The following article, appearing in the March 9, 2011 issue of the Linn County News, provided courtesy of the Linn County News and LCN Reporter, Barbara Proffitt.
Linn Valley makes final push on surveys for grant
Council discusses gravity of water situation if unable to obtain grant
By BARBARA PROFFITT
Linn County News Editor
barbara@linncountynews.net
For several months, the Linn Valley City Council has been trying to complete the various steps in the process to apply for a grant that will help the city build a new chlorine basin for water treatment.
Working with Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission, the council learned that the city would have to have at least 51 percent of the population, or 470 people, in the area that would benefit from the grant that must fall into the low-to-moderate income bracket.
In an effort to ascertain that information, surveys were sent out to the lot owners.
The surveys are set up to be completely anonymous to the city, as they are to be returned to the Southeast Kansas Regional Planning Commission (SEKRPC) for results compilation. The city knows only the number of persons within the surveyed households that fell into the low-to-moderate income bracket, not which households.
According to a report given during a special meeting on Saturday, Mar. 5, by council member Jack Colgin, who has been working closely with Becky Voorhees of SEKRPC, as of Friday, Mar. 4, there were 309 persons counted on returned surveys that met the income requirements for the city to be eligible to apply for a grant. There are still 161 persons needed to meet the 470-person requirement.
Following that report, council discussed options for a final push to get the remaining surveys turned in.
“The fact of the matter is we’re going to have to upgrade the water system,” said Colgin, “and if we can’t get this grant then the POA is going to have to pay for it.”
Later in the meeting POA chairperson David Freer commented on that subject and noted that while assessments would not go up to pay for the water upgrade, other services would have to be cut in order to complete the needed work.
“We need 161 qualifying people – mothers, fathers, children, they all count,” said Colgin, “People don’t seem to realize it’s going to cost them in the long run if we don’t get this grant.”
Colgin also noted that there were several surveys sent to part-time residents, or weekenders, who returned them not completed saying they didn’t live there.
“It may not be their primary residence, but they do own that property and it does impact them,” said Colgin, then asked, “But how do we get that across to them?”
Mayor Jeanne Dwyer summed up the lengthy discussion that followed when she stated she felt the city had no choice but to push forward.
“We’ve come so far we just have to keep going,” she said.
Council took the list of the 147 households who were sent surveys and have not yet responded and divided them up, planning to contact each household and try to get them to understand the gravity of the situation and to fill the survey out and return it.
In addition, flyers will be handed out at the gates in an effort to drive those who haven’t yet completed the survey to do so.
Council also plans to contact those lot owners who are part-time residents and explain the impact of the survey and will revisit the discussion at the next regularly scheduled meeting.
The following article, appearing in the Jan. 19th edition of the Linn County News, provided courtesy of the Linn County News and LCN Reporter, Barbara Proffitt.
Linn Valley adopts benefit district for sewer project
By BARBARA PROFFITT
Linn County News Reporter
The city of Linn Valley is one step closer to making a sewer system a reality for a good portion of lot owners within the city’s borders.
Following several months of preparation work, meetings and fine-tuning, the Linn Valley City Council and Property Owners Association (POA) held another meeting on Saturday, Jan. 15, to discuss the benefit district for the sewer project.
A benefit district is exactly that: the area that the utility or service will directly benefit. Once that area is determined, a preliminary cost estimate is done.
The council met previously on Dec. 18, 2010, to outline the findings of the cost estimate and the roughed out benefit district.
At the Dec. 18 meeting, POA chairperson David Freer gave a power point presentation regarding costs and how the council and POA had used that along with other criteria, such as whether or not assessments were up to date, to determine which area would be best to set the benefit district in. Costs were estimated to be approximately $76 (additional monies added to annual assessments) for vacant lots (lots with no houses on them) and approximately $43 per month for those lots with houses that are outfitted with grinder pumps.
At the beginning of Saturday’s meeting, Colgin noted that since the last joint meeting several lot owners had asked to be included within the benefit district and they went on to add that the council needed to get a vote that day to adopt the benefit district.
“As you know, with the federal government,” Colgin told the small crowd in way of explanation, “the stimulus money and such is fast disappearing.”
“Also remember that even though this is being voted on, changes can be made right up until the last minute,” added Freer.
Colgin then told the audience, “When we first started this project – five years ago – we thought we’d do all 5,000 lots… this district is a lot smaller than that and the engineer’s estimated cost is $1.4 million.”
A question and answer session followed and POA board member Bob Burns asked if he wanted to could he pay the $7,000 for the grinder pump and its installation up front rather than on a monthly bill.
Freer said he didn’t know, that it would be a question that would need to be forwarded to Ken Shetlar with Shaffer, Kline and Warren, the engineer for the project.
“For the purposes of getting the loan, I think we have to move forward and figure it all,” said Colgin.
Another POA board member asked how many lots were in the benefit district now and Freer responded that there had been 755 and that approximately 100 more had been added since the last joint meeting, for a total of about 855.
An audience member then asked if the POA would be paying the outlined costs for the lots it owns, be it vacant or occupied with a structure, and Freer noted that the POA-owned lots had been excluded from the loan calculations because if the POA were made to pay for each lot then it would have to raise assessments to cover the costs associated.
Council member Brad Pennington then moved, with council member Keith Cowee seconding, to adopt the benefit district as currently outlined and move forward with project.
