolution unanimously requesting that certain areas of
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approximately three-quarters of a square mile be petitioned
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to be annexed to the City of Ames. and such petition was
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6 forwarded to your group.
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These two areas are commonly known in Ames as the
$ Freel Drive area, an area south of Lincoln Way in the
9 easterly part of the city. The second area is commonly
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i 10 known as the Teagarden Area in the southeast corner of the
11 city. -
12 There were two main reasons that the city council
13 took the action in passing the resolution on August 19 . `file
14 first one was that several privately held lots completely
15 developed had petitioned solely to annex into the city
16 in order to obtain city water. It is apparent to these
17 articular p y y
p people who did .vo�untaril annex to the city
13 that their individual, wells were not sufficient to provide
19 them the water, and they desired to obtain city water.
20 In the area of the Teagarden and the Frcel Drive ,
21 the City of Ames has already awarded a contract and water
22 mains are being installed to provide water to those people
23 who have voluntarily annexed to the city. In the Freel
24 Drive area, the city did a number of years ago provide
25 water service the complete len th of Freel Drive and those
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I people who have, annexed vol-untiir.-il.y do have city water.
2 The second roa:;On wh i c:h 1,i'(nnl)LOd L110 c.i l.y c.:01111c lI
3 to take action was the fact that in both of these areas , the
4 Freel Drive and Teagarden Areas , the boundary'! lines;.)of .the,
5 city were becoming so confused and so difficult to describe
6 that it was difficult to determine who was to get city
7 services .
8 It has been a policy of the City of Ames for a
9 number of years that we do not provide any city services
10 outside the corporate limits of the city. This not only
11 is for water and sewer services , but also fire and police
12 services . In an effort to straighten the boundary lines
13 of the city and to become an area which was definitely
14 defined which would be provided city services , the city
15 council acted.
16 Mr. Chairman, the,-city is prepared to answer
17 questions which the members of the Board may have from
18 time to time during this hearing. I ' ll now turn the
19 presentation on behalf of the City of. Ames over to Pat
20 S�.,7itz , the Director of Community Development for the City
21 of. Ames , who will cover a number of details on behalf of
L2 1 he. c:i Ly eful- i r►g the prnsentl l .i cui .
23 (A slide presentation was made. )
24 MR. SWI'TZ : 'Thank you, Mr. Castner. Good evening ,
25
Members of the Committee.
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1 This evening we are going to show the committee
2 and the audience here a slide presentation which will afford
3 all persons present here a better opportunity of knowing
4 the area that we are talking about. It will portray some
5 of the physical features that exist,iboth man-made and
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6 natural.
7 . We ' d like to commence at this point and turn out
8 the back lights so that we can see the screen a little
9 better.
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10 On August 19 , 1975 , the city council of the City
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11 of Ames passed a resolution authorizing the filing of a
12 petition for annexation of territory with the StatQ of Iowa
13 City Development Board. Two areas are basically involved
14 totalling approximately three-quarters of a square mile .
15 They are indicated as the Teagarden Area, which is on the
16 southern edge of town; and the Freel Drive Area, which is
17 in the southeastern quadrant south of Lincoln Way. The
18 present land is 18. 34 square miles and the addition of
19 seventy-six one hundredths of a square mile would increase
20 the total area of the community to 19 . 1 square miles . This
21 slide that I have to my left here shows the historical
22 expansion of the community in this area. The colors indicate
23 territory during various periods since 1965 .
24 In the brown color here , we have area that was
25 annexed prior to the year 1965 , and you can see that it
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or 0
1 nuwcs out. (IUit-0, rcIacl.i l.y n01-0 711 Hlo. I-ol , we have f-orritory
2 that was aiii-ioxod durinca Hi(-, pt,i: i od u L 1901) to ' 7U . Tile
3 orange depicts the area annexed during the years ' 71 and
4 ' 73 .
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5 MR. DUNN : Some of the members of the committee
6 cannot see that.
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7 A VOICE : Why don ' t you stand over to this side?
8 MR. SWITZ : The tan color represents our most
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9 recent activities which have occurred during ' 74 and ' 75 ,
10 and they areldepicted in those colors here . The' area
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11 proposed to be annexed in this petition Chown in yellow .
12 as can be seen through those closer views . ,
13 This area has been piece-meal primarily voluntarily
14 annexed by individual property owners .
15 With the incorporation of the total area, urban
16 services can be extended in an orderly and comprehensive F.
17 manner. The Teagarden area consists primarily of. approximately
18 ninety houses constructed on lots platted as much as twenty
19 to twenty-five years ago. The area has developed without
20 the benefit of many improvements , specifically sanitary
21 sewer, water, and hard-surface streets . Recently , there
22 have been a number of voluntary annexation: petitions , some
23 of which I have pointed out during the ' 74- ' 75 period
24 of time.
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25 Due to property owners ' concc,rn with water supply
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I and water t.ah] e-- as a imitLer oj7 �_r,cl , ,:; recently as
2 September lb, which is this past Monday, the city of Ames
3 has received two additional petitions for the purpose of
4 voluntary annexation by owners adjacent to the present
5 corporate limits of the community.
6 MR. DUNN: We notice in the petition that there
7 are some names that have been scratched under the parcels
8 of land.
9 MR. SWITZ : Yes , sir.
10 MR. DUNN: Because of these voluntary annexations
11 of--
12 MR. SWITZ : No. Those are voluntary annexations
13 that were honored by council approximately three or four
14 weeks ago. They were honored, I. think concurrent with our
15 having prepared that list of property.
16 MR. DUNN: I see.
17 MR. SWITZ : With the permission of the board , doe::
18 the legal then--the legal description conform to the
19 net listing there.
20 MS . NAIL: The net listing-- In other words , it
21 includes the legal description.
.22 MR. SWITZ : It includes the legal description .
23 A CITY EMPLOYEE : Legal description, that is .
24 in the petition includes the properties that have recently
25 been annexed as being included from the petition. The
12. .
1 description is updated .
2 MR. SWITZ : To continue on, the petitions that we
3 have received recently are not being honored at this time
4 because of this proposal which would include them. Each
5 house is served by an individual septic system. , .Erperience
6 has illustrated a malfunctioning of some of these systems
7 and a number of effective properties cannot be voluntarily
8 annexed since they are not contiguous to the city limits .
9 East of U . S . 69 which is also called South Duff Avenue and
10 north of Jewel Drive area , a small amount of commercial
11 development exists which is being portrayed here. West of
12 South Duff, there are several large tracts of land upon
13 which a number of houses are located . This area is adjacent .
14 to the Ames municipal airport, and Lhe concern there regards
15 the compatibility of future development in this area in
16 relationship to the airport itself . The eastern portion of
17 the Teagarden area is within,�the limits of the Skunk River
18 flood plain and control should be exerted to prevent
19 incompatibility with the flood plain area .
20 The Freel Drive area, which we are now showing
21 here, was platted in 1942 . Since that time , development
22 has occurred in an orderly manner . The result consists of
23 a mixture of residential , commercial , and industrial uses ,
24 which in many cases are in a deteriorating condition.
25 The areas presently not served by sanitary sewer,
I However water service i.s ivai.lahle ►Ur Lholse 1]1:'oportie.i
t11c1L d0 be.1.0119 L0 t:.hW C.1 1L P I-('S i"IL U11 L111r1L" c`t`L . WoSt
3 of Freel Drive, approximately one-half mile west or the
4 existing corporate limits, we again nave the Skunk River
5 rlood plain and land use control,:shouldtbe exerted in this
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6 particular area .
7 If the annexation of this area is approved by the
8 Cite Development Board and the voters, the city will proceed
s 9 to extend sanitary sewer and water service , and upon petition
10 of property owners, storm sewers, and paved streets will be
11 installer: . Sanitary sewer and water distribution systems
12 have been designed by the city ' s engineering division and
.13 can 'be constructed immediately in the instance of the
14 Teagarden area. Storm sewers and streets have also been
15 designed and can be constructed upon petition, of the property
16 owners and order of the city council . Systems -in the
17 Freel Drive area have yet to 'be designed.
18 Lastly, we have here a slide which outlines process
19 of annexation of the City Development Board , and it the
20 petition would succeed at' this hearing, and the November
21 election, the city could enrry. Out. the, l)rr)p(:)a71 11rider 't:hO
22 vision o t. the City Development Board . Wi Lh Lha L, Lhis i8
23 the end of the presentation by me on behalf of this city
24 of Ames , and with that I would refer the matter back to the
25 board. Thank you very much.
