Public Works is constantly working on some aspect of street management or maintenance. Street management includes planning future streets, capital construction needs, and changes to existing streets. Street maintenance keeps the streets in good repair, maintains drainage ways, provides signage and traffic markings, snowplowing and sanding, provides street lighting, and provides street cleaning. Generally, Public Works has several street improvement projects each year.
Special Improvement Districts (SID's) are used to help City residents who live on gravel streets be able to have asphalt and curb/gutter constructed. Since the 1950's, the majority of City streets have been constructed with SID's. Since 1972 developers of subdivisions have been required to provide asphalt streets with curbs/gutters as a part of their development improvements.
Areas which have gravel streets and want to improve the streets to asphalt and curbing must get the property owners along the street with a majority of the costs to sign a petition and present it to the City. Usually, a neighborhood will discuss forming a SID amongst themselves to see if there is enough interest before contacting the City.
When an area appears to have enough interest to form an SID, the City will develop a petition stating which properties are involved and what the maximum cost will be to each property. The maximum price set is the most each property owner will have to pay for their share.
The City has allowed property owners up to ten years to pay back the SID assessment with a pre-determined schedule. Interest rates are set after the construction, but not more than the maximum interest listed in the original petition. At a public hearing to determine the final costs, the City uses an interest rate representative to a second mortgage. Property owners are encouraged to pay off their assessment as soon as possible.
For information on forming an SID, please contact the Public Works Department.
