A representative of the Woodland Trail homeowners association told the council that mowing and tree‑maintenance costs for the subdivision’s two detention ponds have risen sharply and that the HOA faces a difficult choice in funding future maintenance.

The HOA representative said the previous mowing contract was about $8,100 annually (about $137 per homeowner) but vendor bids this year ranged from roughly $14,000 to $15,000 — increases he described as “outrageous.” He said the two ponds account for roughly 90%–92% of the HOA’s mowing area, and that tree removal and liability costs for aging trees add to the expense.

“We're a small community. There's only 59 parcels in our community,” the HOA representative said. “It’s going to be a hard sell to raise our dues another $100 per homeowner and tell them that we’re raising dues just to reflect the cost of mowing.” He urged the city to consider a stormwater management utility or other municipal role to address default HOAs and the long‑term public responsibility when private entities fail to maintain drainage facilities.

Council members and staff discussed alternatives: (1) require developers to provide funds or clearer ownership and maintenance responsibilities at time of platting; (2) require HOAs for subdivisions that include detention ponds; (3) allow the city to accept ponds at construction in exchange for a developer payment to cover long‑term maintenance; or (4) create a stormwater‑management fee structure. Staff noted that many detention parcels are assigned to LLCs tied to HOAs and that when HOAs become defunct the parcels often become adjudicated and difficult to manage.

The council did not adopt a policy or ordinance at the meeting, but staff said the issue will be part of the drainage‑ordinance review and proposed to seek drafting recommendations from Desire Line and from the planning department.