I MR. DUNN : Are there any questions by the members
2 of the corunittee concerning this presentation or anything
3 within the proposal by the City of Ames?
4 MR. RALPH POTTER:, Mr. Chairman,
5 MR. DUNN : Mr. Potter.
6 MR. RALPH POTTER: May I direct a question to Mr.
7 Castner, please? Manager, I notice that in the Freel area
g you have some areas that are already in, and it ' s been
9 mentioned tonight that you do supply water and services to
10 those that are voluntarily annexed .
11 MR. CASTNER: Yes , sir.
12 MR. POTTER: In the event that the annex: petition
13 eventually is approved , that entire tract up there is
14 incorporated into the city, will there be a difference in
15 services provided to those who came in under voluntary and
16 those who come in under this petition?
17 MR. CASTNER: No, sir. There will not. The policy
18 of Ames is set out in the city code as this . In the case
19 of water , the city installs the water mains along with fire
20 hydrants at its cost, and then there is a tapping charge
21 of $3 . 50 per foot for each lot that taps onto the main. That
22 is optional to the property owner. When they want city water,
23 they would pay the tapping charge. In the case of sanitary
24 sewer, sanitary sewer would be placed in either area by
25 special assessment process . And the property owners would
1 have the option of payi.nq that special asses=en.t under a
2 ten-year program. Street pay.inc) is handled not until all
3 the underground facilities are in, but only upon petition
4 of property owners to have storm sewers installed.
5 MS . NAIL: Mr. Castner, did I understand that the
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6 water main in this Freel Drive area just runs along Freel
7 Drive only from Lincoln Way, south?
8 MR. CASTNER: From Lincoln Way, south. Yes.
9 MS . NAIL: Are there other-- My memory leaves me-
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10 Are there other streets off Freel?
11 MR. CASTNER: No, Ma ' am.
12 MS.. NAIL: There are none off Freel? No sanitary,
1 13 but there is storm sewers?
14 MR. CASTNER: No, there is neither one.
15 MS . NAIL: Neither one?
16 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, are there areas within
17 the corporate areas of the city that at this time are not
18 being offered water and sewer facilities?
19 MR. CASTNER: If they would so desire. Not any
20 developed areas. There is some land which has been acquired
21 by the 3evelopers and annexed to the city which is riot being
22 served, because it`s vacant land , but there is no developed.!
23 land that does not have sewer and water. .
24 MR. DUNN: Does the city require a developer for
25 doing things?
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MR. CASTNER: In the case of the developer , you
have to put all the improvements at their expense and place
3 a cashier's certified check with the city in the amount
equal to the estimated cost of all improvements.
5 MR. DUNN: Does the county have any sub-divisions
6 ordinances?
7 MR. CASTNER: The county, I believe, does have
8 some; I don ' t know if you can call them sub-division
9 requirements . They do have some minimum standards for
10 development before they will take over maintenance and
11 have the- streets , for example, I don ' t believe they have
12 any requirements for water or sewer, but they do have some
13 minimum standards on street construction. And both of
14 these areas are not county-maintained and they do not
15 meet county standards with the exception of the Teagarden
16 Roads which the city maintains.
17 There is basically no public body which maintains
18 those streets .
19 MS . NAIL: Freel Drive is .not maintained?
20 MR. CASTNER: No.
21 MS . NAIL: Another question. Does the City of
22 Ames practice a two-mile zoning?
23 MR. CASTNER: Yes, ma ' am, we do.
24 MS . NAIL: Sub-division control?
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25 MR. CASTNER: We do any subdivision within two
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miles of the corporate 1 imi.ts anci we mist: �10 through t:hc
AVON 2 city planning commission and the city council., but the
3 city has no single control where the county has. But the
4 city, to my knowledge , hasn ' t.
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5 MR. GUGE : Mr. Castner, could you update. the
6 committee as to what money is in the -- I believe it ' s
7 $87 , 000 in surety bond that' s going to the Schill Builders,
8 Inc. , I believe. Is this money being utilized in '.the
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9 annexed area at the present time from the Kate Mitchell
i 10 School?
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11 MR. 'CASTNER: Yes , it is. The city under the
12 old Meadow Village sub-division in that particular area
13 has a surety bond which was filed with the city in 1970 .
14 This provides certain improvements. Part of those
15 improvements have been installed; some of them have not ,
16 including a bridge over the little creek in this area and
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17 some street paving and some .other minor things.
18 The developer got into some financial difficulties ,
19 and this particular situation is in court now through the
20 receiver of the original sub-divider and the city is a
21 part of that suit over the payment of the bond . To confuse
22 the situation even worse, the receiver OI- Lijo £iuj)Sectt!(t11L
23 title-holder to Meadow Village Two is now desirous of
24 continuing with the development of Meadow Village Two, and
25 has placed an escrow in the Union Story Bank in Imes in the
remount .r,f $.1 1..2 , 000 of wIl i c:11 III(
` for the bridge and for the' � paving. We will pay for those
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improvements out of escrow accounts at ,the Union Story
4 Bank. This , in our view, has no bearing on the lawsuit
5 but it does expediate the improvements that are badly
6 needed in that area . I tried to remain simple on this
7 complicated situation.
8 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, would you point out the
9 approximate.: location of the units that you were just
10 speaking of?
1 11
(Mr. Castner indicated this. )
12 MR. CASTNER: Meadow Village Two would be
13 generally in this area to the east of the Teagarden
14 development, and on the west side of this portion that
15 is presently in the city. The contractor- is* working i_n this
16 area now and there has been- a great deal of activity in
17 the past few weeks.
18 MR. DUNN: Could you further elaborate on the
19 system that comes into effect? For a developer who wishes
20 at this time-to develop an area outside the corporate
21 limits , you said that .it nnie:t. c10--
22 MR. CASTNER: yes . Within a two-mil(: area. The
23 city council by resolution has established a procedure of
24 which we follow in that any sub-division within two miles
25 of the corporate limits must follow tic same procedure as
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. 1 the suh-(l.i.vid.er within ci t-y. ] 'm 1)O1: Cresh can t:h(!
2 details , but I believe that. the system is that the pro-
3 posed plat -- eleven copies of the proposed plat are filed
4 in my office. That it goes through the city staff_ , the
5 telephone company, the gas company, and. those people for
6 review upon review of that plat . Then the amendments
7 are suggested to the sub-divider who files a proposed
8 plat with the city. This then goes to the City Planning
9 Commission, and the City Planning Commission in their
10 judgment can recommend to the city council what utilities
11 in that particular area go in or should not go in.
12 In the few sub-divisions which we have approved
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13 outside the city, generally speaking, the street right
14 away meets the width requirements of the city. But the
15 city is not required that water and sewer be installed
16 or street paving. This is dependent on each individual
17 situation as it comes up. It ' s recommended by the
18 City Planning Commission.
k 19 MR. UUNN : What happens if the planning commission
20 recommends not to approve it?
21 MR. CASTNER: Then the city council. in all
22 probability would not approve it and the plat could not
23 be filed with the county auditor .
24 MS . NAIL: Is the city requirements for the
25 streets or thoroughfares , or whatever you call it, would
I that be as stringent or as tight as the county require-
2 ments for roads?
3 MR. CASTNER: The county requirements are before--
4 MS . NAIL: Before they would maintain--
5 MR. CASTNER: Before they' re maintained, they
6 must be a certain width and certain type of surface before
7 they will accept maintenance of it. If there is not
8 that particular specification, then the county would
9 approve tha sub-division, but would not take over the
10 maintenance of the improvements .
11 MR. GUGE: What if those wells went dry and
12 septic tanks became hazardous , who steps in to do what?
13 MR. CASTNER: Well, if they were not annexed,
14 and I assume that the county Board of Health would have
15 to step in because they would be outside of the city.
16 MR. SCHILLETTER: Suppose the well went dry?
17 The county Board of Health would have to step in and make
18 some determination. The city would have no control over
19 that unless they are outside the city. Would the county
20 assess these people - if they insist on water?
21 MR. CASTNER: I don ' t know whether the county
22 1,aould want to set up a special service district or not,.
