COURTLAND — A Public Hearing was held before Thursday’s Courtland City Council meeting to discuss the assessments for the Collin Drive Improvement project.

Mayor Al Poehler began the hearing explaining that properties affected by the project should have received a letter and the assessment roll for the project. Eric Hauser, of Bolton and Menk, was also present to help answer the residents’ questions.

Property Owners Rich Reichel and Jason Kuester were very displeased with the assessments and shared their concerns. Reichel questioned how the calculations were figured for the project’s assessments.

Hauser explained the five-tier approach for how percentage of costs is being assessed to residents which had also been presented at the preliminary Public Hearing for the project. The tiers were figured by the size of their property. A non-adjacent property to Collin Drive would be either under three acres or over three acres (twice the assessment); or adjacent to Collin Drive by less than two acres, two to five acres (twice the assessment), or larger than five acres (three times the assessment).

“I have eighteen lots and being assessed $51,000. These lots could fit in someone else’s parcel, and they are only charged $20,000 for their assessment. I just do not think this is fair, but I am moving forward with developing the lots, and I will be billed commercial property taxes. I am wondering why I should even invest in Collin Drive, I am not even on that road,” said Reichel.

“We talked about that at the first public hearing, and this hearing is just to show you where we are at, and we cannot go backwards,” Poehler said. “You need to look at accesses because whoever you sell those lots to will benefit with Collin Drive being finished.”

“The first public hearing was to listen to residents’ concerns and get input,” Poehler said. “No one seemed upset at that hearing. After the bids came in with good numbers, the council moved forward with the project.”

Jason Kuester questioned why he is being assessed $18,178 for his 2.46 acres. It was explained to him that he has 2.46 acres, so he is being assessed as a second tier assessment.

“We tiered the assessment with acreage,” Council member Pam Rodewald said. “We had to draw a line, and it is not up for discussion.”

Reichel suggested that the city pay more toward the project.

Council member Ralph Bents said, “Because it is taxpayers’ money and not the city’s money. Why should someone living somewhere else pay toward someone else’s project?”

Council member Paul Bode added, “We had to make a decision on the tax revenue that we are getting right now.”

Resident Debra Clancy questioned what the fixed rate would be for the assessment. It is eight percent for all ten years.

City Clerk Julie Holm explained that residents have 30 days to pay the assessment, which is December 7, 2024. Residents who want to make full or partial assessment payments should write a check to the City of Courtland or the assessment will be put on their tax roll.

After the Public Hearing closed, the council approved the final assessment roll for the Collin Drive Improvements.

Public Utilities

Maintenance and Utilities Supervisor Dave Ubel reported that he is checking for lead copper water lines. The city will need to send out at least twenty-six letters to people regarding having the lines replaced.

“There was a water leak at the water plant coming out of one of the pumps. I ordered parts to repair it,” said Ubel. He is also continuing to work on the washout near the sewer lines by the railroad tracks.

“The park is pretty much finished with a lot of volunteer help that really made a big difference. There are just a couple of things to put in yet. Hoping to have the dirt seeded tomorrow. I put in a load of gravel where needed. I also moved the light pole. The wiring was cut and could not be fixed so I did get a bid for the Lions Club to look at to see what they can do toward replacing the wiring,” said Ubel.

“The pole that was removed from the park will be used for the light for the water tower,” he said.

“One of the lift stations has a bad pump so we needed to pull the motor and another one’s rails on the bottom are rusted and need to be repaired,” said Ubel.

“There is a sewer on Lagoon Circle which might be able to be fixed by a trench-less repair,” he said.

“Earthworks submitted a bid for the ditch repair on Wishbone Lane for $22,350 for both sides of the road. However, we only want to do the east side of the road. The cost would be about $1,500 for the eight houses that are affected by this,” said Ubel.

Since there are more ditches that might need maintenance, more discussion is needed with residents.

S & S Motors/Fire Station

Mayor Poehler informed the council that he has met with the landowner of the old S & S Motors property to possibly relocate the fire station to that property.

He asked Ubel to respond as the Fire Chief.

Ubel said, “I think it would work out good. The ISO ratings are the same, the distance is good. It would also be a good place for firefighter training.”

Poehler explained the purchase would only be for the main building and some restoration would need to be done. They would need bigger doors. There are about six offices and a meeting room.

“It would probably cost about $1-1.2 million, but if we tried to build it then it would probably be $3 million plus,” said Poehler.

Kuester Pit 2 Development

Mayor Poehler said the city has not received a certificate of completion regarding Jason Kuester’s development. The project has some outstanding items, plus $9,000 is due to the city from the developer for engineering costs.

“It has been two years. I am not sure how to get this done as we do not have a middleman because Kuester’s attorney is no longer handling it,” Poehler said. “We need to get it done.”

Ordinance Enforcement

Council Member Rodewald has been in contact with Sheriff Dave Lange regarding the enforcement of the city’s ordinances. Lange suggested a work session because the county will need a list of the ordinances that the City of Courtland would like the Sheriff’s Office to enforce, and also how much the fees will be and how it will be collected.

Election Results

City Clerk Julie Holm reported on the election. There were 521 registered voters, and 36 new registrations. There were 410 ballots from the city residents and 309 ballots from the township for a total of 719 ballots.

“It was a good day, no problems,” said Holm. Al Poehler was re-elected as mayor and Justin Kraus as a council member. Nathan Marti was elected as a council member to replace Ralph Bents.

The Truth in Taxation meeting will be 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5 followed by the regular council meeting at 7 p.m.