Utility commission approves posting sewer and water impact fee ordinance for May 4 public hearing

The Cottage Grove Utility Commission voted April 16 to direct staff to amend the village's impact fee ordinance and post a public hearing specifically on sewer and water impact fees for May 4.

Chair opened the item under new business and a committee member said the village board had not taken action on the fees in aggregate. The committee member said the next step would be to "direct Rick to amend the ordinance and to post a public hearing so that the board has the option to move forward with just the water and sewer portion, scheduled for May 4," and asked the commission to approve sending the ordinance to notice.

Staff explained the procedural requirement that the ordinance cannot simply be reintroduced without a new public hearing notice and that staff would restart the public-notice process using the original impact fee study. "So, basically, the ordinance ... we're not gonna be able to just, like, reintroduce or, like, bring it back right away," said the staff member, describing why a public hearing notice was required.

The Chair moved to approve posting the sewer and water impact fee ordinance for public hearing; the motion was seconded and approved by voice vote. The meeting record shows commissioners saying "aye," with no opposition or abstentions reported; the transcript does not include numeric vote tallies.

The commission's action sends the revised ordinance to public notice and sets a May 4 hearing in advance of any village board decision. The village board will hold the separate public hearing on the sewer and water impact fee ordinance and may take action after that hearing.