Road project assessments stun Burnsville residents

Rob Thiry was shocked to be handed a bill from Burnsville for $24,000 -- his share of a special assessment for a $625,000 road reconstruction project.

By DEAN SPIROS, Star Tribune

Last update: October 22, 2009 - 10:46 PM

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Anyone who has driven through the rural neighborhood in southwest Burnsville is familiar with Rob Thiry's picturesque horse farm. Semi-retired at 57, Thiry said he barely can pay the $9,000 a year he pays in taxes on the 13-acre property.

Two weeks ago he was shocked -- and hurt -- to be handed a bill from the city for another $24,000. The money is his share of a special assessment for a $625,000 road reconstruction project this summer along Judicial Road and 155th Street.

"I feel like I'm being railroaded," Thiry said.

Elaine Anderson said she had no idea she would have to help pay for the project until she received her $8,000 bill in the mail. Her outrage intensified on Tuesday night at a Burnsville City Council meeting when informed she likely will have to pay again should Timber Ridge Road, which touches her property to the north, have to be reconstructed.

"It's just so disappointing," Anderson said. "To throw away millions of dollars on the Performing Arts Center, to throw money into the Heart of the City [downtown redevelopment] and then turn around and make people pay for repairing the roads through a special assessment."

The City Council approved the resolution adopting the assessment on Tuesday, but the matter is far from closed. City staff members acknowledge that seven property owners (Anderson among them) did not receive notice of the public hearing, which is in violation of the process required for special assessments.

Attorney Soren Mattick, who attended the meeting in place of Burnsville's regular attorney, Joel Jamnik, called the oversight "troubling."

The city changed the way it assesses residents in the rural neighborhood a year ago, developing what it calls the "unit method." Each 2 acres of property equals one unit.

Before that, assessments were made by the amount of linear feet along the road. In that scenario, the so-called "landlocked" properties that have only a driveway meeting the road would not be assessed.

The oversight came when notices were sent out under the linear plan. City employees will be meeting with those affected in the near future.

"Mistakes happen," Mattick said. "I'm sure the city will meet with these people and be able to work things out."

He said a likely outcome will be for the seven property owners to pay a reduced assessment.

Residents who do not pay the assessment by the end of the year will be able to take as long as 15 years to pay at an interest rate of 6 percent.

According to Bud Osmundson, Burnsville's engineer and public works director, the city typically rebuilds 6 miles of road per year. The city pays 60 percent of the cost, with 40 percent being paid by residents via assessments. Osmundson said roads usually last between 20 and 30 years. The owner of a normal-sized lot is assessed approximately $2,000 for a road reconstruction.

Thiry said he was anticipating a bill in the area of $2,000.

"This is really going to crimp me [financially]," he said. "I'm going to make it, but it's going to be tough. Really tough."

Dean Spiros • 952-882-9203

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