Section 386.6. Improvements.

  When a city proposes to construct an improvement the cost of which is to be paid or financed under the provisions of this chapter, it must do so in accordance with the provisions of this section, as follows:

  1.  The council shall initiate proceedings for a proposed improvement upon receipt of a petition signed by at least twenty-five percent of all owners of property within the district representing ownership of property with an assessed value of twenty-five percent or more of the assessed value of all the property in the district.

  2.  Upon the receipt of such a petition the council shall notify the city planning commission, if one exists, the metropolitan or regional planning commission, if one exists, or the zoning commission, if one exists, in the order set forth in section 386.3, subsection 3. Upon notification by the council, the commission shall prepare an evaluative report for the council on the merit and feasibility of the improvement and carry out all other duties as set forth in section 386.3, subsection 3. If no planning or zoning commission exists, the council shall call a hearing on a proposed improvement upon receipt of a petition.

  3.  Upon the receipt of the commission’s report the council shall set a time and place of meeting at which the council proposes to take action on the proposed improvement and shall publish and mail notice as provided in section 386.3, subsections 4 and 5.

  4.  The notice must include a statement that an improvement has been proposed, the nature of the improvement, the source of payment of the cost of the improvement, and the time and place of hearing.

  5.  At the time and place set in the notice the council shall hear all owners of property in the district or residents of the city desiring to express their views. The council must wait at least thirty days after the public hearing has been held before it may take action to order construction of the improvement. The provisions of section 386.3, subsections 7 and 9, relating to the adoption of the ordinance establishing a district, the requisite vote therefor, the remonstrance thereto and the withdrawal of the entire matter from council consideration apply to the adoption of the resolution ordering the construction of the improvement.

  6.  If the council orders the construction of the improvement, it shall proceed to let contracts therefor in accordance with chapter 26.

  7.  The adoption of a resolution ordering the construction of an improvement is a legislative determination that the proposed improvement is in furtherance of the purposes of the district and that all property in the district will be affected by the construction of the improvement, or that all owners of property in the district have an interest in the construction of the improvement.

  8.  Any resident or property owner of the city may appeal the action or decisions of the council ordering the construction of the improvement to the district court of the county in which any part of the district is located within thirty days after the adoption of the resolution ordering construction of the improvement, but the action and decisions of the council are final and conclusive unless the court finds that the council exceeded its authority. No action may be brought questioning the regularity of the proceedings pertaining to the ordering of the construction of an improvement, or the right of the city to apply moneys in the capital improvement fund referred to in this chapter to the payment of the costs of the improvement, or the right of the city to issue bonds referred to in this chapter for the payment of the costs of the improvement, or the right of the city to levy taxes which with any other taxes authorized by this chapter do not exceed the maximum rate of tax that may be imposed upon property within the district for the payment of principal of and interest on bonds issued to pay the costs of the improvement, after thirty days from the date of adoption of the resolution ordering construction of the improvement.

  9.  The procedural steps contained in this section may be combined with the procedural steps for the petitioning and creation of the district or the procedural steps for the authorization of any tax or any combination thereof.

[C77, 79, 81, §386.6]

2007 Acts, ch 144, §19