Worksession: Black and Vetch Presentation (water)
In 2018 and 2019 this company presented us with updates on the two Dayton water systems. Given we have 3 new members, we thought it would be a good idea to bring them back to recap previous presentations and provide some updates on the two new wells that are going in to supplement the northeast and northwest systems. Their 2019 presentation is here. For the most part, there wasn't lot of change from those previous presentations. The new wells have similar water quality which was suspected since they all pull from the same aquafer. The new well on the northeast (just across from Stephens park) will have enough room for a single well head treatment facility. Unfortunately, the cost will still likely be significant and it will only treat that well's output.
Item C (Fee schedule)
As expected, this was another contentious item (Same item, different day). I wrote quite a bit about this last month (see here), and for this item, the issue is the same. Many times this year (with the new council) we have made it clear we will tackle this issue in a future work session, but it's not something we can fix in one or two meetings. There are 3-4 significant issues all tied into this.
In December of last year we passed something to bring our fees more in line with our costs to perform these services. That change, assuming the build rates stay the same, removed the overcharging we were doing. Unfortunately it added some unfairness to the plan review fees since the fee was no longer proportional. The change we made does NOTHING to the overall amount we would bring in if the build rate stayed the same. But... it DOES return the fairness to the fees.
So, we still have a lot at look at, but at this point it's closer to what state statute requires.
2 of the members abstained, but the other 3 (me included) voted for this change.
This area is messy and it's easy to get lost in the math. If you have questions I would urge you to simply pick up the phone and call each of us for our take on it.
Items G-K (Commercial development)
More... is good. Unfortunately there are some costs involved with the entire commercial area around the south/south west side of French lake and closer to the interchange. Those costs are roads. And unfortunately (as I've said before) previous spending on roads and budget shenanigans has put us in somewhat of a pickle when it comes to road funding. We have a number of palatable options and hopefully we'll start to see activity pick up soon. Item G will be a new distribution building and the remaining items will allow a current business to expand.
Item L (Idea sharing follow-up)
This was simply a way to allow us to prioritize some of the ideas floated at the last work session. If you've paid attention to my literature, you likely know where my priorities lie... Levy and development.