The purpose of this chapter is to prescribe rules and regulations for exercise of the authority to enter into a Utility Reimbursement Agreement granted to the City by RCW Chapter 35.91.
As used in this chapter, the terms listed below shall be defined as follows:
Cost of construction
means those costs (excluding interest charges or other financing costs) incurred for design, acquisition for right-of-way and or easements, construction, materials and installation required in order to create an improvement which complies with city standards.
Reimbursement agreement
means a written contract between the city and one or more parties providing both for construction of sewer facilities and for reimbursement to the party or parties constructing the facilities for part of the costs of the facilities by owners of property benefitted by the improvements.
Sewer facilities
shall have the meaning specified in RCW 35.91.020 as it now reads, or as hereafter amended.
To be eligible for a reimbursement agreement, the estimated cost of the proposed improvement must be not less than five thousand dollars. The estimated costs of the improvement shall be determined by the Public Works Director, based upon a construction contract for the project, bids, engineering or architectural estimates or other information deemed by the Public Works Director to be a reliable basis for estimating costs. The determination of the Public Works Director shall be final.
An application for reimbursement agreement shall be made on a form provided by the city. The application fee shall be set by council resolution and shall be submitted to the city with the written application and shall be accompanied by:
A. 
Preliminary utility design drawings:
B. 
Itemized estimate of construction costs prepared and signed by a licensed civil engineer or in the form of a bid submitted by a qualified contractor (if more than one bid has been obtained, all bids must be submitted to the city);
C. 
A scaled vicinity drawing, stamped by a licensed civil engineer or licensed land surveyor depicting the proposed improvements, the location, the proposed benefitted area, dimensions and county assessor's numbers for each tax parcel, size of parcels, and evaluations where necessary for determining benefits;
D. 
A separate legal description for each tax parcel within the benefitted area; and
E. 
Such other information as the Public Works Director determines is necessary to properly review the application.
A. 
The Public Works Director shall review all applications and shall approve the application only if the following requirements are met:
1. 
The project satisfies the minimum size requirement and complies with city standards; and
2. 
The proposed improvements fall within the description of sewer facilities as those terms are described in RCW Chapter 35.91; and
3. 
The proposed improvements are not constructed or currently under construction.
B. 
In the event all of the above criteria are not satisfied, the Public Works Director may condition approval as necessary in order for the application to conform to such criteria, or shall deny the application. The final determination of the Public Works Director shall be in writing. The applicant may obtain a review of the final determination by filing a request therefor with the City Clerk no later than ten (10) days after a copy of the final determination is mailed to the applicant at the address listed on the application.
C. 
I reviewing a final determination, the City Council shall apply the criteria set forth above, and shall uphold the decision of the Public Works Director unless evidence clearly demonstrates that the criteria have been satisfied.
The Public Works Director shall define the reimbursement area for all approved applications based upon a determination of which parcels did not contribute to the original cost of the sewer facility for which the reimbursement agreement applies and which may subsequently tap in to or use the same, including not only those which may connect directly thereto, but also those who may connect to laterals or branches connecting thereto. An estimated amount of the reimbursement fee shall be established so that each property will pay a share of the costs of the improvements, which is proportional to the benefits which accrue to the property.
A. 
In order to become effective, a reimbursement agreement must be recorded with the Snohomish County Auditor within (30) thirty days of approval by the city. It shall be the sole responsibility of the applicant to record the reimbursement agreement.
B. 
Within thirty (30) days after receipt of evidence that the Reimbursement Agreement has been recorded the Public Works Director shall record a notice of additional tax or correction charge with the Snohomish County Auditor's office as required by RCW 65.08.170.
Upon approval of the application, determination of the estimated costs of construction, the reimbursement area and estimated fees by the Public Works Director, the applicant shall sign a reimbursement agreement in the form supplied by the city. The signed agreement, the application and supporting documents, together with the Public Works Director's estimate of cost of construction, and determination of reimbursement area and estimated fees shall be presented to the City Council with a request that the City Council authorize the Mayor to sign the reimbursement agreement on behalf of the city.
In the event costs incurred by the city for engineering or other professional consultant services required in processing the application exceed the amount of the application fee, the Public Works Director shall so advise the City Council and Council approval shall be conditioned upon receipt of payment by the applicant of an additional amount sufficient to compensate the city for its actual costs in excess of the application fee.
A. 
After the reimbursement agreement has been signed by both parties, and all necessary permits and approvals have been obtained, the applicant shall construct the improvements, and upon completion, request final inspection and acceptance of the improvements by the city, subject to any required obligation to repair defects. An appropriate bill of sale, easement and any other document needed to convey the improvements to the city and to insure right-of-access for maintenance and replacement shall be provided, along with documentation of the actual costs of the improvements and a certification by the applicant that all of such costs have been paid.
B. 
In the event that actual costs are less than the Public Works Director's estimate used in calculating the estimated fees by ten percent or more, the Public Works Director shall recalculate the fees, reducing them accordingly, and shall cause a revised list of fees to be recorded with the county auditor.
A. 
Subsequent to the recording of a reimbursement agreement, the city shall not permit connection of any property within the reimbursement area to any sewer or water facility constructed pursuant to the reimbursement agreement, unless the share of the costs of such facilities required by the recorded agreement is first paid to the city.
B. 
Upon receipt of any reimbursement fees, the city shall deduct a six percent administrative fee and remit the balance of the reimbursement fees to the party entitled to the fees pursuant to the agreement. In the event that through error, the city fails to collect a required reimbursement fee prior to approval of connection to a sewer facility, the city shall make diligent efforts to collect such fee, but shall under no circumstances be obligated to make payment to the party entitled to reimbursement, or in any other way be liable to such party, unless such reimbursement fee has actually been paid to the city.
In the event that, after reasonable effort, the party to which reimbursement fees are to be paid pursuant to a reimbursement agreement cannot be located, and upon the expiration of one hundred eighty (180) days from the date fees were collected by the city, the fees shall become the property for the city and shall be revenue to the city sewer and water utility.
(463, 446, 440, 381 (Sections 2-19), 361, 291, 283, 274, 262, 250, 249, 248, 241, 240, 230, 225, 218, 204, 199, 188, 173, 143, 140, 129, 111, 95, 94, 93, 80, 50; Ord. 476, 1995)