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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 25, 2011 7:00 o'clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 18 of 25 (10. YEAR TO DATE GENERAL FUND BUDGET INFORMATION, Continued) The other department that needs to be discussed is law and legal services, which is currently at 28.41 percent of budget. That department is over budget because of some code enforcement issues. This is the first year the City has budgeted for code enforcement issues and that item was under budgeted. The City does have a few code enforcement issues pending and that item will be over budget for the year. The other department over budget is the Public Works Department at 29.3 percent. The Public Works Department is already at 85 percent of their overtime budget for streets given the amount of snowfall this past winter. Olson commented that hopefully the City will not have any more plowable snow this year until November or December. In addition, the increased fuel costs are playing a part in the Public Works department being over budget. Diesel fuel is up over $1.00 a gallon from last year, which may also negatively impact the police department. Olson pointed out the majority of the budget relates to personnel expenses. The police department has some discretionary spending that can possibly be adjusted to help offset that increased cost. Printup asked what would fall under special services and special projects. Olson indicated that would relate to pass-through engineering bills and legal bills. It would also include security provided for special events. The police department bills the applicants for those charges. The police department periodically provides security for Lord Fletchers. Franchot commented he is not worried that the City will come in on budget, but that the language referring to the fact that a couple of line items will need to be monitored should be better identified. Franchot stated the City should figure out how to address those at some point. Olson indicated he was referencing the fuel and the legal fees when he made that notation. Franchot stated at some point the City will need to address it rather than just monitoring it. 11. APPEAL OF ASSESSMENT FOR UNPAID BLLS - CREEKSIDE IN ORONO Gaffron stated there is a request from the property owner at 115 Creek Ridge Pass regarding unpaid development costs that were certified last fall. Gaffron noted he has provided the City Council with a fairly extensive background on it in his report. Gaffron stated in approximately 2003 the development got started and eventually there were foreclosures and various banks involved. It became apparent after a period of time that Staff needed to do something with the development since there was about $9,000 in unpaid engineering and legal billings that needed to be paid for by the developer. When the City initially looked at this development, it consisted of seven vacant lots with two outlots. One of the outlots encompasses a road, and from a tax perspective it is a K classification, or a commons area, as well as a conservation outlot. Those outlots are normally lots that do not have a tax value and do not get taxed. After some discussion with the City Attorney, Staff chose to divide the unpaid development costs equally between the seven buildable lots that would normally be taxed. Dean Johnson is the owner of five of the seven lots and Mr. Marceau is the owners of one of the other lots. The parties have expressed a concern that these costs were assessed after their purchase of the property. At the time Item #02 - CC Agenda - 05/09/2011 Approval of Council Minutes 04/25/2011 [Page 18 of 25]