Residents urge relief on permit fees and question billing practice for multi-tenant building

During the public-comment period on Nov. 6, local residents asked the Alexander City Council to review building-permit and contractor-license fees and raised a concern about utility billing at a multi-tenant building known in the remarks as Hillby Towers Incorporated.

James Caldwell (Providence Park) asked the council to consider reducing permit and contractor fees for a church remodel, noting the fees are a substantial portion of project costs and that nonprofit exemptions exist in some statutes. “I felt like it was excessive… I'm not saying take it to 0 but I'm talking about cutting it down to where it's a negotiable amount that we can live with,” Caldwell said.

Alan Baker described billing practices at Hillby Towers, a privately owned multi-tenant building, and said the property is served by a single water meter while the city is charging per-unit fees as if each tenant had an individual meter. Baker urged the council and staff to meet with building management to find a solution: “If you actually look at the amount of money that we're paying, if we pay for a commercial meter and pay the water, the sewage rate based on 1 meter, it'd be less than what we're paying,” he said.

Councilors acknowledged the comments and directed staff to follow up. The mayor and staff said they would meet with the building’s manager and work with the commenter to find options, and staff offered to review whether fee waivers or reductions for qualifying nonprofits apply.