Property owners included in the Landmark Drive Local Improvement District will soon be receiving final assessments with the Philomath City Council’s approval Monday night of moving the process forward to the next steps.
The LID was established in 2020 with the street project completed in 2023 at a cost of $857,906. Eight properties owned by five individuals or companies are adjacent with access to the new road.
City Councilor Spencer Irwin, who sits on the Finance and Administration Committee, provided an overview of the project as had been discussed at an April 28 meeting.
“There isn’t a set time but now would be a good time to start talking about finishing that up and making the assessments on the properties and getting started with the process of getting that paid back,” Irwin told councilors.
The assessments were recalculated from original estimates based on a decision to remove a tax lot that does not have access to Landmark Drive. The lot, listed as owned by Cynthia McConnell and site of American Home & Stone, opens up to Main Street.
Back in 2020, Shane McConnell asked that the 2707 and 2709 Main St. properties be excluded from the LID because they “don’t even have access to the road so would receive no impact and the back lot is empty and has access through the 2707 property.”
The council at the time debated the issue for several minutes and reached a compromise that only the undeveloped tax lot at 2709 Main with Landmark Drive access be included in the LID.
Irwin said the property owner agreed to a “no-access easement, agreeing that there wouldn’t ever be access created there for that piece of the property so it’s been removed. The net effect of that is that it does change the actuals a little bit that gets divided out amongst the other properties.”
The assessments are based on acreage. The Finance and Administration Committee recommended payback of the assessments within 10 years with an annual interest rate of 5%. For properties that are sold, the lien would be paid off to the city as part of the closing costs.
Irwin said some of the property owners in the LID will likely not be excited about the repayment process getting started.
“We waited through the warranty period (on the road construction) to make sure there weren’t any additional costs or unexpected overruns,” Irwin said.
City Manager Chris Workman said with approval, the city will send out notices with a detailed explanatory letter and the final assessments. He said the property owners will be given an opportunity to submit objections until July 7 with an ordinance to be prepared for the council’s July 14 meeting.
The motion to move the process forward passed on a unanimous vote.
