(A) The subdivider shall complete all required landscaping or infrastructure improvement prior to any plat recordation or development activity. This division (A) does not apply if upon the applicant’s request, the county has authorized the applicant to post an improvement completion assurance in a manner that is consistent with this section.
(B) Prior to signing of a final plat by the County Engineer, County Attorney, County Clerk and County Commission Chairperson, the subdivider shall enter into an improvement completion agreement acceptable to the county ensuring completion of all improvements required to be installed in the subdivision. The completion agreement shall be in a form approved by the County Attorney, shall be signed on behalf of the county by the County Commission Chairperson, and may contain specific provisions approved by the County Attorney. The improvement completion agreement shall include, but not be limited to:
(1) The subdivider’s agreement to complete all improvements within a period not to exceed 24 months from the date the subdivision was approved by the county the agreement is executed;
(2) The improvements shall be completed to the satisfaction of the county and in accordance with the county’s design and construction standards as established by the County Engineer and adopted by the County Commission;
(3) A provision that the improvement completion assurance shall be equal to 110% of the County Engineer’s estimated cost of the improvements to be installed;
(4) That the county shall have direct access to the improvement completion assurance when necessary to remedy a deficiency in required subdivision improvements or a violation of the improvement completion agreement;
(5) That improvement completion assurance may only be reduced upon the written request of the subdivider as system improvements are completed. The amount of the reduction shall be determined by the County Engineer. Reductions shall be made only as they apply to the completion, satisfactory to the County Engineer, of entire systems. The improvements for subdivisions are typically grouped into seven system categories: culinary water, storm drainage, sanitary sewer, roadways, parks/trails and landscaping, erosion control and miscellaneous/finish items. Additional categories may be added if approved by the County Engineer. Such written reduction requests may be made only once every 30 days and no reduction shall be authorized until such time as the County Engineer has inspected the improvements and found them to be in compliance with the county’s standards and specifications. All reductions shall be by written authorization of the County Engineer. No improvement completion assurance shall be reduced below 10% of the County Engineer’s estimated cost of the improvement to be installed until final acceptance by the County Engineer following an improvement completion assurance warranty period. No reduction in improvement completion assurance shall be allowed for materials which are delivered to the subdivision site but not installed in accordance with approved construction drawings;
(6) That if the improvement completion assurance is inadequate to pay the cost of the completion of the improvements according to the county’s standards or specifications for whatever reason, including previous reductions, the subdivider shall be responsible for the deficiency and no further building permits shall be issued in the subdivision until the improvements are completed or, with County Commission approval, a new, satisfactory deposit and improvement completion agreement has been executed and delivered to the county;
(7) That the county’s cost of administration and engineering costs incurred in obtaining the deposited funds, including attorney fees and court costs, shall be deducted from any deposited funds;
(8) That the subdivider shall guarantee and maintain all improvements installed against any damage arising from any defect in construction, materials or quality of work during the warranty period and shall promptly repair the same upon notice from the county; and
(9) That the subdivider shall agree to hold the county harmless from any and all liability which may arise as a result of defects in materials and work of the improvements which are installed until such time as the county certifies the improvements are complete and accepts the improvements at the end of the warranty period.
(C) The county may accept three forms of financial completion assurance:
(1) Funds deposited directly with the County Treasurer;
(2) Letter of credit: an applicant may only use a letter of credit if the following conditions are met:
(a) The applicant’s financial institution has been approved by the County Treasurer and the County Attorney;
(b) The applicant’s financial institution provides the letter of credit on a standard letter of credit form supplied by county or in a form that provides equal or greater financial protection to the county, as determined by the County Attorney;
(c) The County Attorney, County Treasurer, and County Engineer approve the letter of credit, which they shall do if all of the conditions above are met unless they have reasonable, objective indications of a substantial risk that either the applicant or the applicant’s financial institution will not fulfill its obligations related to the completion of improvements or the financial guarantee; and
(d) A cash escrow is deposited with the County Treasurer at the time the letter of credit is executed equal to the full cost to revegetate any removed vegetation in the event the applicant, his or her successors or heirs, or his or her financial institution fails to perform.
(3) An escrow agreement and an escrow account deposited with a county-approved third party, federally insured financial institution. An applicant may only use an escrow account if the following conditions are met:
(a) The applicant’s financial institution has been approved by the County Treasurer and the County Attorney;
(b) The applicant’s financial institution provides the escrow agreement and account on a standard form supplied by the county or in a form that provides equal or greater financial protection to the county, as determined by the County Attorney;
(c) The County Attorney, County Treasurer, and County Engineer approve the escrow account, which they shall do if all of the conditions above are met unless they have reasonable, objective indications of a substantial risk that either the applicant or the applicant’s financial institution will not fulfill its obligations related to the completion of improvements or the financial guarantee; and
(d) A cash escrow is deposited with the County Treasurer at the time the escrow account is executed equal to the full cost to revegetate any removed vegetation in the event the applicant, his or her successors or heirs, or his or her financial institution fails to perform.
(D) The improvement completion agreement may be extended by the County Engineer one time for six months for good cause shown. Any subsequent extension shall require approval by the County Commission following timely written request by the developer.
(Prior Code, § 8-12-37) (Ord. 17-07, passed 2-7-2017; Ord. 19-09, passed 10-15-2019; Ord. 22-03, passed 1-18-2022)