The Clearwater City Council Monday voted, 4-0 to set the assessment rate for a future stormwater trunk line construction project at 75%.
The project covers the land within the Wellhead Protection Area bordered by I-94 to the west, Co. Rd. 75 to the east, Hwy. 24 and Nelson Drive to the north and the city’s maintenance facility to the south.
The council has met with Engineer Joe Pelawa from Bolton & Menk a number of times to discuss the project, which is necessary to protect the city’s drinking water supply. Surface water runoff from development within the area could potentially contaminate the groundwater.
The council met with Pelawa in April about the scope of the project, as well as strategies for covering the total cost.
Monday, Pelawa said the preliminary cost is $1.9 million.
“The big questions is which direction the council wants to proceed in allocating the cost,” he said. Pelawa has already been unsuccessful in obtaining grant funding.
“There is the potential for direct solicitation from the legislature, but it’s a long shot,” he told the council.
That leaves two options , said Pelawa, assessing the benefitting properties or the city picking up the tab.
At the previous meeting, Councilman Vern Scott asked Pelawa for more information about each individual parcel and an estimate of what each would pay at different assessment percentages.
He had that information Monday, including the dollar figures for assessing at 30%, 50%. 75% and 100%.
At 30%, the 35 parcel would pay $570,000, with the city picking up the rest.
The assessment increases to $950,000 at 50%, $1,425,000 at 75% and $1.9 million at 100%.
Each individual parcel would be assessed by the volume of runoff it would produce, based on a 10-year storm event. Those with a higher percentage of impervious surface would be charged more.
Pelawa said some of the parcels were actually streets, so those assessments would automatically be paid by the city or county.
After a debate over how much the property owners would pay, members of the council agreed on 75%.
That number could change over time. The project is expected to be done in 2021.
Fire Contract Dispute
The council directed Administrator Kevin Kress to contact the city attorney regarding the fire contract with Lynden Twp.
Kress said Lynden Twp. sent the city an e-mail claiming discrepancies in the number of calls from 2018. He said the city supplied call log information from Stearns Co. to a former supervisor and spent time cross-referencing the calls.
The township says they will not follow the agreed contract because of the discrepancy. They presented payment that is less than the contract amount, alleging the calls are wrong and that they did not levy accordingly in relation to the contract.
Kress said staff is in the process of reviewing the calls again. If the issue isn’t resolved, the city may take legal action for breach of contract. They are consulting their attorney for advice on the matter.
