The Hastings City Council Monday approved the final special assessment roll with individual assessments in the downtown district that will pay maintenance costs for city parking lots. The total cost is set at $44,984, however the Downtown Development Authority will pay $15,962 of the bills, leaving $29,022 to be spread among business owners.
City Assessor Jackie Timmerman said the amount for each business is calculated by adding or subtracting various factors, including square footage of the lot, a use factor (the activity level) parking spaces the business has and the distance from the door of the business to the nearest parking space.
The result is divided by the total number in the special assessment district, resulting in the amount the individual business owner is billed on summer 2018 tax bills. The assessment roll shows the lowest assessment is for $25.02, and the highest is $2,678.44 and everywhere in between.
After a public hearing on the budget brought no comments from the public, the council approved the 2018-2019 budget. First readings on two proposed ordinances were also held; the first to allow churches as a special use in various zones and changes in the temporary enclosures rules. There will be more discussion on both changes at the next council meeting when the panel will act on the proposals.
A workshop was set for May 21 at 7 p.m. to talk about major improvement projects at the wastewater treatment plant and preliminary results of the Storm Asset Management and Wastewater program. Dennis Benoit, engineer from Hubbell Roth & Clark, will lead the discussion and answer questions.