23 but. the logical course of events in our view is that the
24 city has adequate water, is capable of extending water
25 into the area and that the most reasonable cost would be
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I for t:lle area to ho annC'xo(I i lld luive avR.i la'hi.lit.y of' C''l. l.y
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2 water.
3 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, has there , if you know, -
4 been any action by the City Board of Health to bring
5 any action on this subject matter?
i 6 MR. CASTNER: Not to my personal knowledge, no .
1
7 I don ' t know this . There has been in 1970-- . The city does
8 own a park in the area which is actually -outside of the
9 city and was a gift to the city and maintains a park, and
10 because of the sanitary conditions and health conditions ,
11 the city did close the park for a number of weeks because
12 it was determined that there was, . in fact, sanitary sewage
13 running through the park.
14 MR. SCHILLETTER: It' s hard to get the county
15 to do much, isn' t it? I remember an area here to the west
16 of town, and an area which was-- The city ' s hands were
17 tied.
18 MR. CASTNER: Well , I can ' t roall.y say that.
19 There are two county members sitting in t-he audience .
20 That has not been my view of working with the
21 county, but I will say that the county is not in the water
22 business , nor are they in the sanitary sewer business and
23 they are not set up to do this. Most cities in Story
24 County are. Therefore, it would be in our view the way
25 to handle the health problem would be to get these people
1 on an accepted sanitary sewer_ system except for water
2 system, which in our case the City of Ames has available .
3 MS . NAIL: Yes , sir. With regard to fire
4 protection in these two areas--
5 MR. CASTNER: Yes , we would be prepared to
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i 6 provide immediate fire protection. to both of these areas
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7 upon annexation. We do not provide fire protection to any
g 1 areas outside of the city. The city classification as
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9 of next Thursday will be class four. The areas outside
10 of the city-,are class nine and ten. There would be a
11 substantial reduction in fire rates by people coming into
12 the city.
13 The city did, up until two years ago, serve
14 an area of about fifty square miles outside of the city
15 by contract to rural fire district- trustees . rUhis got
16 to be a terrible burden financially upon the city, and
17 finally, the city did terminate that contract so. that we
18 have experienced and have fairly recently served this area
19 as well as vast additional areas . So we are prepared
20 equipment wise and manpower wise to serve this rather small
21 area compared to the total area of -the city . As you--
22 As I pointed out in my opening remarks , in the Freel Drive
23 area we already have fire hydrants available and we are
24 installing on now in part of the Te ag a rden area, fire
25 hydrants in connection with our water improvements.
I MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, has there been any
2 approximate cost to the city for providing water and sewer?
3 MR. CASTNER: I do not have those figures
4 available. Ron, do you have them? Ron does not have
5 an overall estimate for those utilities .
6 MR. POTTER: Mr. Castner, excuse me. With
7 reference to the Freel Drive area, as I looked at it this
8 evening , Freel Drive which goes north and south apparently ,
9 and it goes from city to county and city to county and
{ 10 so on and so forth. Are some of those areas that are now
f
11 in the city, are they supplied by city water?
12 MR. CASTNER: Yes , sir, all of them are . i
13 MR. POTTER: Iiow do you- By what process do you
14 get water to those that .are on Freel Drive?
15 MR. CASTNER: We have a main on Freel Drive, and
16 those people who pay a tapping fee and get a permit from
17 our inspection department and are annexed, then .can get
18 the permit and then tap on if they are not annexed to the
19 city. We will not issue a permit to the plumber to tap on-
20 to the main.
21 VOICE: Would that be the same? Three dollars
22 fifty cents per--
23 MS . NAIL: However, everybody on Freel Drive would
24 be contiguous to the city where this would not always be
25 true in the Teagarden area, would it?
r
1 MR. CASTNER: Oh, no . That ' s,, not: gui.to truo .
2 hveryone on t..hc_� ccas t. s i dt, i:, coil t i'quolis ' but mar1y po'-;ple
3 on the west side are not contiguous unless their -neighbor
4 across the street annexed.
5 MS NAIL: All right. I understand.
6 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner , on each of these parcels ,
7 if these were in fact annexed, would you give us an
8 approximate time period in which t-he city would offer water
9 services , sewer services , and paving?
i
10 MR. CASTNER: We have projected . in our capital
11 budget that water service to the Teagarden area would be
12 constructed yet this fiscal year, which would end June 30
13 of this next year. Water service is already in the Freel
14 area. We would anticipate the .construction of sanitary
15 sewers in both areas .during the 1976 construction season
16 which would probably be completed perhaps a year from now
17 depending upon the contractor and so forth, but the sanitary
18 sewer could not--we would not want to construct that in the
19 winter time but start first thing in the spring and however long
20 that takes to complete . -
i
21 So by L year from now, both water and sanitary
22 sewer would be available to the entire area , both areas .
23 MR. GUGE: What about the storm sewer?
24 MR. CASTNER: A storm sewer will be put in the
25 same time as the paving and would be a part of the paving
1
cost.
Aft 1 2
MR. GUGE: Do you have an approximate date on
I
3
that?
4
MR. CASTNER: Well, the policy of the city on
5 paving is that we do petition from
P property owners in
6 the area that they are desirous of having paving put
7 in by special assessment processes . And, usually we
8 request these
q petitions be :filed in February or March
q
i
each year, so this way we can have a large paving project
10 once each year . Now that will depend upon the property
11 owners who would wish to petition for the paving_, but
12 we would want to have all the underground facilities prior. r
13 to any paving.
14 MR. GUGE : Is is necessary to have the curb
15 and guttering in on the hard surface at that,.time?
16 MR. CASTNER: Yes , sir. The standards of the
17 city are that curbs and gutters be installed because curb
18 and gutter provides the storm sewer which in both these
19 areas are extremely necessary in order to dispose of the
20 storm water . They are very flat areas , and we would have
21 to get rid of the storm water .
22 MR. GUGE : I see.
23 MR. DUNN: Is the cost of the paving $100
24 special assessment to the property owner?
25 MR. CASTNER: Yes , except on arterial streets,
Llrc 1 1..7ic y t y l:)r.rl'. WO
Z
thirty-one reet laavenment's back-to-hack cut-b. /lrry ,
3
arterial streets which require wider widths, forty--four
4
or fifty-four feet in width, the city pays the difference'
S
between thirty-one feet and whatever the extra width
6
there is.
7
r MS . NAIL: Is there more than one arterial
$ street in that Teagarden there?
9
t,1R. CASTNER: I would— Off the top of the
10 head, I thought on that -- that is , - probably3..the.:only
11 arterial street that might be paved wider would be the
12 present county road at the south end running west, or
13 east from Dunn Avenue. The rest would probably be paved,
14 thirty-one feet.
15 MS . .NAIL: I see .
16 MR. DUNN : What is the policy on upgrading
17 existing streets or roads?
18 MR. CASTNER: All right. Upon annexation the
19 city maintains streets and roads . Now t1)at means if it' s
20 a rock street, we continue to maintain it as a rock street.
21 If: it is an asphalt, we continuo Lo maint-ain .it: as ;111
22 asphalt StruloL . And thc. nrajo;r'_i.ty ()I. Lhe sL.tuot:s i.n both
23 of these areas are rock and the city would, by policy of
24 the city council, assume the maintenance immediately upon
"'
25 annexation, to maintain the streets in the base of the
2
1
rock condij.iorn -- p).ow si.rec�tsl��c wirit.ertime as part
2
of the city services .
3
MR. GUGE : I would-- I presume Emerald Drive
4
would be included in that also. Are you considering
5
that as one of the through streets from the county road
6
up to Jewel?
7
MR. CASTNER: Well , it would be a through
8
street for paving or fo-- extra width.
9
AR. GUGE: Well, this would just for the gravel.
I
10
I presume you are talking about--
MR. CASTNER: Upon annexation we would. maintain
12 all of the streets in the rock and gravel condition. y
13
MR. GUGE: I see .
14
MR. CASTNER: We now presently maintain Tea-
15 garden and below it.
16 MR. POTTLR: A question was asked a moment ago,
F`
17 Mr. Castner, and it concerns itself with the city policy
18 on paving. I think I understood you to say that by
19 petition. , onlygiven a g percentage--
20 MR. CASTNER: Yes , sir.
21 MR. PO`.PTLIR ; 11"s it bc:cn t:.hc 1 ()1 icy i.n t:.hc pasL,
22 and based upon the })List. experience Lo do anything by
23 resolution of necessity, would you atitici Y pate i•esoluLion
24 of necessityfor paving in these two affected areas?
