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HomeMy WebLinkAbout9C - Storm Water Trunk Fee Justification Report tf.~.- PRI~..O... ' 0 . .. ~ €f\E ~NE~ CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT AGENDA ITEM: JUNE 1, 1998 9C GREG ILKKA, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC WORKSICITY ENGINEER CONSIDER APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 98-XX AUTHORIZING WSB & ASSOCIATES, INC. TO PREPARE A STORM WATER TRUNK FEE JUSTIFICATION REPORT. DATE: AGENDA #: PREPARED BY: DISCUSSION: HISTORY At the May 18, 1998 Council meeting the Council adopted an interim Storm Water Trunk Fee, changing the policy on how storm water improvements are accomplished in new developments throughout the City. The interim fee was "ballparked" at $3,180 per acre based on what the City of Shakopee adopted as a Storm Water Trunk Fee. At the same meeting staff recommended a Justification Report be commissioned to determine the appropriate fee. The Council did not approve that recommendation. Some members expressed the opinion that this could be taken on by staff and directed that this issue be re-visited and brought back to the Council on June 1 st. CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES The City Attorney has strongly advised the City to undertake studies of the City's development fees to ensure they have a rational basis and to improve their defensibility in the event of challenge. As part of this effort, it seemed appropriate that if a Trunk Storm Water Fee was adopted a Justification Report should be undertaken. The City of Shakopee determined the amount of their Storm Water Trunk Fee based on completion of a Justification Report by an engineering consultant. The report determines what the storm water system throughout the undeveloped 162(j~ggle Creek Ave. S.E., Prior Lake, Minnesota 55372-1714 / Ph. (612) 447-4230 / Fax (612) 447-4245 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER area of the City will need to accommodate, conceptually designs the system and estimates a cost for construction of the ultimate system. While staff has "ballparked" the interim fee at $3,180 per acre, there was no "rational basis" for choosing this amount. The extent of trunk storm water improvements required within the City out to full development is the determining factor of the cost of the system. The City of Prior Lake's trunk storm water system will be different than the City of Shakopee's at full development and therefore will have a different cost, and subsequently a different development fee. ISSUES The need for a Justification Report was not perceived to be an issue at the May 18, 1998 meeting. What was perceived to be the issue was the consultant's proposed fee to do the study. While on its face the cost may seem high, it already reflects a commitment of staff time to complete the study. Without staff assistance the price would have been higher. Included with this agenda report is a complete copy of the consultant's proposal for this work to assist Council members in understanding the scope of the work involved in this Justification Report. Once completed, the Justification Report can be easily updated to reflect: 1) changes to the planned trunk storm water system and 2) changes in construction costs. These updates will be accomplished annually by staff hereafter The Engineering workload in a developing City is such that it is not prudent to staff the department with the intention of accomplishing everything in-house. There are core services that we staff for, such as feasibility, design, and construction observation of City initiated improvement projects, proposed development reviews, resident requests, etc. We don't believe it is prudent to staff for the completion of significant one time projects, development inspection (which consultants handle for us, paid by the developers), or for projects that require specific expertise, such as traffic signals, traffic studies, wells or wellhouses. This type of work is most cost effectively accomplished through engineering consultants. The Storm Water Trunk Fee Justification Report is considered to be a significant one time project. While City TSJR.DOC FINANCIAL IMPACT: TSlR.DOC staff certainly has the competency to perform it in-house we don't believe, given the current workload, we could accomplish it in a timely manner without delaying core service delivery. It's a trade-off, if we do this work then we will have to have a consultant perform the Feasibility Report for the 1999 Improvement projects. Staff does not believe that would be the most effective use of City resources. Again, the Engineering staff needs to concentrate on our core services. Currently, the Engineering Department has an Engineering Technician vacancy that we are trying to fill. This further limits our ability to provide core services during this time. Given these realities, staff feels this Justification Report is best completed through the use of a consultant. We requested proposals from WSB & Associates, Inc., and Howard R. Green Company, both consulting engineering' firms, to prepare a Storm Water Trunk Fee Justification Report for the City. The proposals were $18,560.00 and $20,000.00 respectively. The cost to prepare the Justification Report will be included in the cost of the trunk storm water system that will be planned as a result of the work to prepare this report. It will be added to all the other costs associated with constructing the trunk storm water system for the City throughout the course of development of the City. All of these costs will be recouped via the Storm Water Trunk Fee, over time, as the City proceeds to full development. Future developments are paying the cost of the Justification Report. CONCLUSION The Development Review Committee (DRC) has reviewed this issue and unanimously recommends a Justification Report be completed. City staff does not currently have the resources to complete this study in a timely manner and has therefore recommended it be performed by a consultant. The cost will be recouped from Storm Water Trunk fees collected through the course of development of the City. Funding for the proposed study would be from the Trunk Reserve Fund which had a balance of $1,885,565.23 as of May 1 J 1998. The cost of the report will be recouped over ALTERNATIVES: RECOMMENDED MOTION: REVIEWED BY: TSIR.DOC time from Storm Water Trunk fees collected through the course of development of the City. The alternatives are as follows: Approve Resolution 98-XX authorizing WSB & Associates, Inc. to prepare a Storm Water Trunk Fee Justification Report. 2. Table this Agenda item for a specific reason. 3. Deny this Agenda item for a specific reason. Motion and second to adopt Resolution 98-XX authorizing WSB & Associates, Inc. to prepare a Storm Water Trunk Fee Justification Report for a fee not to exceed $18,560.00 to be paid from the Trunk Reserve Fund. ("\ ? 1 '~d/~ . ~" RESOLUTION 98-XX AUTHORIZING WSB & ASSOCIATES, INC. TO PREPARE A STORM WATER TRUNK FEE JUSTIFICATION REPORT MOTION BY: SECOND BY: WHEREAS, the City Council of Prior Lake has adopted an interim Storm Water Trunk Fee to be collected from developers within the City limits, and WHEREAS, the Storm Water Trunk Fees collected will be used to construct the storm water trunk facilities required to be built in the course of development of the City, and WHEREAS, it is the City Council's desire to have a rational basis on which to justify established development fees. NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF PRIOR LAKE, MINNESOTA, WSB & Associates, Inc., is hereby authorized to prepare a Storm Water Fee Justification Report for a fee not to exceed $18,560.00. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, funding for this Justification Report will be from the Trunk Reserve Fund. Passed and adopted this 1st day of June, 1998. YES NO Mader Ked rowski Petersen Schenck Wuellner Mader Kedrowski Petersen Schenck Wuellner {Seal} Frank Boyles City Manager City of Prior Lake TSIR.DOC