Delavan council approves special assessment for Bluffs of Lake Comas sewer after heated public hearing

The Delavan Common Council on Nov. 17 adopted a resolution to special-assess prior expenses for sanitary sewer mains serving the Bluffs of Lake Comas subdivision, approving a 10-year repayment option after a public hearing that drew several township residents who said they had not been properly notified and would face large assessments.

City staff presented an engineering and finance report outlining a potential 200-acre service area based on pipe size and grades and explaining the calculation method used to translate historical installation costs into a per-acre assessment. The city attorney and staff emphasized that only parcels currently inside the City of Delavan can be assessed without town approval; properties in the Town of Delavan were included in an illustrative list but, staff said, cannot be compelled to pay unless annexation occurs or the town board agrees.

Multiple residents from areas identified on the staff list said they learned about the proposal only shortly before the meeting and objected to the prospect of paying for sewer work they do not use. One resident said the per-property charge could be roughly $7,000 over 10 years; another said notices implied an assessment that would total roughly $36,000 over 10 years for their parcel. A town resident who described himself as an attorney argued the council could not lawfully charge interest retroactively to dates as early as 1967 or 2007, citing case law (Village of Ag Harbor) and urging the council to remove interest and account for credits such as land donated to the city.

An attorney speaking for Delavan Auto Body LLC and Andre Sanchez asked the council to extend a land-contract development deadline by two years so his client could meet development obligations; he said all contract payments had been made and that a balloon payment of about $23,000–$24,000 was imminent. The council did not act on that contract-extension request during the public hearing portion; the matter is listed later on the agenda for closed-session review.

City staff described the assessment as a last-resort measure to recover taxpayer funds spent to install sewer infrastructure that was intended to be served by development that did not occur. Staff and some council members defended the calculation approach as a means to equitably divide historic costs among potentially served city parcels, while residents and the attorney argued legal and equitable issues remain unresolved and asked for more detailed accounting, credits for land transfers, and elimination of retroactive interest charges.

After additional brief comments from the public, Alderman Ritter moved to adopt the special assessment resolution for prior expenses related to sanitary sewer mains servicing the area north and east of Spring Grove Cemetery; the motion was seconded and approved by the council.

Next steps: the resolution passed at the meeting allows for 10-year repayment terms for assessed parcels in the City of Delavan. The council and staff signaled the limits of city authority over Town of Delavan properties (annexation or town-board approval would be required before assessments could apply to those parcels), and residents indicated they may seek legal review of the city's approach to interest and credits.