25 MR. CASTNER: We have not. The city council ,
I to my knowdedge, has never assesed a paving project
OWN 2 on the basis of a resolution of necessity without . a
3 petition. We have put sanitary sewers in by that method,
4 but not paving . Now, at some future time they may change
5 the policy, but to my knowledge they have not.
6 MR. POTTER: Would you anticipate a change of
7 policy then as regards both affected areas that we- are
8 discussing this evening?
f4R. CASTNER: No, sir. I would not.
10 MR. POTTER: Okay.
11 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, what percentage of the
12 property owners are required in a petition?
0
13 MR. CASTNER: The city council, as a rule of
14 thumb, would like to have at least half of the
people indicate
15 they want improvement. There is no definite number. Public
16 hearings for special assessments are difficult enough
17 when you go into them with only a minority of those
18 interested in the project, so the council likes to have
19 about half -- at least half -- before they proceed with the
20 project.
21 MR. DUNN: What abotit policy on drainage ditches?
22 Are they maintained?
23 MR. CASTNER: Well, we would have to maintain
24 them in those areas we annexed, but those eventually will
25 be abolished when storm sewers are placed in the area . We
1
would 1wIi.nt n i ii 1 li1�ni ,i:; 1 . llq I.- i li.i l in l llo
2 sewer avL11.l11).l.e .
3
MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, to your knowledge , are
4 there any alternative plans to alleviate or to do any
5
types of paving -- any types of sewer or water to either
6 of these-
7 MR. CASTNER: No, sir. Not to my knowledge.
8 MR. DUNN: In the petition it ,referred ' to .a,r
9 need of portions of both of these areas for designation
10 as a flood plain area. What is the current statute of
11 the city in regards to the federal flood insurance program:
12 MR. CASTNER: The city is qualified for federal
13 flood insurance and did well before- the deadline of July - 1
14 of this year, about a year ahead of time. We also have
15 as a policy of the city that we do not -- I 'll go back .
16 The complete flood plain in the city that' s on the Skunk
N
17 and the Squaw Creek has been surveyed by the Corp of .
18 enginoers and is on file with the committee and the NatiAral
19 Resources Council and we do not allow building in the
20 flood plain without permission of the Natural :ResourceS '
21 Council . T;1e city is in the process of drawing up a
22 new zoning area; that would include a new flood plain,
23 zone._within a zoning ordinance and would relieve the
24 Natu r al Resources Council of issuing permits so that
25 we could do it then under our own ordi.nance . following the
1
I carp of engineers study which was compi.eted about 1966 --
►, 2 67 .
3 MR. DUNN: . Is this unincorporated area?
4 MR. CASTNER: Yes .
5 MR. DUNN: Does ' the. y..
.count at- this time have
6 any restrictions on that particular area? .
7 MR. CASTNER: I would have to answer honestly;
8 I don' t know. I would like to think that the same statutes
9 regarding the Natural Resources. Council would apply both
10 in and out of the county, but I don ' t know what the policy
I
11 of issuing is under the county or even if they have that
12 problem.
13 MR. DUNN: Are there any streetlights in this
14 area at this time?
15 MR. CASTNER: Notto my knowledge. '
16 MR. DUNN: Would there be any provided if -the
17 city annexed it?
18 MR. CASTNER: Yes , there would be if the city
19 annexed it.
20 MR. DUNN: At the present time what is the
21 projection of growth of the city and what was the projection
22 as far as development in this area?
23 MR. CASTNER: Well, the population of the City of
24 Ames in 1970 was 39 ,505 . . Last month we started a special
6
`` 25 census under contract with the Department of Commerce and
I
I there is all kinds OE guesses as to what that census will
2 reveal , but somewhere in the neighborhood of forty-three
3 or forty-four thousand, I think , would be a legitimate
4 estimate as to what our population is at this time . I
5 think by 1990 the planning department has indicated that a
6 population of somewhere in the area of fifty-five
7 thousand would be the population of Ames .
8 MR. DUNN: In what direction is this growth
9 taking place? What portions--
i 10 MR. CASTNER: The actual growth within the city
11 now is raking place to the north and west because these
12 areas have been annexed as raw land and the developers
r
13 are moving that direction . Both of these areas were
14 developed some twenty y years ago approximately and the
15 development has been completed there for some time . We 're
16 talking about the cjrowth. Generally, it is not to the
17 south of the city or to the east, but to the north and
18 west.
19 MR. DUNN: Is there a potential there for
20 any type of commercial development after those . services
21 are made available?
22 MR. CASTNER: Ohe of the things which has slowed
23 the growth-- There are two things which, in my view,
24 have slowed Growth to the south. One is that the present
r
25 location of the Ames Sewage Treatment Plant is such that
I much furt.ho,i Lhan we ar.::: I't c�:senl..ly Z>1:Qj)Osi.11c7 sotittl o.l,
2 the `1'eagarden area would leave to coo through a lift
3 station. We could not serve it by a gravity system. We
4 can serve all of the Teagarden area, but much south
5 of that we cannot. The other thing is that there is
i
6 some university land -- the state-owned land -- which
7 precluCes the possibility of sub-division in the south
8 part of the city.
9 MR. DUNN: What is the current'.difference in the
10 taxation or the millage between the corporate area?
11 MR. CASTNER: The assessed levy inside of the
12 city currently is 110 . 098 mills; outside of the city is
13 88 . 904 mills .
14 MR. GUGE: Would you approximate that millage to
15 be about the same assuming all the improvements if it is
16 accepted as is, or would that be assessed above or beyond
17 the assessed valuation as shown in your proposal,?
18 MR. CASTNER: Yes . I 'm only talking .abgut' the
19 property taxes . I 'm not talking about any special assess-
20 ments .
21 MR. GUGE: Okay.
22 MR. CAS`1'NI1'R : `l'ho proport:y t IX iiiside of l-1i,, city
23 is higher than the property outside of the city by 110 to
24 88 ;tills . So upon annexation, it will pay a '.higher tax.
25 For an example , I have a $30:,000 house. . , Inside of the :city, i_t
4i
i
1 will-- pay $891. . 79; outside of the city, it-, will it
F y $720 . 12 ,
2 MR. GUGE: Will you yiv(:, me ghat again?
3 MR. CASTNER: Inside of the city would pay
4 $891 . 79 ; outside of the city
, would pay $720 . ]_2 .
5 And you get, I am sure , that the committee is
i
E 6 well aware of the complicated things that you get into
7 when you talk about levies. But part of a levy that
8 property owners pay outside of the city is a county
9 levy. In the case of both of these areas, they are not
10 getting any county maintenance . Then-by..annexing into the
11 city, the fire insurance would go down by Class 9 : Outside
12 of the city is $146 . 00 for the same $30 , 000 . house; inside
13 of the city would be $97 . 00 , so the property owner would
14 save about $50 on his fire insurance by being annexed
15 to the city.
16 We also feel that the level of police protection
17 would be substantially increased as well as street
18 maintenance over what is now provided to both of these
19 areas .
20 MR. POTTER: Mr. Castner. , does the City of Ames
21 have its own assessor?
22 MR. CASTNER: Yes , sir. They do.
23 MR. POTTER: Are there areas within Teagarden
24 and Freel that your assessor would consider as farms?
25 IvTR. CASTNER: Oh, yes . Anything over ten acres
34
1 would be considered a farm and would be assessed at the
2 agriculture rate. Most of the flood plain would be at an
3 agriculture rate; and in fact, the area of Freel -- the
4 majority of the area in Freel Drive area would be assessed
R
5 as agriculture land. There is some in the Teagarden area,
6 but nearly all of it is in the Freel Drive area .
7 MR. POTTER: Those areas that your assessor
8 considers farms would then not pay secondary road costs
9 by a difference of eleven or twelve mills?
I
j 10 MR. CASTNER: Yes , this is true .
11 MR. POTTER: They would not, if the farm was
12 ten acres or more, would not pay a sum of the city tax
13 either?
14 MR. CASTNER: They would get the agriculture
15 credit.
