Dennis Sands

JOSEPH – The Joseph City Council and Mayor Dennis Sands once again contemplated avenues for funding street repair at the Jan. 8 city council meeting. A $2.5 million bond levy proposal was rejected by city voters in the Nov. 4 election.

Sands brought up the idea of a transportation utility fee, which adds a surcharge on people with utility hookups. “It’s a user’s fee. Basically, anyone who lives in town is a user, so it’s a charge on residents,” Sands said. He also said placing the utility fee on people with empty lots amounted to raising property taxes, and he wished to stay away from that.

Placing an equal monthly fee on property owners, regardless of property value, did seem more agreeable to citizens, Sands said.

Council member Teresa Sajonia asked if anyone inquired as to how other towns attached fees to property owners of empty lots.

Sands replied the city could ask its legal counsel, Wade Baum, but Sands likened charging empty lot owners for utility fees to forcing someone who only rides a bicycle to pay a gas tax. Sands also said charging people by the lot placed an unfair burden on people who owned more than one lot.

Sands announced a town hall meeting for Thursday, Jan. 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Joseph Community Center. The mayor said Brad Baird, president of Anderson Perry Engineering, planned to give a presentation on street repair options as well as sit at the main table with Sands and City Recorder Donna Warnock to answer questions from citizens about the potential project.

Sands also said he’d like to see at least as good a community turnout for the town hall as last year’s meeting on the same subject in order to obtain as many different viewpoints as possible. He mentioned low petroleum prices as added incentive to expedite the project.

“I’d really like for everyone to let their friends, neighbors and customers know that we welcome all input and suggestions. We’re coming on toward crunch time if we want to get something done this year,” Sands said.

Sajonia said, “I hope a lot of people show up because I feel like we’re bouncing our heads off the wall saying, ‘What do we do next?’ to make this fair for everyone.”