HomeMy WebLinkAboutA9. North Grand
Commission Memorandum
REPORT TO: Honorable Mayor and City Commission
FROM: Craig Woolard, Director of Public Works
Rick Hixson, City Engineer
SUBJECT: North Grand Street Reconstruction Special Improvement District Survey Results
and direction to Staff regarding conducting an additional Survey to evaluate the interest of
owners in creating an Special Improvement District for every street being considered for Reconstruction
AGENDA ITEM TYPE: Action Item
MEETING DATE: April 13, 2015 RECOMMENDED MOTIONS: 1. Based on the negative results of the survey conducted to evaluate the interest of owners
on North Grand Avenue in creating a Street Reconstruction Special Improvement
District, I hereby move to direct staff to eliminate North Grand from consideration for street reconstruction. 2. I hereby direct staff to conduct a survey to evaluate the interest of owners in creating an
Special Improvement District (SID) for every street being considered for reconstruction.
Unless 70% of the surveyed property owners, when provided with preliminary estimates
for construction costs, support creation of a reconstruction SID, that street will be eliminated from consideration for reconstruction and staff will complete no additional design work.
KEY ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS: The City of Bozeman Commission Resolution
4507 (February 3, 2014) established the policy for funding street reconstruction projects that requires the establishment of a special improvement districts (SID). Resolution 4507 established a sliding scale, based on daily traffic volumes, as to how reconstruction costs would be split
between adjacent property owners and the general street reconstruction funds. For local streets,
75% of the reconstruction costs were allocated to property owners (through the SID), with the
remaining 25% of the costs covered by funds allocated from the general street assessment.
Staff also conducted a comprehensive condition assessment of Bozeman’s transportation system
and identified and prioritized streets in need of reconstruction based on condition and use. North
Grand Avenue was identified as a high priority reconstruction candidate because of its condition,
its status as a bike route and because several owners expressed an interest in improving the street.
SID’s require a significant amount of engineering and administrative work to prepare the design,
cost estimates and correspondence necessary to formally create the district. Property owners
have to the option to protest out of the creation of an SID and should that protest be successful, (i.e., more than 50% of the property owners in the proposed district protest), the time and money spent on design is lost. So before initiating the process to create the North Grand SID, staff
conducted an informal survey of the property owners on North Grand Avenue to evaluate interest
in creating a SID. Owners were provided with the attached letter that explained the SID process
and provided preliminary cost estimates for the project. Of the 40 letters send to owners, 32 responses were received. Nine responses (22.5% of the
owners surveyed) supported the creation of an SID. The remaining 23 owners (57.5% of the
survey population) did not support creation of the SID. These owners cited project cost, tax
burden and concern about the 75%/25% cost split as reasons for not supporting the SID. Based on the survey response, staff recommends that no further work to create a street reconstruction SID for North Grand Avenue be conducted and that North Grand Avenue be eliminated from
consideration for reconstruction at this time.
Staff is also requesting formal Commission endorsement of the survey method to evaluate owner interest in street reconstruction. The survey provides a useful tool for evaluating the likelihood of a successful SID and allowing staff time and resources to be allocated to street reconstruction
projects most likely to succeed. Staff recommends that a positive response of at least 70% of
the total owners surveyed be established as the threshold for proceeding with creation of an SID.
FISCAL EFFECTS: Eliminating North Grand Avenue from consideration for street reconstruction will have no financial impact on adjacent property owners. Minimal direct costs
(i.e., postage) will be incurred by use of the owner survey.
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Commission. UNRESOLVED ISSUES: None.
CITY OF BOZEMAN
Bozeman, Montana
Department of Public Works
Street Address: 20 E Olive St Mailing Address: PO Box 1230, Bozeman, MT 59771-1230
P: 406.582.2273 F: 406.582.2263 TDD: 406.582.2301
January 21, 2015
Re: Proposed Improvements to North Grand Avenue between Peach and Beall Streets
Dear Property Owner:
Based on the results of a recent condition assessment, its importance as a bike route and
inquiries from property owners, North Grand Avenue is a candidate for reconstruction. The
purpose of this letter is to explain the process for reconstruction and to evaluate your interest
in creating a special improvement district (SID) to fund the project.
An SID is a method of financing certain public improvements by levying an assessment on
properties that will benefit from the improvement. Current City policy (as adopted by the
Commission in Resolution 4507) is to pay a percentage of the cost of street reconstruction using
city wide street assessment funds with the remaining costs contributed by the adjoining
property owners through the creation of an SID. Traffic counts indicate that North Grand is a
local street, therefore 25% of the total costs for reconstruction would be paid using citywide
street assessment funds. The remaining 75% of the costs will be paid by adjacent property
owners. SID costs can be financed over 20 years.
We have conducted a preliminary survey of North Grand Avenue from Beall Street to Peach
Street. You may have seen the street marking and utility flags resulting from that work. We
estimate street reconstruction costs, including installing full curb and gutter and associated
drainage improvements, will be approximately $350,000. For a lot with 50 feet of street
frontage, your estimated assessment (75% of the total cost) would be approximately $6,000
resulting in an annual payment of approximately $450 for 20 years. Please note these are
preliminary cost estimates. Actual costs and annual assessments will depend on final
construction bids, amount of street frontage and financing terms. However, we believe this is
a reasonable estimate of the costs of the project.
Approving a street reconstruction project is a formal process where the City Commission
establishes, through resolution, the intent to create an SID and has multiple public hearings.
Property owners must also vote to create the SID. If 50% of the property owners in the district
protest its creation, the SID fails and no reconstruction would occur.
We have made preliminary estimates of project costs, but before we finalize the design and
initiate the formal SID process, we want to determine your interest in the project. We are
asking for your feedback, either for or against the proposed reconstruction project, by email
(kmaines@bozeman.net), phone: 582-2273 or by returning the enclosed postcard. By indicating
interest, you are not committing to this SID. There will be a public comment period before an
SID is finalized by the City Commission. You will have the opportunity to formally vote on the
creation of the SID. Again, if more than 50% of affected homeowners vote against creation at
that time, and SID will not be created and North Grand Ave. will not be improved. We are
requesting your response to this letter by no later than February 13, 2015.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to give us your input. If you have any questions,
please contact us at 582-2273.
Sincerely,
Craig Woolard, Ph.D., P.E.
Director of Public Works