16 MR. POTTER: And conversely, if they are classified
17 as farms , what would you anticipate at this time .would
18 be the ity ' s policy toward assessing for sewer and paving
19 in front of those farms?
i�
20 MR. CASTNER: The city ' s policy in the case of
21 annexation is that when we provide city services to. those
22 particular areas , they then are assessed as city property
23 In both of these particular cases , I cannot conceive of how
24 we would be able to provide sewer and water to that east
F-
25 area in the Teagarden area and that large area on either. -
� I �
• V I
1
I side of the Skunk River and Freel area to any benefit
2 of that property for sewer or water.
1
3 MR. POTTER: The farm valuation would not sub-
4 stantiate the expense of improvements?
5 MR. CASTNER: No , no.
6 MR. POTTER : At *any point in time, you do or do
7 not anticipate employing professional appraising to go
8 in and put a. different vj.iluation on those farms?
9 MR. CASTNER: No, sir . We do not. They would
I
10 come under the same procedure that we have always done.
11 The city assessor would do appraisals -- anything within
12 the city.
13 MR. GUGE : Mr. Castner, assuming the plan goes
14 through and we are taxed at the assessed valuation that
15 we have now, when do you intend to have or do you have
16 any immediate plans pn another revaluation of these prop-
17 c.rties?
18 MR. CASTNER: Well, it seems that the local
19 government spends very little time in reassessing the
20 property in Ames or in Story County. That seems to be all
21 done in Dos Moines now days , but we have-- T cio not know
22 of any plans. Wor.kiny toget.hcr. with the country and the:
23 city again -- jointly hiring an. appr.aisal firm as we did
24 1 couple years ago. I 'm not aware of any plans.
25 MR. GUGE : Yes .
1
kc01) Illy dates st.raigrrl:, l 1:h1.I11t t:h<<t: a.1.1. property --
3 in other words , the first half of taxes are due this
4 month based, and those I believe are 173 taxes based on
S the valuation as of January 1 , 1973 , not 174 . So, in 1975 ,
6 you're paying 174 taxes; in 1976 , you're. paying taxes, or
7 we all are, on valuation as of January, 1975 .
8 Assuming this c;oes through, then the taxes that
9 those people in that area will pay next year would be the
10 valuation of the property as of January 1 , 1975 -- last
11 January.
12 MR. GUGE : Which is what we have to--
13 MR. CASTNER: Yes. Those properties will be
14
a year later paying for city taxes because, just because
15 of the calendar.
16 MR. GUGE: I see. Thank you.
17 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, what will be the increased
18 revenue or what tax revenue would the city realize from
19 !-.he proposed annexed area?
20 MR. CASTNER: Twenty thousand seven hundred and
21 three dollars and twenty-nine cents.
22 MR. DUNN: Would you repeat Lhat?
23 MR. CASTNER: Twenty thousand seven hundred and
24 three dollars and twenty-nine cents.
25 Ile arrived at that by the assessed market value
R 3
1
of the area w1;i.c,,11 .i.s $2. , 28 2 , 04 0 . 'I'wen t.y-:;even pe.rceni:
@`` 2
of that is $61G , 151 . Total city mil.lage this year is
3 33 . 601 mills which will bring in $20 , 703 . 29 . ' All of this
4
pr6perty is in the Ames school district.
5
MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, in the petition, the
6 city lists a number of services; sanitary sewer, water,
7 fire
protection, police protection, library, build .ng
8 inspection, street maintenance, snow removal. Is the
9 cityat the
present time capable of furnishing these
10 without increase to the city' s staff?
11 MR. CASTNER: Yes, we can do that. In this
12 day of inflation, I don ' t want to say that the same level
13 of service,-is not going to cost more than it does now,
14
but if you are treating it as the same dollar value, we
15 could provide the service to these fairl y ,small areas
16 compared to the total area of the city
without any increase
17 in personnel or any additional expense on behalf of the
18 city.'
19 That revenue that we would derive from this --
20 the $20, 000 -- would be sufficient to pay for any services
21 that we deliver to those areas .
.22 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, thank you very much.
23 We appreciate your presentation.
24
25
r
I MR. DUNN: IS L]icr.e anyonr. else 1lere than would
2 wish to address the committee on behalf of the proposal?
3 All right . At this time we will go to the other
4 side of the spectrum. Is there anyone here that wishes to.
5 address the committee against the petition for annexation
6 by the city of. Ames. Please come forward and state your name.
7 MR. DENNIS SWEENY: My nam& is: Dennis Sweeny. and
g I don 't live in this area, sir. Could I look at the map?
9 I .believe that this area in the Skunk River Basin should not
10 be annexed, because it ' s going to promote building in that
11 area, and it ' s a flood basin, and we had problems there last
.12 year with the bowling alley. We had floodwater going
13 through it. So I would suggest that we just come down the
14 west side of Freel Drive . in your .annexation proposal outside
15 the Freel Drive area.
16 MR. POTTER: Could he please point out where he
G
17 resides or where his place of- business is?
18 MR. SWEENY: By Squaw Creek.
19 MR. DUNN: Mr. Sweeny, right below that area between
20 the corporate units of the city, what is in that area; do you
21 know"?
22 MR. -'3V1l1:1,,NY : Down in horc-- Fiend J.dailj .
23 MR. DUNN: Is that similar to what you are referring �
24 to?
25 MR• SWEENY : Yes, uh-huh.
1 MR. SCHILLP:`!.'TE.I : Ls ill illo ,tadi11111
AWN 2 MR. SWEENY: Sure is .
3 MR. DUNN: Would anyone else like to address the
4 committee?
5 MR. ROBERT ROSIN: My name is Robert Rosin, and I
6 live in the area adjacent to the Teagarden area, which is
7 already mart of the city. I live on, well, Jewel Drive in
g the area adjacent to the proposed annexation. I didn ' t speak
9 up earlier when you were asking for, strongly, for the
10 proposal. In fact, I am for the proposal and Casual conver-
11 sation with many of my neighbors indicate that it ' s safe to
. 12 say many of my neighbors share support for the annexation.
13 I do, however, have a question really to the committee on the
14 basis of how you determine your final recommendation . . You
15 have asked the city manager about city service in terms of
16 police, fire, sewage, lights, water, water storm sewers, and
17 so forth. You have not addressed him or anyone else as far .is
18 I know about recreational or park service for the area if
19 that' s a matter for your consideration. I 'd be interested in
20 knowing whether this is 'a •consideration of yours. When the
21 original slide presentation was made there was a reference , I
22 believe, to the park in the zirc,.,� wifl i.".l1 l.lu: cJ.1:.y awns ,tncl
23 maintains, and I think, it ' s safe to report it is the most
24 picturesque park in .Ames. There are very 'few public-owned
25 lands in this area. I have been told, and this is only hear-
10
1 say, that one of the developers in the are,.i which is already
2 part of the city plans to donate a portion to the city or
3 sell it to the .city for p a r k purposes . I do not know if
4 he has gone further with his development plan.- I was curious
5 whether there was a plan or proposal for the area under_
in the
6 development proposed annexation. I again address then
7 to the committee, whether this is a matter that you people
8 consider at all.
9 MR. GUGE : Is this the one he is referring to.?
10 MR. ROSIN: I must say that I am concerned not only
11 about developed parks and playgrounds, but I am also concerned
. 12 about areas that are preserved. To be in a more natural
13 state down in this area as the town develops -in this direction
14 as it has been indicated. It' s very unlikely that very much
15 can be done along the flood plain although there have been
16 some developments in that nature in the northern parts of
17 Ames. One would hope that it s woods wouldn' t just become
18 . a large congested area of housing. Something where some
19 of the natural life, which is both inside and outside
20 of the city would be allowed to remain.
21 MR. SCIIILLETTI R: Do your children go to Kate
22 Mitchell School?
23 MR. ROSIN: Kate Mitchell, which has a very nice
24 playground and woods. That would be very nice to allow some
A
25 of those to remain so that, for example , the children in the
1 area could continue to discover the joy of tadpoles in the
2 spring, and snakes, and so forth, rather than pavement and
3 developed grass .
4 MS . NAIL : Could we direct a question to city
5 council and ask if the park board has any plans along that
6 line?
i MR. CASTNER: We ' ll make a list and have this direct
8 ed to the city council .
{ 9 MR. DUNN: Are there any further-- Anyone else 4 (
' 10 like to address the committee? ="z .
i �l
11 MR, ERNIE JORDAN: I would like to know how much
12 sewage can be handled by the plant which we have now by the ,
13 city. Whether it can handle the people that they want in
14 nere or not.
