Zeeland staff outline snowmelt special assessment proposal, recommend levying heating charge only for 2026

Assistant City Manager and Finance Director Kevin Plockmeyer presented a detailed plan on Jan. 20 for operating and maintaining Zeeland’s downtown snowmelt system and a proposed special assessment to allocate costs to benefitting parcels.

Plockmeyer said the snowmelt system encompasses multiple previously approved projects (Elm Street, Main Avenue streetscape, library alley and other segments) and is partially operational. Staff laid out a two-part funding approach: a commodity (heating/energy) charge calculated from historical gas usage and a readiness-to-serve (capital) charge to fund long-term maintenance and component replacement. Using an average system usage of 36,636 THM and a 2022–2023 gas cost of $0.92 per THM, staff calculated a commodity charge of $0.92 per square foot annually. The readiness-to-serve or capital charge was estimated at $1.10 per square foot for 2026, but staff recommended levying only the $0.92 commodity charge in the current special assessment cycle.

Plockmeyer presented component life estimates used in planning: boilers, pumps and heat exchangers ~20 years; valves, manifolds and glycol ~25 years; and piping/tubing ~50 years. He described district boundaries (Main Avenue from State Street east through 421 East Main; Elm Street from Main to Cherry; Church Street from Central to Washington; north side of Cherry from Elm to Church) and rules for calculating square footage to be assessed (back-of-curb to snowmelt edge, corner lot rules, shared-use parking exceptions). Exempt properties to be paid by the city include Zeeland Public Schools (320, 405 and 410 East Main Ave.) and the United States Postal Service (155 East Main Ave. and 20 North Church).

Staff estimated the full annual operation and maintenance cost at $245,920.86 (using 121,743 square feet at $2.02 per square foot if both commodity and capital charges applied). For 2026 staff proposed the city cover roughly $202,759.96 (82% of the total) and assess the remainder — $43,160.90 — to benefitting parcels, with the assessment term staff recommended set at two years. Plockmeyer said next steps are a Special Assessment Resolution No. 2 anticipated at the Feb. 2 meeting and a public hearing likely on Feb. 16 to solicit public comment.

If council and the public approve an assessment, benefitting parcel owners would receive bills based on assessed square footage; staff emphasized certain public passageways, crosswalk bump-outs and properties with shared-use parking agreements would be excluded or paid by the city per stated rules. Plockmeyer said staff used conservative component-life and cost assumptions intended to create a sustainable funding model for operation and long-term replacement of the system.