Sherwood board sets assessment rules and payment plan for County M reconstruction

Sherwood — The Village of Sherwood moved to finalize how it will bill local property owners for the federally funded reconstruction of County M (Military Road), approving assessment caps, payment terms and deferral options after engineer briefings and public hearings.

At a June 22 special meeting and follow-up sessions in October–December 1981, village engineers from Foth & Van Dyke presented detailed project costs and funding shares. The total project construction and engineering estimate was in the low hundreds of thousands; federal and county funds cover most of the project, leaving a local share for curb and gutter, sidewalk and storm sewer work. The board voted to base assessments on fixed footage totals and to cap per-foot charges to limit immediate impacts on property owners.

Key decisions: the village set maximum assessment rates per front foot for the project components, adopted a five-year payment plan and allowed agricultural parcels to defer the balance beyond a 100‑foot minimum frontage assessment. Under the payment plan property owners pay 20% of their assessment when work is completed, with the balance payable in four annual installments at a maximum 12% interest rate; deferred agricultural frontage becomes due on change of use or after up to 10 years.

Engineer Gary Radtke of Foth & Van Dyke told the board the assessment calculations rely on the design and participation rules used in federally aided projects; he warned that extra outfalls or piping required for specific properties could raise localized costs and urged the village to finalize footage and project boundaries before making final assessments. Residents raised questions at the public hearing about replaced sections of sidewalk that had previously been in good condition and about driveway approaches altered by the project; the board said it would review those claims with the county and the engineers before finalizing bills.

The village also set rules for calculating storm-sewer assessments and decided the village will pay for intersection work while property owners bear front-foot storm-sewer costs up to the approved caps. The board adopted a preliminary resolution authorizing engineers to compute final assessments and to post a public report before levy or installment notices are mailed.

What happens next: engineers will file a final assessment report for public inspection, and the board will publish and mail notice before levying special assessments; property owners will be able to contest parcel footage and assessment calculations during the prescribed public process.

At the June and October–December votes, trustees said the decisions balance federal funding opportunities and local fairness, while preserving options for property owners who qualify under the agricultural deferral provision.

“Assessments may be lowered later if they are found to be overestimated,” engineer Gary Radtke told the board. The board scheduled follow-up meetings to publish the final figures and to work with affected residents on driveway and sidewalk complaints.