15 MR. DUNN: Okay.
16 MR, JORDAN : And also city gas. A few years ago we
17 had to take over and have city gas, 'which the way I take it, ` ?
18 they can' t supply enough city gas to some of the newer homes
19 already being built, now.
20 MR, DUNN : Okay. Any other comments or questions? `•
21 MR. DEL JESPERSEN: Is it permissible to ask, or is
22 it past that stage?
23 MR. DUNN: Would you address your questions to the
24 committee?
25 MR. JESPERSEN : I 'm curious as to t:,e developments
I on Garden Road , if memory serves me right, the connection
2 on Garden Road that was required at the time that Village
3 Development Two went in was to give a second access to that
4 area. Would you point out Garden Road on the large map?
5 It should be right within the city limits.
6 It ' s that strip. It' s the only thing that' s city
7 now, as far as I know. I know of no one that lives adjacent
8 to Garden Road. There might be, but I do not know then. if
9 that is to be a second access to the Villiage 'Two, is it
1p proposed that that will be left to serve that area whether
11 it' s annexed or not? Whether the properties on either.
.12 side are annexed, or whether the entire area is annexed?
13 If that be the case, I 'm not too sure how good a service
14 that' s going to provide to the area. I believe the city has
15 maintained it better than we did when we were -paying the
16 bill -individually perhaps. I 'm not sure it ' s good enough
17 to really serve that area as a second access .
18 The other question that I would ask is, I believe,
19 that a' portion of Emerald Drive right now from Jewel Drive
20 south to approximately Patricia, I believe that ' s the city
21 street. I got to admit t:hcy' rc t,ikin�J l,c�t:t�.,i c-avo c-)r
.22 Garden than Emerald . At least Emerald is a paved street of
23 some sort. I 'd be interested in knowing what the proposal
24 would be there. I also realize that Emerald is a problem,
25 perhaps . Is that road that runs by the trailer courts on
` •1 I
I the west-- :�-idt-� o.f. t. .a I yL,u ' v�� l,e�esn t.ht�t'c�,
2 you probably wouldn ' t_ .f.or.(lct. i I: f o l- ,i wil i7 r- .
3 1 think the city sliould be comIllended, because they
4 do have a city water main along Garden Road right now.
5 I 'm not sure whether our voluntary fire department could gets
6 water from it, but at least the water main is there. I
7 believe they could provide service, particularly water rather
g rapidly, perhaps still this fall . I 'm not sure because I
9 don' t know when the election is to be held. I 'm not sure
10 about sewer, when that could be. I have no quarrel with
11 that. I would not object to see the city annex my particular
12 property. As a matter of fact I live on the street known as
13 Blanshan Drive which is the second one east of highway 69
14 on Garden Road going south. We almost made a voluntary
15 annexation here a couple of years ago. I think some of these t
16 questions are of interest to us .
17 Also I believe, there was a statement made about a
18 person could hook up to the water at their convenience once
19 the water was in. I also wonder if sewer was put in. I
20 think we had one year to hook up to it. I '.m. not sure that
21 is still_ the case. If it is, I think, we would be interested
22 in that, too.
23 MR. DUNN: Thank you, sir. . Any further comments? `
24 Anyone else?
25 MR. JERRY LANSLR: I presently live on a county
I road, and we do oil. it wokl.Ld this be Continued
ON 2 or would this become a city project because of the high
3 traffic .
4 MR. DUNN: Would you point that out on the map?
. r
5 MR. LANSER: :[ would say it would be this road
6 right here, and it' s the very edge of town, the last county
7 road with houses .
Y g MR. DUNN: Any other comments, or anyone else who a
9 would like to address- the committee?
10 In light of his testimony, could you please return?
11 I think the first question, if we can keep this in
12 order, Mr. Sweeny asked about the flood plain area and
a
13 expressed concern about the developments within that area.
14 MR. CASTNER: Well, I 'd like to tie that question
15 in with parks. It is our policy, and we have a number of
16 beautiful parks in our community, to back up the policy that
q,
17 we, . when it becomes available- to acquire a flood plain
18 and put it in the parks. This is one of the reasons that we
19 would like to straighten out our boundary lines and acquire
20 part of this flood plain in order that sometime in the future
21 when that land becomes valuable, we can add that to our
f.
22 green belt in our two streams, which run through the community.
23 The reason that we included it, is the second reason I gave
24 in my opening remarks. We wanted to straighten out our
r
."� 25 boundary and we took the line which is presently within the
45
1 city as the east boundary water pollution control plant
2 project that is straight south, and in order to straighten
3 our boundary. We could have put that over on the drop off
4 of the flood plain, or we could have put it someplace else.
5 One of our goals was to have some straight boundary lines in
6 that area for a change. I ' ll be the first to admit that
7 our Teagarden park is not very attractive . It was given
8 to the city, although it is outside of the city limits . The
9 city has put some playground equipment in it. Sometimes the
10 land we get by way of gifts is not the best land, and it is
11 marshy and because of that it is difficult to drain. Also,
12 because it is outside of the city, we have not committed
13 very much of our resources. to it. It would be in my view
14 to start with some park systems in this area which would
15 serve this particular area. It is not buildable because it
16 would not support buildings . f
17 MR. DUNN: Where is that located?
18 MR. CASTNER: Right in there somewhere .
19 We have been in discussion with the developer
20 of the possibility that that could be used as a park site in
21 the area since it ' s a nonbuildable piece of property. So .
22 far we have been unsuccessful in arriving at arrangements with
23 him, and we have not had sufficient money available to go in
24 with condemnation. That is a second possibility for a
25 small park in the area. It would be our hope that when this
I area is annexed, that we can, put some drain the in the present
2 Teagarden park and make that more useable, and frankly, more
3 than it is today.
4 MR. SCI3.ILLETTER: Ar. Castner, you mentioned we
5 have a lot of nice parks which are inthe flood plain.
i
6 I think, it was the Stuart Smith Park on 13th Street . When-
7 ever the land has become available, the city has acquired a
8 green belt system, and we would hopefully be able to
9 continue that through the years including this area , event-
10 ually.
11 MR. GUGE : Mr. Castner, in relation to our park
12 way, we have at the present time , this is if you want to say
13 considered it as a natural_ drain if the term is correct. Do
14 you propose to have tile or whatever you want to call it,
15 culverts to handle the water or is that going to be open on
16 the ground as it is now.
17 11R. CASTNER: I don' t have a solution, or we have
18 not designed a solution. I 'm just saying the present situatioi
19 probably wouldn' t tolerate it, particularly by the people
20 in that area who will want an upgrading of city services
21 including park services upon annexation. `filing may be an
22 answer oz some type of sloping area which would more definitel
23 define the water flow area, and drain the rest of the park
24 may be some solution . I am not sure it would be a cheaper
25 solution than tile, but obviously somet'_zing has to be done
1 h wo have 1.11r' 1 ;t n l
MIt. DUNN : Mr. . Castner. , in the petition you
3 mentioned the fact that you are trying to project the
4 flood area. What of this portion right below Freel Drive
5 area is also apparently a flood point? Have you looked at
6 that at all?
MR. CASTNER: Well, this would get into probably
8 one of the largest sweet corn research plots in the United
9 States. This.: is owned by a former mayor of the City of
10 Ames., but it certainly would fit sometimes in a green belt
11 area for park development along the Skunk River. You can' t
. 12 guarantee anything because we have such freakish storms
F
13 which deve-1 o p lots of things .
14 MR. DUNN: D o a n y of you have any questions
15 concerning the flood plain or the parks?
16 MR. GUGE : Mr. Chairman, I think, one of the
17 best park systems is in the city of Ames . Would the policy
18 of good parks continue in the area?
19 MR. DUNN: That is the intention of the city
20 at this time`.
21 MR. CASTNER: We have to develop green belts along
22 the two streams.
23 MR. DUNN: I imagine-- you did say that as funds
24 become available, is there a policy, or does the
city 'have
25
an overall plan for the access of these areas,
4;;
1 MR. CAS'.VNER: V,, a r e reluctant to go in and condemn
2 this land. It ' s difficult for a city to buy land when you
3 only have one willing buyer and one willing seller . Gle don ' t
4 have enough resources to go into court and get an appraisal
5 made by the condemnation jury, and not know what that ' s going
6 to be, so all the land we have acquired we have gotten
7 through negotiation or gift. That ' s the slow process, but
8 so far it ' s been fairly successful .
