Significant
steps are finally underway to solve a knotty problem that was
presented to the City Council five years ago regarding
taxpayer-funded maintenance of at least 46 landscape areas that
provide little, if any, benefit to the public.
The
properties, as noted in a 68-page July 2010 report from then-Public
Works Director Mark Stowell, include some for which the city does not
have an easement to legally allow maintenance by the city and some
with an easement but for which upkeep provides no public benefit.
Generally,
Stowell's recommendation at the time was to stop watering and
maintaining areas for which no easement existed and vacate areas for
which easements existed and return the maintenance responsibility to
the underlying property owners, among other solutions.
Stowell
noted higher water costs and lack of probable landowner approval to
boost funding for the Landscape Maintenance Assessment District – a
recent vote had overwhelmingly opposed a small fee increase for
arterial zones – were among reasons for curtailing water and
upkeep.
Now,
with water costs even higher and budgets for some landscape zones
deeper in the red, council appears ready to take action on many of
the properties, with 17 of 46 currently under consideration
identified at a July 21 meeting as candidates for maintenance
changes.
And
action on the remaining 29 properties is expected to follow quickly
under a schedule outlined by city officials, although city timelines
often vary as meeting agendas fill up with dozens of other items.
The
council approved a two-step process, with notices of intent to vacate
easements mailed to property owners this week, and a public hearing
placed on a Sept. 15 agenda for property owner and other public input
before final council votes are taken.
The
notice of intent advises property owners of a “potential change to
the landscape maintenance of your property by the city's Landscape
Maintenance Assessment District” due to “budget shortfalls and
water use restrictions” and notes the public hearing date.
The
letter, as presented at the July 21 meeting, also states: “Depending
on the action taken by the City Council, specific fire
prevention/protection measures may be required by the property owner
going forward.”
Of the
46 identified areas, 38 are in landscape district zones and eight in
non-district areas. Yearly savings could total $243,591, if the
original recommendations are adopted, with one-time implementation
costs estimated at $90,000.
A
seven-page spreadsheet listing all 46 identified areas can be viewed
on the city website by finding the agenda for the July 21 council
meeting and scrolling to the fourth page of item 22.
Although
the current matter is limited to the 46 areas originally identified
in 2010 and reviewed this year by a council-appointed Citizens
Advisory Committee, council members asked staff to seek out other
areas for possible future council action.