City Hall in Decorah, Iowa. | Decorah city facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=330480952422737&set=a.330480935756072&__tn__=%2CO*F
City Hall in Decorah, Iowa. | Decorah city facebook https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=330480952422737&set=a.330480935756072&__tn__=%2CO*F
The Decorah (Iowa) City Council, at its Feb. 6 meeting, discussed plans for alley improvement and repaving projects for the coming year. These included alleys south of Center Avenue between Riverside Avenue and Second Street that required reconstruction.
The council noted during the meeting, which was streamed on YouTube, that the cost of revamping alleys typically has been allocated to adjacent property owners, who directly benefit from the work, with some people using them as paths and for parking.
City Engineer Jeremy Bril said it can be hard to determine percentages for such efforts.
“On this project we have some street improvements included because they're adjacent to the approach of the alley we're going to be there,” he said. “We have a manhole that needs to go in. Those are not things we would expect to be assessed, but they do impact the total percent of the project.”
Figuring out pricing also is a challenge, Bril said, noting that the price of resurfacing per linear foot yields a more typical number.
“In past alley projects, if you look at the other document for the next agenda item, it's about $16 or $17. Here we'd be upward of $39,” Bril said. “It's a larger jump certainly, but includes [what] we've only assessed for the asphalt for one half of the alley adjacent to each property. Here we're including more components that they required to get built.”
It was noted during the council session that the improvement plan includes 4 inches of asphalt, and paving that is 10 feet wide. Drainage and flumes will be added where needed and the reconstruction will feature a rock base.
The council also learned the assessment can run between 20% and 25% of the projects' estimated costs, up from the 10% to 15% of total costs if work were to include only 4 inches of asphalt.
The council also discussed the policy for alley assessment cost sharing, approving the improvements with work starting in an initial phase.
It also was noted the city wouldn’t go any higher than a 50/50 split on shared costs for adjacent property owners.
In coming weeks, the council is expected to approve a general percentage rate covering all projects.
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