9 MR. DUNN: The next question was raised by Mr .
10 Jordan on the capacity of the sewage treatment factor . Could
11 it handle this proposed annexation?
12 MR. CASTNER: Yes. There are approx4mate.ly ninety
13 homes in these two areas , and we can adequately treat the
14 sewage at the same level we are treating the rest of the
15 city through our existing plant. Like every city, we have
16 Flans on the drawing board in the start the development of a
r.
17 new plant for two reasons. One, is the potential growth a.n
18 our community. Secondly, is the irradi_call.y increasing
19 standards of treatment that we are forced to give to sewage
20 now-a-days . So in the for_seeable future , we will probably
21 have a new treatment plant, but the ninety homes that we
22 are talking about now, we would be able to handle in our ,
23 existing plant with no problem.
24 MR. DUNN : You also raised a question on city
25 gas .
. I MR. CASTNER: The city, itself, is not in the
2 gas business . That ' s handled by Iowa Electric Light and
3 Power Company in the city, and I don ' t know what their
4 gas extention policy is, except as a customer of theirs.
5 I speak, now, for the city. We are getting less and less
6 gas for our money; and I assume that they are cutting back
7 elsewhere in their system, but I don ' t know whether gas
8 will be available to this area or not.
9 MR. DUNN: Mr . Jespersen then raised some
10 questions about Garden Road.
11 MR. CASTNER: Yes. In the subdivision on
12 Garden Road , as you go east from Duff Avenue is in the city.
13 This is to a barricade, which is presently built there.
14 This barricade is approximately the boundary line between
15 the city and the county. This is the area that is now
16 under construction, and is building a bridge, and the
17 $112 , 000 is in e.scrow at the Union Story Bank to pay for
18 their improvements . Now, that portion of these improvements
19 will be paid and the bridge will he built to specification,
20 thirty-one feet wide, and ' the bridge will be poured concrete .
21 The Garden Road area that is presently in the
22 city, and as he pointed out; there maybe one, but practically
23 no people abutting Garden Road , who are annexed to
24 the city. This would be handled for paving the same as
25 any other city, and if there would be a petition for
!III
I pav:i:ny after the wafor :,ilca ;,c. w� l: i1ro 1)11L. ire , then that:
2 would- be paid in the Inca >>il:ime We w(-)1.1:1c1 m,tint.Itli.li it zris
3 a gravel road as we have in the past three or .Lour .years
4 ever since that ' s been handled.
5 MR. GUGE: Mr. Castner , it is I believe December
6 that was the date that was brought up that the road would
7 be connected from Mitchell School to Garden Road?
8 MR. CASTNER: Well, I don ' t know the exact date.
9 The contract has been left and he has it under construction
10 now, when that happens . It ' s fairly soon that this will
11 be completed.
12 MR. GUGE: I was just wondering if that would be
13 one of the hard surface major projects . Whether it was
14 because of the direct access to, the school rather than Jewel
15 Drive as a residential area. This would have more traffic
16 is what I am saying.
17 MR. CASTNER: Well, , you mean Garden Road?
18 MR. GUGE: Yes . More traffic.
19 MR. CASTNER: Well , we have the have the practical
20 problem of getting water and sewer in that street before
21 we pave it. It makes the city look kind of bad to tear
22 Lhoill 1.11: �111(1 put ill wi>.Lo r ;lilt] �;ewol' ,lll+l t. hell pu 1. I to conc r.o Lc
23 back in. The sewer would probably not be complete for
24 ten or twelve months . Water would be finished this winter
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25 and sometime after that we can pave Garden Road if the
i
I property owners waii t it a.mproved .
2 I agree that was purchased by the city and annexed
3 as a second access to Kate Mitchell school. This will
4 provide both pedestrian and vehicular traffic to the school
5 and that is going to be a busy street. I 'm sure that they
6 will want it imp-roved soon.
7 MR. DUNN: What about the Emerald Drive area?
8 MR. CASTNER: The Emerald Drive is all. One of
9 the problems we have when one of the streets is in the city,
10 or half of the property, in this case the trailer park, is
11 in the city and the other half is out, that street develops
12 into sort of a no man ' s land. If you drive that' steet
r
13 today you will find a few shell holes in this no man ' s lane .
14 This is what happened. It ' s no ones responsibility, and
15 yet it everybody' s responsibility. Frankly,. the. city has
16 not maintained that street, and obviously, very few other
17 people have either. That ' s •another reason in the area of
18 the south boundary line of the Teagarden, we went two
19 hundred feet of that south county road so that we try not
20 to have the boundaries down the road so that we don ' t get
21 into an argument with the county on who .is going to maim-
22 twin it . This is also true of Emerald Drive, a no man ' s
23 drive .
24 MR. DUNN: I think, -.Uor the last- question that
W 25 we had was on the city
policy for hook-ups resulting within
t V
1 the area. Do you hrive policy for h00% u1) on w,--t-oi- and
APN 2 sewer?
3 MR. CASTNER: The water is up to the property
4 owner. We have in the past, where the owner has a good
5 well, we have no requirements in ' our code that they be
6 forced within a period of time to hook up to the water.
7 We do, however, have in our code a provision that within
g one year after sanitary sewer is available they must
9 connect to the sanitary sewer. I feel. that ' s a good
10 policy, because we get into health problems with sanitary
11 sewer is , where as on the otherhand- water is not as much
12 of a problem as sewage is . When it does become available,
13 we do require people hook up to the sanitary sewer.
14 MR. DUNN: What is the hook up charge for each
15 of these, facilities?
16 MR. CASTNER: All right. The water charge is
17 that the city puts in the main, the hydrant, and the property
18 owner pays $3 . 50 per front foot. That ' s payable at the
19 time that they get their permits . We have , in the past,
20 an easy payment plan over three to six month period to
21 help put people over that shock. This is not spread out
22 over a ten-year period such -as sewer ass'essmen t i s .
23 In an area such as the Teagarden, we would put
24 sanitary sewer throughout :the whole area. The policy of
' 25 the city is , there is no tapping charge--that' s once the
i sewer is pll t in by Special , aJJCJ i i CZV�7 L]..1b](? .
The only ilcldiL-i.onal char<le that it ownei:- wolilcl
3 have is to the plumber who taps the main for kiln, and to
4 put the pipe into the ground. He would hire that done,
5 but there would be no tapping charge to the main.
6 MR. DUNN: Is there any charge to sewer service?
7 MR. CASTNER: Yes , we do have a sewer service
g charge . Basically, one-half of the water charge with the
9 exception of the summer months when we don ' t penalize the
10 people for irrigating, or watering their lawns . In other
11 words the minimum charge is the average of the three
12 winter months so that. they are not charged extra for the
13 watering of lawns .
14 MR. DUNN: Mr. Lanser had a question on oiling
15 the road.
16 MR: CASTNER: We have allowed this and have
17 assisted property owners in- putting oil on. In our experi-
lg ence we find that calcium cloride is a much better -product
19 to put down to keep the dust down on gravel roads , rather
20 than oil, because we find that oil gets in on the carpets
21 (.)1 homes , and thO peoPlc qet. a Little upset when we put
22 t.l,,it: of . 1. _ it." ()III- respOIltlihtI ity if ,1 w,tlk; l in
23 after the oil has just been freshly laid . Because of this
24 calcium cloride is a much better product.
25 MR. DUNN: Is that a service of the street
I
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I depax Lnien L?
2 MR. CASTNEf2 : AL the request of Lho property
3 owners, yes .
4 MR. GUGE: You have a charge I presume?
5 MR. CASTNER: Yes , a nickel a foot,
6 MR. DUNN: Thank you, Mr. Castner. Would anyone
7 else like to address the committee for any reason?
8 MR. LANSER: Jerry Lanser is the name. Mr.
9 Castner made it sound that this special assessment that
10 we talked about is special -only to the people that would- be
11 in these affected areas he mentioned. Is there a special
12 assessment only to the people that would be served with
13 the new sewer and if so, how much would it amount to?
14 MR. DUNN: Will you reply?
15 MR. CASTNER: The legal theory behind special
16 assessment is benefit. We can only assess the cost of, � in
17 this case, sanitary sewer, to benefit a property. If
18 the sanitary sewer is put in and doesn ' t benefit or doesn ' t
19 serve the area, then the -- we can ' t assess it . Now, an
20 estimated cost at today '-s dollars is the sanitary sewer
21 will cost about $13 a .Coot of which they can , 1t their
22 discretion, . pay immediately or pay over a ten-yoar period.
