Ironwood moves ahead with Aurora plat project

IRONWOOD — The Ironwood City Commission decided Tuesday to move ahead with an Aurora land platting project.

City officials had budgeted $20,600 for platting residences in the Aurora neighborhood that are currently under the ownership of the Aurora Land Association, but the commission instead agreed to pay half the total costs, which could amount to $17,500.

The residents now own their homes, but not the properties.

A formal resolution regarding the assessor’s plat project will be brought before the commission at its next meeting.

During public comment on Tuesday, there were varying opinions as to how the platting should be financed. Brian Dary and Joe Cayer Sr. said the platting should not be funded by the city, but entirely by the 29 homeowners affected.

“They (the homeowners) should pay for the survey,” Cayer said.

But Kristin Miller, who has been the owner of a home in the Aurora neighborhood since 1980, said the residents of that area are excited about the chance for platting.

“What’s good for our neighborhood is good for the city,” Miller said.

City Manager Scott Erickson agreed, saying the city helping finance the project would increase property values, which are now heading in the wrong direction.

Commissioner Rick Semo lives in the Aurora neighborhood, so he excused himself from voting on the issue and most of the discussion, except when asked for general information.

Mayor Kim Corcoran noted Aurora platting was one of the goals set by the commission.

Ron Jacobson, a surveyor with Coleman Engineering, said the houses were built during Ironwood’s mining period. He said the state has a complicated formula as to how a plat survey can proceed.

Jacobson said vacant lands within the neighborhood can’t be platted, but the process will benefit the homeowners.

He said the entire process would take about a year.

A majority of the homeowners who were polled, more than 80 percent, favored the platting, the commission learned.

City assessor-building inspector Dennis Hewitt said he recalled a similar plat effort being done in the neighborhood near the Hiawatha statue.

Community Development Director Michael Brown said a five-year special assessment on the affected residents would be possible.

The city could pay for the platting upfront and then collect yearly assessments, which would amount to about $100 per year per homeowner over the five years.

When platting is completed, every homeowner will get an annual property tax bill.

Under the current arrangement, the city issues one tax bill to the Aurora association for all of the parcels. The association then collects dues from the residents to cover taxes, however not all of the residents pay their dues. That leaves the remaining residents to cover the unpaid dues to prevent a foreclosure of the property, Brown said.

Under the new arrangement, individual foreclosures would be possible for delinquencies.

There are other benefits to a plat survey, according to Brown.

It would also allow the city to tackle blight issues better and residents could more easily obtain permits for garages or fences, for example.

Platting would also clear up right-of-way issues and better facilitate selling and buying of homes within that area.

Coleman Engineering had been considered for the plat survey contract. Jacobson said he had performed from one to two months of work for Coleman on the project, but the commission decided Monday to advertise for bids from professional land surveying services for development of the plat.

Commissioner David Sim said seeking bids would be “fair to taxpayers.”

Commissioner Brandon Tauer said he would support creating the assessor’s plat only if the project is financed with a 50-50 city-landowners split.

The motion to move ahead with the plat was approved 3-1, with Joe Cayer Jr. voting no and Semo abstaining. A similar vote resulted on seeking bids for surveying services.