City, Ecolab, Settle Lawsuit Over $110,00 Street Assessment

Ecolab and city officials agreed to bury the hatchet last week after the company filed a legal appeal over a roughly $110,000 street assessment fee imposed by the city in 2012.

Ecolab representatives argued the company did not benefit from a new extension of Ames Crossing Road built on the backside of the company's Schuman campus. In an objection filed last September, the company's attorney called the proposed street assessment fee "unconstitutional."

On Tuesday, the Eagan City Council voted unanimously to approve an agreement that waives the majority of the assessment costs unless Ecolab decides to connect to the road or local sewer and water utilities built along the new roadway. As part of the agreement the company will also pay $17,000 to the city.

The disagreement began last year, after the city completed a nearly mile-long, $1 million extension of Ames Crossing Road from O'Neill Road to Lone Oak Road. City officials typically ask private property owners along roadways to contribute to the cost of improvements, because the construction usually benefits users, Eagan Public Works Director Russ Matthys said.

In this case, however, the company had no desire to connect to the improved roadway or use upgraded utilties underneath the road extension, Matthys said.

"Their perspective was: 'Look, we’ve got what we need here, we don’t need anything else. We’re not interested in developing that portion of property, so leave us alone,'" Matthys said.

The company filed a special assessment appeal last year in Dakota County District Court challenging the assessment, saying the assessment formula used to determine the fee was not legal, and that the $110,000 fee exceeded the value of any improvements to the property, among other contentions.

That pending litigation has now been resolved by the agreement approved Tuesday, Matthys said.

If Ecolab decides to connect to the new road, it will be required pay the street portion of the assessment—approximately $72,000—without interest. If the company decides to connect to the new utilities at a future point, it will have to pay connection charges, according to the agreement.

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