Board approves street assessment
By Steve Herring
Published in News on August 19, 2016 1:46 PM
A neighborhood meeting is being credited with helping to spur residents in the Canterbury Village and North Creek subdivisions to support efforts to secure a special tax assessment to make street improvements in their neighborhood.
Tuesday morning Wayne County commissioners unanimously approved proceeding with the estimated $2.2 million project.
The approval comes nearly a year after residents in those two subdivisions first approached the board seeking help to improve the streets to state standards in order for them to be taken into the state road maintenance system.
State law allows counties to create special tax assessments districts provided enough property owners in the district agree.
Meeting those thresholds, a petition signed by at least 75 percent of the property owners representing at least 75 percent of road frontage, had appeared doubtful during the weeks leading up to Tuesday's vote
Initially enough residents signed the petition for the project to proceed.
However, as the cost estimates came in, several residents withdrew from the petition, rendering it invalid.
Rather than proceed at their Aug. 2 session, commissioners gave residents until the Aug. 16 meeting to secure enough names to proceed.
Nearly 75 people met Monday night, Aug. 8, at Word Faith Center on Buck Swamp Road to discuss the scope of the repairs.
Wayne County Planning Director Chip Crumpler told commissioners Tuesday morning that the owners of 98 of the 121 lots in the project area, 80 percent, had signed the petition.
The property represents 19,790 linear feet of road frontage which exceeds the minimum of 75 percent required, he said.
Commissioner Ed Cromartie asked about the property owners who did not sign the petition.
"Everybody pays. That is why the threshold by law is so high," County Manager George Wood said.
During the public comments portion of the meeting held prior to the vote, Steve Cole thanked the board for allowing residents to work out the special assessment petition.
"It allowed us to do something very important that I would advise any other subdivision or any other neighborhood pursing a petition to do as well," said Cole, who lives in the project area. "That is to hold a neighborhood meeting. We had one a week ago this past Monday where we had SEPI Engineering, George Wood, Chip Crumpler.
"They did a presentation informing everybody about the conditions of our road. What it is going to take to repair them. I think that was critical to educate everybody and let them know what the situation was."
Commissioner Ray Mayo, who also attended the neighborhood meeting, made the motion to approve the street assessment resolution.
"What is that, six or eight months in the doing?" Chairman Joe Daughtery said. "That is a lot of time and a lot of effort. Now let's get some bids."
"Maybe the hard part is starting now to get it done," Mayo said. "But these subdivisions are in my district. Of course it affects all of us. There have been a lot of hours put in by some people sitting here and others."
Mayo thanked the board and Wood who came up with the idea of using the state law authorizing the use of special assessment districts.
The state Department of Transportation estimated the project cost at more than $3 million.
Commissioners balked at the cost, saying that it was too high and hired the engineering firm SEPI to conduct another study.
That estimate was $2.2 million. Based on 121 lots that means that each lot would be assessed $18,177.32.
The assessment can be paid in a lump sum or spread out over 10 years at $1,817.73 annually.
It would require a $151.48 monthly increase in property tax escrow for mortgages.
The county will charge 5 percent annually on the balance owed.
The final assessment will be determined after the actual bids are received and the work is completed.