23 But we would not charge anyone for sanitary sewer in these
24 areas that were not benefited by sanitary sewer service
AWL
25 being available . We can ' t legally do that.
u rr
J J
,t 1
MR. GUGE: How are the costs related to corner
2 lots? Now you mentioned $13 a foot. What does this
3 mean to a corner lot owner?
4 MR. CASTNER: Well , there is a formula as to
5 how we treat corner lots . I 'd have to refer that question
6 to our engineering department to get that formula. But
7 it ' s nct that we charge $13 for the side and .$13 for the
8 front. It ' s substantially less than that.
9 ',IR. DUNN: Thank you, Mr. Castner. Anyone
10 else would like to address the committee?
11 A VOICE: .. .In regards. to .this . $13 a foot on the
12 sewer, over a ten-year period; now, is this witii interest
13 and what kind of interest is charged on that?
14 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner, would you reply?
15 MR. CASTNER: The interest, that , is , the net cost--
16 If the property owner determines that they want to pay
17 this over a ten-year period,' than there is seven percent
18 simple interest in addition to this . So that assuming
19 that a person had a one hundred foot lot and it ' s $13 per
20 foot, it would be $1300 or $130 per year for ten years
21 plus seven percent interest on the unpaid balance. Then
22 the property owner would have the option of paying that '
23 up in full or in part at any time during the ten-year
24 period, and if the -- if. they_ reduce their principal; it
25 would reduce the amount of interest because the seven
1 POYC(110t wou7rl ho just an t-.hal. amnnril 1.n1pilid .
MR. DUNN : W0�11.1-d rrnyario e1sc,. like to address
l the committee?
4
,MR. PEL Jt;SPERSEN: I would like to ask
S cne more question regarding q g g the paving. I get the impression
6 that whether the annexation does or does not go through,
7 the residents could petition the city; for: the paving of
8 Garden. I 'm. not.:sure-. that' s: the impression '.I should get .
9 If annexation does not go through, and if the residents
10 petition for the paving of Garden Road, how would the
11 city handle that? I don ' t believe they could do special
12 assessment. I question really whether the paving could
13 be done at that point.
14 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner .
15 MR. CASTNER: The gentleman is correct. We can-
16 not special assess property outside of the city and so,
17 in effect, a petition from -- assuming the situation
18 in Garden Road is unchanged -- a petition of the property
19 owners would probably not be looked upon with favor by
20 the city council since we could not charge back the cost
21 of paving to the abuttin(T property which means, that t.hon
22 they city would have Lo p,iy Lhi:; . T dutil)L if Lha t wold d
23 happen. Upon annexation we could assess that property
24 abutting Garden Road .
25 MR. DUNN: Any further comments or questions to
2 MR. AMOS WAGNER: If we are annexed down there
4,
3 and petition to have Garden Road paved, how far back
4 do they go back to assess or is it just the people on
5 Garden Road?
6 MR. DUNN: Mr. Castner .
7 MR. . CASTNER: This goes back to a formula which
8 is used by the city in assessing property and basically, it '
9 is that we assess property back two hundred feet from
10 the street which is being paved. Now there are some
11 other circumstances that get involved with this and that
12 reaily isn ' t an absolute cast-and-stone position.. Again ,
13 I 'd have to get that information from our engineering
lw department as to the exact formula, but if Garden Road
15 was being assessed, just Garden Road, it would probably
16 be -- the property would go two hundred feet from the
17 center line and that would be assessed.
18 MR. DUNN: In relation to that then, would it
19 only be those people that wouldn ' t, be assessed that
20 would be allowed to sign the petition?
21 MR. CASTNER: Yes . They would be the only ones
22 that would be honored by the council because they would
23 be helping to pay for it.
24 MR. POTTER: Is there an assessment on a
25 declining cost bass further back from the improvement. you
r �
.r t ..
1 go?
2 1, R. CASTNER: Yes . The further back from the
3 improvement you go,. the less you pay .,aga.in based .
4 upon this formula, and the formula is pretty cast-and-
5 stone because it has been upheld by the Iowa Supreme
6 Court. We are fortunate to be a leader in that particular
7 field. The Supreme Court upheld our formula, and so , we
8 are not interested in changing it and have another test Y
9 case .
10 MR. SCHILLETTER: Has that been used for years
11 and years? I remember, back in 1936 when we paved in
12 front of -- on Beach Avenue. It cost us $300 ; and the K
13 university had to pay $500 . And this was more than the
14 front fellow because I was on the corner and the corner
15 fellow really got stuck.
16 MR. CASTNER: Well , I wasn't here when Beach
17 Avenue was paved, but it may seem like it.
18 MR. SCHILLETTER: So if you live on the corner
19 you better check because I had to pay $300 and the guy
20 on the corner had to pay $1500 .
21 MR. CASTNER: Now, the corner again is handled
22 differently than a lot in the middle of the block.
23 MR. DUNN: Thank you, Mr. Castner. Are there
24 any other comments or questions?
25 MR. LARRY SCHWARZENBACH: I have one question.
I I am kind of concerned because! I have a double lot , and
2 is there anybody that can give me an idea or estimate-on
3 how much it would cost per foot for total improvements
4 of gas and water and streets and the whole works?
5 MR. SWIT.Z : I think it is about $60 for the
6 water, sanitary sewer, curb, gutters , and storm sewer.
7 This would be the curb, gutter, sidewalk, and pavement.
8 That represents as it relates to the one side , and of ,
9 course , that would be doubly indicated on .the other side .
10 MR. CASTNER: I would like to point out to the
11 Board and to the audience who have concern about these
12 cods that the city does not arbitrarily set these costs
13 but all of these improvements are put out for public
14 bids , and we send the bids so 1-hat actual assessment
15 is based upon whatever that bid may be at that particular
16 time. So our estimates can be off, both high and low,
17 but the actual assessment i-s determined by the low
18 bid of that particular proj-ect .
19 MR. DUNN: Are there any other comments or
20 questions? Thank you. - At this time I would like to enter
21 into the record ':.he Community' s Facilities Pamphlet
22 proparr.d by Lhe City of Ames . 'Aic c:0nun_i.tLec will. utilize
23 this in making a decision. What will happen now is that
24 anyone has five working days in which to submit any
25 additional written briefs to the committee concerning this
ik .. ..
r
1 )ro ) ,1 1 . 'r"ho i t- t I hy 1 ,1w I c� nitrkr ;t
2 dC'Ci_,:i01► wit_11.in ni.neLy c3,iy!_; coilco1:11_111(1 t.11is t)rc�� c�::;rll. .
3 The committee is tentatively planning to meet on the 6th
4 of October at the Office of Planning and Programming
F
5 in' Des Moines . After a decision is made either a decision
i6 to allow the proposal or disallow the proposal, any
7 party has ten working days after the decision to ask for
8 a rehearing , change, or vacation of the decision. ,
9 If the committee should disallow the annexation,
10 the city may appeal within thirty days of that decision
11 for judicial review.
12 If the committee should allow the petition, the
13 board shall set a date ai`Chin ninety days of the proposal
14 for a special election . The voters to decide on �this '
15 proposal will be those in the incorporated area and those
16 in the proposed area. The commission does have the option
17 to amend the proposal; if the proposal substantially is
18 amendc,d, the entire process of the public hearing must
19 again take place. Thirty days after the election, parties
20 have the availability of judicial review on the City
21 Development board ' s Fictions; thr, Ci Ly D(1vc1.6pm(,rit- Commi t_--
22 Loo ' s , l:ui this parLicullu- 1�rc�1x�;,,i1 , 1�:t. i.ciu; or L-he
23 election itself.
24 With that, we will adjourn this meeting.
25 MR. POTTER: If I may, on b-half of the committee,
1 I )lull): 1.11r):;r p1'r ';i'111 I i 11 I ICII I r)I I �Ir` I tl I of 111,1 I' I rill tlrr�
2 c�u[ s l.i_c�ns i.lticl Mtn ,wc r.; r;l pp ] i ed . l t 11 i rtk i l.. w;i,; v(.! y
3 beneficial from at least my standpoint.
4 (Meeting adjourned at 9 : 25 p.m. )
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