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Session 1915 March 29, 2004 Mr. Wagner asked, as a point of clarification, if home-owners are customarily not billed for the entire cost of the improvement, and if the City usually pays most of the bill? He was advised that is understanding is correct. Next, he asked what proportion of the entire bill was paid by the City, and the City Manager responded that in this case, the cost will be slightly over $40,000, and the City will pay close to $28,000, and the residents will split the remaining $12,000, which results in seventy per cent paid by the City and thirty per cent paid by owners. Ms. Colquitt expressed the need for residents to understand the points discussed regarding cost per linear foot, as opposed to dividing the cost equally. Ms. Goliday again asked why residents are responsible for repaving an alley that belongs to the City, when they do not own the alley, per se, and they pay taxes for improvement of streets and sidewalks, and when the alley in question was never maintained properly in the first place? She said the City representatives at resident meetings had promised to provide some maintenance for the alley prior to repaving, but none had ensued. She asserted that if the alley had been properly maintained, there would be no need to repave it now. Cora Henderson, 12661 Pennsylvania Avenue, reported meeting with the City Manager about the alley. The information provided at the first meeting matched the information on the cost sheet in front of Council this evening. At a second meeting, attended by Councilmember Sharpe, it was announced that the residents would be responsible for $10,000 of repairs, $200 per family, per year. She said the residents agreed to "split the amount equally." She added that an eight per cent interest fee had been mentioned, and she was concerned about that interest fee. When a letter from the City was received, she understood that it contained "... a breakdown, like from the beginning" so she thought the letter was a copy of" how it normally would go." She emphasized that the residents agreed to split the amount because they want the alley improvements, mentioning the poor condition of the alley and the problems during poor weather conditions. Mr. Sharpe asked Mr. Ollendorff if it was possible to review minutes from the meeting attended by residents to ascertain what the final consensus of understanding was, in order to proceed on this issue. Mayor Adams said he understood the nuances of the discussion and reviewed the options for consideration: 1) proceed with the signed petition, or 2) make a change, or 3) obtain a new statement from residents expressing exactly how they agreed to proceed and making sure they understand how they will proceed. Mayor Adams said he preferred that they pursue the third option. Page 5