NOTICE OF HEARING

 

ON THE PROPOSED ASSESSMENT

FOR THE 2008 UTILITY IMPROVEMENTS

FOR RICHWOOD ROAD, DAN STREET AND PELICAN LANE

 

 

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN That the City Council will meet at 5:00 P.M. on Tuesday, October 14, 2008, in the Council Chambers of the City Administration Building, 1025 Roosevelt Avenue, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, to consider and possibly adopt the proposed assessment for the 2008 Utility Improvements for Richwood Road, from Terry Street to Tower Road, Dan Street and Pelican Lane.  Adoption by the Council of the proposed assessment against abutting property may occur at the hearing. 

 

Assessments shall be payable in equal annual installments extending over a period of fifteen (15) years.  The first of the installments to be payable on or before the first Monday in January 2009, and shall bear interest at the rate of six (6%) percent per annum from January 1, 2009.  To the first installment shall be added interest on the entire assessment from January 1, 2009, until December 31, 2009.  To each subsequent installment when due shall be added interest for one year on all unpaid installments.

 

You may at anytime, prior to certification of the assessment to the County Auditor, pay the entire assessment on such property, with interest accrued to the date of payment, to the City Administrator.  No interest shall be charged if the entire assessment is paid by December 15, 2008.  You may at any time thereafter, pay to the City Administrator the entire amount of the assessment remaining unpaid, with interest accrued to December 31 of the year in which such payment is made.  Such payment must be made before December 15 or interest will be charged through December 31 of the succeeding year.  If you decide not to prepay the assessment before the date given above, the rate of interest that will apply is six (6%) percent per year.  The right to partially prepay the assessment is available.

 

The proposed assessment roll is on file for public inspection at the City Administrator's Office.  The total amount of the proposed assessment is $326,389.67.  Written or oral objections will be considered at the meeting.  No appeal may be taken as to the amount of an assessment unless a signed, written objection is filed with the City Administrator prior to the hearing or presented to the presiding officer at the hearing.  The Council may, upon such notice, consider any objection to the amount of a proposed individual assessment at an adjourned meeting upon such further notice to the affected property owners as it deems advisable.

 

If an assessment is contested or there is an adjourned hearing, the following procedure will be followed:

 

1.         The City will present its case first by calling witnesses who may testify by narrative or by examination, and by the introduction of exhibits.  After each witness has testified, the contesting party will be allowed to ask questions.  This

            procedure will be repeated with each witness until neither side has further questions.

 

2.         After the City has presented all its evidence, the objector may call witnesses or present such testimony as the objector desires.  The same procedure for questioning of the City's witnesses will be followed with the objector's witnesses.

 

3.         The objector may be represented by counsel.

 

4.         Minnesota rules of evidence will not be strictly applied; however, they may be considered and argued to the Council as to the weight of items of evidence or testimony presented to the Council.

 

5.         The entire proceedings will be tape-recorded.

 

6.         At the close of presentation of evidence, the objector may make a final presentation to the Council based on the evidence and the law.  No new

evidence may be presented at this point.

 

7.         The Council may adopt the proposed assessment at the hearing.

 

An owner may appeal an assessment to district court pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 429.081 by serving notice of the appeal upon the Mayor and City Administrator of the City within 30 days after the adoption of the assessment and filing such notice with the district court within ten days after service upon the Mayor or City Administrator.  The City has adopted a policy whereby senior citizens and retired disabled homeowners may defer special assessments levied against their homestead property.

 

Under Minnesota Statutes 435.193 to 435.195, the Council may, in its discretion, defer the payment of this special assessment for any homestead property owned by a person 65 years of age or older for whom it would be a hardship to make the payments.  When deferment of the special assessment has been granted and is terminated for any reason provided in that law, all amounts accumulated plus applicable interest become due.  Any assessed property owner meeting the requirements of this law and the resolution adopted under it may, within 30 days of the confirmation of the assessment, apply to the City Administrator for the prescribed form for such deferral of payment of this special assessment on their property.

 

DATED at Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, this 24th day of September, 2008.

 

 

Robert Louiseau

City Administrator

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota