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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 07/17/1989 - Committee of the WholeCOMMITTEE MEETING OF WHOLE MONDAY, JULY 17, 1988 A Committee Meeting of the Whole of the McHenry City Council was called to order by Mayor Busse on Monday, July 17, 1989 at 7:45 P.M. at City Hall. At roll call the following Aldermen were present: Bolger, Donahue, Lieder, Serritella. Absent: Teta, Smith, McClatchey, Patterson, City staff in attendance were Director of Public Works Batt and City Clerk Gilpin. Busse announced that the purpose of the Committee Meeting of the Whole was to discuss extension of water lines to City of McHenry residents in the Country Club Subdivision . This meeting would be conducted as an informational meeting with a question and answer session. The agenda for this meeting would be a brief presentation by Director of Public Works Batt followed by questions from residents involved in this proposed improvement. Approximately 50 people were in attedance at this meeting. This meeting came about when Alderman Donahue informed Mayor Busse about two months ago that there was an interest by the residents in Country Club Subdivision to obtain city water service. Part of the area is already served by city sewers. Busse said these meetings are held to get input from residents involved in the improvement to find out how many are interested in the nrnjP_rt, Thp water (zarvira installation could possibly be provided tc City residents through a Special Assessment District similar to the assessment district formed in 1988 which provided sewer service to McHenry Shores. Under this method, the cost for water line installation is divided among the number of lots in the subdivision that receive the water service. There are two ways to spread the costs when doing a Special Assessment project --either by linear feet based on the frontage of your property or on the basis on how many lots would be served. A petition containing 51 names was submitted to Mayor Busse which stated "We the undersigned residents of McHenry, Illinois, residing in McHenry Country Club Subdivision, do hereby suplicate by petition to the City of McHenry the following requests: 1) Estimate the installation cost of providing City water to the residents of Country Club Subdivision; 2) Provide for a Special Assessment for these costs; 3) Determine the approximate time from commencement of installation and its completion or put in motion the necessary operations to complete the water installation after the undersigned have realized the approximate cost and timeframes". Ron Becker said that petitions were circulated to request that the Council conduct this Public Hearing to get answers to some of their questions to see if they wanted to proceed with the project. Busse reiterated that the purpose of the meeting tonight was to see if there was an interest by City residents for installation of water lines in that area before the ounc�penTs anymore meeting time or money in pursuing this further and before developing further engineering studies. Neither detailed technical engineering questions nor the size of the lines and the locations would be answered at this meeting but Director Batt had talked to City engineers to get some basic information to present at this meeting. If there was an interest, the project would be taken back to the City Council with a recommendation and it would be pursued further. Batt explained that if this project were to proceed, each household would be provided with a water stub to its property line and from that point, the homeowner would be responsible for making the connection to his home. Batt said it would take approximately three years from the beginning of the project to the end which was the same timeframe it took for McHenry Shores because there was extensive paper work to do before the project could begin. In terms of actual construction, it would take about three to four months for installation and another two to three months for restoration work. Batt said that without doing any engineering, cost estimates at this time are very preliminary but he felt an estimate of $650,000 is an approximate cost to install 8,900 lineal feet of water main in the Country Club Subdivision. If costs were to be spread over 150 property owners, the average costs per household would be approximately $4,500 for construction costs alone. ^7-,4ay, July 17, 1989 Page 2 In addition to that, the City regularly charges a permit fee of $150, a water meter fee of $60 and a Capital Development, fee of $450. That would total over $5,000 per household using rough estimates at this time. Busse said that was a high sided cost and it could probably be engineered to a lower cost. He was very cautious when giving estimates because inflation could increase the cost. If he was going to err, he would rather err on the high side because he felt it was a disservice to tell people the cost is much less and then come back to tell them it was actually higher. However, because everyone needs to know some range of costs, the City's best estimate was in the vicinity of $5,000. In determining estimated costs at this point, the only data available is a generic per lineal foot cost, Busse said. Since this meeting was to determine the level of interest, the next step would be to develop more accurate data based on a engineering feasibility report. It was pointed out that should the residents wish to proceed with this project, the payments through the Special Assessment can be made over a 10 year period of time or can be paid off at one time to save the interest costs. However, it does not have to be paid all at one time. Bolger said that sometimes peop a re-mor gage their homes to pay it nff and then add it to their mortgage rather than pay the SpCCi at Assessment up front. There are certain tax benefits if financed in that manner, he said. However, it is up to each individual homeowner to decide what would best fit their financial arrangement. In summarizing the costs, Mayor Busse said preliminary data would indicate that it would cost about $5,000 per lot per household. The total project would cost $650,000. Divide that among 150 homes and you would get a cost of approximately $5,000 per home. That is about $75 per lineal foot. That includes hydrants, valves and so forth. City water costs $.75 per thousand gallons and costs about $60 a year for the average household. The Special Assessment would be a lien put on the home over a ten year period of time (that is the statutory limit). The lien would stay on that home until it is paid off or the home was sold (that is also a statutory requirement). Before the project could proceed, a majority of City residents in that area would need to voice their support for participation. It was the intent of this project to service only City residents and not go outside City limits. There is a provision in City ordinances for selling water service outside City limits but only City residents can be served through a Special Assessment project, Busse emphasized. If a resident wants city water service and is not in City limits, he can apply for annexation to the city if he is continguous to city boundaries. Batt pointed out that there was another side benefit that many people don't consider --you are buying a fire protection system and in this project, there would be 20 fire hydrants added to the subdivision. At the present time, that type of fire protection is not in the Country Club Subdivision. Busse said, in addition tc the increased level of fire protection, there would also be an unlimited source of water available which would help those who are presently having a problem with their wells. Also pump repair costs and electricity to run the pumps would be eliminated. When you analyze the high costs of drilling a well, maybe the costs for installing a City water system are not so high in comparison, he said. Several individuals in attendance felt the main disadvantage was the cost. In answer as to what would happen to existing wells, Batt said the wells could remain in use as long as they were not used for human consumption. The wells would not have to abandoned but could be used for washing cars, sprinkling lawns, and other outside purposes. Also, the wells could not be hooked up with the City water system but would have to be kept separate. The streets of the subdivision which could get water service are John, Crescent, Golf View, Charlotte, Victoria, Virginia and a small portion of Country Club Drive ---all of which must be in city limits. Those homes on Riverstream and Judy which already have City water service would not be assessed for this special project. Monday, July 17, 1989 Page s Some of the residents expressed concern over the chemicals being used by the Country Club on its property. One member of the Country Club said this year the Country Club would be installing complete bent fairways which means they would be using an abundance of various herbicides, pesticides, etc. He was concerned that his well could also be getting contaminated from the Fox River which is to the east of this area. Busse said there were many reasons why the people might want city water service such as safety and extent of their water supply, fire protection, lower fire rates, no redrilling of wells, etc. It was also pointed out that not only chemicals from the golf course and contamination from the river were a concern but also homeowners who use fertilizer on their lawns and gardens might also be contaminating local wells. There was not just one issue that made people concerned about getting water service to that area. Rather than taking a risk, many people felt they wanted to make the investment now. Batt explained that water service to the Country Club would start where the original McHenry Country Club water line ends and would be tied into an eight -inch main on Judy Lane. This water system would be connected to the City system as a self contained unit. In the future, it could be looped with Brittany Heights if development occurs east of the Brittany Heights development. Any oversizing of water lines for future hookups would probably be paid for by the City through a Public Benefit Fund and would not be passed on to the homeowners because such oversizing would benefit the whole city water system. If that does occur, it could lower the overall costs of the Special Assessment project. It was also pointed out that after the water lines are installed, the City would send out a notice saying that the homeowner must hookup to the system within a certain period of time. It would be more economical to hook up to City water than sewer because water lines do not have to be laid according to grade and pitch. Some residents asked where they could get their water tested because the main factor that would cause them to want to hook up to City water would be if their existing wells showed contamination. Someone in the audience said that the University of Illinois Extension Service in Woodstock would test for bacteria, heavy metals, organic chemicals, iron content, etc. The cost would run about $180 for the test, it was reported. There was also concern that the city was installing water service to the Country Club Subdivision so it could furnish City water service to a proposed condominium/townhouse development being planned by the McHenry Country Club. Ron Becker and Don Hojnacki, members of the McHenry Country Club, said that members had talked about such a project for years but now they are talking about adding another 9 holes in that area instead of any multi -family development. Batt said that an 8 inch water main would service the Country Club Subdivision nicely but if there was any high density development such as townhouses or condominiums" put in that area, an 8 inch line would not service it. It was decided that the next step was to hold a meeting of all City residents Country Club Subdivision to inform them of this project. ose 1n t6ndance tonight were asked to go home and talk to their neighbors and pass along the information presented at this meeting. Another meeting will be scheduled early this fall and some sort of individual notification will be formulated so that all residents concerned with this project will be made aware of the next meeting. Mayor Busse adjourned the meeting at 8:47 P.M.