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Board reviews schedule‑of‑fees changes, business license ordinance language and event staffing charges
Summary
Staff identified an ordinance insertion that weakens late‑fee enforcement for business licenses, proposed fee changes for rezoning and site‑plan review, added a police sergeant hourly fee for large events, and clarified a Stonebridge sewer connection impact fee and sump‑pump charge.
City staff reviewed a set of amendments to the schedule of fees and associated ordinance language and sought board direction on cleaning up application and enforcement provisions.
Jack (speaker 15) told the board he discovered a line added to the business license ordinance that reads "or renewal," and warned that the insertion unintentionally undermines late‑fee enforcement and prorating provisions. "That language... effectively means that every bit of the previous section on late fees kinda goes away," he said, and recommended deleting the renewal language or otherwise clarifying the ordinance so staff can enforce fees and implement online renewal forms via the content manager system.
On fee amounts, staff proposed standardizing occupational/licensing fees to a flat $75, consolidated rezoning fees to a single $250 charge (the prior split was lower for residential), and increasing site‑plan review to $250 to better reflect staff time. Development staff also proposed updates to subdivision and conditional‑use fees to match average man‑hours spent on reviews.
Public works described a one‑time Stonebridge sewer connection impact charge calculated on gallons‑per‑minute capacity tied to the Stonebridge Lift Station project; staff said they set a factor of $3,900 per gallons‑per‑minute and that undeveloped lots will pay their pro rata share. The school district is participating and will pay $100,000 under an MOU for its connection.
Police and events staff proposed adding an $80 per hour sergeant fee for events requiring five or more officers so an on‑site supervisor is present; staff said the fee will initially apply to festival coverage and similar large events.
Other clarifications included a descriptive note that a $20/month stormwater/sump‑pump surcharge applies when a sump pump discharges to the sanitary sewer (waivable by inspection), and the addition of a small convenience fee for online payments. Staff will bring ordinance language changes and the updated schedule of fees to the board for review and formal adoption in October.
Next steps: staff will redline the business license ordinance to remove the problematic renewal language or propose alternate language, update online application forms via the content manager, and bring fee ordinance updates back for the board’s formal consideration.
