When Carver County decided decades ago to develop a regional park on Lake Waconia, it set in motion a road improvement plan that would not materialize until 2007.

The first stage of the park has been in existence for a handful of years and with it came the closure of County Road 30 that had run directly next to a beach at the park. With that section of road now permanently closed, the city renamed the roadway within the city limits, now known as Old Beach Lane. Two years ago it voted to improve the street, water, trail, storm sewer and sewer lines in that area. Today, that work has been completed and now the final bill has been totaled: $934,899. Of that $302,589 will be assessed to the property owners in that area.

There are 15 benefitting property units that are part of the assessment that was presented to the city council in a public hearing this past Monday night.

On the low end of the assessments, which extend over a 10-year period and start in 2010, is a total per property of $10,927. Those assessments did not include water main work. Six property owners will experience that assessment. Seven will be assessed at $21,595 because they included water main work and sewer assessment. Two properties will be assessed at $43,190 because of their size and the ability of the property owner to split those lots at a future date.

Old Beach Lane extends from Main Street to the western most edge of Lake Waconia Regional Park, where it comes to a hammerhead cul de sac.

It has become the most popular route for walkers and bikers from Waconia to get to the park because of its relatively low vehicle traffic pattern.

At least one property owner from that neighborhood attended Monday’s public hearing to let the council know he was not happy with the process over the last year and a half and was clearly not happy with the additional taxes and assessments he now faces.

Tim Litfin, who lives on Old Beach lane, said the city’s annexation process was flawed from the beginning. He said when property is annexed into the city, the new taxes they face should be phased in over a three to five year period, not be immediate.

He’s also not happy that his taxes will jump 37 percent as a result of being in the city. He objects to the city’s street light fee that all residents are charged. He said the city rushed to get this job started in 2007 when gas prices were at an all-time high. He said he told the council to reject bids for the work at that time and allow gas prices to moderate, which he said would have resulted in lower bids and a lower assessment for residents. And finally, he said that area did not need a new road, city water, a walking path, curb and gutter, etc. In fact, he said he was prepared to install his own mound-septic system for an estimated $15,000. Instead, he said this project was forced upon him and fellow neighbors and when the final bill is tallied, he said it will set him back $36,500.

The council listened to Litfin’s concerns at the public hearing and Mayor Roger Lehrke even seemed interested in giving his comments more thought, possibly delaying the approval of the assessments.

The council also received a letter from property owner Reva Hortsch, also raising questions about the project. That letter was dispersed to councilors at Monday’s meeting.

Engineer Kreg Schmidt said the project had some issues, “But I think it was a good project. Mr. Litfin obviously has some issues (with it). But we went through all these fees with the property owners so I don’t think there were any surprises, in my opinion.”

The council seemed in agreement with Schmidt on the issue and voted 4-1 to approve the assessments as presented. The dissenting vote came from Mayor Lehrke.

Old Beach Lane Costs

The actual costs for the various elements of the Old Beach Lane project are as follows:

Street reconstruction $137,700

Trail construction $292,483

Water line construction $221,509

Sewer line construction $229,854

Stormwater line costruct. $53,349

Total $934,899

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