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Kanarraville reviews subdivision plan and culinary water master plan; impact fee use questioned
Summary
Town staff presented a draft subdivision plan and culinary water master plan. Board members discussed impact fee rules, the six-year use requirement, low current collections, and options including raising fees or discontinuing collection if funds cannot be applied to new growth projects.
Town staff and consultants presented a subdivision plan and a draft culinary water master plan to the Kanarraville town board for review ahead of future hearings and possible fee changes.
The board received large supporting documents and was told no vote would be taken this meeting; planning and zoning will see the subdivision plan first and the town will schedule a public hearing to consider fee changes. Town staff asked board members to review the materials in advance of the February meeting if they wish to discuss base rate or impact fee changes.
A central topic in the discussion was the town's water impact fee account and statutory limits on its use. Staff explained impact fees must be used for specific capital projects tied to new growth and must be spent within six years of collection. Board members said the town has low annual collections (board discussion cited a past high of about $10,500 in one year and a working estimate of roughly two hookups per year), so the amount that could accumulate over six years would be small relative to the cost of major new facilities such as a tank (estimates discussed in the meeting ranged into the hundreds of thousands or millions for a new tank). Staff said that if the town cannot apply impact fee revenue to an eligible new project, state rules may require returning funds to developers or stopping collection.
The draft water master plan includes recommended fee amounts; staff noted a proposed increase in the water impact fee to about $5,900 per hookup. Board members asked staff to compile an explicit list of projects that the statute and master plan allow impact fees to fund so the board can decide whether to continue collection or identify eligible projects.
No vote was taken on rates or fees; staff recommended inviting consultant Joe Phillips back to assist in modeling tiered water rates and to prepare the public hearing notices required for any fee change.
The board directed staff to circulate the drafting documents, confirm planning-and-zoning meeting dates, and return with the requested list of eligible projects and legal references for impact-fee use.
