BonnerSprings.com

The question on most people’s mind when it comes to getting sewers on the north end of Edwardsville is how much is it going to cost the property owners.

The answer to that question can’t be determined exactly until more variables are defined, but Edwardsville City Administrator Michael Webb tried to give the Edwardsville City Council a clearer picture of the possibilities at Monday’s meeting as discussion about creating a sewer benefit district continued.

“What I’ve done — and this not final — is kind of looked at and said, ‘Ok, this is the area we know we can get sewers to by going to the north,’” he said, showing off a map of the north end of the city with an area sectioned off using orange tape. “The second question was can it be broken up into reasonable sections where the interest is coming from.”

Webb’s map showed the large taped off section of the north end divided into three areas. All three areas have a northern boundary of Interstate 70 and a southern boundary of Riverview Avenue. Area one is the location of the former Golden Gaming casino site, west of 110th Street. Area two is the site of the former Sands casino site, east of 110th Street. Area three starts at the end of the Sands casino site and goes east toward about 102nd Street.

From there, Webb created several scenarios of possible area combinations, which in turn gave a rough estimate of the amount each property owner would have to pay annually in benefit district assessments.

A benefit district is a commonly used form of financing for cities where property owners of the improvement area pay for the cost of the project through annual assessments, which are divided out based on acreage or square footage.

With an estimated project cost of $2.5 million in mind, which includes construction costs, engineering and legal fees and interest, Webb made a spreadsheet that listed possible area combination scenarios and what each property owner would be responsible for paying. Webb cautioned council members to remember that the numbers presented were just estimates and could change if the project moved forward.

For more specifics about what each property owner would pay, see the Feb. 25 edition of the Chieftain.

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