Covington council debates Timberlane LID pre-formation costs; staff told to urge petition route

Council members debated whether the city should pay preliminary costs to form a Local Improvement District (LID) for sidewalk work in the Timberlane neighborhood and directed staff to advise the Timberlane homeowners association (HOA) to pursue the petition method rather than have the city initiate formation.

At the May 13 meeting staff summarized the request: city staff said the HOA had asked the city to initiate the LID and that staff estimated preliminary, pre-formation costs—including surveys, title reports, appraisal, engineering verification and legal fees—“between 17 and 25,000” dollars. Staff emphasized those were high-level preliminary estimates and that costs could rise in subsequent phases.

Council members discussed options and risks: staff explained that if the city pays pre-formation costs and the LID fails, the city would likely not be able to recoup that expense. Staff described two formation routes: a petition method initiated by homeowners and a council-initiated resolution…